Grads

Kathy Fortin (MALS’07) had her essay, “That Which Remains,” published in an anthology titled Shadow and Light: A Literary Anthology on Memory. The anthology was released in October 2011 and was published by the Monadnock Writers’ Group in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Kathy’s essay was one of 12 prose pieces, 66 poems and 13 photographs chosen from more than 900 submissions representing all areas of the United States. It is a reflection on memory loss, written while she witnessed a loved one’s Alzheimer’s. Kathy is currently working on a nonfiction book about her Italian heritage and her grandparents’ peasant roots. Two of her articles, one on Italian-Americandiscrimination and another on the padrone labor system, were recently published in Elmira, New York, in the Chemung County Historical Journal.

The Welch Foundation, one of the nation’s oldest and largest sources of private funding for basic research in chemistry, recently appointed Marye Anne Fox (biochemistry’74) as chair of its scientific advisory board. “We are pleased to have Marye Anne’s hands taking the helm of our advisory board,” said Beth Robertson, chair of the foundation’s board of directors. “An advisory board member for 13 years and a recipient of a Welch research grant for two decades before that at the University of Texas at Austin, she knows our mission well. She is both a remarkable scientist and experienced administrator who will help guide our focus on advancing basic research in chemistry to improve life.”

Dr. Fox is chancellor at the University of California, San Diego. Her research interests are in organic photochemistry and electrochemistry. Her contributions to materials science, solar energy conversion and environmental chemistry have been recognized with many awards, including the National Medal of Science, election to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, and as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. From the American Chemical Society she has received the Garvan and Southwest Regional Awards; and she was also named a Cope Scholar, a Sloan Fellow and a Dreyfus Teacher Scholar. She served on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and as co-chair of the National Research Council’s Government-Industry Research Roundtable.

Tom Zoellner (MALS’14) published a non-fiction book, A Safeway in Arizona, late last year. It is subtitled “What the Gabrielle Gifford’s Shooting Tells Us About the Grand Canyon State and Life in Arizona.” Alice Gregory gave the book a terrific review in The Boston Globe on December 27, 2011: “All too often narrative nonfiction is made muddy with an excess of ‘journalistic color,’ an accumulation of charming details that prove the author is paying attention, but nothing more. Zoellner's reporting actually pays off; his information advances the plot and his book embraces an almost thriller-style narrative structure, with explanations that look back to earlier scenes and unexpected returns to that January morning in the Safeway parking lot. Even the seriousness of Zoellner’s own authority is disclosed as a sort of baiting reveal. Not only is he a fifth-generation Arizonan, but he’s also an old friend of Gifford. A Safeway in Arizona is a masterly work of reporting, historical analysis and sly cultural criticism. Arizona celebrates its 100th birthday next year. Let’s hope Zoellner takes the anniversary as an occasion to pen yet more pieces about the state, in all its horror and hope.”

Tom, the author of three other nonfiction books, is an assistant professor of English at Chapman College. He lives in Los Angeles.

175 Greensboro Road, Hanover, NH 03755; (603) 643-3789; m.jane.welsh.adv98@ alum.dartmouth.org