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Baccalaureate procession canceled;
All Commencement activities to continue

Due to the likelihood of inclement weather and heavy rain Saturday, Brown University has canceled the procession from campus to the Meeting House of the First Baptist Church in America. The Baccalaureate Service itself will be held at its scheduled time — 2:30 p.m. — in the Meeting House. All Commencement activities scheduled for Sunday, May 26, will be held as planned. (Distributed May 24, 2013)
Actions of the Corporation

Corporation elects new fellows, trustees

At its regular Commencement Weekend meeting, the Corporation of Brown University elected two new fellows and ten new trustees to its ranks. The Corporation also accepted gifts totaling more than $38 million, advanced 13 faculty members to named chairs, and, at an earlier session, discussed issues related to coal divestment. (Distributed May 24, 2013)
The 245th Commencement

Dixon: Success and options on College Hill

Sheila Dixon: “If you can stick your hand out and grab somebody, they’ll have a better chance of being successful. I know. It made a difference in my life.”
Sheila Dixon traveled a long way to the top of College Hill. She will walk through the Van Wickle Gates at the top of her game: A Brown degree (A.B., political science), All-Ivy basketball honors, and options she wasn’t always expecting to have. (Distributed May 24, 2013)
Brown/RISD Dual Degree Program

Alison Rutsch: Picture the Best School Ever

What kind of schools should educational reforms produce? Alison Rutsch, who will receive degrees from Brown and RISD, put the question to the customers — the schoolchildren themselves. The kids expressed themselves as clearly as they could: They drew pictures. Rutsch ‘listened’ to what they had to say. (Distributed May 22, 2013)
Jessica Heney ’13 M.D.

Medical grad strives to help disadvantaged

Jessica Heney, who graduates May 26 from the Alpert Medical School, will continue as a family medicine resident at Memorial  Hospital in Pawtucket the work she has been doing for years: treating the ailment of societal inequity. (Distributed May 21, 2013)
2013 Joukowsky Dissertation Prize

Luk: After Higgs, a search for new physics

In particle physics, not finding a particle can narrow the search and guide new theories. Michael Luk’s Joukowsky Prize-winning dissertation, The Search for a Heavy Top-Like Quark, describes the most comprehensive search ever carried out for a particle that could answer puzzling questions about the nature of the Higgs boson. (Distributed May 21, 2013)
2013 Joukowsky Dissertation Prize

Ellison: The future of democracy in Bolivia

Susan H. Ellison, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology, has won a Joukowsky Dissertation Prize in Social Science for Mediating Democracy in El Alto: The Politics of Conflict Resolution in Bolivia. She spent 17 months in Bolivia studying Alternative Dispute Resolution and other programs meant to encourage development of democracy. (Distributed May 21, 2013)
2013 Joukowsky Dissertation Prize

Davis: The mechanics of biofuel bacteria

Jennifer R. Davis: “I’ve learned a variety of new techniques that are applicable in many different fields. That was one of the most rewarding things about my research.”
Jennifer R. Davis’ Joukowsky Award-winning dissertation explaining how certain bacteria can turn plant matter into the precursors of biofuels was a novel project in Jason Sello’s chemistry lab. It is also a tour (de force) of genomics, bioinformatics, biochemistry, and structural biology that has made a promising scientist even more broadly skilled. (Distributed May 16, 2013)
2013 Joukowsky Dissertation Prize

Teitelbaum: Sounds of Swedish nationalism

Benjamin Teitelbaum: “The nationalists were wanting to change their image from rowdy hooligan skinheads into being more proper people who really just love Sweden and Swedishness.”
Benjamin Teitelbaum spent almost two years interviewing and getting to know members of the Swedish nationalist movement, sometimes finding himself in scary situations in his quest to understand the subculture's use of music. It was that perseverance in part that won him the 2013 Joukowsky Family Foundation Outstanding Dissertation Award in the Humanities for his study “Come Hear Our Merry Song:” Shifts in the Sound of Contemporary Swedish Radical Nationalism. (Distributed May 16, 2013)
The 245th Commencement

Senior orators aim to inspire

The 2013 senior orators: In “Heads Up” and “Doors” Elizabeth Mills and Tanayott Thaweethai will offer insights from a personal experience of Brown that can inspire everyone.
History concentrator Elizabeth Mills, of Washington, D.C., and applied math/biology concentrator Tanayott Thaweethai, of Union City, Calif., have been chosen to address their classmates as this year’s senior orators. Asking members of the graduating class to deliver Commencement orations is a Brown University tradition almost 250 years old. (Distributed May 7, 2013)
The 245th Commencement

Brown to confer 2,419 degrees Sunday

Brown University President Christina Paxson will confer 2,419 degrees, including 1,554 bachelor's degrees, 491 master's degrees, 318 terminal or professional degrees, and 56 honorary master’s and doctoral degrees. The Commencement program, including names of all degree recipients, is available online. (Distributed May 24, 2013)
Vicious cycle

Changes in brain chemistry sustain obesity

In a new discovery reported in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Brown University and Lifespan researchers show that in the brain cells of rats, obesity impedes the production of a hormone that curbs appetite and inspires calorie burning. The root cause appears to be a breakdown in the protein-processing mechanism of the cells. In the lab, the researchers showed they could fix the breakdown with drugs. (Distributed May 15, 2013)

Simmons receives French Legion of Honor

Ruth J. Simmons: Chevalier dans l´ordre de la Légion d´HonneurPresident emerita, Brown University
Ruth Simmons, the 18th president of Brown University (2001-12) was awarded the French Legion of Honor in a ceremony on May 16, 2013, at the John Carter Brown Library. The award is the highest decoration given by the French government, honoring individuals who have contributed to the advancement of French arts and culture.  (Distributed May 16, 2013)

Moon and Earth have common water source

Water rights: Earth and Moon share a source: About 4.5 billion years ago when a giant collision sent a disc of debris from Earth to form the Moon, some of Earth’s water traveled along. Geochemist Alberto Saal and colleagues used isotopic composition as a fingerprint to trace the history.
Researchers used a multicollector ion microprobe to study hydrogen-deuterium ratios in lunar rock and on Earth. Their conclusion: The Moon’s water did not come from comets but was already present on Earth 4.5 billion years ago, when a giant collision sent material from Earth to form the Moon. (Distributed May 9, 2013)

Advance in tuberous sclerosis brain science

Brain disrupted: Neurons from the thalamus of control mice with healthy genes glow green (left), while those whose two Tsc1 alleles were deleted during embryonic development show a strong red glow (right), indicating disruption of the mTOR pathway that regulates growth.
By manipulating the timing of disease-causing mutations in the brains of developing mice, Brown University researchers have found that early genetic deletions in the thalamus may play an important role in course and severity of the developmental disease tuberous sclerosis complex. Findings appear in the journal Neuron. (Distributed May 9, 2013)
An efficient nectar mop

Bats use blood to reshape tongue for feeding

A natural nectar mop: Hovering at a flower demands enormous energy. Blood flow in their tongue tips allows bats to extend hair-like papillae instantly, increasing the tongue’s length and surface area and thus the amount of nectar lapped up in a single stroke.
Brown University scientists have found that a species of bat uses blood flow to reshape its tongue while feeding. The quick dynamic action makes the tongue an effective “mop” for nectar and could even inspire new industrial designs. Findings are reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (Distributed May 6, 2013)
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