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Sociology Professor on "Romantic Marketplace" of Ghostwritten Love Letters
October 16, 2018 In an article on the significance of love letters, Raymond and Elsie DeBurgh Chair of Social Sciences and Professor of Sociology Michelle Janning explained how "paying for a [professionally composed or ghostwritten] love letter shows that people feel pressure to 'prove' their romantic worth to society" through the written word in much the same way as they would by buying a box of chocolates. In Janning's book, Love Letters: Saving Romance in the Digital Age, she found that 88 percent of the more than 800 people surveyed said that they keep the love notes they receive as mementos.
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Politics Professor Reacts to State Death Penalty Ruling
October 15, 2018 The Washington State Supreme Court recently became the third high court in the nation to abolish the death penalty, with justices declaring capital punishment "invalid because it is imposed in an arbitrary and racially biased manner." Baker Ferguson Chair of Politics and Leadership Timothy Kaufman-Osborn has studied the death penalty for decades and his research has been cited by the Washington State Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court. He shared his expertise with Think Out Loud host Dave Miller.
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Herpetologist Kate Jackson on Cannibalism Among Male Cobras
October 3, 2018 The associate professor of biology and snake expert commented on a new study showing that male cobras consume smaller rivals more often than previously thought. She added, "Too much of what is known of the diets of snakes in the wild is based only on lists of prey items obtained from field guides," rather than through observation.
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Jessica Cook '00 Stewards Walla Walla Community College Foundation
September 16, 2018 An art history major at Whitman, she now serves as executive director of the Walla Walla Community College Foundation, which generates about $1 million annually for student scholarships and emergency assistance.
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Whitman Politics Professor Cited on Midterm Elections
September 3, 2018 According to Associate Professor of Politics Susanne Beechey, both Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and her challenger, Lisa Brown, are emphasizing their motherhood and femininity in the race, but in different ways.
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Whitman Alumni Ranked Among Happiest, Most Successful
August 21, 2018 Whitman was featured in a roundup of Grateful Grads 2018 - 200 Colleges With The Happiest, Most Successful Alumni.
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Biology Professor Cited on Scientific Whistleblowing
July 24, 2018 Associate Professor of Biology Tim Parker, who recently published a paper on avoiding questionable research practices in ecology and evolution, discussed the best way to address faulty or misleading information in scientific literature and when a researcher should call for a retraction.
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Whitties Top Earning Graduates in Washington State
July 24, 2018 New rankings released by the career search site Zippia, which analyzed mean earnings of graduates a decade after they started college to determine which school in each state graduates the highest earners on average, showed Whitman in the lead for Washington.
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Whitman Ranked Among Top LGBTQ-Friendly Colleges
July 12, 2018 Whitman was recognized as a Top LGBTQ-Friendly College for 2018-19 by AffordableCollegesOnline.org. The higher education information, resources, affordability and rankings site lists Whitman as one of the most inclusive campuses in the country for LGBTQ students, faculty and staff.
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Whitman sociology professor talks about families and policy in New York Times
June 24, 2018 Professor Michelle Janning, who is also a senior scholar at the Council on Contemporary Families, talks about inequalities in family support in our country
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Theatre professor edits expanded Michael Chekhov collection
June 19, 2018 Assistant Professor of Theatre Jessica Cerullo, who also serves on the faculty of The Michael Chekhov Association, edited and introduced the new edition, which supplements the 18 lessons from Chekhov's original book with nine additional lectures from the Chekhov archives. It will be published this summer in English, German and Russian. Born in 1891, Michael Chekhov was an internationally celebrated actor, teacher and director, and nephew of the playwright Anton Chekhov.
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Jim Edmunds '78 brings tech jobs to Walla Walla
June 3, 2018 Edmunds, who is the CEO of Seattle-based tech firm Ingeniux, expanded the software company to Walla Walla two years ago. That office has doubled its employment over the last year to 14 people, with 13 of them already residing in the local community. A member of the President's Advisory Board at Whitman, Edmunds scouted locations all over the country before setting on Walla Walla.
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Catherine Williams '70 performs at Carnegie Hall
June 1, 2018 A sociology major at Whitman, she sang with the South Sound Classical Choir and 250 other singers from around the world. Carnegie Hall's composer-in-residence, James Maeders, conducted. A lifelong musician who plays the guitar and other instruments, Williams and her friends once earned extra money over the weekends by busking on the streets of Seattle. She later joined a group that performed folk and fiddle tunes.
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Professor Don Snow on imagery of the American West
May 25, 2018 Senior Lecturer of Environmental Humanities and General Studies Don Snow gave a three-part interview regarding topics ranging from novelist Wallace Stegner to the Trump Administration's attempts to weaken federal environmental laws, regulations and protections.
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John Stegner '77 appointed to Idaho Supreme Court
May 22, 2018 The political science major with a law degree from the University of Idaho has served as a district judge in Moscow, Idaho, since 1997. "I am extremely honored to have been chosen by Gov. Otter to fill the open seat on Idaho's Supreme Court," Stegner said. "I will do my utmost to live up to the responsibility placed on me."
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Whitman professor Kevin Pogue on how volcanoes affect Italy's wine
May 16, 2018 Pogue, a professor of geology with a special interest in volcanic lava that has cooled to form basalt, explained that in some of the country's most celebrated wine regions, the rocks are 50 million years old and related to tectonic conditions that no longer exist. "They're essentially eroded so there's no chance of them erupting," he said. However, Italy's wines are still shaped by its geologic history, as the meeting of the African and Eurasian plates impacts the entire Mediterranean area.
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Watson Fellow inspired by Adopt-a-Grandparent
May 13, 2018 Devin Reese '18, a biology and film and media studies major from San Francisco, is one of two Whitties to win the coveted Watson Fellowship this year (the other is race and ethnic studies major Zuhra Amini '18 from Seatac, Washington). His project centers on aging, a process he familiarized himself with during visits to Odd Fellows retirement home through Whitman's Adopt-a-Grandparent program. He plans to study how the elderly are cared for in societies around the world.
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Sociologist Paula England '71 elected to National Academy of Sciences
May 1, 2018 A sociology and anthropology major at Whitman who is now a distinguished professor in New York University's sociology department, England earned the honor in recognition of her achievements in original research in her field. She focuses on gender inequality in the labor market, the family and sexuality. She joins the ranks of former NAS members such as Albert Einstein, Barbara McClintock, Margaret Mead, Thomas Edison, Orville Wright and Alexander Graham Bell.
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Music professor honored for 37 years at Whitman
April 25, 2018 Catharine Gould Chism Chair of Music Susan Pickett retires this month after nearly four decades at Whitman. To recognize her many contributions to the college and community, Lecturer of Music Amy Dodds, along with fellow faculty members and friends, have organized a tribute concert featuring many of Pickett's former students and works by Marion Bauer and John David Earnest, among others.
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Remembering congressman and broadcaster Al Swift '57
April 22, 2018 An eight-term Democratic congressman who represented Washington's 2nd Congressional District for 16 years, Swift sponsored what became the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, known as the "motor voter" bill for requiring that states allow citizens to register to vote while applying for a driver's license. He was an expert on telecommunications, energy and environmental policy, and earlier in his career won a regional Emmy for his work in television.
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