The Science Education Resource Center (SERC), directed by Cathy Manduca, received a National Science Foundation (NSF) REC award of $61,039 for a collaborative project with Columbia University titled "Synthesis of Research on Thinking and Learning in the Geosciences." Read more on recent grants.

A National Institutes of Health (NIH) Supplement to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research was awarded to Joseph Chihade (Chemistry). These additional funds to an AREA grant support an African American female biology major to participate in his work exploring the evolution and specificity of an important enzyme family, with implications for antibiotic development and insight into several inheritable mitochondrial diseases. Read more on recent grants.

Sarah Titus (Geology) received an American Chemical Society (ACS) Petroleum Research Fund Type G grant to investigate distributed deformation within the San Andreas Fault in central California. Read more on recent grants.

Carleton College has selected the firm of Meyer Scherer & Rockcastle LTD (MS&R) as the architect for development of the former Northfield middle school into a facility geared toward creative collaboration––known informally as the Collaboratory––that will support multiple student and classroom projects and allow faculty members to teach with words, images, sounds, and narrative in a variety of media.

Gao Hong Dice (Music) received a Jerome Foundation Travel and Study Grant to work on Chinese Temple Music in Beijing and Henan. Additionally, over the last six months, Gao received awards from the American Composers Forum Encore program providing support for performing a concerto for pipa by Changjun Xu, and from their Essentially Choral Program for a choral music composition entitled "Coming of Spring." She won a Meet the Composer Creative Connections grant for composing and outreach, and a Minnesota State Arts Board Cultural Community Partnership Grant for composing music for Choral. For more information on Gao’s work and upcoming performances, visit www.chinesepipa.com. Read more on recent grants.

On May 18, 2007, the Carleton community celebrated the public launch of "Breaking Barriers, Creating Connections: The Campaign for Carleton." The festivities kicked off with a special convocation featuring creative student videos, followed by an all-campus picnic on the Bald Spot. Later, Carleton's Board of Trustees and other special guests boarded coaches for a gala Campaign launch event at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. See highlights from these events.>>

Carleton College announces the launch of Breaking Barriers, Creating Connections: The Campaign for Carleton, a $300 million comprehensive campaign—the most ambitious in Carleton’s history. The campaign focuses on three strategic initiatives: enriching the teaching and learning environment by creating better ways for students to learn broadly and deeply; broadening access for students from increasingly diverse backgrounds; and enhancing the physical facilities in ways that effectively support a leading liberal arts institution in the 21st century. The Breaking Barriers, Creating Connections campaign is the largest undertaken by a Minnesota private college and one of the largest ever undertaken by a national liberal arts college.

As leadership donors to the campaign, the Weitzes and their children, Katie Weitz White ’96, Roger Weitz ’99, and Andrew Weitz ’02, have given an unrestricted, $10 million gift to Carleton from their family foundation.

"Whatever Carleton means to you and to us it means more to a world that needs young people educated to see the connections, complexity, and creative possibilities that lie ahead."

Richard Kracum ’76 And Laurie Weiss Kracum ’76 have pledged $3 million to the Breaking Barriers, Creating Connections campaign. “To have a high-quality school like Carleton, the capital has to come from those of us who received an excellent education there,” Laurie says. “With our gift, we want to encourage other young people to do the same.”

In May 2007, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations awarded a $200,000 grant to Carleton for use in planning the College's new arts center, which will occupy the old Northfield Middle School. The College will use the funds in selecting an architect for the center and developing initial plans for the project.

Prof. Melissa Eblen-Zayas (Physics & Astronomy) won a substantial and prestigious Cottrell College Science Award from the Research Corporation, an important supporter of scientific research and development. The award will facilitate Prof. Eblen-Zayas’ research on a magnetic semiconductor, and provide four summer stipends for undergraduate researchers in her lab. Read more on recent grants.

This spring, Stephen Mohring (Art & Art History) received two residential awards to support his work as a studio artist. A generous stipend allowed Prof. Mohring (and his wife, freelance writer Joanna Rawson) to spend May at the Can Serrat International Art Center, near Barcelona, Spain. A second grant, an “Emerging Artists Fellowship” from the Jerome Foundation, will enable Prof. Mohring to spend time at the Blacklock Nature Center in northern Minnesota this fall. These two grants follow on the unusual recent donation to Prof. Mohring of a portable sawmill which he will use in projects and courses that involve the use of wood harvested from the Arboretum (especially invasive species and windfall timber). Read more on recent grants.