newsletter from the director
fall 2007

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As many of you know, this year brought some great changes to the Professional Writing and Technical Communication Program at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. 

After forty years of service to the program, the Department, the University and the profession as a whole, John Nelson Jr. has retired.  More than any teacher I know, John has changed the lives of his students, and no words would sufficiently express my own gratitude for his selflessness and his guidance.  On behalf all of us, John, I wish you calm seas and fair winds. 
  The wheel turneth, and the program continues to grow and to change.  I am pleased to announce the arrival this fall of Professor Janine Solberg, who comes to us from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she directed the Programs in Professional Writing and helped develop and run communication workshops for the Mid-America Earthquake Center. Welcome, Janine. 

Academic Year 06–07 was yet another record of success on the employment front, with some program grads hired by firms we have known in previous years (this in part a tribute to our networking), and others finding harbors that are entirely new to us (this a tribute to the strength of our candidates and to the growing reputation of the program). The happy list of that success follows. 

Congratulations to all!

- Dave Toomey

2007 PROGRAM GRADUATES IN FULL-TIME POSITIONS

Caroline Fenton
Copywriter
Hasbro Games
Springfield MA

Eliya Fishman
Jr. Technical Writer
DVTel, Inc.
Ridgefield Park NJ

Jessica Kirby-Dixon
Technical Support Analyst
Bullhorn
Boston MA

Kevin LaHaise
Intern
Porter Novelli
Austin TX

Patrick Lennon
Associate Writer
Great American Group
Needham MA

Michael Marturana
Jr. Technical Writer
Wimba (www.wimba.com)
New York NY

Jennifer McDaid
Assistant Technical Writer
Endeca Technologies
Cambridge MA

Kelly McGuire
Mid-level Editor
John S. Herold, Inc.,
Norwalk CT

Jessica Ricker
Technical Writer
TrafficZ
Los Angeles CA

Lisa Rua
M.A. candidate in English and Education at Simmons College
Technical Writing Intern with Public Interactive
Boston MA

John Ware
Site Management Associate
Outcome
Cambridge MA

Callie Williams
Engineering Assistant
Hamilton Sundstrand Division
Belcan Corporations
Windsor Locks CT

Sheryl Wolnik
Night City editor, Editorial Page Editor
Sentinel & Enterprise
Fitchburg MA

INTERNSHIPS

Candace Letizia, Reed Business, Waltham MA
Ian Privett, Parametric Technologies, Needham MA
Sarabeth Merkel, Endeca, Cambridge MA
Becky Scott, Bullhorn, Boston MA
Rory Turner, Bond Art and Science, New York NY
Elizabeth Tricco, Physics Department, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Jillian Zeppa, National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA), Hadley MA