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Alumni Notes

Christopher Adler (Composition, Ph.D., ’99) has released a new CD of his compositions entitled Ecstatic Volutions in a Neon Haze (Innova Recordings). The CD includes five groove-based compositions performed by musicians from across the U.S., including the ensemble pulsoptional and Adler on piano.

John Bower (Composition, Ph.D. ’07) is an instructor at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. He is a recipient of a 2008 McKnight Foundation Artist Fellowship and a 2007 American Composers Forum subito career advancement grant. In January 2008, Boston ‘s Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble gave the premiere full performance of his viola concerto, The Echo Over the Voice, with Anne Black as the soloist.

Leslie Brown (History, Ph.D. ’97) made an appearance at the Hayti Heritage Center in February to read from her book, Upbuilding Black Durham: Gender, Class, and Black Community Development in the Jim Crow South. The book is part of Durham County Library’s North Carolina collection.

Elesha Coffman (American Religion, Ph.D. ’08) is now Assistant Professor of History at Waynesburg University in Waynesburg, PA.

Jana Matthews (English, Ph.D., ’08) is a finalist for Parent and Child’s Mommy Blogger Awards for her blog, The Meanest Mom, which has garnered a readership of about 4,000 readers per day.

Mark Palmeri (Ph.D. 2005, M.D. ’07) is currently an assistant research professor in the School of Engineering. He is working with Manal Abdelmalek, MD, in the Duke Liver Clinic to test ultrasound as a way to measure liver stiffness as a diagnostic tool for patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and with Stuart Grant, MD, and David MacLeod, MD, in regional anesthesia.

Eric Vance, (Statistical Science, Ph.D. ’08) started his new job as Assistant Research Professor in the Virginia Tech Department of Statistics and as the Director of LISA (Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis). The LISA provides statistical research collaboration and consulting for Virginia Tech faculty, staff, and students.

Liang Zhang (Statistical Science, Ph.D. 2008) moved to California to begin in his position as statistical Research Scientist with Yahoo Research.