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Edward Walker '62, Christian A. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Global Political Theory and former U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Israel, presented his views on current U.S. relations in the Middle East as a featured speaker during Reunion Weekend on Saturday, June 2.

Associate Professor of Music Lydia Hamessley presented a paper titled “Commercial Folk: Dow Chemical’s ‘Human Element’ Campaign” at the Music & The Moving Image conference, held at New York University on May 18-20. Her paper examined Dow Chemical’s $20 million advertising campaign, “The Human Element” (2006).

Dean of the Faculty Joe Urgo is the editor of two new books on William Faulkner, published by University Press of Mississippi. Both are co-edited with Ann J. Abadie, associate director of Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. The books -- Faulkner and Material Culture and Faulkner's Inheritance -- are collections of essays originally presented at the annual Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha conferences in Mississippi.

Hamilton President Joan Stewart and nearly 100 friends and family members of John Root '44 gathered on April 27 at The Links Club in New York City, to celebrate John's more than 60 years of volunteer service to the College. Although he has served in virtually every volunteer capacity, it is his work with the Committee on the Visual Arts, including more than a decade as its chair, that stands out. In his honor, $260,000 was raised to establish the John B. Root '44 Exhibition Fund. Income from this fund will enhance annual exhibitions at Hamilton's Emerson Gallery, or its successor, currently in planning as part of Hamilton's Excelsior Campaign. Members of Hamilton's arts faculty and Emerson Gallery staff were among those honoring Root.

The life of 1st Lt. Michael Cleary, a graduate of the class of 2003 killed in Iraq, was remembered by his sister Erin Flanagan '91 on NBC's Today Show on Thursday, June 7. The Today Show interview came about following a question Flanagan posed during CNN's Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire on Tuesday, June 5. As a member of the audience, she asked U.S. Senator John McCain to explain his Iraq exit strategy. In posing her question, she talked about her brother and his death.

Cheng Li, William R. Kenan Professor of Government and Brookings Institution Fellow, gave a presentation on the leadership of China and the upcoming 17th Party Congress on June 6, in Washington D.C. at the board meeting of the U.S.-China Business Council. Attending members included Citibank CEO William Rhodes, New York Life International CEO Joseph Gilmour, former U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hill and William Cohen, former U.S. Secretary of Defense.

Carl T. Hayden '63 has been nominated to serve as chair and member of the State University of New York (SUNY) Board of Trustees by New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. Hayden will also serve as chair of the search committee that will conduct a nationwide search for a permanent SUNY Chancellor.

Associate Professor of Economics Paul Hagstrom was a participant in the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research’s Policy Forum, “Can Upstate Cities Save Themselves?,” held on Wednesday, June 6, in Albany. Hagstrom. a participant in a panel discussion with professors from Cornell and University of Buffalo and a senior economist from the Federal Reserve, has done extensive research on the economic impact of refugees in central New York. Other participants included the mayor of Rochester, the president of the Congress for the New Urbanism and the upstate chair of the Empire State Development Corp.

The weather might have been unpredictable for Reunions '07 but one thing attendees could count on was an abundance of things to do during the weekend of May 31-June 3. From history classes to art exhibits, musical performances to sports discussions, building tours to a golf tournament, the weekend was packed with 86 activities from the sedate to the stimulating. Sixty-seven members of the class of 1957 were on hand to celebrate their half-century reunion. A total of more than 1,600 participants came to campus. Here's a brief account of a few of the weekend's events.

George Shields, the Winslow Professor of Chemistry, hosted a panel discussion titled "Drug Design and Global Warming: Undergraduates Making a Difference" as an Alumni College during Reunion Weekend on June 1. The panel gave alumni a chance to learn about the myriad research projects students are conducting in his and Co-Director of the Center for Molecular Design Karl Kirschner's computational chemistry and molecular design lab over the summer, as well as an overview of all science research taking place at Hamilton. After describing the research taking place in the lab and the numerous publications his students have co-authored, science students Katherine Alser ’09, Rebecca Mackenzie '08 and Alexa Schwarzman '09 shared their research experiences.