Stories of Impact
Arts & Sciences students, faculty and alumni exemplify excellence. They pursue new knowledge and push the boundaries of what is possible - exploring, questioning, discovering. Explore just a few stories of the many achievements of Arts & Sciences community members.
‘Through work and support’: W&M chemistry senior becomes NSF GRFP Fellow
While a junior in high school, Grayson Hoy ’23 could not wait to get into college and finally be able to do research.
“You can actually do research now,” said his brother, who was a William & Mary student at the time. This led Hoy to reach out to the late Professor Samuel Abrash from the University of Richmond, in whose chemistry lab he interned during the summer between his junior and senior years of high school.
Poojitha Tanjore ’23 awarded prestigious Payne Fellowship
Becoming a diplomat has been the ultimate career goal for William & Mary international relations major Poojitha Tanjore ’23 since she was 12.
She accomplished that much earlier than expected by recently receiving acceptance into the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Donald M. Payne International Development Graduate Fellowship Program.
Q&A: Exploring the origins of contemporary Chinese dance
Dance is an essential part of Chinese culture. To illustrate the importance of the custom, William & Mary’s Program Director of Chinese Studies Emily Wilcox has helped curate a special exhibit at the Williamsburg Regional Library (WRL) called “Chinese Dance: National Movements in a Revolutionary Age, 1945-1965.”
Trio of theorists join $11.24 million nuclear physics collaboration group
A trio of physicists at William & Mary are participating in two of the five topical theory collaborations in nuclear physics recently announced by the U.S. Department of Energy.
DOE is funding the $11.24 million, multi-institution initiative, announcing the goal is to “bring together leading nuclear theorists to collaboratively focus on solving challenging problems central to advancing knowledge in nuclear physics.”
Heart & soul
In the Southwest Louisiana community where Cleveland “Cleve” Francis Jr. M.A. ’69 grew up, the path to town led through a nearby landfill. At times, smoke from burning trash blew soot onto the clothes his mother had hung out to dry. Railroad tracks marked the dividing line in the racially segregated town of Jennings. The all-Black high school, named after Confederate leader Jefferson Davis, received hand-me-down books with missing sections and writing on the pages. Francis watched his mother, Mary, walk seven miles to work as a maid, and his stepfather toil as a day laborer.
Alongside these stark realities, Francis absorbed the rich musical culture for which Louisiana is known — gospel, blues, jazz and zydeco — and listened on the radio to Sam Cooke, Elvis Presley, James Brown, Mahalia Jackson, Johnny Mathis and others.
Holding court
This year’s NCAA women’s basketball tournament made history and Tiara “T” Cruse ’06 was part of it as one of 11 game officials — all women, for the first time — chosen to work the Final Four in Dallas. A former William & Mary basketball player, Cruse is a frequent presence at high-visibility NCAA and WNBA games. She is also an advocate for equal treatment of women in collegiate and professional sports, and a role model for current student-athletes.
“It’s so special for our young ladies to connect with people who stood in their shoes and wore their jerseys,” says W&M women’s basketball head coach Erin Dickerson Davis.
Deep impact
It was once called the fish roundabout. The folks at the Steinhart Aquarium still get asked about it, Bart Shepherd ’92 says. In the dark, 360 degrees of marine life darted and swirled all around in glowing tanks, with you at the center of it all. It was supposedly once one of San Francisco’s best date spots. Shepherd was just a volunteer back then. He was there to feed the yellowtail.
“It was amazing,” he says. “I would literally carry two 5-gallon buckets filled to the top with whitebait fish — smelt and capelin and things like that — up three flights of stairs.”
Explore this Report
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A&S at a Glance
A snapshot of Arts & Sciences at William & Mary
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22-23 Highlights
Overview of an exciting year for Arts & Sciences
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Stories of Impact
Stories of A&S alumni, students and faculty
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