Class of 2007

Julia Martinez ’03 wrote in to congratulate Jake Goldberg, who recently earned tenure at Colgate University, which promoted him to associate professor of chemistry. Julia writes that Jake is famous at Colgate for his molecules and enthusiasm for Dartmouth football! From this I was inspired to go searching for other ’07s in academia, and here’s what I found.

Bernice Kuang wrote in from London: “I did my master’s in public health at Johns Hopkins, during which I became interested in population studies, which led me to move to the University of Southampton in England, where I did my Ph.D. in demography and social statistics. Secure academic work is not easy to come by in England, and although I didn’t want to leave, I also didn’t want to go down the brutal path of fighting for a permanent job, so I’ve been in a postdoctoral researcher position for nearly eight years, which is my dream job anyway. My time at Dartmouth really set me up for my love of learning about and questioning the structures and values that shape our institutions, everyday lives, and experiences. This has led me, for better or worse and for richer but mostly way poorer, to persist down a somewhat unusual and purely passion-driven academic pathway.”

Ben Selznick wrote in: “I am currently an associate (tenured) professor in the school of strategic leadership studies at James Madison University [JMU] College of Business in Virginia. My program grants an interdisciplinary doctoral degree, and I am the postsecondary education expert. It’s been a remarkable, full-circle journey of sorts. After completing my religion major at Dartmouth I eventually decided I wanted to work with college students. This led me to get my master’s and then Ph.D. in higher education at New York University. I’ve now been able to turn my religion degree into studying campus climates for interfaith exchange as well as conducting research on Jewish college student experiences. I also study innovation, leadership, and pedagogy. Keeping Dartmouth experiences active, I now serve as the faculty advisor for Chabad at JMU. I also still play in a band—we’re called The Dad Bods and have our second release coming out on Spotify later this year (we’re even bringing in Rashid Galadanci for a guitar solo).”

From Jessica Todtman: “My Dartmouth experience made me passionate about ensuring that all students, regardless of background, have access to the life-changing opportunities higher education provides. My four-year stint working in the State University of New York system shifted my career from a public manager who happens to work in education to an education policy leader. I now serve as the interim president and chief operating officer of the National Association of Higher Education Systems. I work every day to lift up the role of public higher education systems in advancing prosperity for the nation, starting with the more than 700 campuses and 8.2 million students we represent.” Bravo, Jessica!

Finally, Lauren Blum wrote in from Boulder, Colorado: “I am currently a professor in the astrophysics and planetary sciences department at CU-Boulder. After getting my Ph.D. from CU- Boulder’s aerospace engineering department, I worked at Berkeley and NASA for a number of years before deciding to return to Boulder as a professor. The Dartmouth physics department played a huge role in starting me on this path. Thanks in particular to my physics professor Kristina Lynch for advertising a research position in her lab my junior year, I learned not only that I liked hands-on research but also about the field of space physics in general and the many exciting directions it could lead to.”

—Sam Routhier, 543 W 122nd St., Apt. 25B, New York, NY 10027; samrouthier@gmail.com