Valerie Cushman
Something to be Gained
Although she recycled at home, Valerie Cushman wouldn’t have classified herself as a staunch environmentalist when she joined W&L in October 2007 as executive assistant to the president. One of her duties, however, is helping President Ruscio structure the new University Sustainability Committee.

Bill Hamilton
An Environmental Education
Last Christmas, his father gave Bill Hamilton, associate professor of biology, a framed essay that Bill wrote in the second or third grade. It implored readers to keep water clean and prevent forest fires. Matted in green (what else?), the essay now hangs in Hamilton’s office.

Jim Kahn '75
Changing Students' Lives
Jim Kahn’s academic path is more like a full circle bringing him back to the University where he received a degree in economics. Since graduation, the John F. Hendon Professor of Economics and head of the Environmental Studies Program has become an internationally known environmental economist, innovative teacher and leader in interdisciplinary research.

Ken Ruscio '76
Liberal Arts and the Environment
W&L President Ken Ruscio '76 thinks one of the challenges facing the liberal arts today is helping students understand the connection between their education and the world around them. If the goal is to educate them for lives of consequence, they also need to see how their education provides insight into the key problems facing their generation.

Chris Wise
Mindful of the Future
The son of a chemistry professor, Chris Wise grew up on W&L's campus. Here he came to appreciate the beauty of Lexington and its surroundings. The community made a strong impression on him as did its motto, "Not Unmindful of the Future." Wise ventured off to North Carolina to attend college and worked as an extension agent in the Outer Banks before returning home in 1988 to give his daughter an upbringing similar to his own.