Academics

A photo portrait of Lois Roach, senior lecturer in theatre studies
Winter 2022
“We’re all in one big stream. Everyone is trying to find a way to be heard,” says Lois Roach, senior lecturer in theatre studies. In Roach’s course THST 106: Speaking Truth to Power, her students learn to speak up while hearing out other perspectives.More
A photo of Christopher Arumainayagam, professor of chemistry
Winter 2022
For the last year and a half, Christopher Arumainayagam, professor of chemistry, has sought to understand one of the most fundamental questions of all: How did life begin?More
A photo of Macy Lipkin '23
Winter 2022
Macy Lipkin ’23 has been thinking about Wellesley for a long, long time. “My sixth grade science teacher went to Wellesley—Cindy Krol ’02—and I practically wanted to be her, so naturally I decided when I was 11 that I was going to come here, too,” she says.More
A photo shows an under-construction hallway in the Science Complex, with open wood beams and a walkway above.
Winter 2022
At the end of the fall 2021 semester, a short punch list remained, but the completion of the Science Complex—the largest construction project the College has undertaken in more than a century—was in sightMore
Illustration of the Statue of Liberty with math symbols radiating from her torch
Winter 2022
A new institute at Wellesley co-founded by mathematics professors Ismar Volić and Stanley Chang supports education and research at the intersection of math and politics.More
A photo portrait of Elena Gascón-Vera
Fall 2021
Elena Gascón-Vera, professor emerita of Spanish, passed away on Aug. 12 in Madrid after a two-year bout with lung cancer. She was 77. Rarely has a colleague made such a difference in terms of our intellectual life and our calling to educate women.More
A student studies on a bench overlooking wetlands in Alumnae Valley, with Lake Waban in the distance.
Fall 2021
Wellesley’s campus—its meadows and hillsides, its winding paths along Lake Waban, its ancient trees and stands of rhododendron—has inspired the community for generations.More
A photo portrait of Adrian Castro, assistant professor of geosciences
Fall 2021
When most of us come across a rock, we register little more than a gray hunk of stone that blends easily into the background. But Adrian Castro considers the rocks the main attraction. Every rock has a story to tell, he explains, and his job as a geologist is to use scientific techniques to unravel them. “Good geologists are like storytellers for the planet,” he says.More
A photo of Dot Widmayer '52
Summer 2021
Dorothea “Dot” J. Widmayer ’52, professor emerita of biological sciences, passed away on March 6. Teaching introductory biology and genetics, and carrying out research on gene action and expression in the protozoan Paramecium aurelia, Dot had a great positive influence on many students throughout her long career.More
A photo of Tamara Nash wearing a Wellesley "W" button on her lapel
Summer 2021
“My family taught me that education is the key to success,” says Tamara Nash ’79. It’s not surprising, then, that Tamara has built a career around higher education administration.More