Blog Posts by Westmont

Actor and gifted teacher Mitchell Thomas joins the Westmont faculty as a full-time, tenure-track professor this fall. Also, the famed Russian visual theater ensemble, DO-Theatre, St. Petersburg, will be artists-in-residence in September.

Santa Barbara Downtown Rotary Club has awarded Westmont President Stan D. Gaede with a Paul Harris Fellowship in recognition of Gaede’s  and the college’s contribution to international understanding and service.

The honor was given to Gaede during a recent Rotary Club luncheon, at which he spoke. A $1,000 donation was made by the Santa Barbara Club on Gaede’s behalf to Rotary International’s Annual Programs Fund.

What do you get when Ray Bradbury, Neil Simon, Sue Grafton, Christopher Buckley, Gayle Lynds and 350 other writers converge for a week at Westmont? The Santa Barbara Writers Conference!

"This year’s conference begins June 25 and runs through July 2, with outstanding speaker events every afternoon and evening that are open to the public. A special treat this year: Publishers have allowed the conference bookstore to sell advance copies of Ray Bradbury and Sue Grafton’s latest books before they hit the bookstores, but only on the days that Bradbury and Grafton appear.

Westmont has received a $2.5 million gift from the Adams Family Foundation for the establishment of an endowed chair in music.

The money will endow a new faculty position in the music department called the Adams Chair of Music and Worship. A portion of the gift -- $500,000 – will endow a fund to enhance music program offerings.

“We are committed to enhancing Westmont’s music program not just for its fine students but for the impact it can have on the community,” Denise Adams said.

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi has awarded Wesley Galliher, a chemistry major who graduated in early May from Westmont, a graduate fellowship for the 2004-05 academic year. Wesley will receive $5,000 to aid in his pursuit of a Ph.D. degree in bio-organic or medicinal chemistry. Only 60 students nationwide received the fellowship this year.

Westmont’s Reynolds Gallery has taken first place in the 24th annual American Association of Museums (AAM) Publications Design Competition. “Every Picture Tells a Story,” designed by art instructor Scott Anderson, was selected as the winner of fund-raising and membership materials.

“As you can imagine, I’m very proud of this accomplishment,” Anderson said.