Media inquiries:

It is our pleasure to assist members of the press.
You can reach us by phone or e-mail:
Jo Procter (413) 597-4279, Jo.Procter@williams.edu
Noelle Lemoine (413) 597-4277, Noelle.Lemoine@williams.edu
Resources for Journalists: www.williams.edu/admin/news/resources

Press Releases

J.R.R. Tolkien & C.S. Lewis Illustrator's Work Comes to Williams College Library

posted June 23, 2009.

The Chapin Library at Williams College has received, through the college's Oxford Programme, an important bequest of paintings, drawings, and other materials by the distinguished British illustrator Pauline Baynes.

Williams Graduate Program in the History of Art, Class of 2009 (Corrected 6/25/09)

posted June 23, 2009.

The Graduate Program in the History of Art, sponsored jointly by Williams College and the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, is among the United States foremost master's programs in art history, with both a national and international reputation.

63 Williams College Seniors Inducted into Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society

posted June 23, 2009.

Sixty-three members of the Williams College Class of 2009 were awarded associate membership in Sigma Xi, the international scientific honor society, upon graduation in June.

Center for Development Economics Brings Rich Diversity to Williamstown

posted June 23, 2009.

From the Bolivia to Zambia, this year 24 international students came to study at the Center for Development Economics (CDE) at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass. At the college's June Commencement, they were awarded master's of arts degrees in development.

Astronomer Jay Pasachoff Sheds Light on Earth-Based Solar Eclipse Research in June 11 Issue of Nature

posted June 10, 2009.

The July 22 total solar eclipse, visible from China and India (but not the United States), will be the longest in the 21st century. Teams of scientists from around the world will gather in China to study the corona, the sun's outermost atmosphere, for almost six minutes, unusually long for totality.

Williams Announces Local Olmsted Awards

posted June 9, 2009.

Williams College has announced its 2009 local Bicentennial Olmsted Awards for faculty development to McCann Technical School, Mt. Greylock Regional School, and the Williamstown Elementary School. The $5,000 awards will fund professional and curricular development projects.

A Judicial Innovation: International Problem-Solving Courts, Subject of Sociologist James L. Nolan's New Book

posted May 29, 2009.

James L. Nolan Jr., professor of sociology at Williams College, is the author of "Legal Accents, Legal Borrowing: The International Problem-Solving Court Movement," published by Princeton University Press.

Summer Undergraduate Program in Mathematics Wins New National Science Foundation Support

posted May 29, 2009.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Williams College a five-year $630,216 grant in support of "SMALL," a summer undergraduate research program in math. The SMALL program also received NSF funding in July 2004.

Why Have Men Taken Over Coaching Women's Sports? New Research Offered in "Gender Games"

posted May 29, 2009.

As women's sports have grown in the last 30 years, the percentage of women coaching women has declined from above 90 percent to under 45 percent. Why?  "Past studies demonstrated that women coaches encounter gender issues that persist due to the inherently male-centered nature of sport," said Christina Cruz, author of "Gender Games: Why Women Coaches are Losing the Field" (March 2009, VDM Verlag).

Williams College to Celebrate 220th Commencement, June 6 and 7

posted May 26, 2009.

Clarence Otis '77, chairman and chief executive officer of Darden Restaurants, will be the principal speaker at the college's 220th Commencement exercises on Sunday, June 7.  Anne Garrels, senior foreign correspondent of National Public Radio, will be the Baccalaureate speaker the day before. Williams President Morton Owen Schapiro will award honorary degrees to both of them, as well as to astronaut and Senator John H. Glenn, writer Tracy Kidder, historian James M. McPherson, and musician James Taylor, at the Commencement.

Williams College Awards Four High School Teachers Teaching Prizes (corrected 5/29/09)

posted May 26, 2009.

The George Olmsted Jr., Class of 1924, Prize for Excellence in Secondary School Teaching, awarded annually by Williams College, was established in 1984 with an endowment from the estates of George Olmsted Jr. and his wife, Frances, who wanted to recognize secondary teaching excellence. A committee of faculty, staff, and students selects the winners; David P. Richardson, professor of chemistry, chairs the committee. Olmsted Prize recipients are honored during the Williams Commencement ceremonies and receive $3,000. An additional $2,500 goes to his or her school. Olmsted, a lifelong proponent of exemplary teaching, was the president and chairman of the board of the S. D. Warren Paper Co.

Williams College Senior Molly Hunter Wins First Jones '66 Journalism Fellowship

posted May 11, 2009.

Williams College senior Molly M. Hunter has been awarded the inaugural Jeffrey Owen Jones '66 Fellowship in Journalism. The $10,000 grant is intended to help a graduating senior make a start on a career in the field of journalism.

Marco Sanchez '10 Wins "Claiming Williams" Public Service Announcement Contest

posted May 11, 2009.

"There is No Mold," a stop-motion video by junior Marco P. Sanchez, is the winner of the Claiming Williams Public Service Announcement (PSA) Contest. Senior Matthew Wollin's "The Privilege of Claiming Williams" received an honorable mention.

Williams College's Long Term Employees Feted at Annual Celebration

posted May 6, 2009.

Williams College celebrated its annual Appreciation Day on Tuesday, May 5, honoring staff members who have reached special milestones in service.  The celebration included a luncheon at the Williams Inn for employees completing their 5th, 10th, 15th, or 20th year of service and a dinner at the Mill on the Floss for employees who have been with the college for 25 years and for those who are retiring.

Psychologist Marlene Sandstrom Awarded NSF Grant in Support of Research on School Bullying

posted April 21, 2009.

The National Science Foundation has announced the award of a grant of $77,092 to Williams College to support the work of Marlene Sandstrom, associate professor of psychology.  The title of her research project is "Pluralistic Ignorance and School Bullying: Do Misperceptions of Classroom Norms Contribute to Peer Harassment?" Sandstrom will explore bystander passivity in school bullying.

Williams Professor Scrutinizes the Everyday in Postsocialist Moscow

posted April 21, 2009.

Olga Shevchenko, assistant professor of sociology at Williams College, is the author of "Crisis and the Everyday in Postsocialist Moscow," published by the Indiana University Press.

Visiting Ugandan Government Official Focuses Williams College's Attention on World Agriculture and Development

posted April 10, 2009.

Bringing real world voices and experiences to Williams College is an important part of providing a balanced education. "We want to break down the barrier between learning and doing by learning from those who have been doing in the areas of international relations and economic development," explained Williams Professor William Darrow of the International Studies Program. Williams College's first appointment to the Class of 1955 Visiting Professor in International Studies, Dr. Wilberforce Kisamba Mugerwa, brings plenty of both from his native Uganda.

Chemistry Professor Thomas E. Smith Wins Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award

posted March 16, 2009.

Thomas E. Smith, associate professor of chemistry at Williams College, was recently named a national winner of the Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award. Administered by the Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation, the award carries an unrestricted research grant of $60,000.

"Ruffians, Yakuza, Nationalists" Reevaluates Modern Japanese Democracy

posted March 10, 2009.

"Ruffians, Yakuza, Nationalists: The Violent Politics of Modern Japan, 1860-1960," written by Eiko Maruko Siniawer of Williams College, was recently published by Cornell University Press.

"Creating Games," Subject of Book by Professor Morgan McGuire of Williams College

posted March 10, 2009.

"Creating Games: Mechanics, Content, and Technology," by Morgan McGuire of Williams College and Odest Chadwicke Jenkins of Brown University, was recently published by A K Peters, Ltd.

Leslie Brown's "Upbuilding Black Durham" Wins Best First Book Award from Organization of American Historians

posted February 23, 2009.

The Frederick Jackson Turner Award, given by the Organization of American Historians http://www.oah.org/) for an author's first book on some significant phase of American History will be awarded to Leslie Brown www.williams.edu/history/bios/LBrown.php), assistant professor of history at Williams College.  The award for "Upbuilding Black Durham: Gender, Class, and Black Community Development in the Urban South" (UNC, Chapel Hill, 2008) will be presented to Brown at the organization's annual meeting in March.

College Art Association Honors Haxthausen of Williams College

posted February 9, 2009.

Charles W. ("Mark") Haxthausen, the Robert Sterling Clark Professor of Art History and former director of the Graduate Program in Art History at Williams College, has been awarded the prestigious Distinguished Teaching of Art History Award from the College Art Association (CAA).

American Association for the Advancement of Science Honors Astronomer Karen Kwitter

posted January 6, 2009.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has honored Karen B. Kwitter, the Ebenezer Fitch Professor of Astronomy and chair of the astronomy department at Williams College, with the distinction of Fellow for her meritorious efforts to advance science.  Most specifically, Kwitter was recognized for her "distinguished contributions to research on planetary nebulae and for efforts to involve undergraduates in astronomy research projects."