People News, December 2022

Smith College received a Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine for demonstrating an “outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion.” The awards committee reviews campus initiatives, programs, outreach, student recruitment, retention and completion, and hiring practices—among other factors.

Smith’s Mathematical Sciences Department is the recipient of a 2023 Exemplary Program Award from the American Mathematical Society for the college’s post-baccalaureate program in the Center for Women in Mathematics. The program “is highly effective at preparing women mathematically and professionally for graduate school in the mathematical sciences,” the award announcement says. “Students in the program come from backgrounds that do not fit the typical mold of graduate school applicants” and are “notably diverse in race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and employment background.” 

Faculty, undergraduate, and post-baccalaureate students from the Dialogues in Mathematics Seminar at Smith College.

History major Vera Jia Xi Mancini ’24 published a personal essay, “‘Orange Daughter Dreams’ A Micro Essay from an Unknown Chinese Daughter,” in November in Mochi magazine.

Veronica Lang ’23 received an honorable mention in the 2023 Alice T. Schafer Prize for Excellence in Mathematics awarded by the Association for Women in Mathematics. The association reports that Lang is the third Smithie to be honored in the Schafer award competition. The others are Reagin Taylor McNeill ’08 and Debra Boutin AC ’91.

Mariana Abarca, assistant professor of biological sciences, is co-author of “Scientists warning on climate change and insects,” published in November in the Ecological Society of America’s Ecological Monographs.

Brigitte Buettner, Louis Innes Doyle ’34 Professor of Art, is the author of The Mineral and the Visual: Precious Stones in Medieval Secular Culture published by Penn State University Press.

Justin Cammy, professor of Jewish studies and world literatures, discussed his translation of Abraham Sutzkever’s groundbreaking memoir, From the Vilna Ghetto to Nuremberg, in November at the Gelber Conference Centre in Montreal in an event sponsored by the Yentl Rubin and Mordko Fishman Memorial Endowment.

Two publications by Floyd Cheung, vice president for equity and inclusion and professor of English language and literature, have been named Outstanding Academic Titles by the American Library Association’s Choice: Equity and Inclusion in Higher Education: Strategies for Teaching and Asian American Literature in Transition, 1965–1996.

Jennifer DeClue (left), assistant professor of the study of women and gender, is the author of Visitation: The Conjure Work of Black Feminist Avant-Garde Cinema, published in November by Duke University Press.

Matt Donovan, director of Smith’s Boutelle-Day Poetry Center, gave a reading in November from his fourth collection of poems, The Dug-up Gun Museum, at the Norwich Bookstore in Norwich, VT. 

Samantha Earp, vice president for information technology, was interviewed on a recent Cloud Wars Live podcast about efforts underway at Smith to use technology to improve campus culture and enhance collaboration.

Steven Heydemann, Janet Wright Ketcham ’53 Professor in Middle Eastern Studies, gave a talk in October on “The Poverty Puzzle in the Middle East: The Politics and Economics of Solidarity” in a public lecture series sponsored by The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in Doha.

Sabina Knight, professor of Chinese and comparative literatures, is the author of “A Tautology or Two While We Translate Chinese Classics,” in Chinese Literature and Thought Today.

Milford Graves Full Mantis, a film about legendary jazz percussionist Milton Graves directed by Jake Meginsky, musician in dance, is now part of the Criterion Channel Collection and the Janus Films Library.

Lucie Schmidt, Robert A. Woods Professor of Economics, is co-author of “Living with children and food insecurity in seniors,” published in Applied Economics Perspectives and Policy.

Bozena Welborne, assistant professor of government, is the author of Women, Money and Political Participation in the Middle East. Welborne also published “Gender quotas in the Arab world – 20 years on” in Domes digest of Middle East studies.

Andrew Zimbalist, Robert A. Woods Professor Emeritus of Economics, was a panelist for the  “Sports and Diplomacy in Action: The 2022 FIFA World Cup at Fletcher” conference in November at the Fletcher School at Tufts University.  Zimbalist also appears in “The Economics of College Sports,” a new webinar produced by The Drake Group Education Fund.

Sophie Ong ’12 is the recipient of a 2022–24 Brian P. Kennedy Leadership Fellowship from the Toledo Museum of Art. Ong earned her Smith degree in art history and is studying for a doctorate in that discipline at Rutgers University. She served as a curatorial intern for the Toledo Museum during her time at Smith, initiating the museum’s land acknowledgment and reshaping its Cloister Gallery.

Wild Cactus Therapy, a practice founded by Marie Wallace ’11, was named a 2022 Small Business of the Year by the Fort Worth, Texas, Chamber of Commerce and was tops in the emerging business category. Wallace majored in education and child study and psychology at Smith and earned a master’s degree in counseling from the University of Texas Austin. 

Angelina Lippert ’07 has received an Emily Hall Tremaine Journalism Fellowship for Curators from the arts journalism platform, Hyperallergic, for a project documenting the practice of printmaker Amos Kennedy Jr., whose early posters commemorate Black life in rural Alabama. Lippert, who is chief curator and director of content of Poster House in New York City, earned her Smith degree in art history and religion and has a master’s degree in the art of the Russian avant-garde from the Courtauld Institute of Art.

Donna Hayward ’91, MAT ’93 (left), has been named 2023 National Principal of the Year by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Hayward, who is principal of Haddan Killingworth High School in Higganum, Connecticut, majored in philosophy at Smith and went on to receive a master’s degree in teaching. Hayward is “a proven leader with an unwavering commitment to her students, families and educators,” the award announcement said.

Judith Selzer ’99 is the new president and CEO of Vermont-based Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. Selzer, who majored in sociology and women’s studies at Smith, co-founded the Women’s Foundation of Florida, and has worked with Planned Parenthood organizations in New Jersey.

Author, editor and publisher Roxanne Bland ’82 received the 2022 Empowered Woman of the Year Award from the International Association of Top Professionals for her work as a business professional and entrepreneur. Bland, who is owner of Blackrose Press, majored in government at Smith and earned a law degree at Tulane University.

Attorney Susan Lindenauer ’61 received a Lifelong Champion Award from the Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund for her dedicated advocacy work. Lindenauer earned a degree in history at Smith and a law degree at Columbia University. She is a former attorney-in-chief for the New York Legal Aid Society, where she worked for 38 years.

Photograph by Jeff Baker