Alumni Update

Greg Borzo ’76 introduces readers to more than 100 outdoor public fountains in his new book Chicago’s Fabulous Fountains  (Southern Illinois University Press, 2017). Along with photos by Julia Thiel, he shares short stories about the structures, the artists, and the city, from the serious and historical to the silly and whimsical, such as a pile of bronze dog poo that glistens when wet, to encourage dog owners to clean up after their pets.

Erika Doot '04 is now working as an Attorney-Advisor as the U.S. Dept. of Energy, Bonneville Power Administration, in Portland, Oregon.  Erika specializes in federal hydropower, including operations & maintenance, coordination of water releases between federal and non-federal dams, renewable energy integration, and wholesale electricity price-setting.  Erika enjoys gardening and cooking in her spare time, and is becoming a world traveler again.  Like at Grinnell, she continues to play viola and has formed a band (Hoots & Doots).  Erika was recently engaged to Jeromey Hoots and looks forward to getting married in spring of 2018.

Najwa Adra ‘69  Since May 2015 I have been in Doha, Qatar, with my husband, Daniel Varisco, who has set up a Social Science Research Center at Qatar University. This is our last year, and we will be going to Vienna next where we will both be working on Yemen issues at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Dan will be a fellow, and I hope to treat the year as a writing residence.  Most of my time in Doha has been spent working on Yemeni heritage which is severely threatened by the current conflict. I have participated in meetings and seminars  and compiled a resource list of Yemeni Intangible Cultural Heritage for UNESCO. Most recently, at the request of Yemeni colleagues, I have put together an international team for an enterprise development project for Yemeni artisans. The idea is to provide them access to overseas high-scale markets through quality control and marketing skills. Training of youth is an important part of the project. I attach a concept note in case any of my colleagues at Grinnell are interested in commenting and/or suggesting potential funders.

Finally, I have joined the International Panel for Exiting Violence (IPEV) as a member of the Committee on Women and Violence.

Philip Roth ’90 currently lives in Indianapolis, and works for a regional public transit/transportation services agency (the Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority [CIRTA]).  I earned my PhD in Geography a year and a half ago, and am a part-time adjunct faculty at IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis), teaching World Geography, Urban Geography, and Transportation Geography in the School of Liberal Arts, and Urban Studies in the School for Public and Environmental Affairs.  I am married with three children, ages 9, 12, and 15.  We are broke but happy!

Amy Goldmacher '96 is featured in “Fieldwork
Studying consumers is this anthropologist’s business” in Grinnell Magazine.