- President Jill Beck
Under the theme “Thought into Action,” President Jill Beck opens Lawrence University’s 164th academic year and the 2012-13 convocation series Thursday, Sept. 13 with the annual matriculation address.
The convocation, at 11:10 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel, is free and open to the public. It will be Beck’s final matriculation convocation. In February she announced her plans to retire at the end of the 2012-13 academic year.
Named president in 2004, Beck is the college’s 15th — and only woman — president. In 2009, Forbes.com named Beck a “barrier breaker,” one of 15 female college presidents on Forbes’ list of America’s 50 Best Colleges. A native of Worcester, Mass., she earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and art history from Clark University, a master’s degree in history and music from McGill University, and the Ph.D. in theatre from City University of New York.
- Kathrine Handford
Beck will be joined by Kathrine Handford, lecturer of music and university organist and award-winning filmmaker Catherine Tatge, artist-in-residence.
- Catherine Tatge ’72
Handford presents “Connecting the Dots: An Organ Studio Transformed” that will focus on a trip she led last March to Paris with a half dozen student organ majors while Tatge will present “Telling Stories That Matter.”
As part of the convocation, a clip from a documentary film made about the trip to France, “A World of Sound: American Organists in Paris,” directed by 2012 Lawrence graduate Mark Hirsch will be shown, junior Mathias Reed will perform on Lawrence’s Brombaugh tracker organ and senior Alexis VanZalen will present the address “Music, Meaning, and My Experience with French Organ Culture.”
Other speakers on Lawrence’s 2012-13 convocation series include:
• Oct. 11, 2012 — Larry Robertson, award-winning author and founder of Lighthouse Consulting, which guides entrepreneurial ventures, their leaders, and those who invest in them.
• Jan. 24, 2013 — Lynda Barry, author and nationally syndicated cartoonist known for her comic strip “Ernie Pook’s Comeek” and the books “The Good Times are Killing Me” and “What It Is.”
• April 16, 2013 — Bill Viola, contemporary video artist who explores New Media through electronic, sound, and image technology.
• May 23, 2013 — Claudena Skran, professor of government and Edwin and Ruth West Professor of Economics and Social Science at Lawrence.
About Lawrence University
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. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013 and 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 1,450 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries. Follow Lawrence on Facebook.
