GREETING FROM DEAN LEE EDWARDS

April has been extraordinarily busy in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts. We've had three guest speakers, two in the Dean's Seminar Series: Alumni in the World, and the 2004 Robert and Pamela Jacobs Distinguished Lecture in Jewish Life and Culture. The first two, Mary Lou Andre and John Jacobs, are alumns of whom we can be very proud. Both left UMass Amherst and started businesses on shoestrings, and both have not only become successful in their business careers, but more importantly have become involved, philanthropic members of the wider community. I know you'll enjoy the articles and web pages about them. The Jacobs lecturer, Naomi Chazan, is a very distinguished professor and political scientist who gave a thought-provoking, deeply interesting talk on the Israeli/Palestinian peace process, delivered with emotion and even humor, to a packed Memorial Hall audience on April 27th.

Meanwhile, the College has been awarding scholarships for next year to many outstanding students from our departments and programs. I hope you will join us in congratulating them, along with the many graduate students who have now secured academic positions for the upcoming year. Special congratulations are extended to James Tate in the MFA in Creative Writing Program of the English Department, who has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. This is a tremendous honor for Jim, and totally deserved.
You'll find the full text of the announcement of his election linked below.

Of course throughout the month of April there have also been concerts and performances, projects, searches, meetings and all of the usual and unusual administrative and academic activities of the College. It isn't possible to put every single item of information into this electronic newsletter each month, but we thank all of you for the tremendous response to last month's request for news! Items that don't appear this month will be held for the June issue if they are still timely, and please continue to send your calendar dates, news and information to Laurie for future use. You may reach her at lneely@hfa.umass.edu Thank you, and enjoy this issue of E-Illuminating.

Lee