Seen & Heard
A selection of must reads about Dartmouth alumni making news around the world.
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Alex Tait '86
New Heights
Alex Tait is the Geographer at the National Geographic Society, and in 2019 he led an expedition to map Mount Everest. "Our goals were to scan and perform detailed photogrammetry of the entire Khumbu glacier from the South Col all the way down to the toe of the glacier and to scan all of Everest Base Camp—at the highest resolution ever collected at Mount Everest," he writes. "The maps we produce from this data will help glaciologists and other scientists better understand the dynamics of the ice and snow on the mountain and how this area is changing due to a warming climate."
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Heeten Kanti Kalan '92
Wrong Word
I get that “nonwhite” is efficient, a convenient way to capture the multitude of diversity. But surely I am not the only one troubled by it, writes Kalan. How is it that in 2021, when we have a dynamic and fluid vocabulary to match an increasingly pluralistic culture, we continue to label people as the negative of white?
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PaaWee Rivera '13
To the White House
Rivera majored in government and minored in Native American studies at Dartmouth. He served on Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaign before joining the Biden-Harris campaign as its Western Coalitions director. He's now been named the director of tribal affairs for the Biden Administration and senior adviser to the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.
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Elise Smith '13
New Perspective
"Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) initiatives are skyrocketing," writes Forbes. "But with little evidence to support the efficacy of the one-off lectures and yearly self-guided trainings that most companies have invested in, long-term commitment and ongoing learning seem to be the answer. Elise Smith, Cofounder and CEO of Praxis Labs, is bringing that opportunity to corporate America, allowing employees and leaders to change their perspectives over time by virtually stepping into the shoes of those feeling the sting of stigma."
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Jeffrey Immelt '78
Humble Pie
Immelt's book about his time leading GE comes out on February 23. In a critical look at it, the Wall Street Journal writes: "While he admits he made mistakes, he says he felt moved to write about his years at GE’s helm to highlight the often-dire context of his decisions... Yet some of the problems that hobbled Mr. Immelt’s GE were self-inflicted. "
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Jodi Archambault '91
A Language in Danger
"Our people are dying from Covid-19 at extraordinarily high rates across the country," writes Archambault. "North and South Dakota, home to the Lakota reservations, lead the United States for coronavirus rates per capita. We are losing more than friends and family members; we are losing the language spoken by our elders, the lifeblood of our people and the very essence of who we are."
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