In this issue:

1. Dan Mills is new director of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College Museum of Art
2. Comprehensive Garcelon Field renovations to be dedicated in home opener
3. After 12 years, Reich transitioning from dean of faculty to psychology professor
4. Campus Construction Update
5. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ listed among top 50 schools producing science Ph.D.s
6. Duncan ’10 a finalist for NCAA Woman of the Year award
7. Sharan ’11 chosen as Wall Street Journal blogger
8. Engage with new head of Alumni and Parent Programs
9. In Armenia, Shahinyan ’12 picks up where Soviets left off
10. Lambright ’12 explores African immigrant experience in China
11. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ in the News

1. Dan Mills is new director of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College Museum of Art
Nationally esteemed as a curator and arts administrator, Dan Mills is the new director of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College Museum of Art. Mills comes to Maine from Bucknell University, where for nine years he served as director of the Samek Art Gallery. He joins a museum known both for innovative, high-profile exhibitions and as a model of the academic art museum — a laboratory where students, faculty and the community interact with art that resonates across the disciplines of a liberal arts education.

2. Comprehensive Garcelon Field renovations to be dedicated in home opener
ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ will dedicate comprehensive renovations to historic Garcelon Field on Saturday, Oct. 9, as part of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ football team’s home opener vs. Williams College. The event, a centerpiece of Parents & Family Weekend activities at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, will include a brief ceremony prior to the 1 p.m. kickoff and a halftime program recognizing supporters of the $2.6 million donor-funded project.

3. After 12 years, Reich transitioning from dean of faculty to psychology professor
After 12 years of service as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty, Jill N. Reich will step down on June 30, 2011, and, following a sabbatical, continue her service to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ as a tenured professor of psychology.

4. Campus Construction Update
With the Garcelon Field dedication and inaugural game just days away,  it’s a race to the goal line for the R.A.D. Sports crew renovating the facility. Meanwhile, Hedge Hall is gaining headroom while Roger Williams Hall embiggens its footprint.

5. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ listed among top 50 schools producing science Ph.D.s
With data from the National Science Foundation, CBS moneywatch.com has published an objective listing of colleges and universities where engineering and science Ph.D.s obtained their undergraduates degrees.  ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ is ranked 47th in this list, and 24th among liberal arts colleges.

6. Duncan ’10 a finalist for NCAA Woman of the Year award
The field of nominees for the 2010 NCAA Woman of the Year award has been whittled from 130 conference nominees to the Top 30 honorees, and ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ graduate Vantiel Elizabeth Duncan ’10 remains.
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7. Sharan ’11 chosen as Wall Street Journal blogger
ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½’ own Shalini Sharan ’11 has been selected as one of this year’s “Hire Education” bloggers by The Wall Street Journal. The blogs are posted on the WSJ website by nine seniors at different colleges and universities around the United States as they finish their senior year and “look for work in a tough job market.” Sharan, of Jamshedpur, India, majors in economics and has a minor in Russian. Read Sharan online:

8. Engage with new head of Alumni and Parent Programs
Following a national search, Marianne Nolan Cowan ’92 was selected as Director of Alumni and Parent Programs, Vice President for College Advancement Kelly Kerner announced in September. Cowan has served the College in numerous roles since coming back to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ 10 years ago as a member of the Advancement staff, most recently as an Associate Director of Alumni and Parent Programs working with the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Business and Professional Networks. “We want to hear from you,” says Cowan, “your feedback, volunteerism and new ideas are always appreciated.”

9. In Armenia, Shahinyan ’12 picks up where Soviets left off
After Armenia declared its independence from the Soviet Union on Aug. 23, 1991, everything related to Soviet rule had to go. Even the good stuff. Gohar Shahinyan ’12, Armenian born and raised in the U.S., traveled back to her homeland last summer to help bring back green space that the Reds had stewarded quite well: neighborhood commons, where townspeople and their children once gathered, socialized, and played.

10. Lambright ’12 explores the African immigrant experience in China
Lured by the chance to buy, sell and export cheap consumer goods, Africans continue to pour into the Chinese city of Guangzhou, the city’s thriving “Little Africa” is now home to 20,000 Africans, maybe many more. Into this community last summer came politics majors and budding researchers Daniel Lambright ’12 and Obi Udeh ’12.

11. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ in the News
The remarkable cross-country canoe trek by Outing Club alumnus Alexander Martin ’08 gets coast-to-coast coverage by The Associated Press. A Boston Globe blogger likes ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½’ aggregation of alumni social-network sites, while much-honored chemistry major Marilla Pender-Cudlip ’10, profiled in her hometown newspaper, is praised by her ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ mentor, Rachel Austin, for taking time off before grad school. Finally, media observers, including James Fallows at The Atlantic, pay tribute to John Strassburger ’64, president emeritus of Ursinus College, who died Sept. 22, 2010.

Recent ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College graduate Peg Ficks of Washington, Conn., has been selected by the NCAA as the 2001 Woman of the Year from Maine.The NCAA Woman of the Year Award honors senior student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership. Fifty-one state winners are selected, with 10 finalists for NCAA Woman of the Year honors chosen in September. The state winners and finalists will be recognized at the 2001 NCAA Woman of the Year awards dinner in Indianapolis in October.

Ficks, a 1997 graduate of the Taft School, is the only two-time All-America selection in ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ field hockey history. As a goalkeeper, she is ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½’ career leader in shutouts and among the college’s top three in saves, goals-against average and save percentage. Ficks led the Bobcats to a school-record three straight playoff appearances, including an 11-win season in 1999. She also earned three varsity letters with the softball team in her career.

Ficks was a 2001 Academic All-America selection, making her one of three ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ athletes to earn academic and athletic All-America distinction in the same year. Ficks was an eight-time dean’s list student and a member of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½’ Student Athletic Advisory Committee. She will begin teaching English at Poland (Maine) Regional High School in September.

“Peg was a joy to coach,” said ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ head field hockey coach Wynn Hohlt. “She was an exemplary role model for her teammates, putting in tremendous time and effort to achieve excellence and become perhaps the best goalkeeper ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ has ever had.”

Ficks is the second straight ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ graduate selected by the NCAA as Maine Woman of the Year, joining Amanda Colby ’00, who was selected as a finalist last year. Ficks was one of more than 350 nominees for the NCAA Woman of the Year and one of 13 state winners from Division III.