People News, February 2018

Cai Ytsma ’18 will present research at this year’s Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, which will be held in March in Woodlands, Texas. Ytsma’s abstract “Predicting lithium, boron, carbon and sulfur with laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy under vacuum, Earth and Martian atmospheres,” grows out of research she has been conducting at Mount Holyoke College since her sophomore year. The work is also part of her senior thesis.

Carrie Baker, associate professor of the study of women and gender, was the moderator for “#MeToo: A Panel Discussion” held in February at Greenfield Community College.

Emily Bellanca ’18 co-authored a January Ms. magazine blog post with Associate Professor Carrie Baker, “Safe and Supported: Inside the DIY Abortion Movement.” Bellanca is majoring in the study of women and gender.

Professor of Education and Child Study Rosetta Cohen received the Starting Gate Award from Finishing Line Press for her chapbook of poetry, A Settled Life. The award is given biannually to an outstanding poet who does not yet have a full-length collection of poetry.

Andrea Hairston, Louise Wolff Kahn ’31 Professor of Theatre and Africana Studies, will read March 1 from her novel Will Do Magic for Small Change as part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries Author Talk Series.

Steven Heydemann, Janet Wright Ketcham ’53 Professor of Middle East Studies, published an essay, “Civil War: Economic Governance and State Reconstruction in the Arab Middle East,” in the Winter 2018 issue of Daedalus.

Maggie Liu, assistant professor of economics, co-authored an article published in Brookings, “Are Invisible Walls Inhibiting Internal Migration in India?”

Amelia McNamara, visiting assistant professor of statistical and data sciences and MassMutual fellow, was invited to participate in “Evidence About Programmers for Programming Language Design,” a seminar held in February at the Schloss Dagstuhl computer science research center in Wadern, Germany.

Professor of Engineering Susan Voss was profiled in the Fall 2017 issue of Harvard Otolaryngology magazine. “What I’m most proud of is the engineering program I helped establish” at Smith, she said. “Most of our 350 graduates are pursuing satisfying careers in engineering and showing the world that this is a field in which women can excel.”

Anderson Al Wazni MSW ’14 gave a talk about anti-Muslim biases for “Pushing Past Stereotypes,” a January gathering at East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine. Al Wazni’s SSW thesis on the hijab, feminism and Muslim women, was published in 2015 in Social Work, a journal of the National Association of Social Workers.

Jean Maziarz AC ’97 is the new director of the Richard Salter Storrs Library in Longmeadow, Mass. A psychology major at Smith, Maziarz had served as the library’s youth services director.

“Falling South,” a new film by Lorraine Portman ’87, about a woman seeking a new life in Florida, was shown in January at the annual St. Augustine Film Festival. Portman, who majored in theatre at Smith, earned an M.F.A. degree in film from Florida State University.

Shyama Venkateswar ’88 moderated a February panel discussion at New York’s Asia Society and Museum on “Educating Girls: The Journey Ahead.” The panel focused on the work of the nonprofit Educate Girls. Venkateswar, who is director of the Public Policy Program at Roosevelt House and a distinguished lecturer at Hunter College, majored in government at Smith and earned a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University.

“Gathering Spaces,” an exhibition by book artist Ann Kresge ’80, opened in February at Bend Art Center in Salem, Ore. Kresge, who majored in art at Smith and is education director at the Salem Art Association, has exhibited her works in university, museum and private collections in the United States and internationally.

Smith Medalist Betsy Humphreys ’69 was recently recognized by the National Library of Medicine for her contributions to a Unified Medical Language system, health data standards and other library initiatives. Humphreys, a former deputy director of the National Library of Medicine, majored in history at Smith and earned a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Maryland.