1:00 PM to 2:30 PM
WESEMINAR Sultan and the Saint Docu-Drama Film Screening-Opening Remarks and Discussion with Executive Producer Michael Wolfe ’68

During the Crusades, Saint Francis of Assisi risked his life by walking across enemy lines to meet the Sultan of Egypt, the Muslim ruler Al-Malik al-Kamil. This remarkable encounter, and the commitment to peace of the two men behind it, sucked the venom out of the Crusades and changed the relationship between Muslims and Christians for the better. Featuring dramatic reenactments and renowned scholarship, this amazing story is brought to life. Scholars interviewed include Michael Cusato (St. Bonaventure University), Sr. Kathy Warren (Sisters of St. Francis), Suleiman Mourad (Smith College), Homayra Ziad (Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies), Paul Moses (The Saint and the Sultan), and others.

Join us for this film to learn about the remarkable spiritual exchange between the Sultan and the Saint, and the great risks they took. Interactive discussion with Executive Producer, Michael Wolfe ’68, to follow.

Speaker: Michael Wolfe ’68 is the co-founder and President of Unity Productions Foundation (UPF), a nonprofit organization that works to create peace by increasing understanding through the media. Michael got his start in the media 20 years ago, by working with Ted Koppel’s ABC Nightline, where he wrote and helped produce the first-ever American documentary film about the Pilgrimage to Mecca. Through UPF, Michael has co-produced ten award-winning documentary films, mostly broadcast nationally on PBS. He is also the author of ten books of poetry, history, and travel.
Tishler Lecture Hall (150), Exley Science Center

1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
WESEMINAR Understanding American Inequality
Inequality of wealth and income has been much in the news here and abroad, and the subject of renewed scholarly attention by Thomas Piketty and many others, including Jeffrey Williamson ’57, Laird Bell Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at Harvard. Along with Richard Adelstein, Jeff will review his new work on the history of growth and inequality in the United States, and join the audience in an open discussion of this complex and urgent problem.
Speakers: Richard Adelstein is Woodhouse/Sysco Professor of Economics and Tutor in the College of Social Studies (CSS). Richard graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1968, earned a master's degree in teaching at Harvard (1970), and a J.D. and a Ph.D. (1975) from the University of Pennsylvania and its Law School. He has taught economics and social studies at Wesleyan since 1975, and twice received the University's annual Binswanger Award for Excellence in Teaching, in 1993, the year the award was created, and again in 2012. He has spent sabbatical years as a visiting scholar at Oxford, Harvard, and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and as a Fulbright Visiting Professor at the University of Munich. A pioneer in the application of economic analysis to legal problems, his articles have appeared in scholarly journals in a range of disciplines, and his book on the relationship of market exchange and legal liability, The Exchange Order: Property and Liability as an Economic System, will be published in August 2017. Jeffrey Gale Williamson '57, GP'16 is Laird Bell Professor of Economics, emeritus, Harvard University and Honorary Fellow, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Economics. Master of Harvard’s Mather House (1986-1993), President of the Economic History Association (1994-1995) and Chairman of Harvard’s Economics Department (1997-2000), he received Wesleyan’s Distinguished Alumnus Award (1987) and served on Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees (1988-1994). His most recent books are: The Spread of Modern Manufacturing to the Periphery since 1870 (forthcoming 2017 Oxford: ed. with Kevin O’Rourke); Has Latin American Inequality Changed Direction? (Springer 2017: ed. with Luis Bértola); Unequal Gains: American Growth and Inequality since 1700 (Princeton 2016: with Peter Lindert); The Cambridge History of Capitalism (Cambridge 2014: ed. with Larry Neal); and Trade and Poverty: When the Third World Fell Behind (MIT 2011).
Room 302, Fisk Hall

2:30 PM to 3:30 PM
WESEMINAR Celebrating Seniors: Research Excellence at Wesleyan
Members of the Class of 2017 talk about their senior theses, representing a cross section of student research and creative output. Students will share their work and discuss the process that guided their investigations.
Moderator: Louise S. Brown P'11, '13, Dean for Academic Advancement and Dean for the Class of 2017
Presenters: Harrison Carter ’17  ARST, Jenny Davis ’17  ENGL, Girish Duvvuri  ’17 ASTR, ENGL, PHYS, Deja Knight  ’17 AFAM, NS&B
Judd 116

3:00 PM to 4:00 PM
WESEMINAR The Future is Female: Wesleyan Women in the Workplace

Celebrate Wesleyan women in the workplace! Wesleyan women from across the decades will come together to talk about their career paths, the struggles they've faced and the successes they've achieved, and share their perspectives on what it means to be a woman in the workplace. Bring your own stories and add your voice to the conversation; interactive audience participation is encouraged for a robust, engaging group dialogue. Want to join the conversation, but aren’t on campus? This seminar will be live streamed and can be viewed online.
Speakers: Vanessa Burgess ’77, P’13, ’18 is a Trustee Emerita, a member of the volunteer leadership committee, a class agent and resides in New York City. She was a psychology major and her senior thesis was "A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Autism" in Ghana and the U.S. Her career in finance began at OPIC in D.C. where she traveled extensively throughout Latin America and the Caribbean while earning an MBA in International Finance.  From OPIC she went to Wall Street where she spent sixteen years in the Health Care Investment Banking Group at DLJ/Credit/Suisse. She currently manages a portfolio of publicly traded securities and advises early stage health care companies; Madelyn Colon ’77 was CT Assistant State Treasurer from 1999 to 2005 and a Senior Policy Analyst in the Office of the State Treasurer. During her career in public service, she also served as Executive Director of the City of Hartford Redevelopment Agency, leading the city’s redevelopment program during the 1990s. Madelyn has collaborated with City Managers, Mayors, public officials, local residents and community stakeholders to advance mission driven programs throughout her career, and has a M.P.A and M.B.A from the University of Hartford, Barney School of Business. She is currently a consultant in public policy and community development and lives in Farmington, CT. Kimberly King ’97 is the Director, Ad Sales Marketing for Travel Channel and Great American Country at Scripps Networks, where she is responsible for increasing advertising revenues and sponsorship sales by developing marketing programs to support advertising products and services for their lifestyle brands. Kim was previously the Senior Manager of Brand Solutions at Viacom Media Networks' brand BET Networks. Also an accomplished writer,  her byline has appeared in Essence, Playbill, The Source and more. Kim holds a Master of Science degree in Integrated Marketing and a Professional Certificate in Digital Media Marketing from New York University and her BA in Government from Wesleyan University. She continues in her service efforts as a volunteer member of the Wesleyan Alumni of Color Network, the Wesleyan Fund and on the Board of the Oliver Scholars Program. Betti Packman ’07 is a case team leader with Parthenon-EY, specializing in deep consumer research. In addition to project work, Betti manages MBA recruiting and diversity and inclusion efforts for Parthenon-EY. Prior to working in management consulting, Betti spent a number of years working on political campaigns. Betti holds her M.B.A. from The Wharton School and majored in Government at Wesleyan. Gabrielle Sellei ’87 is the founder of Sellei Law, LLC, a business and entertainment law firm in the Philadelphia area, and a co-founder of Women Owned Law, a national organization devoted to women entrepreneurs in the legal services sector.  She received her J.D. from Boston University School of Law in 1995. Meng-Ju (Renee) Sher ’07 is an assistant professor in the physics department. She received her bachelor’s degree in physics from Wesleyan in 2007 and PhD degree from Harvard in 2013. She then spent three years at Stanford for postdoctoral research and teaching training before coming back to Wesleyan in fall 2016. 
Sponsored by the Wesleyan Women's Network.
Class of 1965 Classroom (002), Public Affairs Center (PAC)

3:00 PM to 4:30 PM
WESMINAR A World Gone: What’s Coming?

Join Leslie Gelb P'91, one of America’s most prominent foreign policy experts and former Wesleyan assistant professor of Government, for an interactive discussion about world politics from JFK to Trump. Audience Q&A is encouraged for an engaging, collaborative conversation.
Introduction: Karl Scheibe, Professor of Psychology, Emeritus; Director Emeritus, Susan B. and William K. Wasch Center for Retired Faculty
Speaker: Dr. Leslie H. Gelb P’91 is President Emeritus of the Council of Foreign Relations, a former New York Times columnist and correspondent, and a former senior State and Defense Department official, where he directed the Pentagon Papers project.
Commons, Fries Center for Global Studies, Fisk Hall

3:00 PM to 4:00 PM
WESEMINAR A Conversation with Wesleyan Writers

Join us at the new Wesleyan R.J. Julia Bookstore as celebrated authors, Robin Cook ’62 and Carolyn Parkhurst ’92 share how Wesleyan shaped their writing. Book signing to follow.
Speakers: Doctor and author Robin Cook ’62 is widely credited with introducing the word "medical" to the thriller genre, and thirty-four years after publication of his breakthrough novel, Coma, he continues to dominate the category he created. He has written 34 international bestsellers and is a #1 New York Times bestselling author. His latest novel, Host, was published in October 2015. Carolyn Parkhurst ’92 holds an MFA in fiction from American University. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels, The Dogs of Babel, Lost and Found and The Nobodies Album, as well as a children’s book, Cooking with Henry and Elliebelly. She lives in Washington, D. C., with her husband, Evan Rosser '92, and their two children. Her latest novel, Harmony, was published in August 2016.

Wesleyan R.J. Julia Bookstore, 413 Main Street, near the intersection of Washington Street

8:00 PM to 10:00 PM
WESEMINAR Hamilton's America Film Screening

Introduction and Q&A with director Alex Horwitz '02
Goldsmith Family Cinema

9:00 AM to 10:00 AM
WESEMINAR Parenting Through the College Admission Process

Admission Deans Nancy Meislahn, Chris Lanser and Cliff Thornton, and University Relations Assistant Director Kate Quigley Lynch ’82, P’17, ’19, will host a “fireside chat” with the Class of 1992 to discuss parenting children through the college admission process. Parents from other classes are welcome.
Note: This session is specifically for parents. The Office of Admission offers information sessions and tours on Thursday, 5/25, and Friday, 5/26, for interested families.
McKelvey Room, Stewart M. Reid House, Office of Admission

9:30 AM to 10:30 AM
WESEMINAR How Do We Get There From Here? Embracing Life Transitions and Transformation

Members of the class of ’77 share stories about making mid-life/mid-career changes on a curving road. What have we done, why have we done it, and how did we do it.
Speakers: Susan Guiney’s ’77 work life has taken her from a PhD program in Classics, to professional fundraising in New York and Boston, to a long-term expat life in London. There, she began her writing career, publishing novels and poetry. Since 2010, her focus and inspiration, both in her writing and teaching, is Cambodia and SE Asia where she founded, in 2015, the educational NGO, Writing Through www.writingthrough.org, which uses the writing of poems and stories in English to develop conceptual thinking, self-esteem and language fluency in at-risk populations. After a pursuing a career in music performance followed by 25 years working in corporate finance, Jane Klemmer ’77, P’13, did something she never envisioned for herself; she became an entrepreneur. Now in her tenth year as the owner of Klemmer Educational Consulting, she continually draws from her corporate and life experiences, and has turned her focus to higher education, advising students and families on college admission and affordability. Michele Roberts ’77 is the first woman to head a major professional sports union in North America. In her role as executive director of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), Ms. Roberts serves as the primary advocate for all players, ensuring the protection of the organization and its membership, including serving as the lead negotiator in all collective bargaining activities. Prior to her role with the NBPA, Ms. Roberts was a renowned trial lawyer and member of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom’s Litigation Group, a practice that focuses on complex civil and white collar criminal litigation before state and federal courts and in administrative proceedings. Alan Steele ’77, P’14 considers himself extremely fortunate to have worked intensively in three diverse areas over his career: physical chemistry, academic medicine, and intellectual property law. His transitions from one area to the next were driven by combinations of internal and external factors and a hunger for knowledge and connection with others. These various disciplines have required him to view and approach the world in fascinatingly different ways.
Hansel Lecture Hall (001), Public Affairs Center (PAC)

10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
WESEMINAR “What Are You Looking At?”

Two Wesleyan alums from the class of 1987, Matthew Weiner ’87, P’18 (creator of the groundbreaking television series Mad Men and author of the upcoming novel Heather, The Totality) and Jeremy Mindich ’87, MALS '89 (founder of the hedge fund group Scopia Capital) discuss their ongoing inspiration from the books, movies and news stories that they have shared and that have shaped their very different careers.
Goldsmith Family Cinema, Center for Film Studies

10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
WESEMINAR College of the Environment

Regardless of one's opinions about issues such as climate change or carbon taxes, it is clear that environmental issues will dominate national and international politics and news over the next century. To fully prepare students to participate effectively in these important discussions, Wesleyan has taken a major step to support environmental research, communication, teaching, and policy development, with its Environmental Studies Program and the College of the Environment (COE). Come listen to the exciting details of the Environmental Studies Program and the College of the Environment by Professor Barry Chernoff, Chair of the Environmental Studies Program. Then join us while the Class of 2017 presents their senior capstone projects during our poster session.
Woodhead Lounge, Exley Science Center

11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
WESEMINAR Celebration of Wesleyan Writing: Fake News and Real News: Journalism Today

Join us for a lively panel discussion featuring award-winning Wesleyan alumni journalists including Jane Eisner ’77, P’06, ’12, editor of The Forward; Alex Kotlowitz ’77, author of three books including There Are No Children Here; Miriam Berger ’12, freelance journalist in Jerusalem; and Jamie Novogrod ’02, coordinating producer at MSNBC during the 2016 presidential race, now Los Angeles Bureau Chief for VICE News Tonight on HBO. Panel moderator, Jenifer McKim ’88, has been business and social issues reporter at the Boston Globe and is senior investigative reporter at The New England Center for Investigative Reporting. 
Panel host: Anne Greene, University Professor in the Dept. of English; Director, Wesleyan Writing Certificate and Wesleyan Writers Conference.
Taylor Meeting Room (108), Usdan University Center

11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
WESEMINAR Enemies of the American People: A Report from the Front Lines of Media and Technology

Speakers: John Borthwick ’87 is betaworks CEO, founder. Betaworks is a startup platform that builds and invests in companies across the social, data driven media internet. Its platform combines three areas of expertise. A studio for building products like Giphy, Dots, bitly and Tweetdeck. An investment fund for early stage start-ups related to the areas the company is building in. Previous investments include: Tumblr, Kickstarter, Medium and Gimlet. And camp, a thematic accelerator program for start-ups in frontier technology such as Bots, AI and Verbal Computing. Betaworks works to bring together these three areas to create extraordinary companies and work with exceptional people combining art and science. Prior to betaworks, John was CEO of Fotolog. Fotolog was one of the first and largest social photo sharing sites — pre Flickr and Facebook. John was an angel investor in Fotolog and then stepped in as CEO. In less than a year he turned the company cash flow positive and sold the business for $96M. Before Fotolog, John was SVP of Alliances and Technology Strategy for Time Warner Inc. He came to Time Warner from AOL. At Time Warner he worked with the management team and the divisions to drive technology strategy across the company and lead several large technology partnerships for the company, including Microsoft, Google, Sony and Intel. During this period John got involved in driving technology policy for the company, and as part of this effort he became an expert witness in the Microsoft Antitrust trial. Prior to Time Warner John was an executive at AOL, leading the new product development studio. John arrived at AOL after they acquired his first company, WP-Studio, founded in 1994, one of the first internet companies in New York. Since 1994 he has been a leader in New York technology. John holds an MBA from Wharton and an undergraduate degree in Economics from Wesleyan University. He sits on the board of WNYC, NYPR, Data and Society, Giphy, Dots and Blade. Jim Friedlich ’79, P’17 is a media and philanthropy executive. He serves as Chief Executive Officer of The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, a non-profit foundation that supports journalism innovations and technologies nationwide and is the owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer, winner of twenty Pulitzer Prizes. The Inquirer is now the largest newspaper in America operated as a public benefit corporation and owned by a non-profit foundation. Friedlich served as group publisher of The Wall Street Journal for Europe, Asia, and Latin America, was a Board Director of CNBC International, and a co-founder of WSJ.com. He is an active media venture capital investor and was a seed investor in Business Insider before its sale to Axel Springer in 2015. Laura R. Walker ’79, P’21 is President and CEO of New York Public Radio, the largest public radio station group in the nation. Ms. Walker led New York Public Radio during a period of dramatic growth and innovation. Under her leadership, New York Public Radio has increased its audience from 1 million to 23.9 million, has raised more than $150 million in long term investment, created WNYC Studios, the second largest podcast producer in the country, and has been described by Neiman Lab’s Ken Doctor as being on “innovation overdrive.” She has established New York Public Radio as a place that produces award-winning enterprise journalism, nurtures today’s most creative talent, and creates innovative products that bring the best of public radio to listeners everywhere. Ms. Walker holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BA in History, magna cum laude, from Wesleyan University where she was an Olin Scholar.  
Introduction: Brad Lubin '87 P'20 graduated from Wesleyan with a BA in economics, where he was a rower on the Varsity Crew team, and received an MBA from New York University School of Business in 1990. He was an Associate in the Citibank Global Information Group until 1992, before moving to Israel to participate in a training program with the Israeli Defense Forces. In 1993 he returned to the United States to lead his family's specialty chemical manufacturing businesses, Sanolite Corporation and Cavalier Corporation. Over a twenty year period he developed their national distribution of products and services and in 2011 he spearheaded the sale of Sanolite Corporation to a publicly traded global corporation. He currently consults for several companies in related industries and is developing his former manufacturing facilities in Sunset Park, Brooklyn (deemed "one of "New York's Next Hot Neighborhoods" by the New York Times in 2016) into residential and mixed-use commercial real estate. He lives in Westchester, NY and is married with three children, Gillian (Wesleyan Class of 2020), Ethan and Jake.
Hansel Lecture Hall (001), Public Affairs Center

11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
WESEMINAR Culture, performance and emotions: Things that you can learn in a Wesleyan class (in Spanish)

Come to hear five Wesleyan Hispanic professors talk about some of the fascinating things that they teach in the classroom: from ways of talking about the Hispanic experience in the US, to migration, theater and performance across the Spanish speaking world, to urban space and memory, to poetry, and the psychology of emotions. Conducted in Spanish.

Cultura, performance y emociones: Cosas que se pueden aprender en una clase en Wesleyan
Ven a escuchar a cinco profesores hispanos de Wesleyan hablar de algunos de los temas sobre los que enseñan. Desde los modos en que nos referimos a los hispanos en Estados Unidos, a temas de migración y teatro, memoria y espacio urbano, poesía y la psicología de las emociones en diferentes culturas. ¡En español!

Speakers: Antonio González, Professor of Spanish and Director, Fries Center for Global Studies; María Ospina, Assistant Professor of Spanish, Assistant Professor, Latin American Studies, Spanish Section Head, Romance Languages and Literatures Department; Marcela Oteíza, Assistant Professor of Theater, Dance Department; Ana Pérez-Gironés, Adjunct Professor of Spanish; Patricia María Rodríguez Mosquera, Associate Professor of Psychology, Associate Professor, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.   Commons, Fries Center for Global Studies, Fisk Hall

11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
WESEMINAR Academics, Dedication, Performances: Alpha Delta Phi and Wesleyan

Join Stephanie Gold and Erhard Konerding MALS ’82 as they discuss the past and present of one of Wesleyan’s literary societies, Alpha Delta Phi, which was formed in 1856. Learn the various ways in which Alpha Delta Phi has contributed to the Wesleyan community in the past, and how it hopes to continue to do so in the future. Stephanie will also preview the exhibit “Alpha Delta Phi Through the Decades,” which highlights items of interest from the Society’s recently processed records now located in Special Collections & Archives.
Speakers: Stephanie Gold, formerly Alpha Delta Phi Processing Archivist, is the Wilbur Olin Atwater Papers Processing Archivist in Special Collections & Archives. Erhard Konerding MALS ’82 is a graduate member of Alpha Delta Phi and former Government Documents Librarian in Olin Library.
Room 116, Judd Hall

1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
WESEMINAR Converging to a Center: Photographs from the Collection of Andrew Szegedy-Maszak and Elizabeth Bobrick
Conversation in the gallery with Andrew Szegedy-Maszak, Professor of Classical Studies and Jane A. Seney Professor of Greek, and DAC Curator Clare Rogan. Photography has evolved dramatically since 1970, when Andrew Szegedy-Maszak started collecting. This exhibition at the Davison Art Center highlights thirty-three photographs acquired in the last two decades, photographs that reveal the shift from the intimate scale of small black and white (gelatin silver) prints to immersive large-scale color digital images.
Speakers: Andrew Szegedy-Maszak earned his B.A. in Classics at the University of Michigan and his Ph.D. at Princeton University. Since 1973 he has been on the faculty at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, where he is now Professor of Classical Studies and Jane A. Seney Professor of Greek. He has published widely on Greek history and historiography and on the history of photography
Gallery, Davison Art Center

1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
WESEMINAR The Future of Digital Media

Join ’97 leaders in the media space for a discussion about the changing landscape of media in the digital age. How will "media" companies craft content that appeals to new audiences? How will these companies continue to deliver compelling media going forward in the climate of ever-changing audience demographics?
Moderator: Christiaan Hogendorn is an Associate Professor of Economics at Wesleyan, and studies the economics of infrastructure industries, especially telecommunications and the Internet.  He teaches classes in industrial organization, the economics of technology, and microeconomic theory.
Speakers: Carter Bays ’97, co-creator and writer of television comedy shows (How I Met Your Mother, The Goodwin Games); Sean Brecker ’97, CEO & CFO of the lifestyle/meditation application, Headspace; Maggie Suniewick ’97, President of Digital Enterprises at NBCUniversal; and Craig Thomas ’97, co-creator and writer of television comedy shows (How I Met Your Mother, The Goodwin Games)and Santi (Santigold) White '97, Brooklyn-based rapper/singer/songwriter.
Ring Family Performing Arts Hall

1:30 PM to 2:30 PM
WESEMINAR 10th Annual Ring Family Wesleyan University Israeli Film Festival

This year Wesleyan University celebrates a decade of the Ring Family Wesleyan University Israeli Film Festival. Sponsored by the Ring Family, the Center for Jewish Studies and co-sponsored by the College of Film and the Moving Image and the Wesleyan Film Series, the festival has become an extremely successful event which draws its audience from the Wesleyan community, as well as the larger general Connecticut community. Its structure has also become a model for unrelated festivals at Wesleyan and other universities. The festival’s format features a film screening, along with commentary from a speaker who illuminates a particular aspect of the film. Among the speakers this year, the festival hosted Prof. Jeanine Basinger, Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies, and A.O. Scott, Distinguished Professor of Film Criticism as well as Ori Sivan, Israeli film Director and Gittel and Marvin Distinguished Scholar in Residence. The film festival is also closely integrated into the study of Hebrew at Wesleyan University. In this WESeminar, Dalit Katz, film designer and director, and Director of the Center for Jewish Studies, will offer a glimpse into this year's festival as she shares film clips with the audience.
Presenter: Dalit Katz, Director of the Center for Jewish Studies and Adj. Associate Professor of Religion, has been teaching Hebrew and organizing Israeli cultural events since 2000.
Room 208, Fisk Hall

1:30 PM to 2:30 PM
WESEMINAR The Wesleyan Course Hidden in Your Attic

Many of us unwittingly sent messages to our future selves while we were students; it is high time we opened these time capsules. Chances are you have a few of your old Wesleyan papers, essays, stories, plays, or poems stashed in a banker’s box or an accordion file folder somewhere. Now here’s the part that requires just five minutes of homework: find one (don’t worry, you probably only saved the good ones). Re-read the piece. Recognize the author? At all? What did you just learn about the subject or yourself then and now? Come to our session to share.
Speakers: David Brancaccio ’82 is host and senior editor of public radio’s Marketplace Morning Report. David has reported from all over the world, hosted the weekly public television news program Now on PBS, and co-produced the documentary film Fixing the Future. He hosts the Esquire Classic podcast with Esquire Magazine. His book about money and values, Squandering Aimlessly, was published by Simon & Schuster. Virginia Pye ’82, P’15 is the author of two critically acclaimed novels, River of Dust and Dreams of the Red Phoenix, short fiction in literary journals, and essays at The New York Times, Literary Hub, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. She is married to art museum director, John Ravenal ’81, and is mother of Eva Ravenal ’15. After Wes, Tom Wu ’72, P’16, ’20, did an MBA at NYU and then auditing/taxes with KPMG, HR at GE, marketing with Colgate and M&A at Sara Lee. After working in Asia for fifteen years Tom relocated to the balmy climate of Seattle. Tom served as an alumni-elected Wes trustee and is the proud parent of two Wes students.
Putnam Classroom (114), Boger Hall

2:00 PM to 3:00 PM
WESEMINAR Learning with the Center for Prison Education
Since 2009, the Center for Prison Education has brought the transformative power of a Wesleyan Education behind prison bars. Please join us for a panel discussion of why college-in-prison is important for reversing the trends of mass incarceration and fostering healthier communities and universities featuring program alum James Jeter, undergraduate tutor Isadora Spillman-Schappell '17, and Lori Gruen, William Griffin Professor of Philosophy, Professor of Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Professor, Science in Society, at Wesleyan University.
Moderator: Maddie Neufeld ’12, former Center for Prison Education volunteer and Fellow.
Room 002, Public Affairs Center (PAC)

2:30 PM to 3:30 PM
WESEMINAR Thesis Art Talk

Zilkha Gallery showcases the work of the Class of 2017’s thesis students in the Department of Art and Art History’s Art Studio Program. Each student is invited to select a single work from their Senior Thesis Exhibition for this year-end showcase of drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, mixed media, and architecture curated by Professor of Art Tula Telfair.
Co-sponsored by the Center for the Arts and University Relations.
Main Gallery, Ezra & Cecile Zilkha Gallery

3:00 PM to 4:00 PM
WESEMINAR Political Dysfunction
Moderator: Megan Norris ’83, P’17 is Principal; Chair, Managing Directors; and Employment and Labor Group Co-Leader at Miller Canfield in Detroit. She is an Emerita Trustee of Wesleyan, and is also a longtime volunteer; Megan is currently co-chair of the Wesleyan Fund Leadership Committee and former chair of the Alumni Association.
Speakers: Robert L. Allbritton ’92 is executive chairman and cofounder of Perpetual Capital Partners, and cofounder, executive chairman, and publisher of POLITICO, a global nonpartisan politics and policy news organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with operations in New York and throughout Europe. In its 2007 debut, POLITICO broke journalistic ground with a website devoted to high-quality reporting of political matters, and it gained almost immediate prominence in the world of Washington media. Mr. Allbritton is known for hiring top reporters and editors, and for establishing a profitable and successful business model for POLITICO. Today, with more than 500 employees worldwide, POLITICO covers politics and policy through television, the web, the POLITICO newspaper, radio, and podcasts.
A native of Houston, Texas, Mr. Allbritton graduated from Wesleyan with a degree in government. Before cofounding POLITICO, he was the chairman and CEO of Allbritton Communications Company, and, prior to that, the CEO of Riggs National Corporation.Wesleyan’s Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life was established in 2007 with a generous gift from Mr. Allbritton, his wife, Dr. Elena Allbritton ’93, and a family foundation established by Mr. Allbritton’s parents, Joe L. and Barbara B. Allbritton. The center brings together students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners for debate, research and teaching, and dissemination of work pertaining to public life. Mr. Allbritton serves on the board of directors of the Lyndon B. Johnson Foundation, Austin, Texas, and he is a trustee emeritus of Wesleyan. Michael Bennet ’87, HON '12 has represented Colorado in the United States Senate since 2009. Widely-recognized as a pragmatic and independent thinker, he is driven by an obligation to create more opportunity for the next generation. Michael has built a reputation of taking on Washington dysfunction and working with Republicans and Democrats to address our nation’s greatest challenges – including education, climate change, immigration, health care, and national security. Before serving in the Senate, Michael worked in business and then in public service – as Chief of Staff to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper '74, HON '10 and Superintendent of Denver Public Schools. He lives in Denver with his wife and three daughters. Jonathan Soros ’92 is Chief Executive Officer of JS Capital Management LLC, a private investment firm. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, a think tank based in New York City, and co-founder of Give Lively LLC, a social enterprise dedicated to creating easy-to-use, best-in-class apps, websites, and services that help make giving and gratitude a more regular and rewarding part of your daily life. Mr. Soros is co-chair and a member, respectively, of the boards of New America and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He also holds several board positions affiliated with the Open Society Foundations. Prior to founding JS Capital, Mr. Soros spent nine years with Soros Fund Management LLC, serving as its President and Deputy Chairman from 2005 to 2011. Mr. Soros has clerked for Judge Stephen F. Williams of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, worked as Assistant Director of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems’ mission to Moldova, and co-founded the Fair Trial Initiative and Friends of Democracy PAC. Mr. Soros is a graduate magna cum laude of Harvard Law School and the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He received his BA from Wesleyan University with a degree in Government.
Ring Family Performing Arts Hall

4:00 PM to 5:00 PM
WESEMINAR Sustainability, Climate Change, and Energy in an Era of Alternative Facts

Members of the Class of 1972 who have spent the bulk of their careers working in the environmental and energy sector will discuss their professional experiences, and exchange thoughts about the future of sustainability, environmental law, and renewable energy in the Age of Trump. Panelists have had experience representing developers of renewable energy, oil and gas exploration, municipal power suppliers, manufacturers, land owners, and environmental groups.
Speakers: Bonnie Blair ’72; a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Thompson Coburn, LLP, primarily represents cities that operate electric systems for the benefit of their citizens.  Much of her work focuses on the energy markets operated by the California Independent System Operator Corporation, referred to as the California ISO, which has been in the vanguard of incorporating renewable energy resources into electricity markets and delivery systems. Seth Davis ’72, a partner in Elias Group LLP in Rye, New York, has specialized in environmental law since 1980. He is currently Chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources. Stewart Reid ’72 is the Chairman and CEO of Millbrae Energy, and has 30 years of experience in the oil and gas business and is highly experienced in the financial as well as the drilling, acquisition and production aspects of the industry. Previously, Mr. Reid founded SMR Energy, a private oil and gas acquisition purchaser, and prior to entering the energy business, Mr. Reid practiced law at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Bruce Throne '72, privileged to have attended Professor Clem Vose's Constitutional Law class, has practiced primarily regulatory and energy law in Santa Fe, New Mexico since 1976 and recently assisted Facebook, Inc., a member of the corporate Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance, with the development and regulatory approval of New Mexico's first "green energy tariff" for electric utility service for its newest data center.
Moderator: Barry Chernoff, Director, College of the Environment; Chair, Environmental Studies Program; Robert Schumann Professor of Environmental Studies; Professor of Biology, Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Sponsored by the Wesleyan Lawyers Association
Room 116, Judd Hall

4:00 PM to 5:00 PM
WESEMINAR Wesleyan in Hollywood

Join entertainment industry experts – leaders in film and television production, documentary filmmaking and management – for a conversation about lessons learned in show business.
Sasha Alpert ’82 is Executive Vice President in charge of both casting for Bunim/Murray as well as BMP Films, where she started the documentary division in 2006. Her television casting and production credits include Project Runway and The Real World, and her work with BMP Films has earned her two primetime Emmy Awards. Bradley Fuller ’87 is a producer, known for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Purge, and Partner at Platinum Dunes, along with Michael Bay ’86 and Andrew Form. The company, established in 2001, creates opportunities for first-time directors to make commercial, high-concept movies on modest budgets for a global audience. David Kohan ’86, P’17 is the Creator/Executive Producer of Will & Grace, Good Morning, Miami, and Executive Producer of The Stones. For his work on Will & Grace he has been honored with an Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series and a People's Choice Award for Favorite New Comedy. Rick Nicita ’67 is the former Co-Chairman of Creative Artists Agency (1980-2008) and Co-Chairman and COO of Morgan Creek Productions (2008-2011). He recently executive produced Mel Gibson’s Oscar-nominated Hacksaw Ridge.
Moderator: Jeanine Basinger, the Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies, is the founder of the Wesleyan Cinema Archives and the originator of Wesleyan’s distinguished Film Studies Department, for which she defined a liberal arts approach that combines history/theory and production as a unified subject of study.
Goldsmith Family Cinema, Center for Film Studies