2011

Year: 2011

Piano Maestro Richard Goode Returns to Lawrence University Memorial Chapel Oct. 21

The musical mastery of pianist Richard Goode returns to the Lawrence Memorial Chapel Friday, Oct. 21 at 8 p.m in a Lawrence University Artists Series concert. Goode’s appearance marks his third performance at Lawrence and first since 2002.

Tickets, at $22-20 for adults, $19-17 for seniors and $17-15 for students, are available through the Lawrence Box Office in the Music-Drama Center, 420 E. College Ave., Appleton or by calling 920-832-6749.

Richard Goode

Acknowledged as one of today’s master musicians for the tremendous emotional power, depth and sensitivity of his music, the New York City native is renowned for his interpretations of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart and Schubert. Goode, 68, probes the inner reaches of the works he performs, infusing every measure with the utmost expressivity. His musicianship combines boldness of the mind with depth of the heart.

“This is some of the most stunningly beautiful piano playing in the world today,” said Professor of Music Catherine Kausky, who teaches piano in the Lawrence conservatory, of Goode. “Impeccable sound, control and a sort of caring about every note that one rarely encounters. This is completely honest and committed music-making at its best.”

According to the New York Times, “It is virtually impossible to walk away from one of Mr. Goode’s recitals without the sense of having gained some new insight, subtly or otherwise, into the works he played or about pianism itself.”

His discography includes more than two dozen recordings, including Mozart’s solo works and concerti with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra as well as solo and chamber works of Brahms, Chopin, Schubert and Schumann, among others. He was the first American-born pianist to record the complete Beethoven Sonatas, which earned him a Grammy Award nomination.

Goode has appeared with many of the world’s greatest orchestras — Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Orchestre de Paris and the Vienna Symphony among then — and has been heard throughout Germany in sold-out concerts with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

He was presented the first Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance in 2006, an award that honor pianists who have achieved the highest levels of national and international recognition and earned a Grammy Award in 1982 for Best Chamber Music Performance with clarinetist Richard Stoltzman.

Following his Friday evening concert, Goode is generously conducting a master class at 10 a.m. and a lecture-recital at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Both events will be held in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel.

Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a world-class conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. Ranked among America’s best colleges, it was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,520 students from 44 states and 56 countries.

Latin America Expert Examines Influence of Churches in Human Rights Series Presentation

The emergence of human rights as an influencing factor in international relations and the role Latin America played in that process will be examined in the second installment of Lawrence University’s month-long series “Engaging Human Rights.”

Alexander Wilde '62

Alexander Wilde, a 1962 Lawrence graduate and a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., presents “The Churches and Human Rights in Latin America” Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

Although human rights are founded in international law, Wilde will discuss how Christian beliefs and institutions contributed significantly to social movements that made the cause of human rights effective and how understanding why Latin American Christians were moved to action hold insights for engaging human rights today.

Wilde is spending the fall term as Lawrence’s distinguished visiting Scarff professor. During his career, he has directed the Washington Office on Latin America, an NGO concerned with human rights and U.S. foreign policy, and was an officer of the Ford Foundation. In the mid-1990s, he led the Ford Foundation’s regional office in Santiago, Chile, developing new programming in human rights and historical memory.

In addition to his position at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Wilde serves on advisory boards at the Social Science Research Council, Chilean Millennium Science Initiative and the Latin American Program of the Woodrow Wilson Center.

In recent years he has advised Argentine human rights organizations and award-winning documentary films, including “State of Fear” (2005) on the work of the Peruvian Truth Commission, “The Judge and the General” (2008) on efforts to prosecute Pinochet, “The Reckoning” (2009) on the International Criminal Court, and “Granito” (2011) on the Guatemalan genocide.  He lived and worked in Chile for more than a decade during its long post-1990 transition to democracy.

Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a world-class conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. Ranked among America’s best colleges, it was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,520 students from 44 states and 56 countries.

Turtle Island Quartet Homage to Jimi Hendrix Opens 2011-12 Artist Series Oct. 14

The classical/jazz fusion trendsetting Turtle Island Quartet celebrates the music of Jimi Hendrix Friday, Oct. 14 at 8 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. The quartet opens Lawrence University’s 2011-12 Artist Series with their dynamic “Have You Ever Been…?” program.

Tickets, at $22-20 for adults, $19-17 for seniors and $17-15 for students, are available through the Lawrence Box Office in the Music-Drama Center, 420 E. College Ave., Appleton or by calling 920-832-6749.

Turtle Island Quartet: David Balakrishnan (violin), Jeremy Kittel, (viola), Mark Summer (cello) and Mads Tolling (violin)

Through their exploration of jazz, classical and world music styles, the Turtle Island Quartet has taken audiences on journeys through many musical genres, eras and places, including the American landscape, Latin America, Europe and India.

The two-time Grammy Award-winning quartet latest trip ventures into Electric Ladyland, tackling works by legendary guitarist, songwriter and performer Jimi Hendrix. “Have You Ever Been…?” also explores compositions reflective of, and inspired by, Hendrix’s music, including TIQ founder David Balakrishnan’s new composition “Tree of Life.”

“These are not simple transcriptions of rock tunes for string quartet,” said Mark Urness, associate professor of music who teaches string bass at Lawrence.  “Turtle Island re-imagines the music of Jimi Hendrix: adding to the excitement and energy of the original the beautiful acoustic sonorities and precise ensemble performance of great string chamber music. The result is so natural on string instruments, you wonder if it was the sound of a violin that Hendrix was after with his sustaining overdrive and whammy-bar glissandos.”

Released in 2010, “Have You Ever Been …?” was the brainchild of violinist Balakrishnan, who credits the inspiration for the disc to a pair of Hendrix concerts he attended as a teenager at the Los Angeles Forum in 1969 and ’70. Shortly thereafter, he began playing Hendrix tunes on his violin.

At his creative peak in the late 1960s, Hendrix redefined the potential of the guitar as well as the entire rock genre, creating a blueprint that still is challenging guitarists in particular and musicians of all stripes more than four decades later.

Led by Balakrishnan, TIQ, which includes co-founder cellist Mark Summer, violinist Mads Tolling and newcomer violist Jeremy Kittel, has taken Hendrix’s cue in the course of its 25-year history by reexamining and reconstructing conventional genres of music and seeking new permutations of style, technique and composition. That mission was exemplified in its Grammy-winning 2007 recording “A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane,” in which the quartet reinterpreted the music of one of jazz’s most pivotal figures by injecting it with their own signature rhythmic innovations and multicultural influences.

Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a world-class conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. Ranked among America’s best colleges, it was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,520 students from 44 states and 56 countries.

Geologist Marcia Bjornerud Selected for National Outstanding Educator Award

Teaching, mentoring and research contributions to the study of geology have earned Lawrence University’s Marcia Bjornerud the 2011 Outstanding Educator Award from the Association of Women Geoscientists. She will be recognized Monday, Oct. 10 at the national meeting of the Geological Society of America in Minneapolis, Minn.

Presented annually since 1988, the award honors college or university teachers “who have played a significant role in the education and support of women geoscientists both within and outside the classroom,” including encouraging women to pursue careers in geoscience, providing field and laboratory experiences and serving as a positive role model.

Marcia Bjornerud

Honorees also are selected on the basis of their professional contributions to the study of geology, their involvement with professional societies and participation in science education programs in their community.

“This award is especially meaningful because so many current and former Lawrence students — both women and men — worked together to nominate me,” said Bjornerud, a structural geologist who joined the Lawrence faculty in 1995. “Teaching is a pleasure when one has such wonderful students.”

Professor of geology and the Walter Schober Professor in Environmental Studies, Bjornerud has honed her craft through more than 20 years of teaching experience, adopting the mantra “Teach less better,” with a focus on a more organic and deeper approach to the subject material, integrating and connecting concepts along the way. For more than 10 years, she has contributed to community science outreach programs for Fox Valley elementary and middle school students.

The recipient of Fulbright Senior Scholar Fellowships in 2009 and 2000 for field research in New Zealand and Norway, respectively, Bjornerud was instrumental in the creation of Lawrence’s environmental studies program in 2000 and served as its director for six years.

She is the author of the science textbook “The Blue Planet” and the 2005 book “Reading the Rocks: The Autobiography of the Earth,” in which she provides a tour of “deep time,” chronicles the planet’s changes and examines the toll human activity is exacting on Earth. She was elected a Fellow of the Geological Society of America in 2003 and was recognized with Lawrence’s Excellence in Scholarship or Creative Activity Award in 2007.

In addition to her award, Bjornerud also will make a presentation at the meeting on the question of when modern-style plate tectonics began on Earth. She will be one of seven Lawrence presenters at the national conference. Joining Bjornerud in research presentations will be associate professors of geology Jeff Clark and Andrew Knudsen, 2010 Lawrence graduate Katherine Cummings and current students Katharine Gurke ’12, Adam Kranz ’13 and Breanna Skeets ’12.

Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a world-class conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. Ranked among America’s best colleges, it was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,520 students from 44 states and 56 countries.

Amnesty International Director Talks Human Rights Involvement at Lawrence University

Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA, opens Lawrence University’s month-long series on human rights issues Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium. His presentation is free and open to the public.

Psychologist Peter Glick’s Research on Sexism “Stranger than Fiction”

Lawrence University psychologist Peter Glick and his research partner Susan T. Fiske of Princeton University address questions about whether acts of “benevolent sexism” harm women in a new commentary published in the current issue of Psychology of Women Quarterly.

“The truth about sexism seems stranger than fiction,” wrote Glick and Fiske in “Ambivalent Sexism Revisited,” which examines their 20-year investigations into the nature of sexism. Sexist attitudes are not exclusively hostile, but include an “odd…conjunction of what at first seemed inherently incompatible: subjective affection as a form of prejudice,” which they have labeled “benevolent sexism.”

Lawrence University psychologist Peter Glick

Glick, professor of psychology and Henry Merritt Wriston Professor in the Social Sciences at Lawrence, and Fiske have shown the negative consequences of attitudes that idealize women as pure, moral, pedestal-worthy objects of men’s adoration, protection and provision. People who endorse benevolent sexism feel positively toward women, but only when women conform to highly traditional ideals about “how women should be.”

Benevolent sexism motivates chivalrous acts that many women may welcome, such as a man’s offer to lift heavy boxes or install a new computer. While the path to benevolent sexism may be paved with good intentions, it reinforces the assumption that men possess greater competence than women, whom benevolent sexists view as wonderful, but weak and fragile.

Glick and Fiske developed the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI), which measures both Hostile Sexism and Benevolent Sexism, nearly 20 years ago. Since its inception, thousands of people in dozens of countries have taken the ASI.

Cross-national comparisons show that hostile and benevolent sexism go hand-in-hand — nations that endorse hostile sexism also endorse benevolent sexism. The beliefs work together because benevolent sexism “rewards” women when they fulfill traditional roles while hostile sexism punishes women who do not toe the line, thereby working together to maintain traditional relations. In other words, act sweet and they’ll pat you on the head; assert yourself and they’ll put you in your place

Numerous studies by various researchers document benevolent sexism’s insidious effects. For example, when led to expect benevolently sexist help in a masculine workplace, women became unsure of themselves, got distracted and consequently performed poorly.

Glick and Fiske discussed their research with Jan D. Yoder, editor of Psychology of Women Quarterly in this podcast.

Psychology of Women Quarterly is a feminist, scientific, peer-reviewed journal that publishes empirical research, critical reviews and theoretical articles that advance inquiry related to the psychology of women and gender, including information about feminist psychology, body image, violence against women, international gender concerns, sexism, sexuality, physical and mental well being, career development, and more. The journal is the official journal of The Society for the Psychology of Women, Division 35 of the American Psychological Association.

Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a world-class conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. Ranked among America’s best colleges, it was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,520 students from 44 states and 56 countries.

YMCA of the Fox Cities Presented 2011 Lawrence University Collaboration in Action Award

The YMCA of the Fox Cities was presented the 2011 Lawrence University Collaboration in Action Award this morning (10/4) during the college’s third annual “Report to the Community.” Nearly 150 community leaders attended the event, in which Lawrence President Jill Beck discussed the college-community relationship.

Oscar Boldt, chairman of The Boldt Group, served as emcee of the event, while Joyce Bytof, CEO of Coldwell Banker The Real Estate Group, Inc., was the program’s featured speaker.

The Lawrence University Collaboration in Action Award honors an individual or organization, who, in partnership with Lawrence, has provided exemplary service to the Fox Cities community through strategic vision, leadership influence, long-standing commitment and enthusiasm, financial contributions and/or volunteerism.

Lawrence University and YMCA of the Fox Cities leadership and supporters celebrate the Lawrence University Collaboration in Action Award. From left: Erin Buenzli, director of wellness and recreation at Lawrence; Danielle Englebert, YMCA of the Fox Cities district executive director; Cal Husmann, vice president for alumni, development and communications at Lawrence and YMCA of the Fox Cities corporate board member; Bill Breider, president/CEO of the YMCA of the Fox Cities; Chuck Merry ’57, Lawrence alumni board member and YMCA of the Fox Cities board of directors member; and Bonnie Buchanan ’62, former president of the YMCA of the Fox Cities board of directors and former Lawrence alumni board member.

“The YMCA of the Fox Cities has been an outstanding neighbor and partner for many years,” said Beck. “Their commitment to collaboration and resource sharing have helped make the Fox Cities a ‘well city’ and make Lawrence a ‘well campus.’  We’re thrilled to recognize the YMCA of the Fox Cities with the 2011 Lawrence University Collaboration in Action Award.”

A community force for more than a century, the YMCA of the Fox Cities boasts more than 160,000 community members who participate in a YMCA program or activity on an annual basis. It collaborates with more than 350 local organizations, including Lawrence University.

Collaborations between the YMCA and Lawrence date back many years.  In 2005, a formal partnership was established with Lawrence students offered free memberships to the Appleton YMCA. In 2010, 725 Lawrence students visited the YMCA 12,541 times.

The YMCA also offers a membership discount to Lawrence faculty and staff, has provided free passes when Lawrence’s Buchanan Kiewit Wellness Center has been closed during academic recesses and has provided wellness programming on Lawrence’s campus, with plans for more in the current academic year.

“The YMCA has been a leader in wellness initiatives. I look forward to collaborating with the YMCA for on-site wellness programming to offer opportunities for our staff, faculty and students to strive to enrich their spirits, minds and body,” said Erin Buenzli, Lawrence’s director of wellness and recreation.

Lawrence and the Appleton YMCA have shared a number of resources over the years. Through a work-study program funded by both organizations, Lawrence students offer one-on-one tutoring at the YMCA to elementary and high school students. They provided more than 200 hours of tutoring in 2010.

The YMCA uses Lawrence facilities for programming at no cost: Lawrence is home to the YMCA Summer Tennis Camp and the YMCA uses Lawrence’s aquatic facilities to increase participation in its swim team program. The Warch Campus Center also has hosted several events for the YMCA, including the Strong Kid’s Victory Celebrations.

Cal Husmann, Lawrence’s vice president of alumni, development and communications, serves on the YMCA of the Fox Cities Corporate Board and chairs the Development Committee, helping to raise funds that support and enhance YMCA programs, services and facilities.

“We are very proud and honored to have formed this wonderful relationship with Lawrence University,” said Bill Breider, president/CEO of the YMCA of the Fox Cities. “Our partnership has provided thousands of students and community members with wellness and enrichment opportunities that would not have been available without the collaborative spirit from both the YMCA and Lawrence. Lawrence University is a wonderful neighbor, partner and pillar of our community.”

Whether transforming an empty College Ave. storefront into a temporary “pop-up” gallery for local artists to showcase their talents, counting and monitoring bats at Menasha’s Heckrodt Wetland Reserve or conducting research aimed at assisting local health care providers improve delivery of their services, Lawrence collaborations and partnerships exemplify the college’s commitment to fostering a caring Fox Cities community.

Including their involvement with the YMCA, 605 Lawrence students volunteered more than 6,800 hours of service, including 2,800 hours at 47 different Fox Cities charities and schools during the 2010-11 academic year while Lawrence faculty and staff members served on the boards and committees of nearly 40 area nonprofit organizations.

The integration of civic service into the curriculum and culture at Lawrence resulted in the college being named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for the fifth consecutive year in 2011. Lawrence is one of only two Wisconsin institutions to receive this honor every year since the Honor Roll was established in 2006.

Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a world-class conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. Ranked among America’s best colleges, it was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,520 students from 44 states and 56 countries.

Amnesty International Leader Opens Special Month-Long Series Focused on Human Rights Issues

Larry Cox, the executive director of Amnesty International USA, headlines Lawrence University’s special month-long series of events focused on human rights issues around the world.

The program — “Engaging Human Rights” — will feature speakers and award-winning films, including the Wisconsin premiere of the documentary “Granito.” All events are free and open to the public.

“Our Scarff Visiting Professorship has a distinguished 20-year history dealing with international issues of the day, but the ‘Engaging Human Rights’ series is a new direction for us,” said Provost David Burrows. “We hope it will highlight many different facets of the worldwide challenge of human rights across disciplinary boundaries on the campus and reach those beyond it in the Fox Valley community. In conjunction with the Povolny Lecture Series, which will feature several presentations on human rights, this should be a great opportunity for further learning about this important and critical issue.”

Larry Cox

Cox, who has led Amnesty International USA since 2006, opens the series Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium with the address, “Making ‘Hope and History Rhyme’: Moving Forward in the Global Fight for Freedom and Dignity.”

His talk will examine how the unexpected and powerful mass uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, among others, not only removed some of the world’s most entrenched and repressive dictators, but also issued challenges to the conventional wisdom, particularly in the West, on the nature of the global fight for human rights and how it is best advanced. According to Cox, human rights advocates in the United States need to move beyond merely seeking to assist those fighting for freedom and dignity in the Arab world and begin to apply the lessons learned from them to human rights work both at home and abroad.

Cox has spent his career advocating for human rights. In addition to Amnesty International, he has served as executive director of the international organization Rainforest Foundation, which works to protect the rights of indigenous peoples in the Brazilian Amazon and spent 11 years as senior program officer for the Ford Foundation’s Human Rights unit, where he focused on the promotion of international justice and the advancement of domestic human rights.

Other scheduled events in the series include:

•  Oct. 11 — “The Churches and Human Rights in Latin America.” Alexander Wilde, distinguished visiting Scarff professor and senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., examines the role of and contributions by churches in the fight for improved human rights in Latin America. Wilde, a 1962 Lawrence graduate, spent six years as the director of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), a nongovernmental organization concerned with human rights and U.S. foreign policy. He co-edited the 1989 book “The Progressive Church in Latin America.” 7 p.m., Wriston Art Center auditorium.

• Oct. 23 — “State of Fear:  The Truth About Terrorism.”  Documentary film about the violence had engulfed Peru during the 1980s and ‘90s during the regime of President Alberto Fujimori. 12 noon, Warch Campus Center cinema.

• Oct. 23 — “Granito: How to Nail a Dictator.” Part political thriller, part memoir, this 2011 documentary spans four decades in search of  details that can be used to hold accountable those responsible for the genocide of more than 200,000 people at the hands of Guatemalan military and paramilitary soldiers. , 7 p.m., Warch Campus Center cinema.

• Oct. 24 — “Granito: How to Nail a Dictator.” The film’s director, Pamela Yates, and producer, Paco de Onis, will be on hand to conduct a question-and-answer session following a screening of the film. 7 p.m., Warch Campus Center cinema.

• Oct. 25 — “The Reckoning:  The Battle for the International Criminal Court.” An epic account of the new International Criminal Court’s struggle to prosecute perpetrators — however powerful or concealed they may be — of crimes against humanity, including indicting Sudan President Omar al-Bashir, issuing arrest warrants for Lord’s Resistance Army leaders in Uganda and putting an infamous Congolese warlord on trial. The film’s director Pamela Yates and producer Paco de Onis will lead a discussion following the screening. 7 p.m., Warch Campus Center cinema.

• Oct. 30 — “Blood Diamond.” Set against the backdrop of Sierra Leone’s civil war in the 1990’s, the story follows an ex mercenary from Zimbabwe and a Mende fisherman joined in a common quest to recover a rare pink diamond that can transform their lives. 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Warch Campus Center cinema.

Greg Campbell

• Nov. 1— “Lessons Learned from Conflict Diamonds in Sierra Leone, or Missed Opportunities.”  Greg Campbell, award-winning journalist and author of the book “Blood Diamonds: Tracing the Deadly Path of the World’s Most Precious Stones (which inspired the 2006 Oscar-nominated film “Blood Diamond”) discusses his recent return to Sierra Leone to assess the country’s progress 10 years after the end of a brutal civil war waged for control of its vast reserves of diamonds. How has Sierra Leone fared since it could finally put its natural resources to use for its citizens? Have its leaders learned from the past? Have its diamonds become a blessing or do they remain a curse? 7 p.m., Wriston Art Center auditorium.

• Nov. 8 — “One for the Road.” A performance of Nobel Award-winning playwright Harold Pinter’s story of an unnamed dictatorship during the late years of the Cold War performed by invited professional and student actors and directed by Timothy X. Troy, J. Thomas and Julie Esch Hurvis Professor of Theater and Drama at Lawrence.  Pinter wrote the play to support a human rights campaign of PEN International. An open discussion will follow the performance. 8 p.m., Cloak Theatre, Music-Drama Center.

Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a world-class conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. Ranked among America’s best colleges, it was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,520 students from 44 states and 56 countries.

$1.5 Million Gift Establishes Endowed Professorship in Biological Sciences

An abiding belief in the value of education and the importance of the biological sciences in the liberal arts curriculum has led a former Lawrence University biology major and her husband — Charlot and Dennis Singleton of Atherton, Calif. — to establish a new endowed professorship at the college with a $1.5 million gift.

Bart De Stasio '82

Professor of Biology Bart De Stasio has been named the first holder of the Singleton Professorship in the Biological Sciences. Appointments to endowed professorships are made in recognition of academic and artistic distinction through teaching excellence and/or scholarly achievement.

“Bart’s outstanding research record and his exemplary work in teaching and mentoring students represent the qualities that the donors of the chair wish to support through their wonderful gift,” said Lawrence President Jill Beck in announcing the appointment.

The Singleton Professorship is the fourth endowed professorship established during Lawrence’s six-year, $150 million “More Light” campaign, which concludes in October.

“I’m very honored to be the named to the Singleton Professorship in the Biological Sciences,” said De Stasio, a 1982 Lawrence graduate who returned to his alma mater as a faculty member in 1992. “This generous gift will allow us to continue to provide excellent learning and research opportunities for our students. I look forward to sharing the successes and achievements of our students with the Singletons.”

The gift includes an annual allowance to pursue innovative initiatives and activities related to teaching or research.

Charlot Singleton, a native of Duluth, Minn., graduated from Lawrence in 1967 with a major in biology and completed graduate work at California State University-San Jose.

Charlot '67 and Dennis Singleton

A life-long advocate of education, both as a teacher and through her own tutoring business, she has served on the boards of many civic and charitable organizations in the greater San Francisco area that focus on children’s education and health, including board chair of a public school education foundation. She also has a long record of volunteer service to Packard Children’s Hospital in Stanford, Calif., including serving on its board of directors for 12 years. She was appointed to Lawrence’s Board of Trustees in 2006.

Dennis Singleton, who graduated from Lehigh University and earned an MBA from Harvard University, enjoyed a highly successful career in commercial real estate investment. He was appointed to the Lehigh University Board of Trustees in 2000 and was named vice chairman in 2008.

In addition to the professorship, the Singletons established the Dennis and Charlot Nelson Singleton Scholarship, which was awarded for the first time this year.

De Stasio earned his Ph.D. in ecology and evolution from Cornell University and his scholarship interests include aquatic biology and predator-prey interactions. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, De Stasio co-directs the Lawrence University Marine Biology Program, during which students and faculty spend two weeks studying coral reef biodiversity on Grand Cayman Island in the Caribbean Sea. He also conducts research with students on the impacts of invasive species such as zebra mussels on the ecology of Lake Winnebago and Green Bay.

He has been the recipient of more than $279,000 in research grants, including awards from the U.S. Dept. of Energy, the National Science Foundation and the Wisconsin Sea Grant program for his studies of the potential effects of climate change on lakes.

His research on topics ranging from dormancy in aquatic organisms and its impact on the ecology and evolution of lake communities to temperature and climatic change as a driving factor in lake ecology and water temperatures needed to kill invasive species that might be attached to boats crossing locks in the Fox River has been published in a variety of scholarly publications, including the Encyclopedia of Inland Waters as well as chapters of books.

Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a world-class conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. Ranked among America’s best colleges, it was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,520 students from 44 states and 56 countries.