Princess Moss ’83 was elected vice president of the National Education Association (NEA) in August, representing 3 million members of the nation’s largest professional organization. As secretary-treasurer of the NEA for the past six years, she oversaw the multimillion-dollar budget of an organization for which she has held leadership positions at the local, state, and national levels. The Mary Washington music major began her nearly four decades of service with the NEA as a student member of the affiliated Virginia Education Association, of which she later served two terms as president. Moss spent 21 years as a public school music teacher. Moss earned a master’s degree in elementary and secondary administration and supervision from the University of Virginia. A member of Mary Washington’s College of Education (COE) Advisory Board, she received UMW’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2006 and served on the UMW Board of Visitors from 2007 to 2011. Last summer, she joined COE … [Read more...]

Art historian and digital strategist Stephanie Grimes ’09 received the competitive United Kingdom 2020 Fulbright award to pursue a Ph.D. in digital humanities at King’s College London. Grimes’ research concerns making cultural heritage more accessible, discoverable, and relatable through technology, such as digitizing ancient artifacts. Grimes earned a bachelor of arts in Italian studies and classical civilization at Mary Washington. She spent her junior year in Italy, and she got a UMW research grant to create a blog documenting ancient Roman sarcophagi, which she studied for her honors thesis. “I attribute this experience to my first exposure to my profession and passion in digitizing artifacts,” she wrote by email. Grimes began her King’s College studies from her home in Washington state because of COVID-19 restrictions, but she planned to move to London in October. Grimes received a master’s degree in art history from George Mason University in 2013. She has been a digital … [Read more...]

Lavar Edmonds ’14, research specialist at Princeton University’s Eviction Lab, wrote a Washington Post opinion piece about housing insecurity during the coronavirus pandemic. His article, Want to help kids weather this school year? Keep them from getting evicted, was published July 24, 2020. “With many school districts shifting to online instruction this fall, students are expected to trade school buildings for spaces in their homes, a change predicated on students having homes in the first place,” Edmonds wrote. “What happens when that space isn’t there, or when students are suddenly displaced?” PBS Newshour interviewed Edmonds for a July 7 segment on eviction. Later that month, NPR’s Philadelphia affiliate, WHYY’s Radio Times, spoke with him about the impending end of the federal eviction moratorium. Edmonds studied math and economics at Mary Washington and earned a master of science in education policy at the University of Pennsylvania in 2017. In between, he taught high … [Read more...]

In June, the Spotsylvania County, Virginia, Board of Supervisors appointed Melanie Kay-Wyatt ’92, M.Ed. ’07 to a four-year term representing the county on the Germanna Community College Board. Kay-Wyatt, director of Human Resources at Spotsylvania County Public Schools, has nearly two decades of public-school education experience, including time as principal of Walker-Grant Middle School in Fredericksburg. Kay-Wyatt is past president of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development International, chair of the ASCD International Board of Directors, and president-elect of the Virginia ASCD Board of Directors. She earned a doctorate in educational leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University; a master of education in educational leadership from the University of Mary Washington; a master of science in education from Old Dominion University; and a bachelor of science in business administration from Mary Washington College. She was Jaycees Educator of the Year in 2006 … [Read more...]

Victoria D.  Scarborough ’75 was named vice president of collaborative innovation last winter at ChemQuest Group, a leading international business strategy firm in specialty chemicals. She is known worldwide as a research-and-development leader and as a subject-matter expert for the commercialization of in-demand new technology. Scarborough earned a bachelor of science in biology from Mary Washington and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in 1979. She earned an MBA from Christian Brothers University and later participated in the Sherwin-Williams’ Leadership Excellence Program at Case Western Reserve University. For more than 25 years, Scarborough has advanced technology in the public and private sector in projects for the Department of Defense, federal government laboratories, universities, and multinational corporations. She’s also worked with individual inventors and startups, often by creating and managing complex … [Read more...]

In October, Forbes.com reported that business was booming at Aspetto, makers of attractive bullet-resistant clothes and tactical gear. The company, started at UMW by Abbas Haider ’12 and Rob Davis ’12, expected revenue to reach more than $12 million in 2020 despite the pandemic, the magazine said. 2021 looks even better. Revenue is projected to pass $25 million because of multimillion-dollar deals to make tactical gear for Air Force women, armored vests for Homeland Security, ballistic shields for the Internal Revenue Service, stab vests for the Bureau of Prisons, and more. The Fredericksburg-based business has adapted and grown from its early days of making bespoke clothing, innovating while meeting customer needs – and always being fashionable. Haider told Forbes that after winning the bid for Air-Force female-specific gear, he started getting inquiries from other nations, including the Netherlands and Australia. Haider told the magazine Aspetto’s next move is cybersecurity, … [Read more...]

Jeffrey Bardzell ’92 is the new associate dean for undergraduate and graduate studies in the Penn State University College of Information Sciences and Technology, leading a team providing strategic direction for the academic experience. He told Penn State News he planned to foster an inclusive learning community that brings together faculty-led teaching and research, student projects, and staff initiatives to further IT innovation. Bardzell came to Penn State from Indiana University-Bloomington, where he had served since 2004 as a professor of informatics and as program director for human computer interaction design. He earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in English at Mary Washington, and master’s and doctoral degrees in comparative literature, both from Indiana University. … [Read more...]

Connecticut high school teacher and debate coach Jeremy White ’94 is among the 2020 Yale Educator Award winners, recognizing outstanding educators worldwide who have inspired their students to achieve at high levels. White, who graduated in history at Mary Washington and earned a master of arts in teaching at Sacred Heart University, was one of 81 educators chosen from more than 300 candidates nominated by incoming Yale students. He teaches social studies at Stamford High School. … [Read more...]