Matriculation 2007

GSAS Welcomes New Graduate Students

The Tufts University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) welcomed the 2007 graduate class during its annual matriculation ceremony on Tuesday, August 28^th. The event, which was co-sponsored by the School of Engineering, was held at the university's Gantcher Family Sports and Convocation Center and was attended by an estimated 400 new Arts, Sciences, and Engineering graduate students. The incoming students were joined by current Tufts faculty, department chairs, and graduate advisors.

The ceremony was co-hosted by Lynne Pepall, dean of GSAS and Sergio Fantini, associate dean for graduate education for the School of Engineering, and featured a variety of speakers including Tufts University President Lawrence Bacow, Provost Jamshed Bharucha, Dean of the School of Engineering Linda Abriola, and alumna Judi Zazula, G82. The event also included music from The Amalgamates, the university's oldest coed a cappella group, and skits directed by drama graduate student and matriculation entertainment director Sunil Swaroop.

Throughout the afternoon, each matriculation speaker pointed out the importance of both interdisciplinary work and getting to know fellow graduate students from different departments and Tufts schools.

Graduate alumnus Brian Cronin, G05, and Sunil Swaroop act out a skit based on graduate student life.

Virginia Anderson, a drama graduate student who was one of two student speakers, said that, "interdisciplinary research opens all kinds of creative doors" and Zazula, who through the Boston-based organization Helping Hands: Monkey Helpers for the Disabled, Inc. has helped match trained capuchin monkeys with quadriplegics for the past twenty-eight years, spoke of the extensive interdisciplinary program she designed as a Ph.D. student in the "One-of-a-Kind" program (now the Interdisciplinary Doctorate).

Incoming biomedical engineering student Kim Nguyen heard this advice loud and clear. "There was so much emphasis on interdisciplinary relations," she said. "That alone will force me to make an extra effort in establishing relationships with people outside of my department."

The Amalgamates, the university's oldest coed a cappella group, participated in the GSAS and School of Engineering Matriculation ceremony.

Another universal theme expressed during the ceremony was the special bond between students and educators. Several speakers expressed that one of the greatest gifts in teaching is the opportunity to learn from one's students.

President Bacow described a different, yet equally rewarding connection, he has seen from faculty over the years noting that, "One of the many reasons faculty love working with graduate students is that, over time, they become their colleagues."

But perhaps the most valuable advice came from Michael Lovett, a graduate student speaker from the biomedical engineering department, who proclaimed that taking time to balance graduate life with fun was "essential for a successful and rewarding graduate career."

Article by Gina Murray, Tufts University Office of Graduate Studies

Photos by Alonso Nichols

Tufts chemistry professor and department chair Krishna Kumar was named one of the world's 100 Top Young Innovators by <em>Technology Review</em> for his cutting-edge research on proteins that may have many medical uses.

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The Graduate Student Council (GSC) was established in the late 1980s and provides a forum for graduate students across all the disciplines. Each year, the GSC hosts a graduate student research symposium, a Giving Tree program (which donates toys to anonymous local children in the Medford/Somerville area) and a 5k Run/Walk, an event which has raised over $35,000 for a variety of charitable causes.

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The ratio of students to faculty rarely exceeds 12-1 in any Arts and Sciences graduate program, supporting the growth of significant mentoring and collegial relationships between faculty and students.

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The Department of Education is helping meet the need for good urban teachers through its Urban Teaching Training Collaborative (UTTC). The program places education graduate students in Boston-area schools were they work closely with a mentor teacher.

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