This summer, Cate Brewer, visiting assistant professor in the department of Theatre and Dance, directed Into The Woods for The City of Fairfax Theatre Company, taught Shakespeare intensives at Imagination Stage in Bethesda, Md., and was The Director of Acting for ClearSpace Theatre Company in Rehoboth, Del.

Mehdi Aminrazavi, professor of philosophy and religion, gave the lecture “Reading Omar Khayyam’s Ruba’iyyat within Their Historical Context” at the Library of Congress on Thursday, July 19.

Cassandra Good, assistant editor of the Papers of James Monroe, presented “‘You Would Exert Your Friendship for Us’: Friendships Between Men and Women in the Early Republic” at the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic annual conference in Baltimore, Md.

Michelle Crow-Dolby, education and communications manager for Gari Melchers Home and Studio at Belmont, has been appointed by the Fredericksburg City Council to serve on the Fredericksburg Arts Commission. The 11-member commission provides leadership and guidance to the Fredericksburg City Council about arts and cultural issues.

Dr. Adria Hoffman has just been appointed to serve on the Music Educators Journal Editorial Committee. The Music Educators Journal is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes scholarly and practical articles on music teaching approaches and philosophies, instructional techniques, current trends and issues in music education and reviews of the latest products and services. The journal aims to provide a multidisciplinary forum for debate and discussion within the field. Her term began on July 1, 2012 and will end on June 30, 2016.

Brian Baker, executive director for entrepreneurship at the University of Mary Washington Center for Economic Development, was elected vice president of the Virginia Business Incubation Association (VBIA) at the July 10 Board of Director’s meeting. In that role Baker will head the communications committee and support the role of the president.

VBIA is beginning its 12th year of existence as Virginia’s leading organization dedicated to advancing incubator-based best practices in entrepreneurship and small business development. On July 1, the VBIA headquarters moved from Virginia Tech KnowledgeWorks to the UMW Center for Economic Development. The program will be managed by Baker and Heather Wheeler.

VBIA hosts an annual conference, regional roundtable workshops, a monthly newsletter, and a wealth of web-based publications in the members-only library. Membership is made up of individuals, educators and students, city and county executives, local and regional economic developers, chamber of commerce officials, public and private business assistance providers.