April 2012 Newsletter
Stanford Parents Initiative Museum Tour
Sunday, April 8 4 pm
Smithsonian Museum of American Art
800 F St. NW
Washington, DC
The Stanford Parents Initiative is sponsoring a small-group tour of highlights of
the Smithsonian Museum of American Art for Stanford parents, led by Charita
Thakkar P’14 and a Stanford MS in Business graduate. After the tour, interested
participants (or other Stanford parents who can’t make the tour) can meet up at
Proof for drinks and/or dinner. Since space is limited, please contact Melissa Clark
P’12 at 301-370-6650 or via email at madgardenr@comcast.net for more details
or to sign up.
Later this month, the Stanford Parents Initiative will have an informal open house
at the Chevy Chase, MD home of Melissa Clark P’12 (SPI Co-Chair) from 2-4 pm
on Sunday, April 29th. Come join us to talk about your questions or to discuss
your sons’ and daughters’ Stanford experiences. We hope to have some Stanford
in Washington students and a few young alums available to answer questions and
contribute to the discussion. To RSVP, respond to the e-vite that went out last
weekend or contact Melissa by e-mail at madgardenr@comcast.net.
How to Lead the Good Life:
Lessons from the Ancient Greeks
Tuesday, April 10 6:30-8:30pm
Embassy of Greece
2217 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008
WDCSA SPEAKERS SERIES
If one talk could change the way you approach your life, this might be it!
Dr. McCall, one of the storied professors and speakers on campus, will share and
encourage discussion about the core ethical beliefs of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle,
the Epicureans, and the Stoics. Together, we will consider how these philosophers
and philosophical schools confront the fundamental human issues of justice,
absolute versus relative morality, fear of death, fate versus free will, and the
relationship between humans and the divine. Handouts will be provided.
Dr. McCall is the founding dean of the Continuing Studies Program. He received
his doctorate in Classics at Harvard in 1965 and taught at Harvard, Johns
Hopkins, and Berkeley before arriving at Stanford in 1976. His research lies in the
areas of Greek tragedy, ancient rhetoric, and textual criticism.
He has received Stanford"s greatest honors … the
Dinkelspiel Award for outstanding service to
undergraduate education in 1991, and Stanford’s Phi
Beta Kappa Teacher of the Year award in 2000. In
2006, he received the Richard W. Lyman Award for
exceptional volunteer service to the university from
the Stanford Alumni Association.
Light refreshments will be provided, including wine
generously provided by the Greek Embassy"s Office
of Cultural Affairs.
The cost of this event is $20 for WDCSA members
and $25 for non-members. Please register by
Thursday, April 5, 2012 here: http://pgnet.stanford.edu/goto/event8919reg.
Questions: Email Risa Shimoda at risa@theshimodagroup.com.
Directions: The Embassy of Greece is located three
blocks northwest of the Dupont Metro Station (Red
Line).
This event is a part of the WDCSA Faculty Speaker
Series, and it is presented jointly with the Stanford
Alumni Association.
The Greek Embassy in Washington hosts a variety of
cultural, intellectual, and social events, many of which
are free of charge. If you would like to receive email
announcements of these events, please write to Zoe
Kosmidou, PhD, Minister Counselor, Cultural Affairs,
Embassy of Greece, and USA Office Director,
Hellenic Foundation for Culture, at
zkosmidou@greekculture.us.
Scott Loarie Science Seminar
Thursday, April 12 4:30 pm lecture, 5:30 pm reception
World Wildlife Fund,
1719 G Street NW
Washington, DC
The World Wildlife Fund is hosting Stanford fellow,
Scott Loarie, as part of its Kathryn Fuller Science for
Nature Seminar Series. Loarie will discuss how new
technologies are providing access to individuals to
meet the challenges posed by climate and land-use
change in a seminar titled, "Can Social Networks Save
Biodiversity?"
Loarie is a research fellow at the Carnegie Institution
for Science at Stanford University. His research
focuses on how land-use and climate change impact
biodiversity across ecosystems ranging from the
savannas of Africa and the Brazilian Amazon to the
California Floristic Province.
This event is free. To register, click the following link, www.worldwildlife.org/science/fellowships/fuller/item1816.html.
For more information, contact Kate Graves at
202-495-4604 or Kate.Graves@wwfus.org.
Capitol Alumni Network Happy Hour
Friday, April 13 8 pm
The Exchange
1719 G Street NW
Washington, DC
Join CAN for happy hour at the Exchange to
celebrate the beginning of the softball season.
For more information, contact Greg Billings at
billings.g@gmail.com.
Book Club Discussion
Sunday, April 15 5-8 pm
Vienna, VA
The book club will meet at the home of Connie and
Terence Barrett to discuss Most Human Human by
Brian Christian. For information on the book club,
email Alison Westfall at alisoncolew@hotmail.com
Stanford Day at the Races
Sunday, April 29 1pm
Middleburg Hunt Point to Point Races
Glenwood Park
Middleburg, VA
Get out your hat and binoculars for a day at the
Middleburg Races!
Rain or shine.
The admission price of $25.00 per person will cover
tasty tailgate picnic and libations in a patron space
overlooking the finish line. Children under 12 are
free.
Space is limited, so please RSVP by April 21 with a
check payable to WDCSA and send to Margaret
"Maggie" New, P.O. Box 933, Middleburg, VA
20118-0933.
Tickets and directions will be mailed to you.
For further information, call Margaret "Maggie" New
703-298-2525 or email maggie@middleburggroup.com
Stanford at the National Museum of the
American Indian
Sunday, April 29 6:30-9:30pm
300 Maryland Avenue SW
Washington, D.C.
Join us for cocktails, Native American-inspired hors
d"oeuvres, and a talk
with Stanford
archaeologist Laura
Jones at an exclusive
reception alongside
one of the world"s
most extensive
collections of Native
American arts and
artifacts.
Ranging from
ancient Paleoindian
arrowheads to
contemporary fine
arts, the National
Museum of the
American Indian
collections include
works of aesthetic,
religious, and
historical
significance representing virtually all tribes in the
United States, most of those of Canada, and a
significant number of cultures from Middle and South
America and the Caribbean.
Price: $30 per person, $25 young alumni (undergrads
’02-’12; grads ’07-’11) includes exhibit access, talk and
reception. Space is limited. Register early! Prices will
increase $5 per person on April 9th.
To learn more and register, visit www.stanfordalumni.org/erc/regional/detail.html?ref=erc&cid=209369 Space is limited; do not delay!
Questions: Contact Melanie Kofod at
mkofod@stanford.edu.
Stanford Alumni Potluck Dinners
Saturday, May 5
Do you want to connect with fellow Stanford alums
in the DC area who work in the same field as you
do, in a small, casual setting? We have just the venue!
Alums Mark Kogan (’09) and Tom Kohn(’83) have
created a fun series of potluck dinners, hosted at
alum’s homes, for small gatherings of 10-15 people,
with a great mix of both young and “seasoned”
alums. No pressure. No business cards. Great food
and drink. Interesting people. Join us! So far we’ve
had themes of “Capital Hill” and “Foreign
Affairs” (and one with no theme at all).
If your field of work is any of the following, and you
would like to join us — or host — please click on the
following link to complete a short survey:
https://saa.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_7VZ4i3gQHxXbDGQ We look forward to seeing you!
May 5 – Business
August 4 – Legal
Oct 6 – Journalism/Media
Dec 8 – TBD (please send us your suggestions for this
end of year potluck!)
For more information, contact Mark Kogan at
markskogan@gmail.com.
Stanford at the Opera
Thursday, May 10 7:30 pm
Kennedy Center
Nabucco – Verdi
WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA PREMIERE!
Verdi’s powerful blockbuster about the defeat,
enslavement, and exile of the ancient Babylonian Jews
by King Nabucco features a grand and gorgeous
score. Thaddeus Strassberger"s new production will
transport you to the lost wonders of the world to
witness a royal family at odds with their nation and
each other.
Buy tickets now!
Deadline for ordering is April 5th.
Prime Orchestra $146.50; 2nd Tier $ 79.
For tickets – send a check payable to WDCSA to
Betty Byrne, 1822 Ingleside Terrace NW, Washington
DC 20010. Contact Betty @
bettybyrne@stanfordalumni.org or 202.483.4048.
All performances are by the Washington National
Opera (WNO) and are at the Kennedy Center.
Stanford In the News
- In subjects ranging from human behavior to
linguistics, Stanford lectures captured on audio and
video and offered on Stanford’s iTunes U have been
downloaded a whopping 50 million times. The
milestone, reached March 14, comes nearly seven
years after Stanford became the first university to
offer public access to campus lectures, concerts
and courses through iTunes U. - Chris Lowe and Ari Pani, biologists at Stanford’s
Hopkins Marine Station, discovered some of the
essential genetic machinery previously thought
exclusive to vertebrate brains in a surprising place
– a sea dwelling, bottom-feeding acorn worm,
Saccoglossus kowalevskii.
Get Involved
- Come Out and Volunteer at Stanford University’s
Annual Beyond the Farm Global Day of Service
May 12, 2012.
About Beyond the Farm Global Day of Service:
Beyond the Farm seeks to extend Stanford’s spirit
of service to communities around the world
through volunteer efforts of alumni, family, and
friends. With the dedication of every individual
within the University’s 205,000-strong alumni
community, we can make a world of difference!
Mark your calendars for Beyond the Farm Day of
Service in Washington, DC on May 12, 2012 and
look out for details (location, description, and
registration information) soon to come! - WDCSA Co-Ed Softball
Spring is just around the corner and it’s time to
kick off the 8th annual DC Stanford softball season!
The regular season runs from April to July and ends
with a post-season tournament over two weekends
in August. Most regular season games are played
during the week on the Washington Monument
grounds. Players should expect to pay a nominal
team fee to cover league and equipment costs.
The quality of play is at moments brilliant and
at other times hysterically pathetic, but we
always have a good time! If you are interested in
playing, please send an email to wdcsasoftball@gmail.com (we have a particular
need for women this season to complete our
roster). We hope to see you this spring!
This month’s newsletter is available for download in PDF format.