The T.B. Walker Foundation, an anonymous donor and others have committed $1.5 million to Westmont toward the creation of the college’s first endowed chair in the natural and behavioral sciences. The T.B. Walker Foundation Chair in the Natural & Behavioral Sciences will honor the work of an outstanding faculty member in biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering/physics, mathematics or psychology.
Makoto Masuno returns to Westmont as assistant professor of chemistry after graduating from the college in 1997. Masuno transferred to Westmont in 1995 as a junior and chose chemistry as his major, but admits he hadn’t completed a single college chemistry course when he arrived.
“Ceramics: Form and Function” opens in Reynolds Gallery Thursday, Nov. 6, with a reception from 4-6 p.m., and will be on display through Dec. 19. The exhibition brings together work in clay by 14 internationally-recognized artists from around the world, each with a unique mode of working in the medium. Many pieces on display will be for sale.
The Westmont Orchestra will perform for the first time without “chamber” in its name. With 52 student musicians, the ensemble has outgrown the title. The orchestra’s inaugural concerts will be Friday, Nov. 7, at 8 p.m. in Hahn Hall at the Music Academy of the West, and Sunday, Nov. 9, at 3 p.m. in First Presbyterian Church at the corner of State and Constance downtown. Admission is $10, free for students.
Westmont officials broke ground on two new buildings Oct. 23, the first significant construction on the Montecito campus in 24 years. Trustees and other college dignitaries wielded gold shovels to turn dirt at the sites for the Adams Center for the Visual Arts and Winter Hall for Science and Mathematics.
Linda Kazibwe, born in Uganda and raised in Kenya, presents “An Exploration of African Dance Form” Thursday, Oct. 30, from 7:30-8:30 p.m. in Westmont’s Murchison Gym Dance Room. The workshop is free and open to the public.