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Rodney J. Morrison, emeritus professor of economics at Wellesley College, passed away on Dec. 16, 2021, in Chicago at the age of 87. Throughout his career, Rod was a productive and internationally recognized scholar. He was a NATO Fellow in economics and published many articles in respected journals and several influential books, including Portugal: Revolutionary Change in an Open Economy (1981), a work that synthesized economics, international relations, and history.

Barbara Peterson Ruhlman ’54 passed away on Jan. 2. Her visionary gift to Wellesley, the Barbara Ruhlman Fund for Interdisciplinary Studies, acknowledged and supported the increasing interest of students and faculty in collaborating across disciplines. Since 1997, the fund has sponsored the Ruhlman Conference, an annual spring event that celebrates student scholarly and creative achievement.

The entire Wellesley community lost a great friend on Dec. 6, 2021, when Trustee Emeritus Sid Knafel died. Many of us had the privilege and pleasure of a personal friendship with Sid, and we all benefit from Sid’s vision and generosity. The fullness of his life is directly reflected in the diversity and creativity of his philanthropy.

One of the great lessons I took from my career in academic medicine and public health is that when you are trying to solve large problems, it really matters who is around the table. If...

As we chart our way into “the new normal,” I think a lot about the challenge to balance what we hold dear about our alma mater with a living, breathing institution that continues to evolve and thrive in a rapidly changing world.

One night in 2019, packing up to move out of Sage Hall before its demolition, John Cameron, now professor emeritus of biological sciences, found a box labeled as containing film, But it held something unique. And historic—15 cyanotype prints from some of the first X-ray experiments done in the U.S.

In January, Wellesley welcomed students, faculty, and staff into the transformed Science Complex, which encompasses more than 275,000 square feet of sustainably designed space and combines renovations to the College’s historic structures with new spaces for research, collaboration, and teaching. The students quickly made the space their own.

Mary Ellen Crawford Ames ’40 passed away on Aug. 17, 2021, following a lifetime of achievement and adventure that spanned 102 years. For 70 of those years, she was an engaging presence at Wellesley as a student, class president, alumna volunteer, personnel director, and as the College’s venerable director of admission from 1969 to 1985.

After concluding a national search, the Wellesley College Alumnae Association chose a familiar face to become editor of Wellesley magazine. On Nov. 15, 2021, Lisa Scanlon Mogolov ’99 assumed her new role after 16 years on the magazine staff.