The Indignant Generation: A Narrative History of African American Writers and Critics, 1934–1960, by Lawrence Jackson ’90, has received the 2011 William Sanders Scarborough Prize from the Modern Language Association as well as the Black Caucus of the American Library Association literary award in the nonfiction category. The book was also a finalist for the Hurston/Wright nonfiction book prize. The Modern Language Association called the book a “magisterial narrative history of African American literature” and “beautifully written and rich in historical detail.” Jackson majored in African American Studies at Wesleyan, received his master’s degree in English from Ohio State University, and received his PhD in English and American literature from Stanford University in 1997. He is a professor of English and African American Studies at Emory University.
Andre Kikoski ’90 received the Institute Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects, their highest recognition nationally, for his creation of The Wright, the new restaurant in the Guggenheim Museum. Kikoski’s work was selected from more than 700 submissions, and he was one of only 27 recipients worldwide who was to be honored at the AIA 2012 National Convention and Design Exposition in Washington, D.C., in May. Said Kikoski, “It was both an incredible honor and an exhilarating challenge to create The Wright…which is the first addition to the building’s iconic interior.” The jury called Kikoski’s project “sensitively handled and respectful of the essence of the original architecture.” Kikoski, an English major at Wesleyan, earned his master’s degree in architecture from Harvard University. His firm, Andre Kikoski Architect, PLLC, is located in New York City.
After a national search, Joshua Borenstein ’97 was appointed managing director of Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, confirmed by unanimous vote at a special session of the Board of Trustees. “Josh was simply the best candidate,” said Charles Kingsley, board chair, in a press release. “He’s been serving as the interim managing director for the past six months and he’s done a wonderful job.” Gordon Edelstein, artistic director, praised Borenstein for his combination of “wisdom, strength, practical theatrical knowhow with strategic savvy.” Prior to his tenure at Long Wharf Theatre, Borenstein was involved in the “New Generations: Mentoring the Leaders of Tomorrow” program at the Huntington Theatre Company He has served in various roles at Yale Repertory Theatre and at Trinity Repertory Company. At Wesleyan, Borenstein majored in classical civilization, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and earned his degree with honors. He earned a master of fine arts in theatre management from the Yale School of Drama; he has been a guest lecturer at Yale University and at Boston University.
Jerry M. Melillo ’65, Distinguished Scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), was named chair of a joint public-private sector committee that will produce the next National Climate Assessment report for the United States. Melillo, co-author of the landmark report to Congress, “Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States,” issued by the USGCRP, was also a lead author on both the 1990 and 1995 Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and he served in President Clinton’s Office of Science and Technology Policy from 1996–97. He has been on the scientific staff at MBL since 1976, and is a professor of biology at Brown University. At Wesleyan, he majored in biology and then earned his MAT in 1968, followed by his doctorate from Yale. His research focuses on the impacts of human activities on the biogeochemistry of terrestrial ecosystems, and modeling analysis of the feedbacks and impacts of climate change.
Paul Mason ’77 was promoted to senior vice president of ABC News, with responsibility for Nightline, This Week, ABC News Radio, World News Now, World News This Morning, and Good Morning America’s news inserts. In addition, Mason will oversee ABC News’ coverage of the political conventions and general election. A 23-year veteran of ABC News, Mason is an Emmy award-winning producer whose credits range from international coverage to investigations for World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, Primetime Live, and 20/20. He was part of the ABC News team that was honored with the George Foster Peabody and Alfred I. DuPont awards for coverage of the 9/11 terror attacks. He holds a master’s degree from the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University.
Photographer Stephen Gorman ’82 received the 2011 Benjamin Franklin Award from the Independent Book Publishers Association for his book, Arctic Visions: Encounters at the Top of the World, a lavish and memorable tribute to the land, sea, wildlife, and people of Canada’s North. Gorman traveled throughout the Canadian Arctic and the Northwest Passage aboard the expedition ship Lyubov Orlova for four seasons, giving him an unprecedented opportunity to take pictures of some of our planet’s most spectacular landscapes and wildlife populations
Dr. Joseph J. Fins ’82, an internationally renowned medical ethicist and pioneer in the field of neuroethics and disorders of consciousness, was named the first recipient of a newly established professorship, The E. William Davis Jr. M.D., Professor of Medical Ethics at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Davis is a member of the Wesleyan Class of 1947. Fins serves as chief of the Division of Medical Ethics and is a tenured professor of medicine, professor of public health, and professor of medicine in psychiatry. He is also director of medical ethics and a physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and on the adjunct faculty of Rockefeller University. He is a co-author of the 2007 Nature paper describing the first use of deep brain stimulation in the minimally conscious state. The Davis Professorship was created in honor of Dr. E. William Davis Jr., who was instrumental in the founding of New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell’s Ethics Committee in 1994, when Dr. Fins was named as its founding chair. Dr. Davis served as professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Weill Cornell Medical College and is currently vice president for medical affairs emeritus at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
Joy Anderson ’89, founder and president of Criterion Ventures, landed on Fast Company’s 2011 list of “100 Most Creative People in Business.” Through her leadership of Criterion and its initiatives that shape markets to create social and environmental good, she is working to change the rules of our economy. As faculty on the leading social innovation award programs, Anderson advises the next generation of leaders. Her insights have shaped hundreds of ventures, including Good Capital, a social investment firm she co-founded in 2006, and Village Capital, where she chairs the board. A political science major at Wesleyan, she earned her Ph.D. in American history from NYU.
RBC Capital Markets, the investment-banking arm of Royal Bank of Canada, hired Judith Fishlow Minter ’82 to co-head U.S. Loan Capital Markets. Fishlow Minter, who will lead the New York-based business with Miguel Roman, joined RBC from North Sea Partners LLC, where she was a managing partner. Previously, she ran Citigroup Inc.’s Loan Syndicate desk for North America. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, RBC has climbed to 11th most-active underwriter of leveraged loans in the U.S. this year, from 15th in 2010, Fishlow Minter was an economics and government major at Wesleyan. She also holds an MBA in finance from the University of Pennsylvania.
In late December, Denise Jefferson Casper ’90 was confirmed to a United States District Court Judgeship in Massachusetts. She had been nominated last April by President Obama, and an American Bar Association panel had rated her as “unanimously well qualified’’ for this lifetime appointment. Casper was previously the Deputy District Attorney for the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office in Cambridge, Mass., overseeing the daily operations of one of the largest district attorney’s offices in New England. Prior to that position, Casper taught legal writing at Boston University School of Law. She had served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Boston from 1999 to 2005; she was promoted to Deputy Chief of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force in 2004. Casper also practiced as a civil litigator in the Boston office of Bingham McCutchen LLP (formerly Bingham, Dana & Gould) from 1995 to 1998. After law school, Casper clerked for the Honorable Edith W. Fine and the Honorable J. Harold Flannery of the Massachusetts Appeals Court. At Wesleyan she majored in African-American studies. She received her J.D. in 1994 from Harvard Law School.
