John A. Benson Jr. ’43, MD, dean emeritus at Oregon Health & Science University and professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Medicine, received the 2010 Abraham Flexner Award for Distinguished Service to Medical Education. Presented by the Association of American Medical Colleges, the award, their highest, honors Benson’s “extraordinary contributions to the board certification process, medical education, and academic medicine.” Benson, who is known as the modern “father” of the American Board of Internal Medicine, was appointed and served as its first president for 16 years. A gastroenterologist by training, he began what would become a 30-year association with the board in 1961. As an elected member of the board of governors, he helped to approve examinations in new subspecialties, such as nephrology, endocrinology, and hematology, among others. A biology and chemistry major at Wesleyan, he earned his medical degree from Harvard University.
Stephen H. Oleskey ’64 has been elected the chair of the board of directors of the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation, the largest single provider of funds for civil legal aid in that state. Oleskey, a senior partner with Hale and Dorr, is also general counsel to the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund as well as president of the Massachusetts Equal Justice Coalition. He received his law degree from the New York University School of Law and has served as Massachusetts Deputy Attorney General, president of Greater Boston Legal Services, and chair of the Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association. In addition, he has just completed a term as an alumni-elected member of Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees.
Ramon Pineda ’81 was recently promoted to vice president and general manager of New York stations for Univision’s Television Group, the leading Spanish-language media company in the USA, reaching 98 percent of U.S. Hispanic households. Says Univision representatives, “Ramon is a knowledgeable broadcasting executive who has brought much success to our stations in Arizona, and we are thrilled that he is now leading our operations in New York.” He majored in English and theater while at Wesleyan.
STEVEN B. PFEIFFER ’69 was elected chairman of Fulbright & Jaworski, an international law firm. Pfeiffer, former chair of Wesleyan’s board of trustees, is the sixth chairman of Fulbright since the firm’s founding in 1919. Outgoing chairman Gus Blackshear said in the firm’s announcement that Pfeiffer is “a brilliant lawyer whose strength is in directing complex international transactions around the globe.”
Nathan Rich ’02 was chosen as one of only 15 Henry Luce Scholars for the 2004-05 academic year. The Luce Foundation will subsidize Rich for one year of work and study in China and in an intensive Mandarin language program prior to his departure. He plans to work in an architecture firm and study urban development in preparation for graduate work in architecture.
The Middlebury College Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference announced the winners of the 2003 Bakeless Literary Publication Prizes, awarded to aid and encourage writers seeking publication of their first books. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Louise Glück chose The Clerk’s Tale by Spencer Reece ’85 for the poetry prize. Reece, who received a master’s in English Renaissance poetry from the University of York in England, as well as a master’s degree in theological studies at Harvard Divinity School, says his book, which will be published by Houghton Mifflin in April 2004, was inspired by his undergraduate class on Chaucer taught by the late Professor Hope Weissman. The title poem for his upcoming book appeared in the June 16 & 23, 2003, issue of the New Yorker.
The School for Visual Arts in New York City honored David Rhodes ’68 on his 25-year anniversary as president of the institution. During his tenure, SVA grew from just under 2,000 students to more than 3,000. In addition, SVA’s seven graduate programs were added, also the result of his leadership. “The greatest challenge of my career,” he notes, “has been seeing our transformation from an art school with three-year courses to an art college with graduate programs.” An avid photographer, Rhodes was further honored with an exhibition of his work, The Moving Line, at the celebration. A graduate of Wesleyan’s College of Letters, he pursued graduate training in philosophy and the economics of education at Columbia University. He is a Distinguished Alumnus of Wesleyan.
Jeffrey Richards ’69 was awarded a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play for producing Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet. The awards ceremony was held at Radio City Music Hall on June 5, 2005. Richards’ recent producing credits include Matthew Barber’s Enchanted April; A Thousand Clowns, starring Tom Selleck; Gore Vidal’s The Best Man; Never the Sinner: The Leopold and Loeb Story; and The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged). Some of his upcoming projects include The Great American Trailer Park Musical; Herman Wouk’s The Caine Mutiny Court Martial; and a revival of The Pajama Game. Richards holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.
Barbara Roessner ’75 has been selected, along with 11 other U.S. journalists, as a John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University for 2003-04. As a Knight Fellow, Roessner will examine the relationships between politics and the visual arts, such as film and photography, through the program’s independent course of study and special seminars. Currently a deputy managing editor at the Hartford Courant, Roessner previously worked as a reporter and editor at the Meriden Record-Journal and as a columnist for the Courant’s Life section, Northeast magazine, and op-ed page.
Monica Santana Rosen ’97 was awarded a 2003 Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. Rosen, a first-year MBA student at Harvard Business School, was chosen from among 1,100 applicants to receive one of 30 grants designed to support immigrants and children of immigrants–or New Americans–in pursuing graduate studies. Previously, Rosen was the executive director of Management Leadership Tomorrow, which aims to increase minority leadership. Eventually, Rosen says she hopes to “develop a program offering academic enrichment and financial literacy to young children and their parents.”
