July 18, 2017: Opera Innovator Costanzo ’04; Wang ’17’s Marine Drone Startup; and More

Anthony Roth Costanzo ’04 is making a name for himself as a countertenor for the Metropolitan Opera, among other opera companies, and most recently starred in a “tech-savvy reboot of Handel’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo.” — The New York Times

Yuan Wang ’17 co-founded a startup called the American Marine Research Company, which plans to use drone technology to collect lionfish, a species that poses a threat to ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico. — Pensacola News Journal

University of Pittsburgh history professor Keisha N. Blain *14 argues in an op-ed that the Black Lives Matter movement should take some strategy cues from Ida B. Wells, co-founder of the NAACP. — The Washington Post

Cody Abbey ’14, a master’s degree graduate at Peking University, critiqued President Donald Trump’s foreign-policy stances in his commencement speech at the university’s graduation ceremony earlier this month, making headlines in the Chinese media. — The Washington Post

New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner ’82 delivered a 49-page opinion in the court’s unanimous ruling that dashboard video of fatal encounters with police should be released in most cases as a matter of public interest. — NJ.com

Minnesota Wild assistant GM Brent Flahr ’96 explains how the team used a theory from Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers to inform its selections in the NHL draft. — Star Tribune

Reed Cordish ’96 recently became an assistant to the president for intra-governmental and technology initiatives; he works in the new Office of American Innovation led by presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner. — Science Magazine

Kelsey Halliday Johnson ’08 has been named executive director at SPACE Gallery in Portland, Maine, where she will look to bring her “keenly interdisciplinary” artistic approach to the gallery’s mission of supporting professional artists.— Portland Press Herald

For her master’s thesis in urban studies and planning at MIT, Jessica Myers ’13 created a podcast called “Here There Be Dragons” — “a two-season, 13-episode (and counting) exploration of urban life in New York and Paris through the themes of race, class, and security.” — MIT News

William Deverell *89, professor of history at the University of Southern California, will serve as the first director of the USC Libraries Collections Convergence Initiative, which aims to build working relationships between curators, scholars, and creative practitioners to make use of primary sources in the university’s libraries. — USC.edu

In a recent profile, New York University computer science professor Subhash Khot *03 discusses his research and his favorite thinking spot, Washington Square Park. — Quanta Magazine 

George Hawkins ’83, general manager of the utility company D.C. Water, commented on a recently passed D.C. City Council bill that regulates the use of flushable wipes. — Water Online

Jonathan Mayer ’09 won the Janice Nittoli [*85] “Forward Thinking” Award from the Century Foundation for his proposal of a state-level effort to protect consumer privacy. — The Century Foundation

Composer and lyricist Lewis Flinn ’89’s musical Hood: The Robin Hood Musical Adventure premiered this month at Dallas Theater Center, where it will run through Aug. 6. — Fort Worth Star-Telegram 

Veteran circus and street performer Christina Gelsone ’96 recently co-produced “Air Play,” a theatrical performance with circus elements, July 14 and 15 in Bethlehem, Pa. — The Morning Call

Worcester State University professor Henry C. Theriault ’88 was elected the first Armenian president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars. — Armenian Weekly

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