Laurels

NEW ADVISORS MAURICIO ARTINANO, A06, who worked for the UN before starting graduate school at Princeton University; SUZANNE SEIDEN, J85, A17P, of Mamaroneck, New York; and J.B. LYON, general partner at Mount Independence Investments in Lexington, Massachusetts, are new advisors to the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service. New appointees to the Board of Advisors to the School of Medicine are MARK R. BELSKY, M74, an orthopedic surgeon in Newton, Massachusetts; ROBERT A. BLACKMAN, M69, of Malibu, California; ELIZABETH BLECHARCZYK, M09, a clinical instructor of pediatrics at Stanford School of Medicine; and RULIN FUONG, M91, owner of Central Health in Hong Kong. SUSAN C. LIVINGSTON, J79, F81, a partner at Brown Brothers Harriman & Company in Boston, has been named an advisor to the Fletcher School.

B-SCHOOL DEAN SCOTT C. BEARDSLEY, E85, will become the ninth dean of the University of Virginia Darden School of Business on August 1. He was also named to the Charles C. Abbott Professorship in Business Administration. Beardsley is currently a senior partner at McKinsey & Company.

PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARS JAMES-CHRISTIAN BLOCKWOOD, A04, and SHERIL KIRSHENBAUM, A02, were selected for the inaugural class of Presidential Leadership Scholars, a new executive-style education program launched by four presidential centers and introduced by Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

CHICAGO DEAN JULIA M. BRADY, J91, has been named senior associate dean for engagement strategy and external relations at the Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies at the University of Chicago. In this new position, Brady leads marketing, recruiting, student, and alumni engagement efforts. Before joining the university, she was principal of Perceptive Strategies, a strategic marketing firm focused on higher education and health care. Brady’s early career was spent marketing brands including Gatorade, Quaker Oatmeal, and the Wall Street Journal.

GENIUS AWARD DANIELLE FEERST, a Tufts senior majoring in engineering psychology, is an inaugural recipient of an OZY Media Genius Award for her work on an app to assist educators of young adults on the autism spectrum. She will receive a $10,000 stipend to develop a company that provides engagement feedback to those teaching presentation, social, and communications skills to young adults with autism, and will be featured in an OZY Films documentary this fall.

CHEMISTRY MEDAL ELLEN J. KULLMAN, E78, A12P, chair of the board and CEO of DuPont Company, received the 2015 International Palladium Medal in May from the Société de Chimie Industrielle, American Section, for her contributions to the chemical industry. A Tufts University trustee, Kullman was also named Drexel University College of Engineering’s 2015 Leader of the Year.

ALUM RETURNS TO FLETCHER KATHLEEN COOK RYAN, F87, has joined the Fletcher School as senior director of development and alumni relations. She is not new to Tufts’ administration: she was executive associate to John DiBiaggio during his tenure as university president. She has also worked as a fundraising and alumni relations professional for the Harvard University Alumni Association, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Harvard Business School, and the Rhodes Trust.

COMMUNICATIONS VP CHRISTINE SANNI, J89, has been appointed vice president for communications and marketing at Tufts. She had been the university’s executive director for advancement communications and services. In her new role, Sanni will oversee the merger of the communications teams of University Relations and University Advancement. The new structure will greatly enhance Tufts’ communications resources and strategic communications, with an important focus on the upcoming fundraising campaign. Before joining Tufts eight years ago, she gained extensive knowledge of higher education communications and marketing at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Boston College.

SECRETARY OF STATE STEVE SIMON, A92, was sworn in as Minnesota secretary of state in January, after serving for a decade in the state’s House of Representatives. While at Tufts, he was editor-in-chief of the monthly student journal Politica, and organized Tufts Students for Bill Clinton. “Those campus organizing days taught me the importance of political engagement in general, and voting in particular,” he says. After graduation he worked at the Clinton/Gore national headquarters, then earned a law degree from the University of Minnesota. In his new job, Simon aims to increase voter participation in Minnesota.

FRENCH MINISTRY HONOR BARBARA EHRLICH WHITE, an adjunct professor of art history emerita at Tufts, was awarded the honorary title Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of Arts and Letters) by the French Minister of Culture and Communication in recognition of her research, books, and lectures about Renoir and Impressionism.

EXPLORATION AWARD Deep sea explorer EDITH WIDDER, J73, received the Roy Chapman Andrews Society’s Distinguished Explorer Award in March. Widder invented a remotely operated deep-sea camera system, known as ORCA Eye-in-the-Sea, which measures the bioluminescence of organisms and has produced footage of rare sharks, jellyfish, and most notably, the giant squid, documenting its discovery in 2012. Her research led her to pursue ocean conservation; she founded the Ocean Research & Conservation Association, a nonprofit that works to protect and restore marine ecosystems. “I want to save the ocean I love,” she said.