So today I spent a little time in a meeting in the new Gehl-Mulva Science building – my first time there with a real – real as in this-building-is-now-open-for-business – professional purpose. Our meeting was with Larry Scheich (Chemistry) and afterwards my thoughts strayed to Valerie Gray ’11 who was a source in an article that must have included one of our first mentions of the prospect of a new science building.
Valerie (left in this pic, with student colleague Stacy Szczepanski ’09) was one of a student-faculty team that was formulating plans for a greener science facility – when that facility itself was just a twinkle in Larry’s eye. The team was arguing for a weather station, solar panels and wind turbines on the roof. We loved this quote:
The students assert that JMS is the perfect specimen for exploring renewable energy on campus. Says Gray, “It’s the science building. If weird things are sticking out of it, that’s OK. … You can experiment on it. That’s in the spirit of science.”
I never met Valerie, but as GMS has taken shape in remarkably quick time, I’ve often had cause to remember this remark.
And, what do you know: When I got back to my desk after lunch, there was an email from Valerie herself. Her news for our magazine was that she was just chosen by American Physical Society members as chair-elect for the APS Forum on Graduate Student Affairs. She’s now doing a Ph.D. at William & Mary and undertaking research at the Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. Here’s the Jefferson Lab’s article with the news: W&M Student Elected to Represent American Physical Society’s Graduate Student Forum. Wow, Valerie!
