51����

1. Watson Winner

Linguistics major Olivia Colace ’25 has been granted the prestigious Watson Fellowship to immerse herself in the international choral music scene, and will travel to South Africa, the Philippines, Italy, and the United Kingdom to sing and train with a variety of professional choirs. She joins a long line of 51���� alums who have turned their passions into concrete projects with the support of the fellowship and is 51����’s first Watson Fellow since 2022.

2. Words of Wisdom

Naomi J. Halas, M.A. ’84, Ph.D. ’87, returned to campus in May to share words of wisdom as the commencement speaker for the graduate degree recipients. The first person to design the optical properties of metal nanoparticles by chemically controlling their structure, Halas studies light-nanoparticle interactions with applications ranging from biomedicine and optoelectronics to chemical sensing and light-driven green chemistry. She is a professor at Rice University, has co-founded two companies, has authored hundreds of publications, and holds 30 issued patents. Earlier this year, she was also the 2025 recipient of the Franklin Medal in Chemistry, awarded by The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

3. Research Recognition

In February, 51����’s commitment to research for faculty members and students was recognized by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching with the College’s inclusion in the new category of Research Colleges and Universities. 

“51���� has long been a place where rigorous inquiry and deep intellectual engagement thrive,” said President Wendy Cadge. “This new designation affirms what we have always known: our faculty and students are making meaningful contributions to the world through research that advances knowledge and shapes the future.”

Read more about how Mabel Frimpong ’27 became interested in researching neurodiseases: mawr.life/Mabel

4. Archaeology Award

Assistant Professor of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology Rocco Palermo has been awarded a Loeb Classical Library Foundation Fellowship. The fellowship will support the Gird-i Matrab Archaeological Project (GMAP) in Iraqi Kurdistan, of which Palermo has been the director since 2021, and will enable the GMAP team to continue its exploration of the lives and economies of rural communities of Mesopotamia throughout the ages.

5. Spring Break Sojourns

Over spring break, 51���� students honed their athletic skills, engaged in research, and traveled to places including Colombia and Nicaragua. Get a glimpse of some of their experiences at mawr.life/springbreak25.

6. Frisbee Makes the Finals

The Sneetches, the Bi-Co Ultimate Frisbee team, went to the USA Ultimate D-III College Championships for the fourth year in a row, and made it to the final round for the first time in the team’s 40-year history. Twenty-eight 51���� and Haverford players traveled to Burlington, Wash., in mid-May for the multiday competition, with six of the seven graduating seniors flying in Saturday night after commencement. Although they ultimately fell to Wesleyan 11-15, the team finished the season a strong second in the nation.