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Director (or send email to emeriti@emory.edu) Letters to the Editor Click on the above link to let us know what you think (or send email to emeriti@emory.edu)! |
Upcoming Events
Lunch Colloquium
Frans de Waal November 18, 2019
Lunch Colloquium
Ruby Lal December 10, 2019
WEBCAST
Ruby Lal December 10, 2019
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This issue of our newsletter is sent to members and friends of the Emory University Emeritus College (EUEC). I hope the newsletter will help keep you informed about our activities and help you feel connected with our members throughout the U.S. On the left are links to our website and links to contact either me or the EUEC office.
With best wishes,
Gray
Gray F. Crouse Director, EUEC
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 Message from the Director
We continue to have an amazing series of talks at the Emeritus College. Nanette Wenger gave a masterful talk about women's cardiovascular health and provided an owner's manual for taking care of one's heart. Robert Schapiro's talk to a packed and very engaged audience was perhaps not so good for one's cardiovascular health, but provided a superb overview of the current Supreme Court with comparisons to earlier courts. Thanks to Gretchen Schulz and Jim Keller, you can read below about these talks and thanks to help from Don O'Shea, you can soon view these talks on our videos page.
Our talk next week will absolutely be no let down from the previous ones! I am quite confident in saying that the Lunch Colloquium by one of our newest members, Frans de Waal, will be the first ever given to the Emeritus College by a member of the National Academy of Sciences who has also been on Fresh Air, interviewed by Terry Gross! The combination of a top scientist who can also write for, and talk to, a general audience is rare indeed.
There is a lot more to look forward to this semester, with an excursion to the Shakespeare Tavern to see King Lear on November 24, and a special holiday program on the afternoon of December 3 that will feature some of the finest performers in Atlanta. You can read about both of those events below.
There is a lot more to read in this issue and I hope you can find time to enjoy the content.
Finally, on this day in particular, thank you to the veterans among us.
I am very grateful to Gretchen Schulz, Ann Hartle, and Marge Crouse for help with editing and proofing.
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Lunch Colloquium--Monday, November 18
Mama's Last Hug: Animal and Human Emotions
The Luce Center
Room 130
11:30-1:00
Frans de Waal, C. H. Candler Professor Emeritus of Psychology; Director, Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emeritus; Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Utrecht
Click here to read more below about this Lunch Colloquium
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Afternoon Seminar--Monday, October 28
Understanding the Journey: The Past, Present, and Future of Cardiovascular Disease in Women
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Lunch Colloquium--Monday, November 4
From Justice Kennedy to Justice Kavanaugh: The United States Supreme Court in a Time of Transition
Robert Schapiro, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law, Emory University School of Law
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New Members
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Faculty Activities
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Save the Date: Tuesday, December 3, 2:30 - 4:00
Six hundred years ago the citizens of York, England, would flock to the Pageant Green outside the walls of the city in the month of May to watch in wonder as their friends, family, and neighbors would present the entire story of the Bible in a cycle of 48 short plays, starting at dawn and ending as night fell. Craftsmen's Guilds were responsible for the individual performances and on December 3, the Emeritus College meeting room will be the scene of an encore presentation of the York Tile-Thatcher's Play, "The Birth of Christ." Don Saliers, Clark Lemons, and Brenda Bynum will be featured, respectively, as the Angel Gabriel, Joseph, and Mary. Liza Davis will present an introduction to the world and the people of that time and place and what this festival meant to them. This event is fondly dedicated, with deep admiration, to the memory and spirit of John Bugge, who first had the idea to do it.
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Shakespeare Excursion--Sunday afternoon, November 24
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Chris Kayser as King Lear (photo by Daniel Parvis)
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JOIN US TO SEE KING LEAR AT THE SHAKESPEARE TAVERN
This fall, we are scheduling our group visit to the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern for Sunday afternoon (afternoon, not evening), November 24, for the final performance of the Company production of King Lear (with Chris Kayser in the lead role).
Those of you who would like to join the group (and note that family and friends are welcome to attend with you) should call the Tavern at 404-874-5299, push 0 (when directed) for the Box Office, identify yourself as one of the Emory emeriti group attending on the 24th, specify how many tickets you would like, and pay for them. (They'll be $27.50 each, a deal they're offering especially for us.)
If and when all the tickets now being held for us are claimed, the Box Office people will let Gretchen Schulz know, and if it's possible to up the number in our group at that point, Gretchen will do so (though you should note that you may need to pay more per ticket should you decide to add yourself to the group late in this process). We will need to release any unclaimed tickets by the Wednesday before the Sunday afternoon we're attending, that is, the 20th before the 24th.
If you have not attended a production at the Tavern before, do visit the website for information on location, parking, and the possibility of eating (or at least drinking) while you watch the show. The food and drink available are good and reasonably priced though the menu for this afternoon performance will be less extensive than it is for evening performances.
AGAIN, DO NOTE THAT THE SHOW ON THIS PARTICULAR SUNDAY BEGINS AT 2:30 (and will run to about 6:00). Plan to arrive in plenty of time to park and get into the Tavern (to pick up your tickets at the ticket counter) by 1:45 or 2:00 at the latest, especially if you do plan to eat and/or drink. The best bet for parking is the parking deck of Midtown Hospital, the entrance to which is directly across from the entrance to the Tavern (at 499 Peachtree Street). Park and exit the deck on Level D--the best exit for Peachtree Street and the Tavern. You'll pay the $5 charge on your way out of the deck. If you need parking closer to the Tavern, check the Tavern website for information on the accessible parking that's right behind the Tavern (off of Courtland).
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We note the death of member Ray DuVarney
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Walking the Campus with Dianne
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Lunch Colloquium--Monday, November 18
Mama's Last Hug: Animal and Human Emotions
Frans de Waal, C. H. Candler Professor Emeritus of Psychology; Director, Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emeritus; Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Utrecht
The title of Frans de Waal's most recent book pays homage to Mama, the alpha female of a famous chimpanzee colony in the Netherlands who died at the age of 59. Her last hug with Professor Jan van Hooff went viral on the Internet. Frans will discuss their encounter and then review evidence for animal emotions, starting with the incredible variety of primate facial expressions. Charles Darwin concluded long ago that if apes use expressions similar to ours under similar circumstances, the underlying emotions are probably similar, too. And it has indeed become increasingly clear that all of "our" emotions can be found in other species. The whole idea that there is just a handful of "basic" or "primary" emotions shared across species (fear, anger, joy), and that all other emotions (jealousy, guilt, love, hope) are uniquely human doesn't make sense. Although we may have emotions that go deeper or are more varied than in other species, none of them belongs to us alone. Frans will discuss empathy and disgust as examples of emotions as evident in animals as in ourselves. About Frans De Waal What to say about Frans de Waal? For the scientists among us, it is probably sufficient just to note that he is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (there are only five members at Emory, and he is the only member in EUEC). More information is found on his website: Dr. Frans B. M. de Waal is a Dutch/American biologist and primatologist known for his work on the behavior and social intelligence of primates. His first book, Chimpanzee Politics (1982), compared the schmoozing and scheming of chimpanzees involved in power struggles with that of human politicians. Ever since, de Waal has drawn parallels between primate and human behavior, from peacemaking and morality to culture. His scientific work has been published in hundreds of technical articles in journals such as Science, Nature, Scientific American, and outlets specializing in animal behavior. His popular books - translated into twenty languages - have made him one of the world's most visible primatologists. His latest books preceding Mama's Last Hug are The Age of Empathy (2009), and The Bonobo and the Atheist (2013). Two recent edited volumes are The Primate Mind (2012) and Evolved Morality (2014). De Waal is C. H. Candler Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Director Emeritus of the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, in Atlanta, Georgia. Since 2013, he is a Distinguished Professor (Universiteitshoogleraar) at Utrecht University. He has been elected to the (US) National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences. In 2007, he was selected by Time as one of The Worlds' 100 Most Influential People Today, and in 2011 by Discover as among 47 (all time) Great Minds of Science. Being editor-in-chief of the journal Behaviour, de Waal has stepped in the footsteps of Niko Tinbergen, one of the founders of ethology. His latest research concerns empathy and cooperation, inequity aversion, and social cognition in chimpanzees, bonobos, and other species. He and his students have pioneered studies on how behavior is culturally transmitted in the primates, whether elephants recognize themselves in mirrors, how primates react to unequal reward divisions, how well primates spontaneously cooperate, and whether bonobo orphans are as emotionally affected by their trauma as human orphans. A review of Mama's Last Hug in Publishers Weekly is highly complimentary: In this illuminating--and remarkably moving--treatise on animal empathy, Emory University primatologist de Waal (Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?) delivers some of his most damaging, and joyous, blows yet to human exceptionalism. Drawing on his own extensive experiences, de Waal recounts example after example of animals displaying humanlike emotions and "emotional intelligence." Parrots, jays, mice, and apes can "time travel," or project themselves into future events based on an awareness of the past, while monkeys and various bird species can delay gratification. This all makes sense, he argues, since "animals just can't afford to blindly run after their impulses." On a less lofty plane, chimps have been observed being cruel for fun, and rats can laugh (albeit ultrasonically). De Waal reflects that much has changed during his career. His proposal that animals can reconcile with each other after conflicts met with skepticism during the 1970s, but is now widely accepted. One remaining mystery--whether animals have "free will"--can't be answered, he argues, until humans know if they themselves actually possess that trait. Making clear that "instead of tiptoeing around" emotions, researchers must now "squarely face the degree to which all animals are driven by them," de Waal's masterful work of evolutionary psychology will leave both fellow academics and intellectually curious lay readers with much food for thought To see the talk he gave to TED Peachtree, click here.
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Afternoon Seminar--Monday, October 28
Understanding the Journey: The Past, Present, and Future of Cardiovascular Disease in Women
Nanette Wenger, MD, MACC, MACP, FAHA, Professor Emerita of Medicine
"YES, YES, NANETTE": CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE IN WOMEN On Monday afternoon, October 28, members of the Emeritus College had a wonderful opportunity to hear about heart health, and, in particular, heart health in women, from our colleague Nanette Wenger, Professor of Medicine, Consultant with Emory's Heart and Vascular Center, and Founding Consultant with Emory's Women's Heart Center. No one was surprised when EUEC Director Gray Crouse had to limit his review of accolades Nanette has received in the course of her looooooong career to only a dozen or so--lest his introduction run many minutes into the time we had allocated for our speaker. After all, most of us know that Nanette began achieving "lifetime achievement" awards some twenty years ago or more--though she is, of course, still going strong. And as the presentation certainly demonstrated, she is still committed to sharing information that may help all the rest of us "go strong" for many more years, as well. The talk was in two parts, the first "Understanding the Journey: The Past, Present, and Future of CVD in Women" and the second "Show Your Heart You Care," presenting guidelines for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in women. Nanette began with slides showing that in the last two decades of the 1900s, through the 80s and 90s, while the incidence of male mortality due to CVD fell steadily, that of females steadily increased. But by the turn of the century, efforts by Nanette and others who had been arguing for better handling of CVD in women, by physicians and other health care providers and by women themselves, began to pay off. By 2010, the incidence of such mortality in both men and women had been greatly reduced, and by 2015, the incidence of such mortality in women fell below that of such mortality in men for the first time in some 15 years. Nanette spent some time reviewing the major findings of the 2010 Institute of Medicine Report on Women's Health Research that examined progress in this area from the time when that research deserved the label "Bikini medicine"--given its concentration on the bits of women covered by a two-piece and little else. She discussed (as the report discussed) the surge of work on how sex and gender differences impact all aspects of the health of women, including heart health, and on how differences in women's race, ethnicity, income level, and educational attainment also impact their health (and heart health). Thankfully, the results of such work are increasingly finding their way into clinical practice and public health policies--and the public consciousness, also. Further good news? As of the Research for All Act of 2015, the NIH and FDA must insist that research they sponsor will offer results specific to women as well as men (and minorities, too). The second part of Nanette's talk, "Show Your Heart You Care," was made all the more effective in its recommendations for care-taking by her decision to present what she had to say as if it were drawn from "An Owner's Manual," like that we count upon in taking care of our cars. And why not? After all, as she pointed out, our heart is a "muscular pump" that "beats over 100,000 times daily," sending blood (our fuel) through "60,000 miles of arteries, capillaries, and veins," with a "warranty" that should ensure "81 years [of good service for a] white woman." IF it is well tended as the years go by. Not surprisingly, Nanette spent the rest of her time with us reminding us what we (men and women both) do need to do to tend our hearts well. And she emphasized how very important it is that our whole population be brought to understand what's necessary for the best "care and maintenance" of these hearts we own, given that the last several years have actually seen a reversal of the aforementioned downward trend in the incidence of mortality due to CVD, in women in particular, in whom there are now "more CVD deaths . . . than from cancers, respiratory disease, Alzheimer's disease, [and] accidents combined." She suggested that this reversal is "likely related" to the "obesity epidemic" and noted that "lifestyle changes" (of the sort we can all name, like better diet and more exercise, not to mention no smoking) can certainly reverse this reversal, if people can only be persuaded to make changes of this sort. After a few final remarks on some "interventions" that have been SUPPOSED to prevent CVD in women-but do NOT do so--"interventions" like menopausal hormone therapy and antioxidant supplements--Nanette opened this special afternoon seminar to questions, which were many too many to be detailed here. If you'd like to know what she had to say about aspirin or cholesterol or exercise, you should consult the webcast of this most entertaining and informative talk that will be available on the EUEC website soon. As you'll see, it concludes with the big round of applause we offered Nanette (perhaps thinking, if not voicing, "Yes, Yes, Nanette"). --Gretchen Schulz
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Lunch Colloquium--Monday, November 4
From Justice Kennedy to Justice Kavanaugh:
The United States Supreme Court in a Time of Transition
Robert Schapiro, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law, Emory University School of Law
It was a packed house for Professor Robert Schapiro's talk, The United States Supreme Court Update. Professor Schapiro is the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law, Emory University School of Law. His credentials are impressive: undergraduate at Yale, MA in history from Stanford, then a law degree from Yale, a clerkship with Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, practice of law in DC, Duke for two years, then Emory Law School since 1995 and dean of the school between 2012-2017. He remains most active as a current faculty member teaching on issues of federal courts, constitutional law, and civil procedure. He has been showered with many awards.
One of his first points? If any of you are thinking of applying for one of the nine spots on the Supreme Court you should accumulate the background of the recent appointees: Obtain your law degree from Harvard or Yale, clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court, practice law in DC, serve in the Department of Justice and become a judge on the U.S Court of Appeals (and not be raised Protestant). Sounds a lot like the background of the speaker, don't you think?
Using charts reflecting Court decisions, Schapiro demonstrated how between 2006 and 2018 Justice Kennedy moderated the conservative and progressive leanings of the other eight members. But as of 2018 this task has fallen to Chief Justice Roberts.
The bulk of Schapiro's presentation was divided into the important topics facing the Court today. These include gerrymandering, census, first amendment rights, LGBTQ rights, immigration, gun control, and abortion.
Gerrymandering:
Definition: "manipulating the boundaries of an electoral constituency so as to favor one party or class." A recent case in point: Rucho v Common Cause (North Carolina). The Court's decision in the 5-4 majority opinion ruled that "partisan gerrymandering claims present political questions beyond the reach of the federal courts," vacating and remanding the lower courts' decisions with instructions to "dismiss for lack of jurisdiction." Justice Roberts made it clear that "the fact that such gerrymandering is incompatible with democratic principles does not mean that the solution lies with the federal judiciary." Justice Elena Kagan wrote the strong dissenting opinion. "Of all times to abandon the Court's duty to declare the law, this was not the one. The practices challenged in these cases imperil our system of government. Part of the Court's role in that system is to defend its foundations. None is more important than free and fair elections. With respect but deep sadness, I dissent." She believes that it is possible to set standards and find solutions as five other justices do not. So currently this issue is unresolved.
Census:
The issue has been whether the census can include a citizenship question. Some believe asking this question will lead to lower response rates for both citizens and non-citizens. In examination of the background to the case it became apparent that Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, asked the Department of Justice to ask the Commerce Department to place the citizenship question in the census questionnaire. In a 5-4 decision by the Court, Roberts stated that "the Constitution's Enumeration Clause allowed the government to ask census questions about citizenship, but the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) requires an agency to give more than 'contrived reasons' for its decisions, and the Secretary of Commerce has not yet done that regarding his decision to ask about citizenship in the 2020 census," thus rejecting the inclusion of the question, based upon a "significant mismatch between decision and rationale provided," as stated by Schapiro. Future discussions will undoubtedly address the definition of "every person" and the "proportion of congressional district residents who are not citizens of voting age."
First Amendment Issues--Religion and Free Speech:
The First Amendment states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech . . .."
The court under Roberts has been very protective of the First Amendment. Schapiro discussed several relevant cases. The trademark case of 2019, Iancu v Brunetti, dealt with a law that prohibits trademarks using "immoral" or "scandalous" matter. The 6-3 decision maintained that the prohibition violates the First Amendment. The American Legion v. American Humanist Assoc. (2019) case addressed the question whether a cross erected 93 years ago in a war memorial on county land may violate the establishment clause (the clause in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that prohibits the establishment of religion by Congress). The Court voted 7-2 that there was no violation. Ginsburg dissented. Espinoza v Montana Department of Revenue is now pending before the court and addresses the issue of providing public money to religious schools.
LGBTQ:
Justice Kennedy over the years favored the rights of this group in four cases: 1996, 2003, 2013, and 2015, which included the right to same-sex sexual conduct and same-sex marriage. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a federal law that prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin and religion. It generally applies to employers with 15 or more employees, including federal, state, and local governments. In Oct. 2019 oral arguments were heard in Bostock v Clayton County and the ruling is pending. To be addressed here is the issue of whether "firing for same-sex relationships" constitutes discrimination because of sex, given a distinction between sex and sexual orientation. Some would like to associate religious views with the LGBTQ issue so protection of religious beliefs could be argued as a basis for what would otherwise be considered discrimination.
Immigration:
The major issue involves Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiated by the Obama administration. This was rescinded in 2017. Department of Homeland Security v Regents of the University of California will be argued on Nov. 12.
Gun Control:
This is a Second Amendment rights issue. Oral arguments in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v City of New York will occur on Dec. 2, 2019. The case addresses the inability of registered owners to transport guns out of the city. Schapiro did mention an amicus brief by Senator Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, which has some pertinence to the judicial process, is entertaining, is quite political, and can be found on the Internet.
Abortion:
Women's right to choose abortion is being attacked 1) directly, by a raft (8) of new state laws (including one in Georgia) intended to limit abortion with criminal implications for those accused, and 2) indirectly, by trying to regulate providers out of their capacity to provide by denying license renewal and hospital privileges. Schapiro stated that limiting abortions by these new state laws is clearly unconstitutional under the current law. All of this is being challenged with cases in Missouri and Louisiana. One had the strong impression that our speaker believed it is unlikely that Roe v Wade (which established that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction), decided in 1973, will be overturned in the near future.
Observations made in the course of a lively Q & A:
Only 28 cases were reviewed by the SC in 2018, the lowest number since 1864.
Between 2010 and 2018, 49% of cases were decided 9-0 and 19% by 5-4. In 2018-2019, 38% have been decided 9-0 and 29% by 5-4.
Kavanaugh has voted more with Roberts than with Gorsuch or Ginsburg.
Removal of a Supreme Court justice requires impeachment proceedings.
Precedents are a major consideration for the justices in deciding cases, but "sometimes you just have to" vote on principle.
The composition of the Senate (based not on population but two from each state) and the electoral college are "some of the deficits of democracy."
The number on the Supreme Court can be increased (beyond 9) by Congress, but Schapiro believes this will not happen.
Does abortion belong under the rights of national citizenship or should abortion rights be determined by the states?
Most cases never get on the docket of the Supreme Court. About 8000 cases are petitioned each year and fewer than 80 are accepted. Since 1988 accepting cases is at the discretion of the Court, with no mandates applicable, and 4 of the 9 justices have to agree to place a case on the docket.
Executive orders by the President can have judicial review, but it takes an inordinate amount of time, which effectively blocks this maneuver as a means to check the President.
When asked if the justices are influenced by the arguments presented to them, Schapiro said he believes this only rarely happens, since the justices usually make up their minds based on precedents, personal review of the case, and their ideology.
--James Keller
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New Members
New members are the lifeblood of any organization. Please make a special effort to welcome them to EUEC!
Samuel H. Speck, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Microbiology and Immunology
I was born and raised in East Lansing, Michigan, where my father was a Professor of Biochemistry at Michigan State University. I attended MSU, earning a BS in Physical Sciences in 1975, followed by graduate studies at Northwestern University where I earned a PhD in Biochemistry in 1981. My thesis research was done in Dr. Emanuel Margoliash's lab, characterizing electron transport between cytochrome c reductase and cytochrome c. I moved from Northwestern University to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School for a post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Jack Strominger. During my time in the Strominger lab I shifted my research focus to virology - studying a family of herpesviruses (gamma-herpesviruses) that are associated with the development of lymphomas, as well as several other cancers, in some infected individuals. Gamma-herpesviruses are ubiquitous viruses that: (i) generally have a narrow host range (i.e., the human gamma-herpesviruses only infected humans, but there are very closely related viruses that infect other mammals); (ii) infect nearly all members of their host; (iii) are harbored for life in the infected host; and (iv) only cause significant disease in a minority of infected individuals - most often those that have an underlying immunodeficiency. I continued this line of research as an Assistant and then Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology at Harvard Medical School. In 1993, I was recruited to join the faculty in the Department of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. During my time at Washington University my lab transitioned from studying human gamma-herpesviruses to studies on a related mouse virus - which allowed us to carry out detailed pathogenesis studies.
In 2001, I was recruited as a Georgia Research Eminent Scholar in Molecular Pathogenesis and Professor in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, and the Vaccine Center at Emory University to continue our studies of gamma-herpesvirus pathogenesis. My family made the move to Emory - my wife, Martha Clabby is a Pediatric Cardiologist at Sibley Cardiology, Emory Children's Hospital, and our two sons, Patrick (now a 2nd year medical student at Emory) and Sean (who just completed his junior year at Emory). In addition, I have two daughters - Maren, a dermatologist here in Atlanta, and Caroline, a clinical coordinator for an Alzheimer's research group at John Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore, MD. Maren and her husband Rob (a psychiatrist at Emory) have four children who range in age from 1 - 4 years old. I retired from Emory at the end of August and am now focusing much of my time playing with my grandchildren, doing woodworking, getting back to playing piano, and playing golf at Druid Hills Golf Club.
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Faculty Activities
Donna Brogan
Professor Emerita of Biostatistics
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Nancy Murray and Donna Brogan
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On August 27, 2019, the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics in the Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH) at Emory University celebrated the 80th birthday of Donna Jean Brogan, Professor Emerita of Biostatistics of the RSPH since her Emory retirement in 2004. Gifts given by colleagues, friends, and Donna's family at and after her retirement helped to endow the annual Donna Jean Brogan Lecture in Biostatistics.
Nancy Murray, a doctoral candidate in Biostatistics, emceed the celebration. Several people reviewed aspects of Donna's career, including her contributions to fostering career opportunities for women in statistics, e.g. by spearheading the formation of the Caucus for Women in Statistics in 1971. Speakers included Dr. John Hanfelt, Interim Chair of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics; Nancy Murray; Dr. Ying Guo, Professor of Biostatistics; Dr. Michael Kutner, Professor of Biostatistics; Jim Curran, MD, Dean of the RSPH; Kathryn Graves, Senior Associate Dean of Development and External Relations of the RSPH; and Andrea Lane, Biostatistics doctoral student. They were followed by extemporaneous remarks from friends and previous colleagues. Students and faculty coordinated a membership drive for the Caucus for Women in Statistics in honor of Donna, and the honorary gift of increased membership was presented at the celebration.
Donna expressed appreciation to her colleagues and friends at the RSPH and thanked them for their role in her enjoyment of a long career in Biostatistics. She reminded all that she retired from Emory, but not from the discipline of Biostatistics. She still teaches continuing education courses on design and analysis of complex sample surveys, including two courses scheduled this month in the CDC University. And, yes, she still participates in challenge level square dancing!
-- Donna Brogan, Amita Manatunga, and Nancy Murray
M. Patrick Graham
Margaret A. Pitts Professor Emeritus of Theological Bibliography
I co-edited a volume of 10 pamphlets from 1518-1541 (written in Latin or German) by Roman Catholic authors attacking Martin Luther. All the pamphlets are held in the Pitts Theology Library and all but one or so had never before been translated into English. It was a four-year project and my co-editor was a specialist in these materials, teaching at the University of Hull.
I currently chair two committees:
The Research and Publications Committee of the Society of Biblical Literature;
The Endowment Committee of the American Theological Library Association.
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In Memoriam
Raymond C. DuVarney, Jr., PhD, Professor Emeritus of Physics
Raymond Charles DuVarney, Jr., age 79, of Lilburn, Georgia, passed away Wednesday, November 6, 2019. His son, Michael, preceded him in death in 1992. His wife, Mary Ellen and his children, Daniel, Brian, and Kathryn, as well as his grandchildren Noah, Hudson, Mary Kathryn, and Caroline survive him.
Raymond was a long-term resident of Atlanta, Georgia. He was born in Clinton, Massachusetts, and attended college at Clark University in Worcester, after which he received a Master's degree at the University of New Hampshire, and then returned to Clark for a PhD in Physics in 1968. He was employed by Emory University as a professor of Physics and retired in 2008. He was Chairman of the Physics Department for many years and oversaw the beginning of the astronomy program with an observatory and a planetarium. Astronomy brought more students and lay people to participate with enthusiasm in the Physics department.
For years Raymond was the Grand Marshall of Emory commencement and Marshall of Emory College of Arts and Sciences. Raymond and Charlie Bleau were founders and partners of SciMeasure Analytical Systems, Inc. The company makes cameras for astronomers and pursue other scientific endeavors.
He served as President of the Friends of Music at Emory for a time and served on their board. Music education at the university was one of his main interests.
The Funeral Mass to Honor and Celebrate the life of Raymond Charles DuVarney, Jr., was held on Saturday, November 9, 2019 at 11:15 AM at St. Stephen the Martyr Catholic Church. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made in memory of Raymond Charles DuVarney, Jr. to Friends of Music at Emory, www.music.emory.edu or Emory Friends of Music, Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, 1700 N. Decatur Rd., Suite 210, Atlanta, GA 30322.
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Walking the Campus with Dianne
That large building seen on our last walk is known as the Whitehead Biomedical Research Building. The structure, built in 2001, bears the name of Joseph B. Whitehead, the first Coca-Cola bottler, and was built with funds from the Whitehead Foundation.
A google search revealed the following information:
Overview
The 325,000 square foot $83 million Whitehead Biomedical Research Building on the campus of Emory University comprises eight floors of laboratory, lab support, and offices for cell biology, human genetics, and physiology. The facility also accommodates the Neurodegenerative Disease Center and Center for Medical Genomics.
Completed: 2001
LEED Certification: Silver
Alliance Dealer: Southern Sash and Supply of Montgomery
~ One of the first buildings to be LEED® certified in Atlanta, Georgia
~ One of the largest facilities of its kind in the Southeastern United States
Design: The facility was designed by Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, Inc. (HOK) of Atlanta, Georgia. The structural engineers were Standley D. Lindsey of Atlanta, and the mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire-protection engineers were Nottingham, Brooke and Pennington of Macon, Georgia. The Whitting-Turner Contracting Company of Atlanta was the general contractor and construction manager.
I've also included a photo of the front entrance to the building, below:  
For our next walk, let's go from big to something fairly small: a detail on a building that has gone through some changes recently. This symbol signifies a part of what the building used to be....I'll give you a hint: it's not Cannon Chapel or Glenn Memorial.
Where will you find this on the Emory Campus?
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Emory University Emeritus College The Luce Center
825 Houston Mill Road NE #206 Atlanta, GA 30329 |
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