Alumni in the News: April 8, 2024

The New York Times loves Lions! Julia Stiles ’04 was the subject of an April 3 feature, “Julia Stiles Wanted to Be Just Like Kat Stratford, Too”; the title references Stiles’ starring role in the movie 10 Things I Hate About You, which recently had its the 25th anniversary. Morgan Parker ’10 took part in the March 21 Q&A “Morgan Parker Says ‘Poetry Is Under Everything’ She Writes.” Parker recently released her first essay collection, You Get What You Pay For.

Columbians also appeared in a range of Times features: Adam Gidwitz ’04 was mentioned in the Sunday Routine on March 30; Kelly Link ’91 shared the Stephen King works that got under her skin on March 27; Jonathan Zimmerman ’83 was quoted in the March 14 Op-Ed “Colleges Are Putting Their Futures At Risk”; and the poetry collection Heaven Is All Goodbyes by Tongo Eisen-Martin ’04 was included in a March 13 roundup of books based in the San Francisco Bay area.

On March 20 it was announced that fencer Jackie Dubrovich ’16 will compete for Team USA in women’s foil at the Paris Olympics. It will be Dubrovich’s second time at the Olympics, she competed for Team USA at the Tokyo games in 2021. She is currently ranked number 11 in the world and recently won a bronze medal at the World Cup in Cairo.

Women’s basketball head coach Megan Griffith ’07 was named Ivy League Coach of the Year for the second time, it was announced on March 12. Griffith took the Lions to the NCAA tournament for the first time; their March Madness run unfortunately ended with a 72–68 loss to Vanderbilt on March 20.

Two alumni professors recently received honors: On March 8 it was announced that Barry Bergdoll ’77, GSAS’86, the Meyer Schapiro Professor of Art History, is the 2024 recipient of a Humanities Faculty Award for Academic Excellence. On February 22 it was announced that Marcel Agüeros ’96, associate professor of astronomy, received the Research Corporation for Science Advancement’s Robert Holland Jr. Award for Research Excellence and Contributions to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

On February 14 Gerry Pomper ’55 was the subject of a Rutgers University article, “Lifelong Learners Find Everlasting Love at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.” The Valentine’s Day-themed article detailed how octogenarians Pomper and Sandra Bergelson fell in love while taking a Japanese literature course; they married this past November.