Shawn Raymond, BA '94; Julie Hulstein, BA '94; Stefka Czarnecki Fanchi, BA '94, and many others are involved in the campaign to create a U.S. Public Service Academy. The Academy would be America's first national civilian university, a flagship institution designed to develop patriotic young leaders dedicated to public service. Modeled on the military service academies, the Public Service Academy would provide a rigorous undergraduate education followed by five years of civilian service to the U.S. For more information about the campaign, please visit http://uspublicserviceacademy.org/.

Mark Schleifstein, BA ’75, a reporter for The Times-Picayune, has written a new book, Path of Destruction: The Devastation of New Orleans and the Coming Age of Superstorms, co-authored with John McQuaid, in bookstores now. Mark was part of the team of reporters covering Hurricane Katrina that received the 2006 Pulitzer Prizes for Public Service and Deadline Reporting, the George Polk Award for Metropolitan Reporting, and the 2006 National Headliner Award. The book examines the poorly designed levees in the New Orleans area that failed to protect the citizens of the city.

Rebecca Shulman Herz, MAT ’97, an educational program manager at New York City’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, wrote a successful grant proposal that won four more years of federal funding for research at the museum. Her project examines the theory that art education improves literacy and critical thinking skills among NYC third graders, who participated in the Guggenheim’s Learning Through Art initiative. Alumna Johanna Jones, MAT ’97, a senior associate at Randi Korn and Associates, which conducted the study, was quoted in an article on the topic in the July 27, 2006, edition of the New York Times.

Susan Stautberg, MA ’70, has been selected by Civic Ventures, a think-tank, as a 2006 Purpose Prize Fellow.  The Purpose Prize is a major new initiative seeking to invest in Americans over 60 who are inventing new ways to meet society’s toughest challenges. Susan has also been featured in the July 17th issue of Business Week for co-founding On Board Bootcamp seminars, which help women and minorities to join corporate boards. For more information, visit www.onboardbootcamp.com.

Gurneeta Vasudeva, Ph.D. ’05, was awarded two of the world’s most prestigious dissertation awards for her work, How National Institutions Influence Firms’ Knowledge-Building Alliance Strategies:  A Longitudinal Study of Fuel Cell Technology Development. Vasudeva studied strategic management and public policy at GW’s School of Business and is now an assistant professor of strategy at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, India.

Valerie Yarashus, BA ’87, attorney, has been elected vice president of the Massachusetts Bar Association for the 2006-07 year, beginning on Sept. 1. Yarashus is a principal in the firm of Sugarman & Sugarman PC, where she concentrates in plaintiff’s trial practice and a wide variety of other general liability cases.