Fourteen new Westmont students have returned from a unique orientation program that takes students backpacking through the North Yosemite backcountry.
The optional orientation program, Inoculum, offers students units of academic and physical education course credit. Students are assigned several readings, lead discussions on the books and write a paper later in the semester.
Westmont once again secured a spot among the top liberal arts colleges in the nation according to U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges 2007.” For the second straight year Westmont joined six other schools with a ranking of 104.
Only nine other liberal arts colleges in California appear in the highest tier: Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Scripps, Occidental, Pitzer, Thomas Aquinas and Mills Colleges.
Westmont has hired Santa Barbara resident Steve Julio as assistant professor of biology. Julio graduated from Westmont in 1992 and earned his doctorate at UC Santa Barbara in 2001.
For the past three years Julio has been a postdoctoral fellow at UCSB. He was also a research scientist for several years at Remedyne Corporation, a vaccine development company in Santa Barbara.
New England violinist Philip Ficsor will join Westmont’s faculty this fall as assistant professor of violin. Ficsor is a member of the American Double, a piano-violin duo which has been featured on concert series across the United States and Europe.
A popular CNN online podcast will feature an interview with David Newton, Westmont professor of entrepreneurial finance, Friday, July 21. CNN officials say their podcast Web site is visited about a million times a week.
Janet Lamkin, president and chief executive officer of the California Bankers Association, has joined the Westmont Board of Advisors. Lamkin graduated from Westmont in 1981.
The 16-member board provides a critical link between the college curriculum and post-graduate experiences. Its principal purpose is to bring new ideas and fresh viewpoints from those in the business community. The board meets twice a year and reports to the college president.