ephnotes written in lowercase purple EphSlab font on the left. Purple Williams College wordmark on the right with
close up of purple flag with Wiliams seal in front of a sunny ski

Upcoming highlights

START reading the latest Purple Prose Book Club selection, Great Circle: A Novel by Maggie Shipstead, on Aug. 5, and register for a live talk with the author on Sept. 27.
CELEBRATE 40 years of the Williams Black Alumni Network! Are you a WBAN member interested in supporting this milestone with an idea or as a volunteer? Please let us know
PLAN a return to the Purple Valley in the coming year by saving these dates: Fall Mini-Reunion Sept. 30-Oct. 1; Homecoming Nov. 12; Women of Williams Conference May 19-21; Reunion 2023 (’3s and ’8s) June 8-11.

In Case You Missed It

DISCOVER the Five Subtle Signs It’s Time to Consider Changing Careers in the latest Alumni Career Commentary by psychologist and career strategist Lee Koles ’93.
Five smiling children in purple shirts sit on concrete stairs and raise a toast with cups of ice cream

Reunions Continue

Classes of 1995 and 1996 gathered for a delayed celebration of their 25th milestone reunion gathering at the end of June. The sun shone on 400+ smiling Ephs and their familiesflip through photos of all the festivities

A gift of Real Estate is a Real option 

In the most recent issue of Giftwise, learn about the Adler familys generous gift to the college of a home in Williamstown. Herb Adler, who passed away in 2005, was a passionate arts patronhis widow Susan and daughter Maggie Adler 99, MA11 have given the property to the college with proceeds from the sale going to support a new home for the Williams College Museum of Art in Herbs honor. 

Alumni in Focus

Close up profile of woman in safety goggles, ear protection and mask, using a small power drill on a rock
Geosciences professor Phoebe Cohen begins work on a dinosaur trackway.

News from the college


Summer School

Research and study don’t stop at the end of the spring semester, thanks to a robust slate of summer programs, listed on the Campus Life website. There are enrichment opportunities for incoming students during intensive, five-week immersions into the arts, sciences and humanities. And current students can work alongside their professors in nearly every academic discipline. Above, geosciences chair Phoebe Cohen tests out novel ways to remove sedimentary rock from the footprint of a dinosaur before handing the tools off to her summer research students. Located in the Wachenheim Science Center, the footprint is part of a new 40-foot trackway, the first of its kind to be installed in the last half-century or more.

Welcoming New Trustees

Earlier this month, the Williams College Board of Trustees gained three new members: Alumni Trustee George Creppy ’97, who was elected by the Society of Alumni, and term trustees Jeff Delaney ’05 and Matthew Harris ’94Jillian Charles ’91 stepped down after her five-year term ended in June. Read more about the new trustees.

Faculty in Focus

  • David Edwards, anthropology professor, is teaching former students from the Taliban-exiled American University of Afghanistan to tell the stories of refugees through film. (Geneva Graduate Institute)
  • Chair and Associate Professor of Religion Jeffrey Israel answers questions about the role of comedy in a society grappling with issues involving race, gender, sexuality and more. (Philosophy Talk)
  • In Duped: Why Innocent People Confess—and Why We Believe Their ConfessionsSaul Kassin, psychology professor, emeritus, investigates confessions from innocent people and the interrogation processes that forced their guilty pleas.
  • “The problems we have as a country were really just exposed by Covid,” says English professor Jim Shepard in an interview about climate change, politics and his novel Phase Six. (The Michigan Daily)
  • Tanja Srebotnjak, director of the Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives, talks to Midday Magazine about what sustainability will look like in practice on the Williams campus as part of the college’s strategic plan. (WAMC)
  • The National Bureau of Economic Research cited Associate Professor of Economics Owen Thompson’s co-authored article “The Long Run Impacts of Court-Ordered School Desegregation”—a look at how African Americans fared in the job market after attending integrated schools—as a featured working paper.
  • Elizabeth Iams Wellman, visiting political science professor, won the Best Article Award from American Political Science Review for “Emigrant Inclusion in Home Country Elections: Theory and Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa.”

In Memoriam

The Williams community recently lost two former professors and a former campus safety leader. Robert F. Dalzell Jr., the Frederick Rudolph ’42 Class of 1965 Professor of American Culture, Emeritus, died on June 23, and Professor of Physics, Emeritus, C. Ballard Pierce passed away on June 18. Dalzell often focused his research on the impact of the relationship between business and society, retiring in 2003. Pierce chaired the former physics and astronomy department for 15 years before retiring in 1994. Ransom Jenks served as director of security for the college for decades and was particularly proud of his work and relationships with students. 


For more stories and news about the Williams community, visit Williams Today.  

williams in photos

Smiling man in purple shirt with white hat holding small purple flag in front of trees

Meet Steve Troyer 86 and other Ephs on Ephalum 

Oil painting of trees and brick buildings in Frosh Quad on a sunny summer day. unny day.

See beautEPHal photos (and paintings) on Instagram 

Woman holding black folder singing in front of organ pipes odium outside on a sunny day

Learn about summer on campus on Facebook 

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