Anthropology Prof. Vanessa Fong received her B.A. at Amherst College, where she majored in Anthropology and graduated summa cum laude in 1996. She completed her M.A. and Ph.D. at Harvard Univ. She worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor and as an associate professor at Harvard Univ. before returning to the College.
Q: How did begin studying anthropology and what made you decide to pursue it?
Despite an increase in the homeless population of America over the last several years, most people who have not been homeless don’t think for even a second about this issue. Few people bother to look behind the image and see the person beneath, or to understand why homelessness is so prevalent and what factors could have led to someone’s homelessness. This is because homelessness is an issue of convenience for so many; when you walk by, you might give a dollar to feel better about yourself, but for most, this is about it. Anything else wouldn’t be convenient.
Tom Wyman is the founder of Internet Capital Management — the first Internet and social media hedge fund. Always an innovator, Wyman has seized upon technology as the future, predicting that it will open up many new possibilities in the global economy. However, his interest in technology and finance may never have occurred without his time at the College, and the interesting path that brought him there.
Bleeding Purple and White
Although the name of Susannah Grant '84, might not be immediately recognizable, the names of her various screenplays most certainly are. From the Disney classic “Pocahontas” and the much-loved fairy tale retelling of “Ever After” to the acclaimed “Erin Brockovich” and equally star-studded “The Soloist,” Grant is no stranger in Hollywood. In the almost three decades since graduating Amherst, the respected screenwriter and director has managed to touch the hearts and minds of millions throughout the world with her many films.
Fairytale Beginnings
One does not have to be an economics major to have heard of Nobel Prize economist Joseph Stiglitz. Whether you agree or disagree with his views, he is everywhere. He is endlessly quoted and debated in articles in leading publications such as The New York Times, The Economist, Vanity Fair and The Guardian. He is the author or co-author of numerous articles in the popular press, as well as over 300 technical economic articles and 20 books.
B. Alan Wallace ’87 is not the typical Amherst alumnus. Author of more than 20 books on Buddhism and science and a practicing Buddhist monk for the entirety of his time at the College, he now goes on meditative retreats for months on end, performing psychological experiments in a lucid dream state to attempt to discover the true nature of reality, happiness and suffering.
Finding His Own Path
Richard McCormick has stood at the helm of higher education in America, serving distinguished posts such as President of Rutgers Univ. and Provost of the Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. But through all of his many accomplishments, McCormick has stood apart from the rest by developing a strong academic ethic through his own education, and the will to maintain and utilize it by securing and advancing the education of so many others.
