News

The Nominations Committee of the Alumni Council invites nominations for the 2006 Distinguished Service Award. Presented by the council on behalf of the Alumni Association, the award recognizes an employee who has substantially contributed to Hamilton through distinguished job performance and through involvement in student, alumni or other activities in the College community. At the time of selection, the recipient must be an active member of Hamilton’s faculty, administration, staff, or maintenance and operations.

Ballots for the Hamilton College Alumni Association Alumni Trustee election mailed July 15. Elections a firm that specializes in supervising elections, will manage the election process. Each ballot is accompanied by a letter from the President of the Alumni Association and includes biographical information and a statement of candidacy for each candidate.  Completed ballots must be received by August 15. The results of the election will be certified by Elections USA, and the three candidates with the highest number of votes will be elected to fill the three vacancies for Alumni Trustee. Results will be announced to alumni on the HOLAC home page as soon as possible thereafter. Announcements also will be published in the next edition of the Hamilton Alumni Review and its online supplement (formerly eNews). Please vote. The complete election procedures are available in the "Alumni Trustee Election Procedures" link to the left of this story.

The Hamilton College Alumni Office is pleased to continue our alumni travel program in calendar year 2006. In 2005 Hamilton alumni have enjoyed trips with a wonderful mix of education, camaraderie, privacy and entertainment to Costa Rica, Italy, France and China with the alumni associations of Colby and Bates colleges.  Thus far, in 2006, Hamiltonians enjoyed a journey through Vietnam in March. Due to the overwhelming success of Alumni Travel in the 2005, Hamilton is offering two more international Alumni Travel opportunities to alumni, parents and friends of the College in 2006. Passage of Peter the GreatJune 17-26, 2006  Greek Isles: Crete, Santorini and AthensOctober 9-22, 2006 All travel programs will have strong educational component complimenting the professionally managed tours. A fifth summer trip along the Lewis and Clark expedition of discovery trail is in the works for the summer of 2006. Costs and dates are subject to change. We invite you to request a brochure for any or all of the trips please complete our Travel Interest Survey to let us know what types of programs are of interest to you. We hope to see you and your family on one of our upcoming trips.  

Hamilton Trustee John Rice '78 has been appointed a vice chairman at General Electric Company, under a new reorganization of its 11 businesses into six industry-focused businesses. Rice, currently head of GE's Atlanta-based GE Energy subsidiary, will lead GE Industrial. That unit will include Plastics, Silicones/Quartz, Consumer & Industrial, Security & Sensors, Automation, and Equipment Services. In making the announcement GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said "John is one of our best operating leaders. He will accelerate our efforts to improve growth rates, margins and cash in these global businesses." Rice will relocate from Atlanta to GE headquarters in Fairfield, Conn.

Hamilton welcomed back more than 1,200 alumni and their guests as it hosted its annual Reunion Weekend. Highlights included the dedication of the Delta Kappa Epsilon House in honor of Eleanor and Sidney Wertimer and a keynote lecture, Alexander Hamilton: The Life and Legacy of Our Most Elusive Founder, by Douglas Ambrose, the Sidney Wertimer Associate Professor of History.

Among the many guests to accompany alumni to Reunion Weekend was Wes Cowan, an antiques dealer and auctioneer for the past 10 years, star of the PBS television series History Detectives, and featured appraiser on Antiques Roadshow, whose wife, Shelley (Gertzog) graduated from Kirkland College in 1975. On Friday, in the Fillius Events Barn, Cowan gave a talk titled “Collecting for Fun and Profit,” on treasuring the old in the form of antique collecting and dealing, and provided advice to his audience on how to get started with this pastime.

On a warm, sunny day made to order for a nature walk, more than 40 alumni and guests enjoyed a tour of Root Glen led by Ernest Williams, the Leonard C. Ferguson Professor of Biology, during Reunion Weekend.

A.G. Lafley, chief executive of Procter & Gamble Co. and a 1969 graduate of Hamilton, was featured in a Wall Street Journal article (6/1/05) about the consumer products company's successful turnaround under him.

Alison Eckberg, a 2002 graduate of Hamilton who is working on volcano research at Mount St. Helens in Washington state, is among geologists featured in a Washington Post article (5/29/05) about volcano experts. The article details the U.S. Geological Survey's concern that, because of flat budgets, a lack of hiring of new, young volcanologists will result in a collapse of volcano-monitoring programs. Eckberg is pursuing her master's degree in geology but fears that she will be unable to get a job as a specialist in volcanoes.

Richard Nelson ‘72, an internationally acclaimed playwright and Tony-winner, is prepared to touch the lives of many an aspiring playwright when he becomes chairman of the playwriting department of Yale School of Drama on July 1. This appointment is considered one of the most prestigious in the world of theatrical academia, and Nelson will begin his stint at Yale after a 30-year career in the playwriting industry.