News & Events 01/2014

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January 13, 2014

AMHERST, Mass. – President Biddy Martin announced today that Pete Mackey, Bucknell University’s vice president for communications and community relations, has been selected to be Amherst College’s chief communications officer, the first in the college’s history.

“I am delighted that Pete has agreed to join us, and I thank the search committee for their great work," Martin said. “Pete’s experience, expertise and creative leadership will help us bring our communications to a new level. His accomplishments as a writer and communicator and his academic background make Pete a good fit for Amherst, given our values and goals. I look forward to working with him on our efforts to promote the liberal arts.”

Mackey, who has founded and led communications operations at private and public universities and foundations across a 25-year career, said that for him, serving the mission of Amherst would be an expression of his deepest values.

With his new book, Contemplative Practices in Higher Education: Powerful Methods to Transform Teaching and Learning (Jossey-Bass, co-authored with Mirabai Bush) Daniel Barbezat continues his mission to encourage colleges and universities to become centers of contemplation and self-reflection for students.

January 29, 2014

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Physics Professor David Hall and Postdoctoral Associate Michael Ray.
Editor's note: High-resolution photos are available upon request.

AMHERST, Mass.—Nearly 85 years after pioneering theoretical physicist Paul Dirac predicted the possibility of their existence, an international collaboration led by Amherst College Physics Professor David S. Hall ’91 and Aalto University (Finland) Academy Research Fellow Mikko Möttönen has created, identified and photographed synthetic magnetic monopoles in Hall’s laboratory on the Amherst campus.

AMHERST, Mass. -- Christopher Finch ’14, Amherst College’s latest recipient of a Churchill Foundation Scholarship, intends to apply science to benefit a hungry planet, much in the way he conducted research to help fellow hockey players avoid injury.

The scholarship will allow the Steamboat Springs, Colo., native to conduct research in plant bioengineering next year at the University of Cambridge in England. For Finch, this award comes toward the end of an Amherst career noted for excellence in science and its application to real-world issues.

This year will be a writing year for Sara J. Brenneis, assistant professor of Spanish, and Jonathan Vogel, the George Lyman Crosby 1896 Professor of Philosophy, thanks to fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

January 27, 2014

President Biddy Martin announced today that Catherine Epstein, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of History at Amherst College, has been selected to be the college’s new Dean of the Faculty, effective July 1.