July 2008

Historian Deborah Clifford dies at 75: Vermont Public Radio vpr.net: “A memorial service was held today for Deborah Clifford, a writer who specialized in women’s role in history.

“Clifford taught history at Middlebury College, the University of Vermont and Vermont College and lectured widely.”

Middlebury College Professors Get Top Marks: WCAX.com: “Of all the colleges and universities in the country, Middlebury College has the best professors. That’s the word from the Princeton Review, which released its annual list of rankings this week.

” ‘They make it fun, you know, and they’re really interested in their subjects and enthusiastic about it,’ says Middlebury junior Mia Lieb-Lappen.”

Neuroeconomics Do economists need brains? Economist.com: “FOR all the undoubted wit of their neuroscience-inspired concept album, ‘Heavy Mental’—songs include ‘Mind-Body Problem’ and ‘All in a Nut’—The Amygdaloids are unlikely to loom large in the annals of rock and roll. Yet when the history of economics is finally written, Joseph LeDoux, the New York band’s singer-guitarist, may deserve at least a footnote. In 1996 Mr LeDoux, who by day is a professor of neuroscience at New York University, published a book, ‘The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life,’ that helped to inspire what is today one of the liveliest and most controversial areas of economic research: neuroeconomics.

“… This is ‘equivalent to neuroeconomics’ brain scan,” notes David Colander, an economist at Middlebury College in Vermont, in an article last year in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, ‘Edgeworth’s Hedonimeter and the Quest to Measure Utility.’ “

50-year campus master plan charts sustainable future: “The Middlebury College board of trustees approved the most far-reaching and environmentally progressive campus master plan in the college’s 208-year history at their annual May meeting. The plan, which was built on a foundation of sustainability principles, will guide the college’s growth and development for the next 50 years.”

Language program immerses students burlingtonfreepress.com: “COLCHESTER — Having spent a couple of weeks in France last summer, and a couple of weeks in Colchester this summer, high school student Stu Fram has a pretty clear idea of which place is better for learning French: Colchester.

” ‘I’m learning a lot more French here than I did in France,’ Fram said Wednesday morning, during a break from his studies at the Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy at St. Michael’s College. ‘Other kids spoke English there. Here, everyone is forced to speak French all the time — 24/7, you’re thinking in French, singing in French.’ “

Four Middlebury students to hold Islam-West unity event in New York City: “Heal the Rift, a project started in 2007 by four Middlebury students to address tensions between the Muslim world and the West, will hold a rally July 19 from 3 to 6 p.m. in New York City’s Washington Square Park.”

The entreprenurial Adlers burlingtonfreepress.com: “Entrepreneurial spirit was encouraged as [Middlebury alum] Ted Adler and his five siblings grew up in Connecticut.

“Now, three of the Adler brothers have started two Burlington businesses: Union Street Media, a growing Web company, and The Skinny Pancake, a waterfront eatery.

“A fourth Adler brother, 25-year-old Robbie, is the outreach and partnership manager for a Middlebury start-up, Brighter Planet, which offers an affinity credit card that sends some of the proceeds to renewable energy projects.”

A note to the College community:

It is with great sadness that I write to inform you of the death of Professor Emeritus of American Literature Howard Munford, who passed away on Monday, June 30.

A beloved professor, as well as a 1934 graduate of Middlebury College and a master’s degree holder from the Bread Loaf School of English, Howard touched many lives as a longtime friend and neighbor in the Middlebury community.

Howard joined the Middlebury faculty in 1937, was appointed the Charles A. Dana Professor of American Literature in 1941, and retired after 40 years in 1977. It was his great honor to carry on the success of the College’s nationally recognized American Literature department, as established by the legendary Reginald “Doc” Cook, an important mentor and friend to Howard when he was a student and, later, a departmental colleague.

With his love for literature and spirited personality, Howard had an obvious and indelible impact on students and colleagues alike. In 1998, Alexandra Rosen, a former student and a graduate of the class of 1959, established the Howard M. Munford ’34 Scholarship Fund to support financial aid, with preference given to students of literature, especially American literature. That same year, the former Chi Psi Lodge on South Main Street was officially designated Munford House in honor of Howard.

Those who had the pleasure of knowing Howard will remember fondly his warm welcome, passion for literature and learning, and appreciation for all things Middlebury.

He is survived by his daughter Martha and her husband, Middlebury College Professor Emeritus of English Robert Hill; and his son David, a 1972 Middlebury graduate, and his wife Tami, a 1982 graduate. He was predeceased by his wife Marion Jones Munford, a 1932 graduate, in 1999.

A celebration of Howard’s life will take place on August 23, with more information to follow as it becomes available.

— Ronald D. Liebowitz

The New Straits Times Online: Interview with Anna Belknap ‘94: “Bloody pieces of flesh, smelly evidence, gory bodies … it is easy to be put off.

“For [Middlebury College grad] Anna Belknap, who plays Lindsay Monroe in CSI: New York, it is no big deal.

“Speaking to journalists from the Big Apple recently, Belknap said that there are things on the set which can be a turn-off.”