People News, July 2017

Rikki Hetland ’18 and Allison Erena ’19 are participating in internships with the Appalachian Mountain Club this summer, giving science talks to visitors at AMC trail lodges. The internships grew out of an astronomy and public policy course at Smiththis spring. The two Smithies recently completed training at the AMC’s Highland Center in Crawford Notch, N.H., where Hetland will be stationed. Erena will be posted at an AMC lodge in Maine.

Sergey Glebov, associate professor of history, is the author of From Empire to Eurasia: Politics, Scholarship, and Ideology in Russian Eurasianism, 1920’s-1930’s published by Northern Illinois University Press.

Steven Heydemann, the Janet Wright Ketcham ’53 Professor in Middle East Studies, spoke last month on “Rethinking Social Contracts in the MENA Region” at a World Bank Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Chief Economist Office Seminar in Washington, D.C. Heydemann’s co-panelist was Deborah Wetzel ’83.

Suzanne Palmer, an instructor in Smith’s Computing and Technical Services division, has won awards from Dell Magazines for two works of science fiction. Palmer’s “Detroit Hammersmith: Zero-Gravity Toilet Repairman (Retired)” won an AnLab award for best novelette, and her “Lazy Dog Out” won an Asimov Science Fiction Readers award for best novella.

Sara Pruss, associate professor of geosciences, is the recipient of the Society for Sedimentary Geology’s James Lee Wilson Award for outstanding contributions in sedimentary geology by an early career scientist. She will receive her award next May in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Ileana Streinu, the Charles N. Clark Professor of Computer Science and Mathematics, has been awarded a four-year $917,222 National Science Foundation Grant for “Structure in Motion: Algorithms for Kinematic Design,” a project motivated by new technologies and techniques in robotics, computational biology, material science—and even origami. These apparently unrelated areas of science, art and technology give rise to a common core of mathematical, computational and engineering problems.

Smith has won a Gold Circle of Excellence Award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education for a giving program designed by Sam Samuels, director of gift planning, and Jessica Nicoll ’83, director and chief curator of the Smith College Museum of Art. The Hillyer Society is a new recognition program that honors alumnae and friends who donate works of art to the SCMA in their estates. CASE judges called the program “brilliant and innovative.” 

Smith College Change Bellringers participated in the annual BBC Music Day, where bellringers around the world performed at 7 p.m. local time on June 15. The theme of this year’s celebration was “the power of music.”

Adrianne Todman ’91 is the new chief executive officer of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials. Todman, who majored in government at Smith, previously served as executive director of the District of Columbia Housing Authority. She earned a master’s degree from The George Washington University.

Brooke Teller ’94 has been named Cumberland County Teacher of the Year for her work as a chemistry teacher at Casco Bay High School in Maine. Teller’s colleague Sara Mills ’66 nominated Teller for the award. Teller, who majored in biological sciences at Smith, earned a master’s degree in biology from Central Connecticut State University.

It Takes a Rainbow, a children’s musical co-written by Emily Clare Thompson ’92, has been selected for this summer’s Midtown International Theatre Festival in New York City.

Niki T. Ingram ’76 is the recipient of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Martha Hampton Award for her accomplishments in the field of workers’ compensation law. Ingram majored in psychology at Smith and earned a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Carol Pierce ’74 has been appointed director of Kroll Bond Rating Agency’s insurance group. Pierce, who majored in history at Smith, earned an M.B.A. from the Keller Graduate School of Management.

Carol Collier ’73 received the Pennsylvania Environmental Council’s Winsor Award for her work as executive director of the Delaware River Basin Commission. Collier, who majored in biological sciences at Smith, earned a master’s degree in regional planning from the University of Pennsylvania.

Composer Alice Parker ’47 will lead a “Summer Sing” session at the Massachusetts chapter of the American Choral Directors Association’s annual summer conference at Smith July 16-19. During her long career, Parker has composed pieces specifically for women’s choruses.