Grain & Chaff

Author, author

English professor Dara Wier reads from her new collection of poetry, "Hat on a Pond: Poems," on April 10 at 7 p.m. at the Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley. Wier will also sign copies of the book.

Rising star

Abigail Kimerling, a doctoral student in Chemical Engineering, has received a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship. The competitive awards are made to students in the early stages of their graduate careers to recognize academic excellence and the potential to make future discoveries in research in the fields of science, mathematics, and engineering. Kimerling received her B.S. in chemical engineering from Oregon State University and works in the
research group of assistant professor Surita Bhatia on block copolymer coatings.

Stagecraft

Ira Bryck, director the Family Business Center, recently completed his third play about life within a family business. The autobiographical story of a father and son in a fourth-generation family company, "A Tough Nut to Crack," is scheduled to premiere in October during the opening celebration of the Harold Alfond Management Center at the Isenberg School of
Management. Local actor Nick Simms will play the father in the play and direct the production. Bryck says his plays serve as "edu-tainment" for audiences of business owners, their expert advisors, management faculty and students, as well as the general public.

Efforts rewarded

Sophomore Barbara Bou last month was awarded a $1,000 scholarship from the University Women, a service organization of faculty, staff and their partners. A full-time student who also works at Everywoman's Center, Bou is the mother of two children, ages 8 and 7. Raised in Northampton, Bou graduated from high school in 1991 and enrolled at UMass, but left after her first year of study. In fall 2000, Bou decided to "get my degree to better my life and the lives of my children." Although balancing her roles as a Latina woman, student and mother can be a challenge, Bou says she "hasn't looked back" since returning to school. She calls the University Women scholarship a "true investment in the future of three lives."

Biehl remembered

Activist Peter Biehl, who visited campus with his wife, Linda, last November as part of a program promoting "Living Values," died last weekend in California of colon cancer. He was 59. The Biehls attracted worldwide attention for publicly forgiving four men who killed their daughter Amy in a 1993 racial attack in South Africa. Inspired by Amy's efforts to promote social justice in South Africa, the Biehls supported amnesty for her assailants, who were released from prison. Later, they established the Amy Biehl Foundation to raise money for the troubled township where their daughter died. Interim Chancellor Marcellette G. Williams arranged for the Biehls to share their story with the campus and awarded them the Chancellor's Medal for their efforts. This week, Williams said "I shall always be grateful to Peter Biehl for teaching, by his living example, the extraordinary lessons of enablement and the courage and contribution to humanity of living one's values."