Convocation 2006: Zimmer delivers keynote, new teaching award announced

Professors John Gordon and Ann Sloan Devlin pause in Castle Court following the convocation ceremony. The two received awards for excellence in teaching and research. Photo by Vincent Scarano

Students, faculty and staff at CC’s 92nd convocation on Aug. 31 learned a new phrase from Doriel Larrier ’90: woo soo moo soo.

Larrier, who presented the Class of 2010 with its banner, also offered some words of advice to the new students. “Woo soo moo soo,” she said, encapsulates her CC experience. That is, “windows of opportunity, sea of options, mountains of obstacles and service to others.” She encouraged students to go beyond their comfort zone, seize new opportunities and help others. The “mountain of obstacles” before them, she said, come in the form of finishing work on time and abandoning their insecurities.

“The fact that you think you are not tall enough, short enough, great in math, great in writing, etc. Get over it! You are here to actualize your potential,” Larrier said. “Those things that you saw in high school, that may have been a stumbling block — turn it around so that it is your step stool.”

Professor Marc Zimmer delivers the keynote address. Photo by Vincent Scarano

The keynote address was delivered Marc Zimmer, the Barbara Zaccheo Kohn ’72 Professor of Chemistry, with a giant image of a glowing jellyfish shining behind him. Zimmer, last year’s Rash Award recipient, recounted the story of an opportunity that swam by him in the form of a lecture on green florescent protein.

An intriguing question at the end of the lecture led him to years of research and a recent publication, “Glowing Genes: A Revolution in Biotechnology.” He encouraged students to catch their own “jellyfish,” or opportunity, however insignificant it may appear at the time, and not let it swim away.

This year’s recipients of the College’s two most prestigious faculty awards also were announced at convocation. John Gordon, professor of English, won the Nancy Batson Nisbet Rash Faculty Research Award for excellence in academic research. Ann Sloan Devlin, the May Buckley Sadowski ’19 Professor of Psychology, received the John S. King Memorial Faculty Teaching Award for teaching excellence.

Devlin, who has been at CC since 1973, specializes in environmental psychology. She recently published a book for students in the social sciences titled “Research Methods: Planning, Conducting, and Presenting Research” (Thomson Wadsworth, 2005). It illustrates successful one-semester social science research projects using examples from a variety of sources.

Gordon specializes in modern British literature and the works of James Joyce. His latest book, “Joyce and Reality: The Empirical Strikes Back,” was published by Syracuse University Press in 2004. He is currently at work on a book on Charles Dickens and “Summa Contra Boring,” a college writing guide he has been distributing to his lower-level English classes for several years. He has taught at CC for more than 25 years.

This year’s convocation also included a surprise announcement about new faculty leadership award named in honor of Helen B. Regan, professor emeritus of education. It will be given annually to a tenured faculty member whose outstanding service in a leadership role exemplifies CC’s commitment to shared governance, democratic process and campus community development.

Regan spent 21 years at CC. During that time she chaired the education department, coordinated the secondary certification program, and served as dean of the faculty. She has been special assistant to the president, interim president of the Lyman Allyn Art Museum and interim vice president for college advancement. The Helen Brooks Regan Faculty Leadership Award was established through a gift from Regan in memory of her father, Richard Ensign Brooks. “He was very proud of my career at Connecticut College,” Regan said, “and I can think of no better way to express my gratitude for his support and love over decades than to make this gift in his honor.”

The winner of the 2006-07 award will be announced at a faculty meeting Oct. 4. Subsequently, it will follow the process used to select the Rash and King awards.