|
Family Gift is HMC's Largest Bequest
 An introduction by a mutual friend. A brief association with an aspiring engineering, science and mathematics college. Then, more than 40 years later, the largest bequest in HMC’s history. Here’s how it happened.
John Dudley Hackstaff was the eldest son of J. Frank Hackstaff, a foreman, and Priscilla Dudley Hackstaff, a high school principal and worker in the women’s suffrage movement. John received a degree in mechanical engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., in 1894 and went on to work as an engineer, draftsman and construction engineer for a number of energy companies, eventually becoming an expert in natural gas pipeline systems. His work on pipelines continued until his retirement, during which he was active in Los Angeles city and county affairs and served as a consultant in matters pertaining to natural gas pipelines.
It was during his retirement years that Hackstaff met Joseph Platt, then president of the new Harvey Mudd College. Their mutual friend Donald J. Frick, who sang and played guitar regularly with Platt, introduced Hackstaff and his wife, Kate, to Platt in 1959. The Hackstaffs got to know the college, and John especially appreciated the broad curriculum that aimed to produce well-rounded students. Platt remarked that Hackstaff “was particularly interested in our plans for teaching engineers how to approach design problems.”
John Hackstaff lent his advice about educating young engineers and made a gift of professional journals to the library. He died a short time later in 1960, but his wife, Kate, and daughter, Katherine, continued the family’s association with the college. Kate died in 1969, but Katherine (by now married to Vincent Schlegel), continued to attend campus gatherings, including the Impact/72 Campaign celebration. Katherine, a graduate of UCLA and Columbia University, worked for many years at the now defunct Los Angeles Savings and Loan and was an active supporter of several charities that encouraged education among women, notably the Ebell of Los Angeles, for which she served as president. Known for her quiet and unassuming manner, Katherine gradually amassed a small fortune, made up mainly of securities. Her friend, Nida Brown, described her as a “very private lady with much wisdom and experience.” The fact that Katherine became such a successful investor “was quite a feat,” said Brown.
While Katherine’s visits to Mudd diminished, her enthusiasm for the college did not. Upon her death in 2002, it was learned that HMC was to receive a sizable gift as a residuary beneficiary of her will, which meant that HMC received “all that was left” after distributions to other named charities. The Hackstaff/Schlegel gift has turned out to be the largest bequest the college has ever received.
Totaling $14.96 million, Katherine Schlegel’s gift has impacted nearly every part of campus, from campus life (the dining commons) to teaching to entrepreneurship, with the largest portion placed in an endowment to fund need-based student scholarships in the name of John D. Hackstaff. “Katherine was close with her father and wanted him to be remembered,” said Brown.
“It was a pleasure to have known the Hackstaffs,” said Platt, “and I particularly enjoyed Mr. Hackstaff's interest in the college, since he obviously had thought about the teaching of engineering. I had no clue at the time that we might receive anything other than a current gift in support of a student, if indeed anything. This huge bequest comes as a happy surprise indeed, and will continue to do things the Hackstaff family supported—more generously than we then dared hope.”
Farewell events for the Strausses
The presidency of Jon Strauss was celebrated at several get-togethers both on and off campus.
 Philadelphia, Pa. — A number of the Strausses’ closest friends and special colleagues joined the couple at the historic City Tavern in Philadelphia. Festivities included the presentation of President Strauss’ high school diploma (He never received it because he left high school after his sophomore year to attend the University of Wisconsin on a Ford Foundation scholarship.) and a speech by the couple’s eldest son, Tiff.
 Autry National Center, Los Angeles — On May 6, the board of trustees hosted a celebratory dinner for Jon and Jean Strauss. Trustees, special guests of the Strausses, senior staff and faculty, family and friends delighted in the board’s presentation to the Strausses: an inflatable Zodiac boat, handpainted and named the Mudd Hen. Earlier that day, Jon was named trustee emeritus and president emeritus and was presented with a resolution of appreciation by the board.
Getty Museum, Los Angeles — Along with the Strausses, Los Angeles supporters of HMC enjoyed an exclusive tour and picnic lunch at the reopened Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades. The April event was made possible by Board of Trustees member Michael Blasgen '63, who is a friend of Weston Naef, curator of photographs at the J. Paul Getty Museum.
 On Campus — The Strausses were feted with an all-campus celebration in April, during which President Strauss received various gifts from community members including a card of student well-wishes presented by ASHMC president Elaine Hart '06 and a portrait that will hang with the other HMC presidential portraits in Galileo Hall.
 Women faculty members and friends hosted a lunch for Jean Strauss. She was serenaded by Charlotte Van Ryswyk and Carol Tanenbaum to the tune of “You Are Our Sunshine.” Here are their clever lyrics:
You Are Our Sunshine
You are our sunshine, our only sunshine.
You make us happy, when skies are gray.
You'll never know dear, how much we'll miss you.
We are sorry you're moving away.
We know you're moving to Bainbridge Island
And Bainbridge Island is very near.
So we'll come visit you when you move there.
And maybe you'll come and visit us here.
At Bainbridge Island you can go rowin
In your scull or your rowing shell
And there to help you, you'll have a great crew
The boys and Jon will surely do well.
When you're not rowing, cooking or sewing
You may take walks with Rosie and Skye
Or you'll be writing something exciting
That can be a film by and by.
You are our sunshine, our only sunshine.
You make us happy, when skies are gray.
You'll never know dear, how much we'll miss you.
We are sorry you're moving away.
Planning for the Future
Ideas for HMC’s strategic vision are being sought from all of those interested in the college’s future. Once formulated, the plan will help set the college’s priorities and direction for the next 10 to 20 years regarding size, curriculum, facilities and more.
Preliminary focus groups with parents and alumni have already begun, and further input from all community members was sought recently by President Jon Strauss, who requested discussion topics. Five themes will be chosen from those suggestions for separate weekend workshops in the fall, after which preliminary results will be reported to the community and at the trustee’s annual Saddle Rock meeting. It is expected that a vision statement will be crafted by spring 2007, in time for Maria Klawe’s inauguration as fifth HMC President on Feb. 2–3. Operational plans will follow.
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty Daniel Goroff has emphasized that all HMC stakeholders—alumni, students, donors, parents, outside community members, faculty, staff and other employees—are strongly encouraged to become involved. The workshops will be open to all who wish to attend. For ongoing information and reports, see the HMC website or contact Goroff at daniel_goroff @hmc.edu.
Kudos
Trustee Robert De Pietro ’69 received the Octavius Morgan Distinguished Service Award from the California Architects Board. De Pietro is a public member, volunteer and former board president of the organization.
President-elect Maria Klawe was one of six individuals selected to receive an honorary degree during spring convocation ceremonies at Acadia University, Nova Scotia, Canada. She was also named to HPCwire’s 2006 “People to Watch” list, that recognizes “influential and interesting luminaries driving the changing landscape of high performance computing.”
HMC and NTD Architects received
the City of Claremont's Excellence in Design Award—
New Construction, Sustainability and Landscaping category—
for the Hoch-Shanahan Dining Commons.
The Silver Level LEED Certified
facility was noted for its innovative
displacement air distribution system.
Olin Artwork Installed
Reactions have been varied to the new art installation in the Olin building east atrium. But reactions, favorable or unfavorable, are what artist Richard Johnston wants for his new piece “Tubular Engineering at Olin.”
Johnston, professor of sculpture in the Department of Art at California State University San Bernardino, is most concerned that viewers have a perception of his artwork, he’s not necessarily worried about whether or not they like it. “I want them to respond in some way to the work.” He invites viewers to “see, re-see and rethink,” he said.
 Johnston is world renowned for large-scale, welded-steel, site-specific sculpture. Formerly an art instructor at University of Utah (1968–1975), Johnston displayed some technologically inspired wall hangings at HMC’s gallery in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences several years ago and, after discussions with HSS Department Chair Jeffrey Groves, visiting Professor of Photography Phil Marquez, and Computer Science Department Chair Michael Erlinger, Johnston decided to create a piece for Mudd. He said the HMC project lent itself to technologically based space-age materials.
The artwork that hangs in the sunny Olin atrium was assembled by Johnston and his students from chemistry test tubes that are attached to aluminum netting by rubber o-rings. One-hundred 15-foot-long aluminum netting pieces hang from a stainless steel truss suspended from the building’s columns. Two panes of glass were removed from Olin’s atrium to allow for installation of the piece, which took about a month to create.
CSUSB art majors Holly Wells ’06 and Joshua Swinehart ’06 were on hand to watch their project being installed. Johnston said the real life experience his students gained from this project is an important step in their becoming professional artists.
Faculty News
Sketch Recognition Research on the Drawing Board
Drawing a picture is often the best way to communicate an idea. Unfortunately, computers are still largely unable to understand diagrams. Christine Alvarado, assistant professor of computer science, and her team of students is close to finding a way to use computer simulation tools capable of understanding students’ hand-drawn diagrams so that free-sketch recognition can be incorporated into end-user applications.
 Alvarado’s work in this area was recently acknowledged with a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, which supports the early career-development activities of teacher-scholars who most effectively integrate research and education within the context of their organization's mission. HMC faculty members who have received an NSF CAREER Award include Professor of Chemistry Shenda Baker (1996) and Professor of Biology Mary E. Williams (1997). Alvarado’s grant for $411,802 spans five years and will help support student researchers, who have already begun work on the project.
During the spring, one student’s senior thesis project began to explore how 10 HMC engineering students used tablet PCs to sketch circuit diagrams during the Digital Electronics and Computer Engineering class. This summer, four more students’ research will build on this initial work. Alvarado is collaborating with Sarah Harris, assistant professor of engineering, who taught the class.
“Recognition algorithms have been written before,” Alvarado said, “but this research provides a missing link—we’re gathering real-world data first, from students in real classes. Previous work focused on developing tools, then collecting sketches to evaluate these tools. We’re seeking to learn first how people draw: is it messy or clean, how many strokes do they use, how can it aid in learning or with the user’s experience in the lab?”
Diagrams are particularly powerful in education when they are combined with computer simulation programs because, unlike paper, simulation programs allow students to explore the behavior of a physical system, such as a circuit or a mechanical device.
Unfortunately, the mouse and keyboard interface to these programs prevent students from drawing their diagrams freely, forcing them continually to consult menus to choose pieces of the diagram. Alvarado is seeking to analyze user data and to arrive at a metaphor that best meets students’ needs—the correct balance between menu-driven and sketch-driven systems. Her long-term goal is to develop a system that goes beyond electrical engineering to applications in other fields, such as chemical diagrams or musical notation.
Additionally, technology that can understand hand-drawn diagrams will provide students with a more familiar interface to simulation programs, lowering the barrier to using technology in the classroom, particularly for students with less computer experience, including women and underrepresented minorities.
Alvarado and her team of students are working to develop a prototype software program designed to run on tablet computers that will interpret students’ hand-drawn diagrams and simulate them as digital circuits.
 Having a Ball with DNA Research
Imagine a very thin piece of string that is long enough to reach from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Now imagine folding and compacting this string in such a way that it can fit into a container about the size of a basketball. Packing the very long string into the basketball is a good analogy for the way that the six billion bases of DNA inside each human cell are compacted into a structure known as chromatin within the nucleus of the cell. To carry out its function, DNA must be copied, read and repaired, but it is not well understood how enzymes responsible for copying, reading and repairing DNA are able to access the DNA in chromatin. The process of compacting DNA into chromatin (like stuffing string into the basketball) seems to make it nearly impossible for proteins to get to specific sequences within the DNA.
Karl Haushalter, assistant professor of chemistry and biology, received $289,114 from the National Science Foundation to investigate this very puzzle. The title of his grant is “DNA Glycosylase Initiated Repair of Damaged Nucleosomes.”
DNA glycosylases are enzymes responsible for removing damaged DNA bases from the genome. Nucleosomes are the basic building block of chromatin and consist of 50 nanometers of DNA wrapped around a protein complex in the same way that thread wraps around a spool.
Haushalter explained that the project is focused on how DNA repair enzymes access damaged DNA in chromatin. “DNA in our bodies is constantly being damaged and repaired. It is estimated that each day, in every cell, there are about 10,000 destructive modifications to the cell’s DNA. If left unrepaired, these modifications can lead to mutations which could ultimately lead to disease. We know that DNA glycosylases are able to detect and remove damaged DNA bases. While it is relatively easy to study the process in free, unconstrained DNA, it is a total mystery how DNA repair occurs in the compact state of chromatin. The lessons learned here will have implications for how a wide variety of enzymes that need to access DNA are able to find their target DNA sequence in a chromatin environment.”
HMC students in Haushalter’s lab will gain experience in biochemistry techniques, creative problem solving and teamwork. In addition to paying their summer stipends, the four-year grant will pay for equipment, supplies and allow students to travel to scientific conferences.
The funds will also go toward purchasing a Rapid Quench Flow (RQF) system for doing pre-steady state kinetic analysis. “This really cool instrument will allow us to make measurements on biochemical reactions that are way too fast to be studied by traditional methods,” said Haushalter. The RQF system will be the first in Claremont and will be utilized by other biochemistry research groups in the Claremont Consortium. In addition to being used for research, the RQF will be regularly used by HMC students enrolled in Haushalter’s biochemistry laboratory course.
Haushalter’s project supports a campus-wide initiative to promote cross-disciplinary scholarship between chemistry and biology. The efforts to bridge these disciplines include forming the new Joint Major in Chemistry and Biology, hiring faculty with joint appointments between the two departments, and developing new cross-listed courses that examine science at the interface between chemistry and biology.
Ward Wins MAA Alder Award
 An outspoken advocate for women pursuing careers in mathematics, an enthusiastic mentor and accomplished mathematician, Lesley Ward was named recipient of the 2006 Henry L. Alder Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Beginning Faculty Member given by the Mathematical Association of America.
Ward joined the HMC faculty in 1997 and two years later organized the inaugural Harvey Mudd College Mathematics Conference (formerly the Mt. Baldy Conference), which draws mathematicians from around the world each year to discuss topics such as analysis, mathematical biology and scientific computing. Ward was recognized for being an outstanding teacher, lecturer and mentor to students. She served as an adviser to HMC’s Society for Women Engineers and played an instrumental role in the redesign of the core mathematics curriculum.
This is the third Alder Award and the second for HMC. Francis Su received the award in 2004.
 Trading Her Space for Sontag
Susan Martonosi, assistant professor of mathematics, will serve as the next faculty member in residence in Sontag Residence Hall. She will move into the faculty apartment this summer and begin her new role next academic year. Martonosi studies operations research, applied probability and aviation security, and has served in the Peace Corps.
The faculty member in residence, first instituted in 2004, provides an opportunity for students to have close contact with a faculty member outside of the immediate academic setting. Martonosi will host social and cultural events for students each semester. Martonosi said, “It will be a wonderful opportunity to get to know the students better and to keep the lines of communication open between students and faculty.”
Martonosi succeeds Vatche Sahakian, assistant professor of physics, who was appointed the first faculty member in residence. In addition to special movie nights, Sahakian organized and helped judge the popular HMC Cook-off in which dorm representatives faced off in the kitchen for best-menu honors. This year,
Anu Kohli ’08 (Sontag) placed first with an Indian-themed menu and Hovik Dermenchyan ’08 (North) placed second with an Armenian-themed menu. For competition details, see http://sahakian.physics.hmc.edu/~sahakian/cook-off/.
Staff News
Noda Wins Mudd Prize
 Jeanne Noda, vice president and dean of students for 14 years, received the Henry T. Mudd Prize at Commencement. She was recognized for her “caring and enthusiasm” and the impact she has made within the Claremont community and, especially, the HMC student community. The Henry T. Mudd Prize is an annual award given to an HMC community member whose service to the college and its mission is deemed exemplary.
Exit Interview
 As director of career services since 1988, Karen McAndrew has advised hundreds of Mudders as they consider their career options, and she has always encouraged them to pursue their passions. This year, as she leaves HMC for retirement, she saw more interest in the Peace Corps and careers in education than in year’s past. Those going on to graduate schools, she said, have remained pretty consistent through the years (about 45 percent).
“The students here are really bright and can pretty much do whatever they want,” said McAndrew. “They know that career services can be helpful, and it’s been very rewarding to work with them.”
McAndrew first worked for HMC during the 1970s when she assisted placement officer Hilda Larson, who worked at HMC from 1966 to 1988. McAndrew later took on responsibilities in career planning at Claremont McKenna College, where she worked for eight years. Her son, Michael McAndrew ’86, graduated from HMC in engineering just two years before she was hired as HMC’s first director of career planning and placement. In 1989, she organized the college’s first career fair, in which 35 corporate and governmental organizations took part. The career fair has grown to include over 60 organizations each year; this past spring there were 75. She also initiated the now traditional Senior Business Etiquette Dinner, and introduced author and lecturer Donald Asher who has spoken to students for the past five years about graduate school admissions.
McAndrew looks forward to completing some long-delayed household chores, gardening and traveling with her husband, a retired engineer.
Raymond Wins Outstanding Employee Prize
 Students have shown their appreciation for Jesse Raymond by sending him to a Laker game—in the VIP section, no less. Now, his colleagues have shown him similar esteem by naming Raymond the recipient of the Mary G. Binder Prize, an annual award for outstanding support staff members. Described as “one of the very friendliest people on campus” by a nominator, Raymond has worked at HMC since 1984. Currently lead building attendant, he works the 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. shift and manages a staff of 11 people who oversee the care of all eight residence halls. Raymond said his staff is “the best.”
“They know what to do to get things done. They never let me down,” he said.
Raymond said he enjoys his job, especially the students, who are “friendly and appreciate what we do.” It was the students in Atwood Dorm who sent him to the Laker game two years ago. Raymond also said he’s seen some interesting things during his years here—like a car inside a West Dorm room—but nothing he and his staff couldn’t handle.
About the Binder Prize, he said, “I’m very happy and excited. It makes me feel really good that someone sees what I do.”
Raymond, a Fontana resident, has two daughters, a son and five grandchildren.
New on Campus
Melonee Cruse, a Pitzer alumna (’96), was hired as the emergency preparedness and safety coordinator. Her primary duties are to lead HMC’s efforts in the areas of emergency preparation (staff, faculty and students) and general employment safety (staff and faculty). Cruse has a wealth of experience and training in both emergency preparedness and employment safety. Her trainer certifications include Hospital Emergency Response for Mass Casualty Incidents, Incident Command System/National Incident Management System, Community Emergency Response Team training and Hazardous Materials Management.
Succeeding Karen McAndrew as director of career services will be Judy Fisher, who has worked since 1997 as director of the Career Development Center at Occidental College. Prior to that, Fisher served in a variety of career development and counseling roles at Cal State Long Beach.
New to the Office of Public Relations is Gia Scafidi Leiva. As HMC’s web content editor, Leiva will be creating and maintaining content for the college’s new website, slated to launch in the fall. She will also train staff members to use a new web content management system. Leiva, who holds a bachelor’s in biology from Occidental College, joins HMC from the University of Southern California, where she was a writer in the USC News Service and an editor in the university’s publications office. She also worked in media relations at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. .
Student News
Fellowships Awarded
Seniors awarded National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship Awards were Kenneth Maples (engineering/ mathematics), Stephanie Moyerman (physics/mathematics), Susanna Maria Ricco (joint computer science and mathematics) and Nathanael Yoder (engineering). NSF fellowships provide three years of support within a five-year period for graduate study leading to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees in the fields of science, mathematics and engineering. In addition to the NSF Fellowships, these seniors also received departmental honors and other awards. Moyerman received a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, the HMC Mindlin Prize for Innovative Ideas in Science, and HMC’s Thomas B. Brown Award for Research in Physics. Ricco was the recipient of a Computer Science Class of ’94 Award and the Robert Borrelli Prize for Outstanding Mathematics Clinic Team. Yoder received HMC’s Harry E. Williams Mechanics Prize and was named to Tau Beta Pi (Honorary Engineering Society).
Mudder Wins Writing Prize
Among the winners of the first Pitzer Prize writing awards was Michael Le ’06 for his story “Pamilya,” a tender account of the death of a Filipino grandmother. Le tied for second in the nonfiction category. The Pitzer Prize is given in the categories of fiction, nonfiction and poetry. This first year of the contest there were over 125 submissions from undergraduate students at the 5-C’s.
Class of 2010
There will be about 185 students in the entering class this fall. Preliminary numbers give us a peek at their makeup.
25% female
50% out-of-state
90% in top 10 % of graduating class
Diversity: 14% (Latino, African American, Native
American, Native Alaskan)
SAT Critical Reading 720, SAT Math 760
SAT Writing 710, Math 2- 790
Figures from the Office of Admission, 6/13/06
Diver is HMC Athlete of the Year
 Mark Emanuel ’07, an engineering major, was the 2006 SCIAC Champion in 1-meter diving and set the CMS record of 489.75 in the process. He also placed third in 3-meter diving and set the CMS record (500.90) on that board in the SCIAC prelims. He qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships in both events. He earned Honorable Mention All-American honors in both after finishing ninth on 1-meter and 14th on 3-meter. —CMS Sports
CHEERING SECTION
HMC Athletes in CMS Sports, Winter & Spring 2006
Men’s Basketball: 19-7 overall, 13-1 SCIAC (1st)
Nitin Savant ’08
Women’s Basketball: 20-5 overall, 11-3 SCIAC (2nd)
Maggie Weber ’09
Men’s Swimming & Diving: 6-1 SCIAC (2nd), 40th at NCAA Championships
Phil Amberg ’08
Jim Castelaz ’06
Mark Emanuel ’07 – SCIAC Champion 1m Diving (CMS record, 489.75), Honorable Mention All-American 1 & 3m Diving, HMC Athlete of the Year
John Parker ’07
Chris Pong ’08
Austin Rutledge ’08
Ross Sclafani ’08
Women’s Swimming & Diving: 7-0 SCIAC (1st), 9th at NCAA Championships
Tracy Backes ’08
Jerrah Holth ’07
Amy Jarvis ’07
Sarah Moore ’08
Tracy Powell ’06
Heather Schalliol ’07
Megan Yarnall ’06
Golf: 4th in SCIAC with 31 points, 20th at NCAA Championships
Corwin Cole ’07
Women’s Lacrosse: 10-5 overall
Kristen Huff ’07
Corina Tom ’08
Softball: 24-12 overall, 17-7 SCIAC (3rd)
Shannon McKenna ’07
Men’s Tennis: 24-4 overall, 10-0 SCIAC (1st)
Andrew Sabater ’09
Men’s Track & Field: 7-0 SCIAC (1st)
Victor Camacho ’07
Jeff Clark ’09
Robert Egan ’09
Gregory Farnum ’09
Marty Field ’09
James Moore ’07
Ryan Pakula ’09
Brad Tennis ’06
Michael Van Antwerp ’09
Kyle Zarzana ’09
Women’s Track & Field: 7-0 SCIAC (1st)
Rachael Martin ’09
Kacy McKibben ’09
Oksana Sergeeva ’09
|
