Summer 2022

A palm reader once correctly inferred that “why” is the favorite word of Lulu Chow Wang ’66. The Wall Street leader and philanthropist has always had an insatiable curiosity, she says—a quality that drives her to want to better understand and improve the world.

Jeri Lynne Johnson ’93, a conductor and the founding artistic director of the Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra in Philadelphia, knew what she wanted to be from age 7, when she attended her first orchestra concert.

Speed, drama, loyalty, pride, camaraderie—Hooprolling has it all. In its nearly 130-year history, the race has become, as President Paula Johnson put it, iconic.

When Madeleine Korbel Albright ’59 created the Albright Institute at Wellesley, she hoped the fellows would support each other in the fight to establish women as leaders in the world. “The secretary really emphasized that you always leave the door behind you open for others to follow,” says Albright fellow Amal Cheema ’17.

At the funeral of Madeleine Korbel Albright ’59 at the Washington National Cathedral in late April, while the war in Ukraine raged on, she was celebrated for championing democracy—and breaking one of the world’s hardest glass ceilings.

In high school, Sukin “Dylan” Sim ’15 found themselves captivated by a science textbook excerpt about computational chemistry, a type of chemistry that uses computer simulation to help solve problems. At Wellesley, they sought out professors working on research in the field, then crafted their own major of chemical physics with a minor in math.

COVID-19 isn’t the first pandemic for Erika Willacy ’99. She has spent years at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) managing outbreak responses around the world, with a particular focus on those who are systematically disadvantaged and shut out of health care systems—people of color, LGBTQ+ folks, and in particular migrants and refugees.

Kathryn Bishop ’79 has held many titles in her life: program director, university fellow, board chair, published author. This spring, she added a new one to the list: Commander of the Order of the British Empire, an honor that makes her Kathryn Bishop CBE.

Linda Esslinger Heusser ’54, an adjunct research scientist at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, wants women to continue seeing science as a career option

Tributes to Wellesley alumnae by family and friends

On a frosty night in January, 90 students made the trek across campus to gather in the largest lecture hall in the Science Complex, H101. They were there for ES 125H/PEAC 125H: The Climate Crisis, a class that embodies one of the goals in the College’s strategic plan: “We will renew the structure of our academic program and draw the greatest possible value from finite resources by reducing the siloing of our academic departments and prioritizing interdisciplinary collaboration.”

Like much of the world, Nina Tumarkin was unprepared for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. “My reaction at the time was utter shock,” says Tumarkin, the Kathryn Wasserman Davis Professor of Slavic Studies and the longtime director of Wellesley’s Russian Area Studies Program. “An actual full-scale invasion and war seemed so unlikely and impossible.”

Reports from around campus as the 2021-2022 academic year drew to a close.

Among the hundreds of objects that were rediscovered during the recent move out of Sage Hall, the most remarkable is the almost life-size papier-mâché anatomical model of a woman made in 1928 by Maison Auzoux, a firm founded by French surgeon Louis Thomas Jérôme Auzoux.

May 27 was a joyful day as Wellesley celebrated the class of 2022. “I am so proud of all of you for having overcome the many challenges of COVID-19 and arriving at this beautiful moment,” said President Paula A. Johnson.

When Daniel Sichel, professor of economics, isn’t doing research on economic growth, technology, and economic measurement, he enjoys woodworking—in particular making furniture. One day, while looking at a catalog of tools, he saw a listing for old-fashioned cut nails. He started wondering how much those nails would have cost in the 19th century, and he began looking at prices that economic historians had gathered.

At this year’s Ruhlman Conference, the first held in person since 2019, Deana-Rae Weatherly ’22 gave a presentation titled “Icon of a Nation: Black Womanhood in Jamaican Visual Culture,” based on her art history thesis.

Wellesley Crew won the 2022 NCAA DIII Rowing National Championship on May 28 in Sarasota, Fla. It is the second time since 2016 that the program captured the national title.

Lawyer and criminal justice activist Bryan Stevenson addressed the Wellesley community on April 28 at the combined Betsy Wood Knapp ’64 Lecture in the Social Sciences and Wilson Lecture. Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, spoke about the soaring number of Americans affected by mass incarceration.

Joy St. John, dean of admission and financial aid, is moving on. When announcing St. John’s decision to leave Wellesley this spring to serve as director of admission at Harvard College, President Paula Johnson said, “Under her leadership, Wellesley has recruited its most diverse classes, which has deeply enhanced the student experience.”

On Patriot’s Day, Central Street in front of the College was once again lined with students holding signs and screaming their support for Boston Marathon runners.

At a moment when Americans are finding it so difficult to connect with each other that U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warns about “an epidemic of loneliness,” we all have a lot to learn from...

Wellesley seniors were introduced to the alumnae network in a new way this year. A letter-writing campaign yielded 1,600 personal missives from alums in classes from 1952 through 2021

Dorothy Jones-Davis ’98 and Briana Marisa Calleros ’12 have joined the WCAA Board of Directors,

Tatiana Ivy Moise ’21 was elected to serve as the Young Alumnae Trustee from 2022–2025. “I am honored to serve in helping to guide Wellesley forward for the next three years and beyond,” she says.

Laura Daignault Gates ’72 has a well-known adage, “Wellesley is for life.” The College is very fortunate to have been a big part of her life for the past 50 years.

Recently, someone asked me, “Where is Wellesley in your story?” I stopped for a moment before I answered, then replied, “Wellesley is everywhere in my story.”

Extraordinary Professors Two of my favorite professors while at Wellesley and beyond were Lilian Armstrong ’58 and Peter J. Fergusson (“ In Memoriam ,” spring 2022). I took at least three of Professor Armstrong’s classes,...

One of the many times Madeleine Korbel Albright ’59 returned to Wellesley was ahead of the opening of the traveling exhibit Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box at the Davis Museum in...

Recent publications by Wellesley authors

Phillip Levine, the Katharine Coman and A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Economics, addresses the vast, complex, and often mind-boggling world of college price-setting and financial aid in his new book.

Warming Up Julia Child: The Remarkable Figures Who Shaped a Legend takes a refreshing approach to the woman who, dish by dish, became one of the most esteemed and industry-shaping home cooks in the American...

A lesser-known phenomenon of the college experience is the “Dog Drop”—when childhood pets start to drop dead. But comfort can be found in unexpected places.