SCIENCE FOR ALL
Gabriela Farfan attended the President's State of the Union address on January 27 as a special guest of First Lady Michelle Obama. A budding geologist from Madison, Wis., the Stanford freshman was invited, along with other young female scholars, to highlight the administration's commitment to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. Farfan placed 10th out of 1,600 competitors in the Intel Science Talent Search last year and is also a National Hispanic Scholar. Writing on the official White House blog, she said she was happy President Obama's speech "stressed the importance of science and math education as the key to our future and a competitive society."
New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development hosted a Science Education Innovators Day on January 24 to mark the launch of the Jhumki Basu Foundation. Established in honor of Sreyashi Jhumki Basu, '98, who died in 2008 of cancer, the foundation seeks to realize her vision of equality in science education. In addition to creating a teacher-training institute at NYU, where Basu was an associate professor, the foundation is sponsoring an annual "Jhumki Basu Lecture Series in Science and Adventure" at Stanford.
Twin tennis titans Bob and Mike Bryan, '00, are rock stars both on and off the court. With David Baron, '06, MA '07, they form the Bryan Bros Band, a pop-rock group that debuted at the 2009 U.S. Open Arthur Ashe Kids' Day. Their first album, "Let It Rip," was released on iTunes in November, and the track "Autograph" features cameos by singles players Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. When they're not headlining shows at LA's Viper Room, the brothers still manage to get a match in here and there. In January they claimed a fourth Australian Open title, making them eight-time Grand Slam champions.
WEDIING BELLS
In 4 1/2 years, Mary Gallagher, '75, has attended some 400 weddings at Memorial Church. As Stanford's resident wedding coordinator, she wears many hats— "part director, part coach, part counselor and part magician"—to ensure that everything goes smoothly on a couple's big day. During the high season from April to October, Gallagher might have four weddings scheduled back to back on a Saturday. "I think Stanford is such a popular venue because everyone is welcome—all faiths and backgrounds. We do blessings for civil unions and same-gender couples," she told the San Francisco Chronicle. The only requirement is a connection to the Farm. Recently, eligibility was extended to include retired University faculty and staff, their children and their grandchildren. The New York Times announced that Margaret Claire Hoover, great-granddaughter of Herbert Hoover, Class of 1895, and John Phillips Avlon were married in MemChu last November. Speaking of weddings, what could be more memorable than a petal-spewing robot flower girl? With her sister, Allegra, set to marry, mechanical engineer Laurel Fullerton, MS '09, went to work building the three-foot tall remote-controlled WeddingBot, complete with pink bow. During the ceremony, Fullerton coaxed the robot down the aisle. Afterward, the flower bot even took a turn on the dance floor.
PUPPY LOVE
Sarah Woodward, '09, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology and a minor in studio art, began painting pet portraits to pay the rent. One commission, from Jeff Wachtel, '79, senior assistant to President Hennessy, had her reimagining Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel fresco "The Creation of Adam" with the family's orange-and-white Brittany spaniel Cash standing in for both God and Adam. The mural, adorning the kitchen ceiling in Wachtel's home in Atherton, also features cats Elvis, Sparkle and Pebbles, and Ellie the parakeet.
