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featurefeaturePitzer ThanksVaccine Center Founding DonorsVaccine Center research will be conducted in a new greenhouse on the Pitzer campus.Botswana as well as on contributing to thedevelopment of innovative and efficaciousvaccines. It is also a way to share our passionfor the life sciences with Pitzer College and theClaremont community.”Botswana to construct and equip facilities so theycan produce vaccines themselves. Grill’s longerterm goal is to equip other developing nationswith tools to produce vaccines for the diseasesmost critical to their public health needs.The Vaccine Research Center is part of Pitzer’scontinued commitment to science education.Pitzer will bring science classes, labs and facultyoffices to campus in fall 2010. Also in the fall, theVaccine Research Center will open a greenhouseon campus in which to conduct its research.For the last two years, Grill has donated his timeto the Center, noting, “I have been in this industryall my life. I really believe in this. If not me, if notus, if not now—who and when?”—Amy Jasper ’10As the Vaccine Center’s work progresses, Grilland his team hope to work with colleagues in6 · The ParticipantAgift from Dr. Francois Ferre and Dr. Magda Marquet, parents ofAlexandre Ferre ’11, founded Vaccine Research Center at PitzerCollege. Ferre and Marquet are pioneers in plasmid DNA productionand gene quantification.Founders and co-CEOs of AltheaDx, Inc. andAlthea Technologies, Ferre holds a PhD inmolecular oncology from the Pasteur Institute, andMarquet has a PhD in biochemical engineering.Ferre has more than 20 years of experience incancer research and HIV clinical development,and Marquet has worked in biopharmaceuticaldevelopment for more than 20 years.“Pitzer College is so grateful for the generosity ofDrs. Ferre and Marquet. Their support launchesthe Center, which is destined to provide a muchneeded resource for very vulnerable populations.We welcome their leadership on our campus andin our global community,” said Laura SkanderaTrombley, president of Pitzer.Spring 2010 · 7

alumnifeatureClass NotesJoint Science NewsThe Joint Science Department serves Pitzer, Scripps and Claremont McKennastudents, houses faculty in biology, chemistry and physics and offers over a dozenmajors. Focused on undergraduate education, the department offers small classes atboth the introductory and advanced levels and provides numerous opportunities forindependent research. Faculty and students work side-by-side in the department’smany research laboratories and in the field, and faculty and students regularlyco-author research publications and present their work at scientific conferences.For more information on Joint Science, please visit www.jsd.claremont.edu.Some of recent achievements of Joint Science faculty include:Jennifer Armstrong received a National Science Foundation Grant to supportresearch on chromosome structure in Drosophila. She also served as an instructor forthe 2009 Keck Graduate Institute: Science Bootcamp for Non-Scientists and on the2009 Grant Review Panel for the National Science Foundation.Mary Hatcher-Skeers co-authored “An FTIR Investigation of Flanking SequenceEffects on the Structure and Flexibility of DNA Binding Sites,” published inBiochemistry. She was the lead principal investigator on a National Science Foundationgrant to acquire a spectrometer. Coprincipals included Thomas Poon, Anna Wenzel,Burke Scott Williams and Andrew Zanella.Adam Johns co-authored “Solution Interaction of Potassium and CalciumBis(triemthylsilyl)amides; Preparation of Ca[N(SiMe3)2]2 from Dibenzylcalcium,”published in Inorganic Chemistry.Dawn Kaufman co-authored “Spatial Species-Richness Gradients Across Scales: AMeta-Analysis,” in the Journal of Biogeography.Adam Landsberg co-authored “Construction and Analysis of Random Networks withExplosive Percolation,” published in Physical Review Letters.John Milton co-authored “Indecision in Neural Decision Making Models,” publishedin Mathematical Modeling of Natural Phenomena, “Quantitative Neuroscience:From Chalkboard to Bedside,” in Mathematical Models and Natural Phenomena,and “Balancing with Positive Feedback: The Case for Discontinuous Control,” inPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.J. Emil Morhardt co-authored “General Disregard for the Details of GRI HumanRights Reporting by the Largest Corporations,” in Global Business Review and“Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting on the Internet,” inBusiness Strategy and the Environment.Thomas Poon co-authored Introduction to Organic Chemistry, 4th Edition.Kathleen Purvis-Roberts co-wrote “Atmospheric Formation of 9,10Phenanthroquinone in the Los Angeles Air Basin,” published in AtmosphericEnvironment, “Determination of Methylamines and Trimethylamine-N-Oxidein Particulate Matter by Non-Suppressed Ion Chromatography” in the Journalof Chromatography and “Accelerated Integrated Science Sequence (AISS): AnIntroductory Biology, Chemistry and Physics Course for College Students” in theJournal of Chemical Education. With two colleagues, she received a National ScienceFoundation Grant to support “Reactions and Fate of Amines in the Atmosphere Emittedfrom Animal Feeding Operations.”Burke Scott Williams co-wrote “Reversible Carbonylation of an [NCN]PtMe PincerComplex and Direct Evidence of Migratory Deinsertion,” published in Organometallics,“Reductive Elimination and Dissociative ß-Hydride Abstraction from Pt(IV) Hydroxideand Methoxide Complexes,” in Organometallics, “IONiC: A Cyber-Enabled Communityof Practice for Improving Inorganic Chemical Education,” in the Journal of ChemicalEducation and “JCE VIPEr: An Inorganic Teaching and Learning Community” in theJournal of Chemical Education.Diane Thomson co-authored “Climate Alters Response of an Endemic Island Plant toRemoval of Invasive Herbivores,” in Ecological Applications.Anna Wenzel co-authored “Two Undergraduate Experiments in Organic Polymers:The Preparation of Polyacetylene and Telechelic Polyacetylene via Ring-OpeningMetathesis Polymerization,” published in the Journal of Chemical Education. “ElectronWithdrawing Biphenyldiol Compounds for Asymmetric Catalysis” will be published inthe European Journal of Organic Chemistry. She also chaired a seminar at the ACSNational Meeting.1960s1990s’69Susan Patron, with Roger Sutton ’78,spoke on “What Makes a Good BannedBook? How Children’s Literature Gets Into Trouble”at Pitzer. Susan is the author of The Higher Power ofLucky, winner of the Newberry Medal. Lucky Breaks, anaddition to the Lucky trilogy, was recently published.’901970sDon Kramer received a masters of public administrationand a masters of urban planning from the University ofWashington. He is a civil projects planner with the US ArmyCorps of Engineers in Seattle.’71’72Betsy Weaver was appointed vice presidentof development by the House Ear Institute.Dee Mosbacher received the BarbaraGittings Award from the Philadelphia CinemaAlliance in recognition of her documentaries and herwork at Woman Vision.’73Sandra Mitchell authored Unsimple Truths:Complexity, Science and Policy, published bythe University of Chicago Press.’75Ellen Alperstein served as guest blogger forLAObserved.com.Curtis Schaeffer is the director of the Famine EarlyWarning Systems Network and chairs the board of theNon-Profit Center for Democracy in the Americas.’76’78Susan Feniger appeared on season two ofBravo’s Top Chef Masters.Roger Sutton, with Susan Patron ’69,spoke on “What Makes a Good BannedBook? How Children’s Literature Gets Into Trouble”at Pitzer.1980s’80Barbara Hutchins-Sinor authored her fifthbook, Tales of Addiction and Inspiration forRecovery, published by Loving Healing Press.’81Julie Duffin Fountain is returning to schoolfor a masters of library sciences degree. Shelives in North Carolina with her husband and daughter.Deborah Bogen authored Let Me Open Youa Swan, a collection of poems that receivedthe 2009 Antivenom Poetry Award.Nancy Judd, the 2009 Distinguished Alumni Awardrecipient, will display her Recycle Runway Collection at theAtlanta International Airport through October 2011.’91Bryan Gibb joined The National Council forCommunity Behavioral Healthcare as itsdirector of public education.’93Ellen Dinsenbacher-Blankenship andher husband welcomed Hunter JesseBlankenship in January 2010. Hunter joins brothersLandon and Brady.Jenn Louis was nominated for the 2010 JamesBeard Award for Best Chef: Northwest. She was alsointerviewed on NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday.Kevin Murphy was featured in a Los Angeles Timesarticle on young curators.’95Grace Kang welcomed Maliah in March2009.Matt Nathanson sang the National Anthem at SanFrancisco Giants opening day.’97Len Davis produced stories on Nepalis withdisabilities and Bhutanese refugees for TheSeattle Channel.Suzanne Hulthage welcomed a daughter in April 2008.’98’99Jesse Axtell joined Lightstone Securities asa regional vice president.Peter N. Mountford authored A Young Man’sGuide to Late Capitalism, to be published in2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. He was a 2009-10writer-in-residence at Seattle Arts and Lectures.Benjamin Goldfarb, CEO of AltUse, Inc., was featured in asegment on NBC’s Nightly News.2000s’82’00in Troy, NY.Michelle Doyle opened Local CareMidwifery, an independent midwifery practiceSuzanne F. Foster has served as executivedirector of the Pomona Economic OpportunityCenter since 2007.Eli Hastings was a 2009-10 writer-in-residence atSeattle Arts and Lectures.Pitzer Email for Life! Visit www.pitzer.edu/Email4Life.8 · The ParticipantTrillium Sellers is a PGA teaching professional at theChevy Chase Club and master instructor at the JimMcLean Golf School. She was named a 2009 Top 50Kids’ Teacher.’01Amanda Alonzo was featured in a San JoseMercury News article on science educationprograms she founded at Vacaville High School.Jumane Redway completed his JD/MBA at theUniversity of Oregon in June 2009.’02Kelly Kearns earned her MEd in severedisabilities from Boston College and teacheselementary school children in Rockville, MD. She plansto marry this fall.’03Amber Carrow was named a 2010Teacher of the Year by the CaliforniaDepartment of Education.Shannon Coggins moved to New York, NY to take aposition as a marketing and promotions manager forNBC Universal.Sam Hasson was awarded the Journal of BiomolecularScreening Academic Excellence Award by the Society forBiomolecular Sciences.’04Elise Salomon produced, directed andwrote Paper Heart, which premiered atthe Sundance Film Festival and won the Waldo SaltScreenwriting Award.Matthew Williams, a former Fulbright Fellow, lived inBangladesh for a year, working with Pfizer to improveaccess to healthcare.’05Kurosh Hashemi serves as co-presidentof the Berkeley Energy and ResourcesCollaborative and is pursuing an MBA.’07’08Daniel Smith married in April 2010.Danielle Brown was awarded a FulbrightFellowship to research Virginia BrindisdeSalas in Uruguay.’09Andra Belknap joined the staff of theEducation and Labor Committee of the USHouse of Representatives.In MemoriamEric Ott ’97 passed away in December 2009. He issurvived by his wife Monique Ott ’97 (nee Olesniewicz)and children Maia and Eric.Georgia Clark ’77 passed away in August 2009. She isremembered as a lover of animals and art.Share your accomplishments and milestones. Send them to alumni@pitzer.edu or Pitzer College, Office of Alumni Relations, 1050 North Mills Avenue,Claremont, CA 91711-6101. They may be edited for content and length.Spring 2010 · 9

alumnialumniSusan Celniker ’75, director of theGenome Dynamics Departmentat the Life Science Division of theUS Department of Energy, speaksexcitedly about fruit flies.“Drosophila are complex organisms. There is somuch you can do with flies!”In 2000, Celniker and her team, in collaboration withtwo other lab teams, completed the full genomesequence of the fruit fly—impressive work featuredon the cover of Science magazine.“The completion of the project revolutionized thescientific community,” Celniker said. “It representedan incredible leap that changed the way sciencewas done.”Susan Celniker ’75“There is so much you can do with flies!”More recently, Celniker has focused on theexpression of specific genes in embryodevelopment. “When we want to better understandcertain genes in humans, we find their counterpartsin flies. We use the flies as models.”At Pitzer, Celniker double-majored in biology andanthropology, and credits Dr. David Sadava of theJoint Science Department for helping to instill herpassion for lab research. “Professor Sadava madeus think about things most undergraduates wouldnever have the chance to explore,” Celniker said.“We were able to fully immerse ourselves in theinformation.” —Liz Hedrick ’0910 · The ParticipantSpring 2010 · 11

alumnialumniPhilip Frykman ’90 is a pediatricsurgeon at Cedars Sinai Hospitalin Los Angeles who said the mostchallenging part of his job is makingcritical decisions about when,how—and even if—to operate.“It’s those judgment calls that keep me up at night.You have to analyze many different aspects of aproblem and decide the best way to act very quickly.That type of thinking was definitely promoted andtaught at Pitzer.”Frykman said the most gratifying part of his job issitting down with patients’ families and explainingcomplicated procedures in an accessible way.“It is satisfying to help families with no medicalbackground understand the intricacies of aprocedure. Families have an incredible amount oftrust in me, and I do not take it lightly.”A biochemistry major at Pitzer, Frykman completeda BA in conjunction with an MBA from ClaremontGraduate University. He then attended the Universityof Texas Southwestern Medical School, earning aMD/PhD, focusing on molecular genetics.In addition to his surgery practice, Frykmandevotes about a third of his time to research: “I amstudying the genetics of Hirschsprung’s disease,a rare congenital disorder that affects a newborn’sdigestive system.”Philip Frykman ’90“Families have an incredible amount of trust in me, and I do not take it lightly”—Liz Hedrick ’0912 · The ParticipantSpring 2010 · 13

alumnialumniChristen Benke ’02Christen Benke ‘02 is a doctor of osteopathy and a primary care physician inSan Diego.“Osteopaths take a holistic approach to medicine,” she said.“We look at the whole patient rather than just a symptom.”One of the inaugural participants in Pitzer’s seven yearprogram with the Western University Medical School, Benkerecalls, “My college experience was intense.”Entering Pitzer in 1998, Benke finished her pre-med andhuman biology major requirements by 2001, graduatedin 2002 and completed medical school in 2005. She thenimmediately began a residency at UC San Diego.Benke also swam for the Sagehens for three years andstudied in Costa Rica for a summer. “I worked at a small14 · The ParticipantRod Fujita ’78Rod Fujita ’78 claimed in the 1980s that climate change was killing coral reefs and hewas almost universally dismissed. Today, this claim is almost universally accepted.centro de nutricion just outside of San Jose. Everyday weprovided nutritious meals and hygiene instruction to kidsfrom poor families. This definitely influenced my decision tobecome a primary care physician.”On the front lines of cutting-edge environmental research for20 years, Fujita is one of the country’s strongest advocatesfor the world’s oceans, and his early research on coral reefsis now recognized as groundbreaking.In her practice, Benke sees patients from young children tosenior citizens. “I knew I wanted to enter a family practice,”she said. “I enjoy communicating with people and learningabout their lives.”—Liz Hedrick ’09“It was like being a detective on CSI,” Fujita said. “Thereefs were the dead body, and we had to do an autopsy todetermine what had killed them.”Fujita is the senior scientist and director of the OceanInnovations Program for the Environmental Defense Fund,and is also the author of Heal the Oceans: Solutions forSaving Our Seas.A biology major/math minor, Fujita was Pitzer’s firstThomas J. Watson Fellow, which took him to Japan tostudy aquaculture.Inspired by his work in Asia, Fujita returned to the US andearned a PhD in marine biology at Boston University. He thenreceived a grant from the National Science Foundation totest his hypotheses on a coral reef off Key Largo, FL.“We set up camp in an abandoned lighthouse on one of theworld’s most beautiful coral reefs.”—Liz Hedrick ’09Spring 2010 · 15

alumnialumniBryan Gibb ’91Bryan Gibb is the director of public education for the National Council for CommunityBehavioral Health Care, which represents mental health facilities nationwide.The Council works with 1,700 member organizations to servethe more than 75 million people in the US with diagnosablemental illness or substance use disorder.graduation but was later drawn to public education,commenting that his liberal arts background gave him theknowledge and flexibility to follow an evolving career path.Gibb’s current project at the Council is its Mental HealthFirst Aid Program. “It is similar to regular first aid,” he said.“But we focus on helping the general public recognize amental health crisis, provide comfort and refer the person toprofessional help.”“Pitzer’s broad education is the thread that has connectedevery part of my professional career,” he observed.A history major at Pitzer, Gibb taught high school following16 · The ParticipantGibb also holds an MBA from the George WashingtonUniversity, and recently spent three weeks teaching in Ghana.—Liz Hedrick ’09Makkiko Young ’97While at Pitzer, Makkiko Young ’97 studied in Madagascar, which she cites as aturning point.“I observed a traditional medium using music in hishealing ceremony. Learning how they integrated soundwith medicine helped shape my path to becoming anart therapist.”Young, now a board certified art therapist, was recentlynamed amongst the “100 Japanese Women Movers andShakers” by Newsweek Japan.Following Pitzer, Young earned an MPS in art therapy fromthe Pratt Institute and an MA in health education from theTeachers College at Columbia University. She served asdirector of creative arts therapy for Housing Works, whichserves those living with AIDS.Mother to two-year-old Alexandra Kiki, Young currentlyteaches art therapy at The New School in New York City.—Liz Hedrick ’09A cultural anthropology major, Young says “Pitzer helped melook at situations holistically and work as part of a team.”Spring 2010 · 17

around campusaround campusWhat’s New On Campus?Pitzer Art Galleries Spring ExhibitsPitzer Mixer and 101 Days to GraduationThe Pitzer Art Galleries opened 2010 with Capitalism in Question(Because It Is), in collaboration with the Munroe Center for SocialInquiry, and Emerging Artist Series #4: Localization, Location,Ubicación. It closed the semester with Et Al: Senior Thesis Exhibition,2010, which showcased the works of Pitzer seniors.On February 3, 2010, more than 140 senior students and alumnicame together for an evening of networking, career advice and tocelebrate 101 days until graduation. If you would like to participate innext year’s mixer, please contact Marcus Brock at marcus brock@pitzer.edu.Pitzer Alumni and Parents Gather at theGreenest MuseumPitzer Alumni, Parents and Friends at theGriffith ObservatoryOn November 5, 2009, the Pitzer College Alumni Associationwelcomed alumni, parents and friends to the California Academy ofSciences, the greenest museum in the world. All enjoyed the indoorrainforest, planetarium and a VIP behind-the-scenes

in conjunction with Scripps and Claremont McKenna Colleges, and the . Richard J. Riordan, Former Mayor, City of Los Angeles Deborah Deutsch Smith, PhD '68, Professor of Special Education & Director, IRIS-West, Claremont Graduate University . molecular oncology from the Pasteur Institute, and Marquet has a PhD in biochemical engineering.