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At age 12, Wellesley College President Emerita Diana Chapman Walsh ’66 knew she would write a book someday, a beautiful book. That sense of clarity inspired her to write this thoughtful and honest look at her personal history—from childhood, her Wellesley education, marriage and motherhood, through her work as president of the College.

“Women who enroll at Wellesley are about 7 percentage points more likely to major in economics, and that’s [almost] double the chances of majoring in economics at other institutions where non-enrollees went,” says Patrick McEwan, Professor of Economics and Luella LaMer Slaner professor in Latin American Studies. The question is why.

Thumbnail reviews of new publications from the Wellesley community.

Jeanne Olson Darlington M.A. ’72, former instructor in science laboratory in the chemistry department, died on July 27 at the age of 99.

“Ever since I arrived at Wellesley in 2002, I have had students, time and time again, come to me and say, ‘I want to do a thesis on Haruki Murakami,’ or ‘I want to do an independent study on Murakami,’” says Eve Zimmerman, professor of Japanese.

Most of us are familiar with the well-known subatomic particles that make up the universe: protons, neutrons, and electrons. But James Battat, associate professor of physics, is curious about a much lesser-known particle, the neutrino.

Ann Velenchik, associate professor of economics and writing, drew on her own experience as a working mother to teach a first-year writing class, Having It All? The Problem of Women and Work. In it, her students grappled with questions about the economic and social roles they will face as they move into the world and decide how, when, or whether to start families of their own.

Perhaps Nina McKee ’16 was fated to be involved with the Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute for Global Affairs. “Madeleine Albright was always this figure in my life because I was a young redhead who liked negotiating and wanted to be a diplomat,” says McKee, who became the Albright Institute’s program director in December 2022.

Like many science-inclined students, Lamiya Mowla ’13 arrived at Wellesley intending to become a doctor. But an introductory astronomy lesson altered her ambitions—and the course of her life.