A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff
On a warm evening in mid-May, 18 dedicated athletes showed up at the University of Mary Washington’s recreational field to spin, leap and fly.
Their academic year was already over, but several members of the Mary Washington women’s Ultimate Frisbee team came here after working all day. Others returned just to fit in these last few practices before heading to the airport.
Their destination? The D-III College Championships in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was the team’s first trip to nationals since 2019, after two pandemic-constrained seasons filled with masked practices and intermittent competition.
But this season was different. These Mary Washington women seemed almost unstoppable, with a spirited mix of rookies and veterans, and an amazing class of seniors. They taught and encouraged one another, creating a chemistry that made their defense a wall and their offense just plain scary. The team won every game in its conference tournament to seal the nationals bid. Read more.University of Mary Washington colleagues have long known how committed President Troy D. Paino is to the student experience – and to the faculty and staff who work day in and day out to make it the best it can be.
Now, student affairs professionals throughout the Southeastern United States are spreading the news. NASPA, the organization of student affairs administrators in higher education, will recognize Paino with its Region III President’s Award for 2022 during a summer symposium in Charleston, South Carolina, June 12-15.
“This prestigious award signifies that your fellow student affairs colleagues value the contributions you are making in the field,” awards committee co-chairs Stephen M. Howard and Nicholas Hudson wrote in an email informing Paino of the honor. “It also exemplifies your hard work within the profession, your institution and NASPA Region III.”
In supporting Paino’s nomination for the recognition, UMW Vice President for Student Affairs Juliette Landphair emphasized the president’s compassionate approach to strategic planning and decision-making and pointed out, “He is, above all, a student-centered leader.” Read more.
Amy Jessee ’06 will step into UMW’s Executive Director of University Communications role in June.
Incoming Executive Director of University Communications Amy Jessee has already mapped out her first days on the job.
As chief communicator for the University of Mary Washington, Jessee will begin by listening – to students, staff, faculty, administrators, alumni, community supporters and others with a stake in telling the university’s stories in the ways that matter most.
When she arrives on campus in late June, she won’t have to start from scratch. Jessee is a 2006 graduate of UMW, where she majored in business administration and English and earned the Colgate W. Darden Jr. Award, bestowed on the undergraduate with the highest grade-point average. She holds a master of arts degree in professional communication from Clemson University. Read more.
Bailey Johnson ’21 has a gift for being where she needs to be to meet her goals.
Bailey Johnson ’21 will move to China next summer to join the Schwarzman Scholars, a prestigious graduate leadership program that will give her the opportunity to pursue a master’s of global affairs in Beijing.
Starting in August 2022, that will be Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. There she’ll join the newest class of Schwarzman Scholars, pursuing a master’s degree in global affairs. Johnson is among 151 scholars in nearly three dozen countries, chosen from more than 3,000 applicants worldwide for the all-expenses-covered graduate leadership program.
Schwarzman Scholars are “high-caliber individuals with open minds and limitless potential who will serve to deepen understanding between China and the rest of the world,” according to the group’s website.
Johnson fits the bill. She’s already working as a cancer researcher for the National Institutes of Health, chiefly focused on understanding metastatic traits that allow tumor cells to colonize secondary organs. She also is a fellow at the NIH Academy on Health Disparities, studying gaps in health outcomes and addressing related issues.
Classes for Schwarzman Scholars are taught in English, but Johnson brings the advantage of fluency in Mandarin – a language she started learning as a child in Columbus, Ohio. She refined those skills at Mary Washington, where she double-majored in biology and a self-designed course of Chinese cultural studies. Read more.
Sarah Hagan, an urban forester in Lynchburg, Virginia, discovered her passion for science while studying biology at UMW.
The 11,000 to 12,000 trees shading the streets and parks of Lynchburg, Virginia, are a lot to keep up with. But Sarah Hagan, a 2011 University of Mary Washington graduate, has charge of them all, from roots to crowns.
As Lynchburg’s urban forester, Hagan oversees trees individually but also as an interdependent whole – the urban canopy that keeps the city healthy, vibrant and beautiful. It’s an ever-changing responsibility, varying with each season, storm, dry spell and pest. And it’s an especially pertinent position today, during National Forest Week, a celebration of America’s 193-million-acre system. Read more.