Sept. 25, 2018: Gautam *73 on Eradicating Poverty; Wilkinson ’84 Advises Kavanaugh

“Memoria,” left, a pastel-on-paper still life by artist G. Daniel Massad ’69, is among 72 works on display in “A Small Radius of Light: G. Daniel Massad, A Retrospective,” which opens today at the Palmer Museum of Art in University Park, Pa. Read more about the exhibition in Penn State News.

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Former U.N. Assistant Secretary General Kul Chandra Gautam *73 describes his fight to leave Nepal to study in the U.S. and his current work for a nonprofit focused on eradicating poverty. — NPR
 
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh hired attorney Beth Wilkinson ’84 as he prepared for hearings to address allegations of sexual misconduct. — NBC News
 
Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo ’04 released ARC, a recording that finds “common ground between the music of Handel and Philip Glass.” — The New York Times

“He was a staggering figure in my life. We disagreed on almost everything in architecture, but I just loved Bob and Denise.”

— Architect Frank Gehry, sharing his fondness for Robert Venturi ’47 *50, who died last week at age 93, and Venturi’s wife and partner, Denise Scott-Brown. Read more tributes to Venturi, including one from Princeton Dean of Architecture Mónica Ponce de León, at Archinect.com.

Dan’l Lewin ’76, the new CEO of the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., detailed his plans for collections that document the history of software. — PCMag
 
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos ’86 described his amazement when, as an undergraduate, he watched his friend Yasantha Rajakarunanayake ’85 solve a complex math problem in a matter of minutes. Bezos said he then realized he “was never going to be a great theoretical physicist.” — Business Insider
 
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor ’76 has published two children’s books, The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor and Turning Pages, that have garnered praise from parents and children alike. — The New York Times
 
Jehangir Amjad ’10, a lecturer at MIT, is using statistical methods to study how best to choose a winner in cricket games that end prematurely due to weather; the same techniques, he says, could help predict the long-term economic impact of changes to laws. — MIT News
 
In an opinion column, Columbia University professor Robert Klitzman ’80 argues that excessive price hikes of prescription drugs are immoral, and proposes steps that the government can take to combat price gouging. — CNN
 
Lance Collins ’81, the dean of engineering at Cornell University, received the Edward Bouchet Legacy Award for his commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion. — Cornell Chronicle
 
The Cranbrook Schools in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., will honor Pete Dawkins *70 *79, who won the Heisman Trophy 60 years ago as a running back at Army. — The Oakland Press
 
Sara Shaw ’10, Sam Krauss ’10, and Simon Krauss ’11 launched the Haverford High School Student Impact Award, a $1,000 scholarship for students in their hometown who propose and successfully implement a change in the school system. — Delaware County Daily Times
 
Jeffrey Young ’95 interviewed one of his former professors, John McPhee ’53, discussing a range of topics that include whether “good writing” can be taught. — EdSurge
 
PGIM President and CEO David Hunt ’84 discussed interest-rate policy in the years after the 2008 financial crisis on the Masters in Business podcast. — Bloomberg
 
An article about collectors who pay to acquire single- or double-digit license-plate numbers included an anecdote about U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Brendan Shannon ’86, who expressed disbelief over the practice during a trial several years ago. — The Wall Street Journal