News

As reported in The New York Times on July 16, “More than 100 former American ambassadors wrote to President Obama on Thursday praising the nuclear deal reached with Iran this week as a ‘landmark agreement’ that could be effective in halting Tehran’s development of a nuclear weapon, and urging Congress to support it.” Two Hamilton alumni, Edward S. Walker ’62, Christian A. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Global Political Theory,  and William Luers ’51, signed the letter. 

Although globally humans rely mostly on agriculture as a source of sustenance, farmers around the world are not on equal footing. Eren Shultz ’15 is particularly aware of this disparity “having both grown up in rural Wisconsin and spent significant amounts of time traveling and living abroad in small agrarian villages in Eastern Africa.” Shultz said he was both “fascinated and concerned” with “the differences in mechanization and lifestyles” between those communities.

Bill Harley ’77, Grammy-winning singer-storyteller, will be reflecting upon the enduring relevance of The Phantom Tollbooth, which inspired one of his works, “Milo’s Tune.” Harley will be joined by author Norton Juster for a celebration of the beloved children’s book on Sunday, July 12, at 3 p.m. in Baird Auditorium at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Harley was awarded an honorary degree from Hamilton at the 2015 Commencement on May 24.

Though common perception may hold that charity and for-profit business stand opposed to one another, Eli Shakun ’16 is spending his summer in an internship at the Weinstein Carnegie Philanthropic Group (WCPG) in New York City, a firm whose business model challenges that perception.

Since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, health care has remained in the minds of many Americans and news outlets, who wonder and speculate about its future. Yet, the conversation is often centered around legislation and healthcare providers, leaving much important work unnoticed. This summer, four Hamilton graduates, Sam Sherman ’15, Taylor Brandin ’15, Alicia Rost ’15 and Kurt Minges ’15, will be joining Towers Watson, an “American global professional services firm,” as Health and Group benefits analysts.

Dr. Hugh Sampson ’71 has been named the Chief Scientific Officer at DBV Technologies, the French biotec company developing the Viaskin peanut allergy treatment patch. Sampson’s term will begin on November 1, 2015.

A historic U.S. Supreme Court opinion today legalizes same-sex marriage across the country. Civil rights lawyer and Hamilton alumna Mary Bonauto ’83 was one of the attorneys who argued against same-sex marriage bans before the court, and she won earlier legal victories that helped lay the groundwork for today’s decision.

Gordon Kaye ’74, editor and publisher of Graphic Design USA, has been selected by the Alumni Council as the new president of the Alumni Association, succeeding John Hadity ’83. His term began July, 2015.

Sam Welch, Class of 1986, has been named as Hamilton’s new Assistant Vice President/Executive Director of the Maurice Horowitch Career and Life Outcomes Center. According to Dick Tantillo’s announcement, Welch will “provide strategic leadership for a comprehensive career center focused on serving students throughout their undergraduate years and beyond.”

Cassidy (Cassie) Dennison ’16 is spending her summer interning as a legislative analyst at Williams & Jensen, LLC, in Washington D.C, a litigation and lobbying firm.  Dennison, a government major, discovered the internship through a connection at the Hamilton College Career Center, which put her in contact with Hamilton alumnus George Baker ’74, a partner at Williams & Jensen. The firm is home to a number of other Hamilton alumni, including Baker’s fellow partner Frank Vlossak ’89, Marc Pitarresi ’10 and Kevin Prior ’13.