Grads

On June 11, the MALS Alumni Council held its annual champagne commencement reception for the '06 MALS graduates. It was a gorgeous late spring day. Many of us took advantage of the terrace outside the Hopkins Center faculty lounge to enjoy the fine food and drink and to visit with MALS alumni, faculty and graduates, as well as their families and friends. Nancy Silliman '95 (MALS'96) coordinated the event. Assisting her were Judy Chypre (MALS'99), Joan Kersey (MALS'96), Maggie Montgomery (MALS'99), Phyllis Nemhauser (MALS'03) and Nermina Zildzo (MALS'05). Mike Beahan (MALS'97), MALS Alumni Council president, lead the toast to our new alumni. Among those attending were Arnold Castagner (MALS'79); Alice Hill (MALS '75); Kristin Monahan (MALS'05), who is looking forward to a September wedding to Felipe Garcia; Christine Pace (MALS'05); and Robin Rost (MALS'05). In addition to these local alumni, the reception also drew several from further a field. Ashby Anderson (MALS'04) from Washington, D.C., and Erin Meanly (MALS'04) from New York City were also in attendance.

Many of the new alumni were happy to share their plans for the future. Ryan Frisinger (MALS'06) intends to apply to Ph.D. programs in comparative literature while teaching at a community college in the southern California area. He also plans to publish some of his thesis chapters. Ian Isherwood (MALS'06) will stay in the Hanover area. For him the MALS program was a way to change careers from one in politics to freelance writing. He feels he is in an excellent place to look for opportunities. Barakat Jassem (MALS'06) is returning to Iraq with "mixed feelings," but he is determined to share his educational experience with his country. Robert Meine (MALS'06), a career Army officer, will use his MALS concentration in cognitive studies to teach behavioral science and leadership at West Point. Larry Olmsted (MALS'06) will stay in the area and is currently writing a nonfiction book. Jenny Rice (MALS'06) has been working since January as a project manager in foreign direct investment. Mariejoy Abion San Buenaventura (MALS'06) is relocating to Los Angeles, where she will apply for teaching positions in English and literature while she continues to write poetry. We will really miss her extraordinary contributions to our Winter Carnival poetry reading. Chris Strouthopoulos (MALS'06) is to begin teaching English at a junior college in Farmington, New Mexico. Kiara Vigil (MALS'06) will begin work on her Ph.D. in the American cultural program at the University of Michigan. We wish them all well and hope for future updates.

The next major MALS alumni event will be on Homecoming weekend. For the second consecutive year MALS will join with the Arts and Sciences Graduate Alumni Association of Dartmouth (ASGAAD) to sponsor a Dartmouth Night wine-and-cheese reception and to march in the parade. All graduate alumni are invited to attend. For our more senior members, we are planning on providing a car. For the rest of us, our luck may hold out and our placement may once again be in front of the horses. Please plan to attend on October 13.

Dr. James Weinstein (ECS'94) was recently honored with the Wiltse Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society for the study of the Lumbar Spine at the annual meeting of the society in Bergen, Norway. According to a press release from Dartmouth- Hitchcock Medical Center, the award and $50,000 is presented to "an outstanding individual scientist, clinician or basic science researcher who has made a major contribution to the advancement of knowledge in the field of spinal disorders." Dr. Weinstein is professor and chairman of the department of orthopedics at Dartmouth Medical School and DHMC, where he founded the Center for Shared Decision Making in 1998.

175 Greensboro Road, Hanover, NH;(603) 643-3789; m.jane.welsh.adv'98@alum.dartmouth.org