In Brief: Fall 2026
In May Wesleyan named the black box theater in the new Fries Arts Building the Lin-Manuel Miranda Theater, in honor of Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02, Hon. ’15, the acclaimed composer, playwright, and alumnus who first developed In the Heights as a student on campus. President Michael S. Roth ’78 noted, “It’s fitting that this space, designed for discovery, carries the name of a truly groundbreaking artist.”
Assistant Professor of Theater Maria-Christina Oliveras was nominated by Drama Desk for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play for her work in The Balusters, a comedy that had a three-month run on Broadway this past spring. The show also received five Tony nominations in 2026 and other accolades, including an Outer Critics’ Circle Award and Drama League citations.
Alumni voters this spring chose Dr. Judith Absalon ’90, Julie Coffman ’88, and Jenina Nuñez ’04 as new alumni-elected trustees. They began serving on the 36-member Board of Trustees on July 1. Nearly 4,000 alumni voted this year. Each of the new trustees will serve a three-year term with responsibility for ensuring the University fulfills its mission, sustains its values, and appropriately balances its obligations to current and future generations.
President Michael S. Roth ’78 received the 2026 Virtues & Vocations Award from the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Social Concerns for his latest book, The Student: A Short History. He also received the 2026 Philip Scheffler Pursuers of Peace & Justice Award from the Congregation of Beth Shalom Rofde Zedek in Chester, Connecticut. In addition to contributing essays to such outlets as The New York Times, in the past several months President Roth has made national media appearances on CNN This Morning with Audie Cornish, NPR’s Morning Edition, and Real Time with Bill Maher and Overtime with Bill Maher.
Ahmed Badr, director of the Patricelli Center for Entrepreneurship, was named a 2026–2027 Obama Foundation Leader. One of 150 leaders selected globally, he is one of 50 in the US cohort who will receive training in values-based leadership development to strengthen skills and scale their work across public, private, and nonprofit sectors. The US cohort has a particular focus on strengthening democratic culture.
In May Jesse Chang-Frieden ’27 became the first Wesleyan student to be selected as a Udall Scholar. The national scholarship program, administered by the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation, identifies future leaders in environmental, Tribal public policy, and health care fields. Chang-Frieden, an earth and environmental sciences and environmental studies major, also won two awards at the NASA ECOSTRESS Science and Application Team Meeting hackathon. The contest involves capturing imaging from a thermal infrared radiometer on the International Space Station to explore issues and impacts related to water availability and drought around the globe. Chang-Frieden was part of the team that won first place and led the effort that garnered third.
At the Ultimate Frisbee D-III Championships in May, Maggie Brown ’26, then senior caption of Vicious Circles—Wesleyan’s women’s team—was named a 2026 Donovan Award winner. This accolade is given annually to one women’s and one men’s D-III player, selected by their peers. Brown is the first Wesleyan player to receive the award.
A poetry collection published by Wesleyan University Press was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in May. Juliana Spahr’s collection, Ars Poeticas, focuses on Spahr’s relationship with poetry, politics, and the public around her.
With 17 awards in 2026, Wesleyan set a new single-year record for alumni receiving grants through the Fulbright US Student Program. The selective academic and cultural exchange program offers graduating college seniors, graduate students, and young professionals opportunities to study, research, or teach English in over 140 countries. Wesleyan has in the past several years earned recognition as a Fulbright Top Producing Institution, as designated by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
James John Praznik, assistant professor of the practice in music, commissioned and premiered Andrew Rindfleisch’s American Descent in his role as co-artistic director of the new music ensemble No Exit. The composition in five movements for 13 players was a finalist for the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Music awarded in May.
Wesleyan has named its new science building the Casper Life Sciences Building in honor of Marc Casper ’90, P’23 and Alison Casper P’23. The state-of-the-art facility brings Wesleyan’s biology, chemistry, and molecular biology and biochemistry departments together under one roof and is designed to cultivate collaboration, dynamic research, inclusive teaching programs, and sustainable energy use.
Jennifer Tucker, professor of history, science and technology studies, environmental studies, and feminist, gender and sexuality studies, received a short-term research fellowship from the New York Public Library’s Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs. Tucker also received a $50,000 Mellon Foundation grant for designing and implementing collaborative courses and programs with the Archaeology Program on the industrial history and heritage of Middletown in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Katherine Kuenzli, professor of art history and German studies, co-wrote The Belgian Friendship Building, which was announced as a joint winner of Booklaunch’s Best Architectural History Book of 2026.
Natasha Korda, professor of English and feminist, gender, and sexuality studies, was inducted into the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, the third-oldest learned society in the United States. The Academy’s purpose is the dissemination of scholarly information through lectures and extensive publications.
In October, RMI Records released Independent Declarations, a collaborative musical project by Jazz Ensemble Director Noah Baerman and 15 musicians who have studied with him either at Wesleyan or the long-running summer program Center for Creative Youth (CCY). Baerman and his collaborators composed music that marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and reflects on the present-day relevance and impact of the nation’s founding document.
Graduate Liberal Studies student Ginny Monk, The Connecticut Mirror’s children’s issues and housing reporter, was part of a team awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Local Reporting for their series on the state’s unique towing laws, which allow predatory companies to overcharge residents.
During the 2025–2026 academic year, the Wesleyan Athletics Department launched The Cardinal Chirp podcast—a new way to platform the personalities who make up the dynamic athletic community on campus. In each of the 23 episodes last year, student-athlete hosts engaged in lively conversation with other student-athletes and coaches in discussions not confined to sports. Season 2 premiered in September 2026.
