spring/summer 2018 issue
FEATURES
FASHIONING HISTORY
Alumna Elaine Nichols, senior curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, believes everyone has a story. This is hers.
LIVES OF SERVICE
The Senate has confirmed alumna Sharon Bannister to be the top-ranked dentist in the U.S. Air Force, where she’s making a difference and feeling closer to the father she hardly knew
SEEKING JUSTICE
After a rural Kentucky lawyer waged a massive disabilities scam, law school Professor Laura McNally-Levine and her students stepped up to help some of his former clients
MESSAGE
President’s Letter
Connections that enrich both the university and Cleveland
LENS
The Power of Action
Students experience empathy, understanding and inspiration as engaged citizens
Committed to Service
Alumni take the passion for good works into their communities
Contributing to Student Success
Investments target new campus initiative
Outsized Impact
CWRU ranked 13th among urban research universities driving economic growth
Those Witty, Bawdy Writers of Antiquity
Class on heroes and hustlers in Roman literature demonstrates the timelessness of major works
Amplifying Voices
Translations that broaden the reach of women writers
Word Wallah
Alumnus Anu Garg broadens readers’ vocabularies—one gem at a time
Carving Out Space
Muslim Americans creating a sense of community and belonging
Moved to Innovate
Family illnesses spur undergraduates to brainstorm devices
When Robots Fly
From the improbable to the spectacular, a journey inspired by nature
Fighting Disparities
Cancers hit certain populations harder than others, and researcher Monica Webb Hooper wants to know why
Stimulating Treatment
Developing a technology to prevent pressure ulcers
Extended Benefits
A study of type 1 diabetes pays dividends over decades
Modeling Infectious Disease
Can mathematics help eradicate a tropical disease?
Rebuilding Faces
Dental residents treating more patients with traumatic wounds
Oral Health Priorities
Encouraging low-income families to see a dentist
Easing the Burden
Providing coping strategies for families with technology-dependent children
Remote Help for People with MS
Using the internet and phone to teach strategies to combat fatigue
Going After Opioid Dealers
Researchers help improve tools for investigators and prosecutors
Boom Times
Population trend doesn’t get better with age
But Why?
Explaining some of daily life’s curiosities through research
The Choices We Make
Behavioral economists help decipher the good, bad and purely confounding
Fueling Early-Stage Energy Companies
Researchers designing new financing vehicle to draw investors
Boxed In
Changes in migration patterns and income levels imperil upward mobility
Dubious Forensics
A legal expert speaks out on the state of courtroom science
War Crimes
Former prosecutor teaches law students to go after international injustices
Seeds of Creativity
Alumnus enjoys second career as award-winning photographer
Unity on the Run
Cross-Country teams’ camaraderie helped spur success
CONNECT
Gold-Medal Nutritionist
Alumna helps fuel Olympians
A North Dakota Dynamic Duo
From campus to the state capital
Driving Ambition
Alumnus Michael Comet helps animators bring cars—and other objects—to life
Providing a Campus Soundtrack
McGaffin Carillon’s pealing bells mark 50 years
