Carolyn Mugar gives the Commencement address

Carolyn Mugar, executive director of Farm Aid, and founder of the Armenia Tree Project, delivered the Commencement address and imparted lessons from the early days of both organizations.  Mugar was married to the late John T. O’Connor, who served as a Clark Trustee from 1997 to 2001.  O’Connor died at the age of 46.

“Don’t wait for your life to begin,” she urged the graduates. “When you see what’s wrong, there is ALWAYS something you can do, no matter what your age.”

Mugar told the story of Farm Aid, and how musician Willie Nelson, whose original plan was to host just one concert to raise money and awareness for family farmers, sparked a movement and earned himself a reputation as the most committed visible supporter of family farmers.

“Yes it’s good to think ahead, to plan, but often the best thing is to simply act.  Just take that first uncertain step, and then take the next, and keep going,” said Mugar. “Don’t spend any time standing still in fear about which road to take. Just get moving. Life happens when you make choices, when you take action.”

The philanthropist/activist reassured the graduates that the future would be okay because of what they themselves will do.

“With ordinary human courage and vision, with the particular special tools Clark has given each of you, with the hands-on experience you already have, together with others, you have the capacity to do what needs to be done,” she said.

Mugar accepted an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters on behalf of Farm Aid and the Armenia Tree Project—two organizations, she said, “that know the importance of courage, vision, and community.”

President Angel shares a smile with a proud graduate

In his introductory remarks, Clark President Angel told the graduates, “While some are pessimistic about what lies ahead for our country and our world, those of us who have spent time with Clark graduates are optimistic about our common future.”

“The difference you have made on our campus inspires us,” President Angel continued. “We are confident that you—our graduates—will challenge convention and change our world for the better.”

President Angel also recognized Clark English Professor Virginia (Ginger) Vaughan, who is retiring this year, for her many years of service to Clark students.

For the first time ever at Clark, the senior speaker used slam poetry to address her fellow graduates.  Abigail E. Petkov, of Highland Park, N.J., delivered a poem inspired by Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.” Petkov graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree.

Abigail Petkov '13 addresses fellow grads through slam poetry

“The impact that we can have on this world is limitless. But in order to feel as though our lives have been complete, the determination rests on us. We get to decide the paths of our lives. And our potential is boundless,” she said.

Petkov’s poem ended with the words, “See, we are very fortunate. We are here, now, and good. And we believe in good. And we are only just arriving. Our light is not dying. The potential of our lives has only just begun to illuminate. We are here. We are free. And we are strong.”

Clark also conferred honorary degrees upon the following individuals:

Sumner B. "Tony" Tilton, Jr. is an attorney at Fletcher Tilton P.C. and a life member of the Clark University Board of Trustees. Tilton has been a powerful force for Clark for many years and has helped guide Clark's relationship with the City of Worcester, now a national model of how a university and municipality can work together for mutual benefit. Tilton Hall is named in recognition of his generous support of Clark. He will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

S. Paul Reville is professor of practice at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and former Massachusetts Secretary of Education from 2008 to 2012. Described by Governor Deval Patrick as "the father of Massachusetts education reform," Reville has held numerous leadership positions in the education sector dedicated to the improvement of preK-12 public education. He received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.

Michel Sidibé is executive director of UNAIDS and a 25-year public service veteran. Sidibé is committed to transforming the Joint United Nations program on HIV/AIDS into a people-centered and results-oriented organization that will eliminate new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths. He received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.

Asst. Prof. Alex Gardner

“For the first time we’ve been able to very precisely constrain how much these glaciers, as a whole, are contributing to sea level rise,” said Gardner, who is the main author of the study “A Reconciled Estimate of Glacier Contributions to Sea Level Rise: 2003 to 2009,” published in the May 17 issue of Science magazine. “And what we find is that melting of these smaller ice bodies account for one third of observed sea level rise.”

The research, which uses multiple satellites and an extensive collection of ground data, involved the efforts of 16 researchers from 10 countries, with major contributions from Clark University, the University of Michigan, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Trent University, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and University of Alaska Fairbanks.

According to the authors, previous estimates of the recent contribution of glaciers to sea level rise have differed widely. Their study compares traditional ground measurements to satellite data from NASA’s Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) and Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) missions to come up with optimal mass change estimates for glaciers in all regions of the planet.

The new research found that all glacierized regions lost mass from 2003 to 2009, with the biggest ice losses occurring in Arctic Canada, Alaska, coastal Greenland, the southern Andes and the Himalayas. In contrast, Antarctica’s peripheral glaciers – smaller ice bodies not connected to the main ice sheet – contributed little to sea level rise during that period. This differs from previously published estimates for the period 1961-2004, which showed that these bodies accounted for 30 percent of the global mass loss from glaciers.

Gardner stands next to a glacial erratic, a massive rock that is being transported tens of kilometers on the surface of a glacier that will eventually end up in the ocean.

Traditional estimates of glacier mass loss, based solely on field measurements and localized observations, can sometimes overestimate ice loss when the findings are extrapolated over larger regions with few observations, like entire mountain ranges, said Gardner.  The study concluded that, although ICESat and GRACE each have their own limitations, “their estimates of mass change for large glacierized regions agree very well, which gives us strong confidence in our results.”

Gardner said the findings have serious implications for past assessments.

“We conclude that a thorough reexamination of past estimates of glacier contributions to sea level rise is needed,” he said.

An abstract of the paper is available at ScienceMag.org.

This research builds on Gardner’s earlier work that found that in recent years the Canadian Arctic glaciers have become the largest glacier contributors to sea level rise outside of Greenland and Antarctica. This earlier work was published in 2011 in the journal Nature; Gardner joined the Clark University faculty in September of 2012.

In his research on the Earth's cryosphere, Gardner integrates remote sensing observations and Earth system modeling to study how glaciers and ice sheets respond to natural and human-induced changes in the environment as well as how changes in the reflectivity of snow and ice modify the Earth's climate. He is now focused on assessing glacier wastage on a global scale and is a contributing author of the upcoming Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fifth Assessment Report, due to be released publicly in October 2014.

Science is the weekly journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and is considered the world's leading journal of original scientific research, global news, and commentary.

NASA’s press release is located at: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/glacier-sea-rise.html.

For more images of glaciers and sea level rise go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/sets/72157633503915602/.

(From left) Walk organizers Alicia Winn’13 and Lissa Levine ’14 pose with Tiffany Kline ’13 of Auburn, N.Y.

On Sunday, April 28, a "Last Mile" walk was held around The Green at Clark University as a fundraiser for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.  The Walk allowed participants to symbolically finish the marathon's last mile for all the runners who not able to do so. Approximately 30 students, faculty, and family members participated in the Walk; many decorated flags, signed cards for victims in Boston hospitals and for hospital staff and first responders.  The event allowed participants to share their feelings about the Boston bombings with the support of the Clark Community.

More photos of the Walk are available on Clark’s Flickr account.

The event was organized by Alicia Winn ’13, of Waltham, and Lissa Levine ’14, of Melrose. It raised over $500 for The One Fund Boston, set up to directly aid victims.

Members of the Clark Community walk "The Last Mile" to raise money for the One Fund Boston.

Winn said that since she and Levine were from the Boston area, they both felt the need to do something to show their love and support for Boston.  Winn said she was extremely pleased at the turnout at the event, and especially at the excitement it generated from the Clark administration and students.

“Walking the ‘last mile’ with the Clark community was truly touching and made me proud to be a Clarkie!” said Winn.  “Although our event was little, we hope it sends out positive vibes amidst an entirely tragic event. We were proud to commemorate and support the Marathon victims and the city of Boston for their strength, perseverance, and heroism. Boston Strong!”

Associate Prof. Abbie Goldberg

Abbie E. Goldberg, associate professor in The Department of Psychology at Clark University, received $718,770 from the National Institute of Mental Health for her three-and-a-half year project, “Mental health in the postpartum period among visible and invisible sexual minority women: A U.S.-Canada study.” Goldberg will serve as principal investigator and will work with Lori E. Ross, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, to focus on increasing the understanding of factors that contribute to experiences of mental health and wellness of mothers during pregnancy.

This study will examine postpartum depression in a diverse group of women: namely, heterosexual women, visible sexual minority women (i.e., lesbian women) and invisible sexual minority women (i.e., who have a history of sexual relationships with women but who are partnered with men at the time that they become parents).

“This research has exciting possibilities for shifting our understanding of sexual identity, behavior, and relationship history and their implications for mental health, particularly during the transition to parenthood,” said professor Goldberg. “We hope that our findings will be able to inform the practice of health care providers who interface with women during the perinatal period."

Goldberg’s grant was one of two federal grants received by Worcester researchers and/or organizations recently.  On Friday, May 3, United States Representative Jim McGovern recognized the Clark professor (along with The Family Health Center of Worcester, which received $367,630 to continue funding of their Health Center Cluster), in a press release.

“These competitive grants once again illustrate the incredible work being done in health research and health services in Worcester,” said Congressman McGovern. “We are fortunate to have organizations like Family Health Center and Clark University leading the charge to ensure that our residents – all of them – get the physical and mental care they deserve.”

Goldberg has also received $10,000 from The Lesbian Health Fund (LHF), a program of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA), for “Lesbian parents and their adopted children three years post-placement” and $1,000 from the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality for “Lesbian, gay, and heterosexual adoptive parents' relationship quality.”  She received a faculty development grant from Clark to serve as principal investigator of “Relationships with others who share the same sperm donor.”

Goldberg is co-editor of “LGBT-Parent Families: Innovations in Research and Implications for Practice” (Springer, October 2012), and author of “Gay Dads: Transitions to adoptive fatherhood” (NYU Press, July 2012).  Her first book, “Lesbian and Gay Parents and their Children: Research on the Family Life Cycle” (APA Books 2009), won several awards.  She currently serves as a senior research fellow at the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute in Newton, Mass., and has been named The Williams Institute Visiting Scholar (at UCLA School of Law) for 2013-2014.

In addition, Goldberg has blogged for Psychology Today and the Huffington Post.

Goldberg received a B.A. from Wesleyan University, and an M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, respectively. She has been at Clark since 2005.

Prof. Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, director of the Clark University Poll of Parents of Emerging Adults

Parents of 18- to 29-year-old emerging adults feel so positive about their relationships with their children that they welcome them back home, according to a new 2013 Clark University Poll of Parents of Emerging Adults, which has become the definitive national survey of this demographic group.

In contrast to the popular perception that parents don’t want their emerging adult children at home, 61 percent of parents in the Clark University poll respond “mostly positive” and only 6 percent feel “mostly negative” with an arrangement where their 18- to 29-year-old children are living at home or have moved back home. Nearly 67 percent of parents said that a consequence of their emerging adult children living with them is that they feel closer to their children emotionally, while 66 percent report they have more companionship with their children. Nearly the same percentage of parents (62 percent) said their children help with household responsibilities. None of the possible negative consequences of having a grown child at home ranked nearly as high, but 40 percent
of parents did agree that it results in more financial stress.

Visit the Clark University Poll of Parents of Emerging Adults online for more information

“The perception that most parents are grumbling when their 18- to 29-year-old kids are living with them is utterly false,” says Clark University research professor of psychology and poll director Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, Ph.D., who coined the term “emerging adulthood.” “Parents understand their kids face an unstable job market, poorly-paid first jobs, high rents and unstable relationships — a vastly different world than they may have faced 30 to 40 years ago. Instead of applying negative stereotypes, such as laziness and selfishness, to their children, our research shows that parents actually embrace their grown kids’ situations, welcome them back to the nest, communicate with them often and know their need for their parents’ support is temporary, not terminal.”

The Clark University Poll of Parents of Emerging Adults reveals how parents feel about their grown-up children with regard to a wide range of issues, including financial support, what makes a person an adult, moving out of the parents’ home, moving back in again, and what the future holds for both parents and child. The Poll is based on 1,029 interviews of parents of 18- to 29-year-olds nationwide. The margin of error is +/- 3.06 percent. A mixed-mode methodology was used for this project.

Simultaneously, Arnett is releasing the first and only parenting guide for this stage: When Will My Grown-Up Kid Grow Up? Loving and Understanding Your Emerging Adult (Workman; May 2013). Some of the book’s tips for parents of emerging adult children living at home include discussing:

• Do the emerging adults have a plan while living at home — for instance, more education, networking and job applications, part-time or volunteer work?
• Is there an end date or is the living arrangement open-ended?
• Will the children pay rent, contribute to household expenses, or provide other kinds of regular help?
• Can romantic partners sleep over?

The book demonstrates why this emerging adult life stage — which, to parents, may look like flailing — actually helps children become happier, healthier grown-ups.

Former recipients of Anton and Steinbrecher fellowships returned to campus April 24 to celebrate the creation of the Steinbrecher and Anton Fellows Society. Pictured are (l. to r.) Harrison Mackler ’07, Amy Levine ’09, Anna Zonderman ’10, Yeshemebet Legesse ’03, Brooks Marmon ’07, Trista Myers ’10, Stephen Steinbrecher ’55, Michael Staton ’02, Barbara Anton ’56, Sean Hurley ’06, Courtney Croteau ’07, Rebecca Dezan ’06 and President David Angel.

When he was a student at Clark University, Dr. Harrison Mackler ’07 was awarded a Steinbrecher Fellowship to experiment with synthetic alternatives to grafts for the repair of bone damaged by injury or disease.

On April 24, Mackler was delighted to report to an audience in Dana Commons that the knowledge accrued from that Steinbrecher research, followed by his years of work and study at Harvard School of Dental Medicine, have borne fruit. Mackler, a periodontics resident at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Dentistry, related that a day earlier he’d completed his first solo surgery, rebuilding a man’s jaw.

His story was one of seven shared by former recipients of Anton and Steinbrecher fellowships who participated in a panel discussion to help celebrate the creation of the Steinbrecher and Anton Fellows Society. More past Anton and Steinbrecher fellows were in the audience, and they were joined by the current crop of Clark students who are receiving fellowships to conduct research and complete projects across the globe.

Stephen Steinbrecher ’55 addresses the audience.

President David Angel welcomed the Anton and Steinbrecher fellows back to campus, noting that they have supplied inspiration for Clark’s recent direction with its undergraduate program, which has culminated in the Liberal Education and Effective Practice model. “You were the original LEEP pioneers,” he said. In this context, Angel said he was particularly interested in hearing about the career and life paths the alumni had chosen.

The panelists were asked a series of questions by Sharon Krefetz, the Andrea
B. and Peter D. Klein ’64 Distinguished Professor and director of the Steinbrecher Fellowship Program, about their experiences as fellows, and about their post-Clark paths.

Michael Staton ’02 connected his Anton Fellowship, in which he studied the rise of punk rock in China, to his position as CEO of Inigral, a social media networking company in San Francisco that works with colleges and universities to build communities to improve student success. He said the company serves half a million students at 150 colleges and universities and is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Staton’s route to success, he noted, was “nonlinear,” and included several years as a high school teacher where he “threw out the curriculum and reinvented it from scratch.” That same passion for innovation drew him to the world of venture capital, where, as cofounder of LearnCapital, he funds entrepreneurs developing new ways to use technology to improve learning. The key, he said, is to be able to “present your idea in a coherent fashion” as “you march down that pathway of inquiry.”

'Once you learn how to understand, you can deal with it.'

~ Yeshemebet Legesse '03

Yeshemebet Legesse ’03 conducted her Anton Fellowship in Tanzania, providing AIDS/HIV awareness and prevention education. Today she works at the Nationalities Service Center in Philadelphia, where she counsels immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers, including torture survivors. She advised current students to “milk everything from your experience at Clark.” Her greatest gift from the University, Legesse said, was learning how to listen — to everything from the personal histories of fellow students to conversations in the cafeteria. “[By listening] you understand the victims of war and genocide.”

Brooks Marmon ’07 combined a passion for history and an interest in social justice when he traveled to Ghana to volunteer with two youth organizations in the Buduburam refugee camp, while also researching his honors thesis on E. Franklin Frazier and pan-Africanism. Today, he works at the American Council on Education in Washington, D.C., managing the USAID and State Department programs for global partnerships between U.S. educational institutions and similar institutions around the world to find solutions to problems facing developing countries.

Amy Levine ’09 recalls her Steinbrecher project in Ireland.

With fiddle in hand, Amy Levine ’09 traveled across Ireland to understand how Irish musical traditions evolved and influenced the kind of bluegrass music that she grew up playing. Her project not only involved recording music in Irish pubs, but also taking the stage to play alongside those welcoming musicians. When she returned, she formed a band, The Great Whiskey Rebellion, which plays at venues around Worcester and Boston. “My fellowship inspired me to travel and take an ethnographic approach to music,” she said. “It was my hidden passport to learn about another culture.”

Anna Zonderman ’10 parlayed her Steinbrecher Fellowship project designing and launching a pilot program for New Haven, Conn., teens with asthma into an educational opportunity at Yale University. She earned a master of public health degree in social and behavioral sciences at Yale, and is currently completing a two-year postgraduate fellowship in International Early Childhood Development Programs and policies at the Yale Child Study Center.

Trista Myers ’10 traveled to Bath, England, for her Steinbrecher Fellowship project, helping to organize conferences focused on the future of Web applications, Web design and mobile platforms. Today she works as a corporate event planner for AOL.

Asked what advice they would give to current Clark students, Levine urged students to take advantage of every available resource. “There are so many resources and passionate people at your fingertips. Talk to your professors, do research, and explore your ideas.”

Marmon said he embraced the liberal arts while at Clark, which has been vital even as his current job involves a good deal of financial and legal work. His education has paid “tangible dividends,” he said.

“If you’re doing great work, then your work will speak for you,” Myers said. “Apply yourself; go after the things you want. Getting a Steinbrecher helped me find my internship. It will open doors you didn’t know were there.”

In the current economy, Staton said, “the best jobs are not offered; you have to create them. You need to convince an organization that you’re the most valuable thing they can invest in.” He also suggested that computer technology should be a core component of the liberal arts curriculum.

Following the panel discussion, Stephen Steinbrecher ’55 recalled how he and his wife, the late Phyllis Steinbrecher, were looking for a way to honor their son, David ’81, who had passed away. They appreciated what Tom and Barbara Anton, both Class of 1956, had done in 2000 to create a fellowship that gave students an opportunity for independent study. As funding for the Anton Fellowship was winding down, the Steinbrecher family created the Steinbrecher Fellowship in 2005 as the ideal way to keep their son’s memory alive.

“David was everything all you Clarkies are,” Stephen Steinbrecher told the fellows in attendance. He described his feelings on the occasion with the Yiddish word “kvell.”

“It’s an old expression,” he said with a smile, “and it means ‘bursting with joy.’”

Jeffrey Lurie ’73, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, will deliver the keynote address.

Dr. Lee Gurel ’48 will receive the Fiat Lux Award for Extraordinary Service by a Legacy Society Member, which will be presented at the Legacy Society luncheon on Friday, May 17, at 11:30 a.m.

Distinguished Service Award

Allen Glick '63

Allen Glick needed to look no further than his own family for inspiration when he was building his successful auto dealership business. His grandfather came to the United States from Russia, penniless, and worked his way from being a junk hauler, and then  a mill owner, to become one of the largest owners of buildings and parking lots in downtown Worcester.

That work ethic was passed to Allen’s father, Selig, and then to Allen.

“I truly think the best thing my father ever did was to never spoil me. He made sure that I worked hard and earned an honest week’s pay,” Glick once told a reporter. “There is no magic to succeeding; you just need to dedicate yourself to succeeding.”

Glick has been an extraordinary supporter of Clark University for many years. He served on Clark’s Board of Trustees for fourteen years, first as an alumni-elected trustee from 1987 to 1993, and then as a board appointment from 1993 to 1997. He rejoined the board in 2001 and served on the Audit, Major Gifts, and Investment committees, and as chair of the Audit Committee for several years. Glick has also provided exemplary service to the Alumni Council.

In 1973, he established The Lillian and Selig Glick Scholarship Fund in honor of his parents, followed by the Allen M. Glick Chair in Judaic and Biblical Studies, in 1996. He most recently established the Dr. William E. Topkin ’60, M.A. Ed. ’63, Ed.D. ’67, Scholarship Fund in honor of his cousin, who is a former dean of students at Clark and a Clark trustee emeritus. Throughout the years, Glick has also helped to build the Dolan Field House, University Center, and the Traina Center, and generously supported the exhibition “Painting in the Shadow of the Plague: Italy, 1500-1750,” which Clark helped to organize in Worcester. He is a member of Clark’s Legacy Society and a charter member of the Jonas Clark Fellows.

Glick received his B.A. in marketing with departmental honors from Clark in 1963, where he was also a member of the Kappa Phi fraternity and a staff member of Pasticcio. He went on to own and operate Glick Nissan, a group of five automobile dealerships in the Framingham, Mass., area from 1968 until 1999. He sold four of the five dealerships in 1999, but continues to serve as president and treasurer of Glick Nissan in Westborough. He also serves as a trustee of A.M. Glick Realty Trust and is a private investor. From the late 1980s until 2003 he served on the boards of many local banks.

In addition to his philanthropic and business activities, Allen and his wife, Iris, have found time to be generous hosts of Clark alumni events for senior leadership at their horse farm in Vermont. As a consistent attendee of University events in Worcester and abroad, Allen Glick has modeled the qualities of engagement that Clark seeks to develop in its alumni.

Young Alumni Award

Anthony Colon '03, M.P.A. '04, left, and Richard Boucher '03, M.B.A. '04

The Young Alumni Award recognizes extraordinary achievements on behalf of the Clark community. This year, for the first time, the University presents the award to a Clark couple, Richard Boucher '03, M.B.A. '04 and Anthony Colon '03, M.P.A. '04. Both Boucher and Colon have been class agents, served on their Reunion Committee, been advocates for Clark in the Miami region, and have attended many Clark events.

Boucher, a Worcester native, started his connection to Clark in 1993 when he was accepted into the Robert Goddard Scholars Program. Colon, a first-generation Puerto Rican from Brooklyn, learned of Clark’s rich history and open-minded environment while attending New York City’s Talent Unlimited School of the Performing Arts. The two met in 1999 at the welcoming reception at Harrington House.

At Clark, Anthony served as a tour guide for the Admissions House while Richard was a manager at the Clark Fund. Together, they studied psychology, volunteered as SARC members, revived the Latin American Student Organization, and studied abroad in Scotland while making lifetime friends and connections.

After graduating from the fifth-year master’s program, Boucher in business and Colon in public administration, they purchased real estate in the Main South neighborhood, which they now rent to Clarkies. While in Worcester, Anthony served as the director of public education and advocacy for the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance and Richard as the associate executive director for the South Worcester Neighborhood Improvement Corporation. While at SWNIC, Richard received a proclamation from Worcester Mayor Tim Murray for an outstanding contribution to the community.

In 2005 they moved to Miami Beach to pursue new endeavors. In 2008 Anthony co-authored a publication entitled “Unlocking the Promise: A Guide for Funders Interested In Transformational Grant-Making” and in 2010 was featured in the publication “How to Become a Nonprofit Rock Star: 50 Ways to Accelerate Your Career.” Currently Anthony manages a portfolio of real estate investments and remains focused on addressing housing and community economic development issues through nonprofits and philanthropic organizations.

Richard is director of special events for the South East Region of the Macy’s Parade and Entertainment Group, earning awards for innovation and creativity. He leads the region’s community volunteer program, “Macy’s Partners in Time,” and has been a part of the production of iconic events such as the Fourth of July Spectacular and the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Today, they reside on Miami’s Venetian Islands, work with several charitable organizations and hold board positions for various causes. As 2003 class agents they have worked to increase donor participation and continue to remain connected to the Clark community through regional alumni events.

 Fiat Lux Award for Extraordinary Service by a Legacy Society Member

Dr. Lee Gurel ’48 began his career treating the mental health needs of the nation’s veterans, moving later into a long career as a research psychologist with the Veterans Administration, last serving as chief of research in Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences at the Washington, D.C., VA Hospital. Dr. Gurel has also been involved with the American Psychological Association and served in the 1970s as president of both the APA’s Division of Psychologists in Public Service and of the District of Columbia Psychological Association. He has published extensively in the areas of schizophrenia and the evaluation of psychiatric treatment.

Dr. Gurel’s association with Clark began in 1943, when he enrolled in a summer session program at the University after graduating from Worcester’s Classical High School. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Clark in 1948, during which time he served as editor of The Scarlet for one year. His stay at Clark was interrupted by two years of service in the U.S. Navy. He earned his M.S. degree in 1950 and a Ph.D. in 1952 from Purdue University.

His extensive philanthropic support of Clark has been far-reaching. In 1995, Dr. Gurel established The Lee Gurel / John E. Bell Endowed Student / Faculty Achievement Award, for an outstanding psychology student and the professor deemed most critical to his/her success. This was followed in 1999 by the Gurel Asian Studies Prize, which is presented each year at Convocation to an outstanding student in Asian Studies. In 2004, Dr. Gurel endowed a Psychology Enhancement of Teaching fund at Clark to support a partnership with the APA to support an annual workshop at Clark for high school teachers to advance the teaching of psychology at the pre-collegiate level. Most recently, in October 2009, he established the Lee Gurel Endowed Education Fund to help leverage the effectiveness of the Mosakowski Institute. This fund supports The Gurel Speakers Fund, The Gurel Faculty Development Fund and The Gurel Student Research Fellowship Fund. In addition, in 2006, Dr. Gurel established an annual award to a graduating Worcester high school student for outstanding achievement in the study of English.

A native of Poland, Dr. Gurel moved to Worcester when he was 3 years old and attended Worcester public schools. He summarized his philosophy of giving when he said: “I feel that we all owe an enormous debt to the teachers and institutions that equipped us for fuller, more satisfying lives.”

Dr. Gurel is married to Linda Loy and has two children from a previous marriage.

The NOAA Summer Fellows 2013 are (l. to r.) Faye Harwell ’15, Lucas Earl ’14 and Desiree Jerome ’14. (Not pictured: Gina Jenkins ’14)

The Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise and the George Perkins Marsh Institute, in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, have announced their NOAA Fellows for 2013.

Receiving fellowships for the summer are:

• Lucas Earl ’14, a geography major, will work on the project Land-based Influences on the Ecology of Coastal Freshwater and Marine Ecosystems in Puget Sound, Wash. His Clark faculty mentor is Professor Christopher Williams from the Geography Department.
• Faye Harwell ’15 is a biology major whose NOAA project will be Coastal Ecology Research Supporting Ecosystem-based Management in Wells, Maine. Professor Deb Robertson of the Biology Department will serve as Harwell’s faculty mentor.
• Gina Jenkins ’14 is majoring in Environmental Science and Policy and will spend the summer in Seattle studying Pacific Salmon Ecology and Conservation. Her faculty mentor is Professor Karen Frey of Clark’s Geography Department.
• Desiree Jerome ’14 majors in economics and will study Socioeconomic Support for the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries in Silver Spring, Md. Professor Jacqueline Geoghegan of Clark’s Economics Department will serve as Jerome’s mentor.

The Fellows were feted at a luncheon at the Mosakowski Institute on April 30. This is the second year that the Marsh and Mosakowski institutes have partnered with NOAA to offer fellowships to Clark University students.

Rob Johnston, director of the Marsh Institute, noted that the NOAA fellowships are not only “fantastic opportunities” but also provide much-needed service to the federal agency’s research and monitoring of coastal resources. He said the students will be working on projects that “are not in a strait jacket. There is flexibility on many of these projects.”

Jim Gomes, director of the Mosakowski Institute, said new initiatives like the NOAA fellowships and LEEP (Liberal Education and Effective Practice) offer promise for the future.

“My fondest hope is that we provide experiences—whether through coursework, or internships, or fellowships — that you’ll look back on and say, ‘That was one of the best things I did at Clark, and it made a difference for me in the long term,’” he told the students. “We are proud of you and we are excited for you.”

Several 2012 NOAA Fellows were on hand at the April 30 event to offer advice to their counterparts.

Audrey Seiz ’13, who spent last summer in Sandy Hook, N.J. doing studies on the effect of climate on fish, and Karissa Lear ’13, who monitored eelgrasses in Padilla Bay, Wash., urged the new Fellows to engage with the other interns and scientists. “Don’t be afraid to reach out to the senior researchers, and keep a good grasp of those connections,” Seiz said.

Christina Geller ’13, who studied the importance of marine resources to Alaskan fishing communities, said “Don’t be afraid to toot your own horn.” She recalled that it took her four weeks to inform her bosses that she was skilled with a specific type of software. Once she did, “It revolutionized what I was doing on the project.” Geller went on to design a map that appeared in one of the researcher’s books.

“Do your background research before you go, and get as much information you can on the projects you’ll be working on,” advised Lauren Ziemer ’13, who conducted coastal ecology research in Wells, Maine.

Emily Sturdivant ’13, who studied the links between Pacific salmon and the health of basin streams, said that creating an independent project for herself in addition to her fellowship duties would have “put a more personal focus” on her work. She urged the NOAA Fellows to be receptive to the great ideas they’ll be exposed to during the summer. “Talk to everyone,” she said, “and use it.”

(L. to r.) Marcy (Steinbrecher) Puklin ’80, Hoamy Tran ’15, Claire McDonald ’14, Samuel Berman ’14, Patrick Burchat ’15, Stephen Steinbrecher ’55, Emma O’Melia ’15, Blaine McCarthy ’15, Moriah Day ’15, Lyor Dotan ’14, and Alan Puklin ’81. (Not pictured: Jennifer K. O’Rourke ’14)

Nine Clark University undergraduate students were recently named Steinbrecher Fellows; all will undertake projects this summer and during the 2013-2014 academic year.  The Steinbrecher Fellowship Program was established in 2006 to encourage and support Clark undergraduates’ pursuit of original ideas, creative research, and community service projects.

Information about the 2013-2014 Steinbrecher Fellows and their projects follows.

Samuel L. Berman ’14, of Norwalk, Conn., will participate in the Polaris Project 2013 and conduct research on organic carbon storage and transport in a watershed in East Siberia with Geography professor Karen Frey.  Berman is an environmental science major.

Patrick R. Burchat ’15, a Canadian citizen currently residing in Templeton, Mass., will explore Cuba’s use of propaganda to attempt to divert the attention of its citizens from the country’s economic problems and open-market style reforms.  The project is under the guidance of Political Science professor Michael Butler.  Burchat majors in political science and economics.

Moriah A. Day ’15, of Exeter, Maine, will examine the effects on forest structure and composition of spruce beetle outbreaks in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado with Geography professor Dominik Kulakowski to see if the beetle outbreaks correlate with climate change. Day is planning to major in environmental science, with a focus on conservation biology.

Lyor Dotan ’14, of Ra’anana, Israel, will spend two weeks in Honduras, photographing and speaking with people who live in Tegucigalpa in order to create a book that will “tell the story” about the physical, social, and economic conditions in that city.  Dotan’s project is under the guidance of Photography instructor Stephen DiRado. Dotan is majoring in communication and culture.

Blaine McCarthy ’15, of Norfolk, Mass., will spend the summer in Chemistry professor Charles Jakobsche’s lab, conducting research on a target molecule that has the ability to kill MRSA bacteria.  McCarthy studies organic chemistry.

Claire S. McDonald ’14, of Delmark, N.Y., will embark on a research project using the Steinbeck Archives in Salinas, Calif., and the Steinbeck Collection at Stanford University, to study how John Steinbeck developed “Group-Man” Social Theory, and see how it evolved in his novels. Her project is under the guidance of English Professor James (Jay) Elliott; McDonald majors in English.

Emma C. O’Melia ’15, of Issaquah, Mass., will travel with Biology Professor Susan Foster to Alaska and Newfoundland to research the behavior of the threespine stickleback fish.  She will communicate her research findings via photographs and a blog that people with little or no scientific training will be able to understand.  O’Melia is a biology major.

Jennifer K. O’Rourke ’14, of Somerset, Mass., will examine editorials published in southern and northern county newspapers that focus on the trial of the two white men accused of viciously killing young, black Emmett Till in order to compare racial attitudes in those regions.   Professor Janette Greenwood will serve as the project adviser.  O’Rourke majors in history and English.

Hoamy T. Tran ’15, of Portland, Maine, will conduct a community service project with an NGO in Vietnam that provides dental care to disadvantaged children.  Tran will also speak with Worcester-area dentists about the dental problems that Vietnamese immigrants living in the region experience.  Tran will work with Sociology Professor Parminder Bhachu. Tran is a communication and culture major.

The Steinbrecher Fellowship Program was established in memory of David C. Steinbrecher, class of ’81, by his parents, Phyllis and Stephen Steinbrecher, class of ’55, and is funded by generous gifts from the Steinbrecher family and friends of David.

"A record-breaking number of students applied for these important fellowships this year.  After carefully reviewing each of them and deliberating on all of them, the Selection Committee chose the nine most outstanding proposals,” said Sharon Krefetz, professor of political science and director of the Steinbrecher Fellowship Program.  “Each of these Fellows will embark on a project that has the potential to make a significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge in his or her field, or one that can help improve the lives of disadvantaged people living in the U.S. or abroad.”

Prof. Eric DeMeulenaere

Can coaching a bunch of teenage girls on a soccer field make you a better teacher?  A new book co-authored by Clark University professor Eric DeMeulenaere, “Reflections from the Field: How Coaching Made Us Better Teachers” (Information Age Publishing, $24.95), argues just that.

DeMeulenaere and his co-authors James E. McDermott, part-time faculty member at Clark University; Chad R. Malone of Premier Elite Athlete’s Collegiate, and Colette N. Cann of Vassar College, offer concrete lessons and suggestions for the classroom from the athletic field and gymnasium through colorful narratives written by teacher-coaches and commentaries on their stories.

“[This book] offers a different portrayal of teachers—particularly urban teachers—than is commonly offered by the media and by school reformers,” said DeMeulenaere. “It does so by telling the stories of several amazing teachers who learned a lot about what it takes to be effective with students from their experiences coaching sports.”

Sarah Michaels, professor of education at Clark, described some of the narratives as “riveting and moving.”

In the Foreword of the book, she wrote, “Compelling, useful, emotionally inspiring, and cogently argued with evidence, the book will change you as you think about teachers, their knowledge, and their value.”  Michaels suggests every pre-service teacher in the U.S., every teacher-educator, and every practicing educator read the book.

The book takes us from soccer field to the volleyball court and through the gym and delivers stories about trust, honesty, teamwork and leadership.  Some of the stories, DeMeulenaere argues, “are ultimately much more powerful for teaching than learning about curriculum design or classroom management.”

“We hope these lessons can help teachers (and coaches) everywhere reframe our national conversation about what makes for powerful and effective teaching,” said DeMeulenaere.

DeMeulenaere is assistant professor of urban schooling in the Jacob Hiatt Center for Urban Education at Clark.  Prior to that, he taught middle and high school social studies and English and coached soccer in Oakland and San Francisco, Calif.  In 2004, he co-founded and directed an innovative small public school in East Oakland that focused on social justice and increased academic outcomes for youth of color.

DeMeulenaere has also worked as a consultant with urban schools, assisting them in transforming their organizational cultures to better serve the needs of students. Since arriving at Clark, he has worked directly with teacher inquiry teams at partnership schools and has continued to teach courses to high school students there.  He works to engage teachers in critically examining their teaching practices and developing more liberatory pedagogical practices.  DeMeulenaere is currently working on the manuscript for his second book, “The Academic Activist.”

"Reflections from the Field" can be purchased at any major online bookseller or directly from the publisher.

DeMeulenaere’s book is just one of several academic works highlighted at Clark’s Salute to Faculty Scholarship on April 11.  To access a complete list of faculty books and creative works from the past year, visit the Faculty Scholarship Web page.