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Graduation has not stopped James McConnell ’07 (East Setauket, NY) from continuing his research in the lab of Winslow Professor of Chemistry George Shields and Co-Director of the Center for Molecular Design Karl Kirschner. McConnell, a chemistry and math double major, plans to spend part of this summer continuing to work on his thesis project, which he began last summer, until someone else is able to take over where he left off. In the meantime, he will be able to collect more data and work in a lab he describes as “very positive.”

Estelle Wilhelm, whose late husband Curtis "Curt" R. Wilhelm was a member of Hamilton’s class of 1940, has pledged $1 million toward the renovation of the Kirner-Johnson Building and has included the college in her estate plans. Hamilton President Joan Hinde Stewart observed, "Hamilton's ability to offer our students a superb liberal arts experience is strengthened by the generosity of people like Estelle Wilhelm."

Associate Professor of English Steven Yao delivered a lecture at Meiji University in Tokyo, Japan, on May 25. His lecture, titled "Recent Theoretical Issues in Ethnic American Literature in the U.S.," introduced Japanese scholars and students of ethnic American literature to current debates about the concept of "hybridity" in Asian American and Postcolonial literary theory. He was invited to speak at Meiji University by Professor Yoshiaki Koshikawa. Yao's talk stemmed from his current project, "Foreign Accents: Chinese American Verse and the Counter-Poetics of Difference in the U.S., 1910-Present."

Visiting Professor of Communication John Adams co-authored a chapter in a new book Rhetoric, Religion, and the Roots of Identity in British Colonial America: A Rhetorical History of the United States, Volume 1, by James R. Andrews (Michigan State University Press). According to the publisher "Volume 1 of the Rhetorical History of the United States series probes formal and ideational aspects of colonial rhetoric to illuminate textual/contextual interactions and their enduring implications for American rhetoric." Adams' chapter, co-authored with Stephen R. Yarbrough, is titled "Jonathan Edwards, the Great Awakening, and 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.'" 

A retrospective exhibition of the work of Hamilton alumnus Spencer Finch '85 will open this Saturday, May 26, at 6:30 p.m. at MASS MoCA with a reception including remarks by the artist. His first retrospective show, "Spencer Finch: What Time Is It On The Sun?," includes more than 40 works - comprising more than 160 pastels, 62 photographs, 6 major sculptural installations, plus a 30-foot long drawing -- made over the last 14 years. The show will also include four major new works, two of which are site-specific installations created for MASS MoCA. The exhibition will run through the spring of 2008.

Reunions 2007 are now fading into memory. They were the largest such gathering in the history of the College. Reunions are a time of reconnection and renewal for all who attend - and Reunions '07 were no exception. The 1617 who attended were reminded that is the good will and character of the people who make up the Hamilton and Kirkland family that defines our community of graduates. 

Carl Rubino, the Edward North Professor of Classics, will appear in a Lucasfilm documentary, Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed, premiering on the History Channel on Monday, May 28, at 9 p.m. (Check local listings). Produced and directed by Hamilton alumnus Kevin Burns '77, the special commemorates the 30th anniversary of the premiere of Star Wars in theaters.

Professor of Chinese Hong Gang Jin conducted a workshop at National Capital Language Resource Center, 2007 Summer Institutes for Chinese Teachers, on May 21-23 in Washington, D.C.  The Institute's theme was "New Concepts in Teaching Chinese," and Jin's workshop focused on task-based language instruction.

Hamilton’s admission office has a new home. On Friday, June 1, at 11:30 a.m., the former Sigma Phi fraternity house, having undergone extensive renovation and expansion, will be dedicated in honor of Joy and Chet ’70 Siuda. Later on Friday at 4:30 p.m., the Annex will be formally dedicated and named in honor of Patricia and Winton ’28 Tolles.

Edward "Ned" Walker, Jr., '62, the Christian A. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Global Political Theory, contributed an op-ed to the San Diego Union-Tribune (5/23/07). In "Ending the Civil War in Gaza," Walker writes that "The Palestinians appear to be in an 'uncivil war' even as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert are working toward serious dialogue on peace." Walker observes: "In my experience ... when there are any signs of progress toward a peaceful resolution of the issue through a two-state solution, Hamas, probably acting on instructions from its leaders in Damascus, will raise the temperature of violence to entice the Israelis into violent response and thus end this dangerous talk of peace."