Memorial Gifts

In the last year, gifts have been made to the University of Mary Washington in memory of these beloved members of the community who have passed on.

Rosa Marion Adams Taddesse Adera Sara Wagner Adkerson ’47 Mamie Via Allen ’43 Edward Alvey Jr. Arabelle Laws Arrington ’41 Mary Hayes Attride ’67 Robert R. Auray Sr. Melba Bayne Ernestine Mae Lucky Beasley J. Christopher Bill Evelyn Ameen Billy Marie Black Florence Bodnar Susan Breedin ’86 Rachel Norris Bridger Megan L. Brown ’05 Andrew Buni Cindy Buso ’75 Hamlin Caldwell Jr. Joan Kelly Castner Emily M. Cella Gordon Lee Colston III John Francis Cope ’83 Elvere Conner Cox ’30 Mildred Stanford Creegan James H. Croushore Elizabeth Otis Currier Mary Jane Bassett Currier ’50 Vera Deihl Janet J. DeShazo Howard Carpenter DeSilva Edgar Drake Samuel T. Emory James Farmer C. Warren Forbush ’47 Beatrice Fordham ’29 Lois Milstead Goodwin ’38 James B. Gouger Anne Bradley Guerrant ’47 Sue Lukehart Hallden ’62 Anne F. Hamer Sidney Hamer William B. Hanson Mary Hope Harcum ’35 Florence Harding ’18 David A. Hawkens ’82 Sonja Haydar Barbara Heine ’57 Julia … [Read more...]

CONDOLENCES

Mildred Chamberlain ’46, who lost her sister Lucille Clift Kimman ’49, who lost her sister Elizabeth “Betsy” Seekell Fletcher Adams ’51, who lost her husband Susan Hutcheson Jurgens ’52, who lost her husband Susan Bender Trotter ’57, who lost her husband Iris Hall Newton ’60, who lost her son Barbara “Babs” Buse Johnson ’61, who lost her mother Katherine “Kat” Caffee Gompf ’69, who lost her son Martha Yvonne Jones ’73, who lost her father Molly Elayne Jones ’74, who lost her father Madelin Ann Jones Barratt ’76, who lost her father Julia Collins Moss ’84, who lost her mother John Mark Scott ’84, who lost his father … [Read more...]

IN MEMORIAM

Rose Grantham Patterson ’29 Elizabeth Lacy Jones ’33 Dorothy Carmel Balser ’37 Alice Dew Hallberg ’37 Sarah Calvert Spillman Hitt ’38 Jeanne Persons Johnson ’40 Mary Miller Crigler Boldridge ’41 Barbara Apple Janes ’42 Elizabeth “Betty” Erma Parlin Newcomer ’42 Mary Frances Lazenby Truett ’42 Ruth Selecman Bristow ’43 Constance Leigh Ferebee ’43 Cleo James Chelekis Gorant ’43 Dorothy Arlene Ewing ’44 Carolyn Turner Jamison ’44 Florence Rose Leidy ’44 Gloria Epstein Roffman ’44 Ann Harris Skinner ’44 Helen Letha Hawley Turner ’44 Barbara “Bobbye” Pugh Floyd ’45 Louise Lilly Barrett Newsoms ’45 Miriam “Mim” Waters Nichols ’45 Isabel LeCompte Schulte ’45 Frances Felts Sellers ’45 Betty Lou Shaver-Toense ’45 Dorothy “Dot” Arrington Trivett ’45 Virginia “Ginny” Lamberth Williams-Edwards ’45 Janet Faith Keefer Wurmstich ’45 Margaret “Peggy” Chandler Findley ’46 Doris Fay Hinnant Hine ’46 Donna L. … [Read more...]

Books by Faculty

The Okinawan Diaspora in Japan, Crossing the Borders Within by Steve Rabson, adjunct professor of classics, philosophy, and religion

Three decades after living in Okinawa, where h e was stationed with the Army in the late ’60s, Steve Rabson returned for research. His two-year study resulted in The Okinawan Diaspora in Japan, Crossing the Borders Within, the first English-language book on the topic. It examines the struggles of Okinawans who emigrated from the North Pacific islanbd to mainland Japan and to minorities there; how this phenomenon was influenced by government regulations, corporate policies, and popular attitudes; and Japan’s more recent struggle to accept its citizens’ multi-ethnicity. While living in Osaka from 1999 to 2001, Rabson explored essential sources, conducted dozens of interviews, administered hundreds of questionnaires, and gleaned information from conversations over coffee with neighbors. Christopher Nelson, associate professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, wrote of the book, “Readers will find themselves immersed in the experiences of … [Read more...]

Alumni Seen

Explore the London Theatre Scene with Professor Gregg Stull From Shakespeare to the West End • May 13-20 • Alumni College on the Road alumni.umw.edu/alumnicollegeroad … [Read more...]

Books by Alumni

The Tall Tale of Tommy Twice by Nathan Leslie ’94

As a 21-year-old traveling alone, camping and picking up hitchhikers from Maryland to Colorado, Nathan Leslie ’94 came across some interesting personalities. Years later, the cross-country excursion he took after college graduation inspired his début novel. In The Tall Tale of Tommy Twice, an orphan dreams of living in a “typical” home. But, as he’s tossed from country to city and coast to coast to stay with one eccentric relative after another, he begins to question his desire for a conventional life. Family relationships, childhood wonder, and the difficulties of establishing an identity in America are explored as Tommy gets to know Grandma Gaga, whose home is perched on Pike’s Peak; Aunt Tess, who hides things in her fluffy hair; Aunt Penny, who communicates through ESP; and Aunt Chelsea, who hunts coyotes. Jason Sanford, a founding editor of the quarterly journal Story South, said of the work, “I have long been a fan of Nathan’s first-person writing style, and this [novel] … [Read more...]

Recent Grad a Lifesaver

Just months after earning a bachelor’s degree at UMW, Lauren Kornacki ’12 learned a different kind of lesson – how it feels to be a hero. In July, Kornacki saved her father’s life after finding him trapped beneath a car he’d been working on. The physics major and basketball player maintained that her Mary Washington experience helped her perform such a feat, as she struggled to contend with the fanfare that followed. “My dad means everything to me,” she told ABC World News. “I’m having a hard time with this attention.” CNN, Fox News, and the New York Daily News also covered the story. Alec Kornacki’s heart had stopped beating when his daughter found him pinned beneath his BMW 525i in the garage of her family’s Richmond-area home. She lifted the car off him, pulled him to safety, and performed life-saving CPR. Kornacki, 52, suffered broken ribs and other injuries – all minor compared to what could’ve happened had the younger Kornacki not taken action. A pool manager, she’d … [Read more...]

Alumna is 10th Circuit’s First Woman Judge

Kimberley Slayton White ’85 is the first woman to serve as judge in Virginia’s 10th Judicial Circuit. Gov. Bob McDonnell appointed the South Boston, Va., lawyer to the eight-county circuit, which includes Halifax County, where White lives with her family. “I am pleased to appoint these highly qualified individuals to the Circuit Court,” McDonnell said in a press release naming several judgeships. “Kim has honorably served the people of Halifax County as their commonwealth’s attorney for the last eight years.” White’s September swearing-in ceremony was a family affair. Her husband, son, and daughter stood with her as her uncle, retired judge and former delegate Frank Slayton, administered the oath. Her sister-in-law, Ellen White, a juvenile and domestic relations court judge in the 24th Judicial Circuit, helped her don the robe of office. Kimberley White, who will hold the interim judicial circuit post until 30 days after the 2013 Virginia General Assembly session begins, … [Read more...]

Writer’s Works Destined for Film

You don’t have to be psychic to know that the latest novel by Maggie Hummel Stiefvater ’03 is headed for fame. Warner Brothers’ New Line Cinema acquired film rights to the first of the bestselling young-adult-fantasy author’s new four-book series, The Raven Boys, before it hit the shelves in September. Producer Akiva Goldsman of A Beautiful Mind and The Da Vinci Code is slated for the project. The Raven Boys, based on magic and Welsh mythology, revolves around an ill-fated romance between the daughter of the town psychic in fictional Henrietta, Va., and a rich boy from the exclusive Aglionby Academy. Stiefvater writes full time now but recalls “a tumultuous past as a history major, calligraphy instructor, wedding musician, technical editor, and equestrian artist.” Her Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy, about a supernatural romance, boasts 1.7 million copies, according to the global publishing company Scholastic, with rights to more than 36 foreign editions licensed to the series’ … [Read more...]

Math Teacher’s Efforts Add Up

This summer fewer than 100 math and science educators received the nation’s highest honor in their field. Chancellor High School math teacher Kimberly Riddle ’98, M.Ed ’04, was among them. “These teachers are the best of the best,” President Obama said of the 97 winners of the 2011 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST), reserved for those who develop and implement effective instructional programs. Riddle has spent a decade teaching algebra, geometry, pre-calculus, and other courses at the Spotsylvania County, Va., high school. Lacing her classes with hands-on activities and discussion, she’s advocated for curriculum changes in algebra-based courses since attending a 2008 session about the importance of visualizations, context, and pattern building. “Knowledge gained should not be withheld for self-serving purposes,” Riddle said on the PAEMST website. “Knowledge should be shared with colleagues.” The award-winning teacher earned two … [Read more...]