Critically acclaimed novelist Colson Whitehead will deliver the Susan Resneck Pierce Lecture in Public Affairs and the Arts on Monday, Oct. 26, at 5 p.m. in a virtual event that is free and open to the public. The event includes an introduction from University of Puget Sound President Isiaah Crawford, remarks by the author, and an interview of Whitehead with Puget Sound’s Professor of Sociology and Anthropology Monica DeHart and Professor of English Priti Joshi.

Tacoma, Wash. – University of Puget Sound chemistry professor Dan Burgard was honored at this year’s College Science Research Program Conference in Portland, Ore., for his groundbreaking work in the study of community wastewater to track drug usage. The M.J.

Founded by a group of new presidents and presidents of color serving at some of the nation’s leading liberal arts colleges, the Liberal Arts College Racial Equity Leadership Alliance (LACRELA) will provide professional development for faculty and staff members on issues of racial justice and equity. To date, 63 institutions have signed on as inaugural members, working with the University of Southern California’s Race and Equity Center.

Tacoma, Wash. – Today, the University of Puget Sound announced its “Remake the World” initiative which celebrates the class of 2025 by empowering admitted students to engage with local nonprofit organizations. Each incoming student will choose one of five community programs to receive a small donation made by the university in their honor, with a total of $25,000 being donated across select local organizations in Pierce County focused on issues of climate, hunger, sexual abuse, equity, social justice and more.

Janet Marcavage is excited to be back working with students in Kittredge Hall after teaching remotely from her garage for the past year. The distinguished professor of art and art history is currently working on a series of prints featuring striped planes floating in negative space. “I’m interested in creating abstract forms that feel as though they are open, momentary, and subject to change,” Marcavage said. Her latest piece, “Reassemble,” considers how we are rebuilding our lives following a long period of social distancing and loss.

In her role as the director of the Science, Technology, and Society Program, Associate Professor Amy Fisher spends a lot of time thinking about what the history of scientific discovery can teach us about how to meet today’s problems with innovative solutions. Fisher teaches interdisciplinary courses on the development of science from antiquity to the present day, employing the lenses of history, philosophy, and sociology to analyze how science and culture intersect on a variety of issues, including climate change and gene editing.

How I came to be in Tower One of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, is a story that starts at Puget Sound. I joined a fraternity house—Beta house—and in my sophomore year, my fraternity brothers told me about a scholarship opportunity through Kemper Insurance. I ended up doing a couple summers with Kemper, and then after graduation they offered me a trainee position in Chicago. I took the job, and stayed with that same department for 25 years.

Standing at the intersection of physical and life sciences, Rachel Pepper’s curiosity has led her to investigate how living systems function. Her research focuses on how tiny organisms interact with water and other fluids, with outsized impacts on everything from erosion and plant disease transmission to wastewater treatment and carbon sequestration. We sat down with the associate professor of physics and William D. and Flora McCormick chair in biophysics to learn more.

This year, 10 Puget Sound students were selected as semi-finalists for the highly competitive Fulbright U.S. Student program, more than in any previous year. We talked to some of the Loggers who are hoping to perform research or teach English as 2021 Fulbright grant recipients.