September/October 2015

Content

The Mentor

Professor of Computer Science Andy van Dam has inspired new computer languages and a favorite Pixar character.

What You Thought

Reader comments on the 2015 reunion, alums in Nepal after the earthquake there, and the latest on ROTC.

Obituaries

Obituaries from the September/October 2015 issue.

Totally Fun Things He'll Never Do Again

A farewell to John Maxtone-Graham '51.

Passion for Figuring Things Out

Michael Hoffmann ’74 PhD A boyhood chemistry set led to a career in understanding and ending pollution.

Launch 'Em and Leave 'Em

Andrea Razzaghi ’82 The secret to success at NASA: a curious mind and a knack for getting things done.

Stories and Data

Meet Sheryl Brissett-Chapman ’71, executive director of the National Center for Children and Families.

Who's That?

On October 24, 1914—thirteen days after Brown celebrated its 150th...

Sports Briefs

Rowing news from Bulgaria and the lastest on all the Brown athletes on All-Academic Team lists.

Best Ever

After a record-breaking first year at Brown, Josie Natrasevschi ’18 has become the best women's discus thrower in Ivy history.

How Long Can You Run?

Probably not as long—or as far—as ultramarathoner Karl Hoagland ’87, publisher of UltraRunning magazine.

Too Little Attention

From 2006 until 2014 I was a psychotherapist working in the psychiatry department of the largest HMO...

Fresh Ink

New books include a short-story collection by Marian Thurm ’75 AM and a daughter's memoir of a civil rights leader.

Taking a Stand

Jonathan “Chaka Mpeanaji” Mahone ’99, ’04 MAT and his wife make up the innovative hip-hop duo Riders Against the Storm.

The Dating Game

John Berger ’90 examines why college graduates who are women have a hard time finding men with a similar background.

Future Perfect

The utopian world of artist Saya Woolfalk ‘01.

A Complicated Man

A new documentary by his son explores the personal and professional lives of ambassador Richard Holbrooke ’62.

Something Great

In the much-lauded Broadway show Hamilton, rapper and actor Daveed Diggs ‘04 plays two roles.

Joking for Acceptance

After years of hustling, comic Jordan Carlos ’01 makes it big in movies and on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore.

A Dazzling Voice

For many years, Ayad Akhtar ‘93 sidestepped his Muslim American past in his bid to become an American writer. After 9/11, in such works as the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Disgraced, he used that same past to engage with Islam and explore the prejudices buried in all of us, Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

From the President

Brown's commitment to teaching continues among the new generation of academics like Africana studies prof Tricia Rose.

The Student-Teacher

The last fifty years of arts education at Brown are inseparable from the teaching and creations of Richard Fishman.

Belonging

Manuel Contreras ’16 is helping lead a national effort to help first-generation students get through college.

Getting a Grip

The neuroscience of picking up your pen.

Drug Fight

Soumitri Barua ’17 is taking on Medicaid for withholding life-saving drugs from people who are who have been substance abusers.

Lights Out

A new study says no more Candy Crush at bedtime.

Robotic Reasoning

How a video game is being used to create artificial intelligence.

Dog Days

Even Spot will be affected by global warming.

On the Road

Anthropologist Catherine Lutz and high school teacher Anne Lutz Fernandez asked teachers what they think of school reform.

Ready for Change

Responding to unsettling sexual assault cases, the University hires Amanda Walsh as its first full-time Title IX officer.

Restoration

Right along Benevolent Street, at number 93, between Hope and Brook Streets...

Summer Stories

For students the months away from campus are a break from the rigors of the academic life. Sort of.

Beyond the Gates

Book Tour

A journalist gets to know writer David Foster Wallace, 12 years before his suicide.