Newsletter Volume 11 Issue 11 - February 5, 2025 | |
Lunch Colloquium -- Noah Scovronick -- February 10, 2025 | |
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Noah Scovronick
Rollins Assistant Professor
School of Public Health
MONDAY, February 10, 2025
11:30am-1:00pm
“Industrial contamination and environmental (in)justice in Coastal Georgia”
The coastal city of Brunswick, Georgia, has a vibrant cultural heritage, but also a toxic legacy that includes situating toxic waste sites in communities of color. Four of those sites are on the US EPA’s National Priorities List (NPL) – the most of any city in Georgia – and three are located directly adjacent to (or on top of) the coastal marsh. Despite decades of evidence of environmental contamination in and around the NPL sites, until recently there had never been a study of possible human exposure. Dr. Scovronick will discuss a recent exposure study conducted at the request of Brunswick residents and local environmental organizations, the community response to the results, and what comes next.
About Noah Scovronick:
Noah Scovronick is Rollins Assistant Professor at the School of Public Health where his research focuses primarily on the links between climate change and human health. More recently, he has become involved in several projects related to legacy industrial pollution.
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Lunch Colloquium -- Marshall Duke -- February 24, 2025 | |
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Marshall Duke
Charles Howard Candler Professor of Psychology Emeritus
MONDAY, February 24, 2025
11:30am-1:00pm
“Family stories that were never told: What grandchildren of survivors know about what happened to their grandparents during the Holocaust”
Since 2011, when he joined the interdisciplinary faculty group of the Emory Center for the Study of Myth and Ritual in American Life (MARIAL) which was established and directed by his treasured colleague Bradd Shore of the Department of Anthropology, Marshall Duke (along with his psychology colleague, Robyn Fivush) has been exploring the power that family stories possess in building and maintaining psychological resilience in children and young adults. Duke and Fivush found that the more children know about their family histories, the more resilient they are. This finding made its way into the public domain through an article in the New York Times written by Times-columnist Bruce Feiler in 2013. On the tenth anniversary of the article’s publication, Feiler noted that this piece was the most read, requested and quoted of all of his columns to date. However, while the relationship between knowledge of family history and adjustment/ resilience has taken hold in the public consciousness, there are two groups for which the connection presents some anomalies. Grandparents who served in war time and served in combat are less likely to pass on their stories because they are painful and disquieting to tell and hear. Similarly, a majority of the survivors of the Holocaust were loathe to speak of their experiences either to their children or their grandchildren. Marshall will speak of his work (supported in part by an Emeritus College Heilbrun Grant) with the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors and his effort to explore the anomalous finding that despite not knowing their family history, the majority of them appear to be psychologically resilient and well-functioning. He will describe the world-wide effort underway, generated by the grandchildren and some great-grandchildren, to learn as much as possible about what happened while there remain an ever-shrinking number of survivors. The grandchildren are the last living links to those who survived. Their stories will be the ones that will be sent forward to future generations.
About Marshall Duke:
Marshall Duke, PhD is Charles Howard Candler Professor of Psychology Emeritus. After serving two years as a clinical psychologist in the US Army Medical Service Corps, he joined the Emory faculty in 1970 and remained entrenched until his retirement in 2022. To his knowledge, he is the only member of the Emory faculty ever to have appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show. According to some in his family, this was his greatest achievement. He also did some research and teaching, it must be noted.
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2025 Emeritus College Distinguished Faculty and Service Awards | |
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Nominations Needed!!! -- EUEC Faculty and Service Awards
Each year, the Emory University Emeritus College (EUEC) offers two categories of awards: the EUEC Faculty Awards of Distinction and the Distinguished Service Award. Please know we are now beginning to accept nominations for 2025.
For the 2025 awards, completed nominations must be submitted by no later than 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 1, 2025. Please submit nominations by email to Dianne Becht, EUEC Program Coordinator, whose email address is Dianne.becht@emory.edu.
Please consider nominating one or more of your colleagues. And please know that self-nominations are also permitted and encouraged. Too often, retired faculty are not fully aware of the achievements of their colleagues, and we must rely on self-disclosure.
The ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS are as follows:
EUEC Faculty Award of Distinction (formerly Distinguished Emeritus/Emerita Award):
- All retired Emory faculty who have been members of EUEC for at least two years.
- Significant professional contributions since retirement to Emory University or its affiliated institutions, as well as contributions to local, state, regional, national, or international communities or professional organizations that reflect the “spirit of Emory.”
- A maximum of four awards are given annually.
- This award may be conferred only once.
Distinguished Service Award:
- All members of the EUEC, including those who have received the Distinguished Faculty Award of Distinction.
- Membership in the EUEC for at least two years.
- Significant service to Emory University or its affiliated institutions, as well as to local, state, regional, national, or international communities or other organizations that reflect the “spirit of Emory.” These contributions must have been made since retirement and are beyond those used to support a previous Distinguished Faculty Award.
- No requirement that an award will be given each year.
When you make your nomination, please include the following:
- Name of nominee
- Department or unit with which the nominee is associated.
- Contact information (email, phone number, and mailing address of nominee).
- Name of nominator
- Department or unit with which the nominator is associated.
- Contact information (email, phone number and mailing address of nominator).
- Description of why the nominee should receive this honor, in no more than two pages. Please do not exceed this limit, but be certain to include enough information for the selection committee to make an informed decision. Please include a curriculum vitae if possible.
Please let us know if you have questions about this process. Thank you in advance for your participation.
Sincerely,
Glenn Kellum
Chair, EUEC Honors and Awards Committee
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The 2025 Bianchi-Bugge Award | |
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This Award is meant to advance the mission of the Emory University Emeritus College by providing its membership with financial support for ongoing intellectual activities by means of small, strategic grants to cover expenses incurred in pursuit of a broad range of activities, including, among others: research and writing, lecturing, training, development of teaching materials, and participation in academic conferences. The Award is open to members from all academic units of the University and will foster their continuing professional development as part of a vibrant emeritus community at Emory University.
It is expected the Emeritus Excellence Fund will support two Bianchi Awards each year in amounts ranging up to $2000 for a twelve-month term.
The application process is open to all Regular and Associate members of the EUEC.
Applicants should submit the following:
1) a letter of application (limit to two pages) that describes in some detail the project to be undertaken: its purpose, the means of achieving its goal, and its relevance to the applicant’s own personal and professional development;
2) a simple one-page budget that estimates costs and explains how requested funding would be employed; and
3) an up-to-date curriculum vitae abstract (limited to two pages) that specifically highlights experience relevant to the project and activities undertaken since retirement.
The criteria for selection will include:
- The relationship of the proposed project to the applicant’s demonstrated qualifications
- The projected value of the project to the applicant’s field or discipline
- The feasibility of completing the project within the term of the Award
- The pertinence of the project to resources readily available to the applicant
- The potential the project shows for promoting the public good
Award recipients will be asked to agree to the following conditions:
- Submission of a written report to the Awards and Honors Committee after completing the term of the Award the year following the award.
For the 2025 awards, completed nominations must be submitted by no later than 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 1, 2025. Please submit nominations by email to Dianne Becht, EUEC Program Coordinator, Dianne.becht@emory.edu.
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Upcoming MedShare Volunteer Opportunity | |
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If you’d like to join this group, we are doing this the second Thursday afternoon of each month. Upcoming sessions: February 13 and March 13. Registration on the MedShare web site is required.
To register:
Visit the MedShare event registration page at: https://www.cervistech.com/acts/console.php?console_id=0319&console_type=event&ht=1&res_code=EmoryEmeritus
Click the "Sign Up" button for your event and enter your email and first name. If you don't have a MedShare volunteer account, you'll be prompted to create one.
Select the listed event and click “Register."
For registration issues, questions or information about carpooling, please contact Marianne Skeen, marskeen@comcast.net.
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Patricia Marsteller
Professor of Practice Emerita in Biology
Congratulations to Pat for receiving the Presidential Award for Mentoring!
To learn more, please click here.
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Ron Gould
Goodrich C. White Professor Emeritus of Mathematics
Ron gave a talk on January 29, 2025 via Zoom seminar at Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama.
The talk was titled, "Looking for Saturation in All Kinds of Places, Discrete Math."
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New members are the lifeblood of any organization.
Please make a special effort to welcome them to the EUEC!
Kenneth Anderson
Professor of Philosophy
Oxford College of Emory University
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Donald E. Riechard
Professor Emeritus of Educational Studies
Donald Riechard died January 15, 2025 one day before 89th birthday. He began working at Emory in 1970 and retired in 2000.
We have not received any additional information and no obituary has been posted at this time.
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Michael Thurmond Book Signing
Thursday, February 6, 2025, 4-5:30pm EST
Barnes and Noble at Emory University
2nd Floor
In partnership with Barnes & Noble @ Emory, Emory University is proud to host an engaging book signing and discussion event featuring former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond. The program will include a thought-provoking conversation between Thurmond and The Rev. Dr. Robert M. Franklin, Jr., Professor at Emory University in the Candler School of Theology, and the inaugural James T. and Berta R. Laney Chair in Moral Leadership at Candler.
The discussion will center around Thurmond’s latest book, James Oglethorpe, Father of Georgia: A Founder’s Journey from Slave Trader to Abolitionist. This groundbreaking work explores Oglethorpe’s philosophical and moral transformation and highlights his intellectual relationships with Ayuba Suleiman Diallo and Olaudah Equiano, two formerly enslaved Black men who played pivotal roles in the antislavery movement. Thurmond’s book sheds light on these little-known interracial partnerships that helped shape the formal abolitionist movement.
A special guest will provide an introduction. Light refreshments will be provided.
Michael Thurmond is the former chief executive officer of DeKalb County, Georgia, and a distinguished author of Freedom: Georgia’s Antislavery Heritage, 1733–1865, and A Story Untold: Black Men and Women in Athens History. His extensive career includes serving in the Georgia legislature, as Georgia labor commissioner, and as superintendent of DeKalb schools, in addition to being a lecturer at the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government.
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Emory Jazz Fest 2025: Big Band
Saturday, February 15, 2025, 8:00pm EST
Schwartz Center for Performing Arts: Emerson Concert Hall | 1700 North Decatur Rd.
2024–2025 Schwartz Artist-in-Residence Program
FREE | Tickets Required
Tickets Available Here
"The whole band changes dynamic direction with so much precision that it feels like someone was doing a studio mix on the spot. You can tell all of the guys are having an amazing time on stage, which is brilliant to watch"—EarRelevant
The annual Emory Jazz Fest brings world-class jazz to the community with master classes, artist demonstrations, and concerts featuring the Gary Motley Trio with bassist Kaleb Thompkins and percussionist Leon Anderson, the Emory Big Band, and Grammy Award–winning saxophonist David Sánchez.
EMORY JAZZ FEST SCHEDULE OF EVENTS (Events take place in Emerson Concert Hall, unless otherwise listed)
Thursday, Feb.13 at 2:30 p.m., Lecture/Demonstration with David Sánchez | Free | No tickets required
Friday, Feb. 14 at 8 p.m., David Sánchez and the Gary Motley Trio | Tickets $30 | Emory Students $10
Saturday, Feb. 15 at 11:30 a.m., Jazz Clinic | Tharp Rehearsal Hall | Free | No tickets required
Saturday, Feb. 15 at 8 p.m., Emory Big Band | Free |Tickets required
Recommended parking for Schwartz Center events is the Fishburne Parking Deck (free for events after 6 p.m. and on weekends).
Additional Emory Visitor Parking Information Here
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Tenenbaum Lecture to Feature Dr. Avinoam Patt on "Israel and the Holocaust: Changing Landscapes of Memory"
Thursday, February 27, 2025, 7:00pm EST
M. C. Carlos Museum
Ackerman Hall
The Tam Institute for Jewish Studies (TIJS) at Emory University will feature Prof. Avinoam Patt of New York University as the speaker for this year’s Tenenbaum Family Lecture in Judaic Studies. The lecture, to take place on Thursday, February 27 at 7:00pm, will address the topic: “Israel and the Holocaust: Changing Landscapes of Memory.” This free, on-campus event will be held in the Carlos Museum’s Ackerman Hall.
Advanced registration is requested, which you may complete here: tinyurl.com/emorytenenbaumlecture.
For more information please click here.
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Details and other information, as well as additional campus events, can be found on the Emory Events Calendar.
If you'd like to share an event/program of interest before the next newsletter
please contact Dianne Becht Dianne.becht@emory.edu
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Walking the Campus with Dianne | |
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The whimsical bench we found on our last walk was part of the 2003 Emory Chairs Project and is one of a few that has remained as permanent pieces of art (and seating) on campus. The bench is located across from the playground at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church on Fishburne Drive.
The artwork is "Untitled" by Harold Rittenberry who is a self-taught artist from Athens, Georgia. He has created many works for public and private collections and often described his works as "telling a story in steel."
The piece was installed in 2003 and is constructed from Corten steel, which over time, becomes encased in rust to protect the metal interior.
Rittenberry's pieces are included in the permanent collection of the Harriet Tubman Museum of African American Art in Macon, the College Park Library in Atlanta, and the Folk Art Park in downtown Atlanta. He has had many public art commissions, including ones in the East Point Library, the Fulton County Arts Council Public Art Program, and at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
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Winter may not be over yet, but I am extremely grateful for the warmer temperatures as of late!
For our next walk, let's get outdoors and explore a place that is probably my most favorite area on campus. Here, you can enjoy the beauty of nature, peacefulness, and a great environment, perfect for meditation.
Hint: it's not Lullwater Preserve (although that is another favorite of mine).
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Where will you find this on the Emory campus?
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