Margaret Waterman Alumnae Group

Town Hall: Wendy Schiller - "The Impact of Women in Politics"
2023-05-17 11:30 - 13:30 (America/Detroit) | WCC – Morris Lawrence Building, 4800 E Huron River Dr, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, United States
Dr. Wendy Schiller is Royce Family Professor of Teaching Excellence in Political Science, Professor of
Political Science, Professor of International & Public Affairs, and Director of The A. Alfred Taubman
Center for American Politics and Policy at Brown University. After graduating from The University of
Chicago (B.A. with Honors, Political Science), Dr. Schiller served on the staffs of Senator Daniel Patrick
Moynihan (D-NY) and Governor Mario Cuomo (D-NY). She earned her Ph.D. from the University of
Rochester, followed by fellowships at the Brookings Institution and Princeton University. At Brown, Dr.
Schiller teaches popular courses such as The American Presidency and Introduction to the American
Political Process. Books she has authored or co-authored include Gateways to Democracy: An
Introduction to American Government; and Partners and Rivals: Representation in U.S. Senate Delegations.
Dr. Schiller has published in academic journals, including the American Journal of Political Science,
Legislative Studies Quarterly, Studies in American Political Development, and the Journal of Politics. She
regularly speaks to local and national organizations on current and historical American politics.

Town Hall: Denise Budd - "The Groundbreaking Genius of Leonardo da Vinci"
2023-04-18 11:30 - 13:30 | WCC – Morris Lawrence Building, 4800 E Huron River Dr, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, United States
Art historian and renaissance expert, Denise Budd received her Ph.D. from Columbia University in
2002, and has taught art history courses over the past two decades at institutions such as Rutgers
University and Columbia University, where she was a Lecturer-in-Discipline of its renowned Core
Curriculum. A Leonardo da Vinci scholar and an “archival detective,” she has published articles based
on documentary evidence which serve to de-mythologize and humanize his exceptional genius.
Expert in all things Italian Renaissance, including other great masters such as Michelangelo and
Raphael, Dr. Budd has extended her research into the history of collecting and issues of cultural
preservation. Recognizing that the works of the distant past continue to be a vibrant part of our
lives today, she has served as director of the not-for-profit organization ArtWatch International, which
brings attention to the way we restore and treat our artistic heritage, as in the case of Michelangelo’s
Sistine Chapel Ceiling.
Dr. Budd has appeared on television’s A&E’s Biography speaking about Leonardo, and she lectures
throughout the U.S. and internationally, sharing her passion with art lovers and not-yet art lovers
alike.

Town Hall: Richard Bell - "The Two Harriets: Tubman and Beecher Stowe"
2022-11-16 11:30 - 13:30 | WCC – Morris Lawrence Building, 4800 E Huron River Dr, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, United States
Dr. Richard Bell is a scholar, writer, and teacher at the University of Maryland. Among his numerous
teaching awards is the University System of Maryland Board of Regents Faculty Award for Excellence
in Teaching, the highest honor for teaching faculty in the Maryland state system. British by birth,
Dr. Bell received a B.A. from the University of Cambridge and a Ph.D. from Harvard University. His
research focuses on the early history and culture of the United States between 1750 and 1877. Most
recent among his publications, Dr. Bell’s book Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped Into Slavery and Their
Astonishing Odyssey Home, received the National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar
Award.
Dr. Bell has held a research fellowship at Yale University’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of
Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition. He has also served as the Mellon Fellow in American History at the
University of Cambridge, among many other fellowships, and is currently an Andrew Carnegie Fellow.
He lectures on the C-SPAN television network and the Smithsonian Institution.

Town Hall: Carl Raymond - "Divas and Dinners: A Culinary Look at Opera"
2022-10-04 11:30 - 13:30 | WCC – Morris Lawrence Building, 4800 E Huron River Dr, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, United States
As a food historian, writer, and classical singer, as well as a professionally trained chef, Carl Raymond
brings together the worlds of food, history, literature, and opera. Mr. Raymond received his
culinary diploma from New York’s Institute of Culinary Education and studied further at the French
Culinary Institute. He speaks regularly on food history for such notable New York institutions as the
Metropolitan Opera Guild, the Royal Oak Foundation, as well as many other museums and cultural
institutions. Mr. Raymond has sung with the Opera Company of Boston under Sarah Caldwell and
appeared for five seasons as an actor with the Metropolitan Opera.
Mr. Raymond has taught culinary arts professionally since 2008. An experienced cookbook editor,
recipe developer, and food writer, he has worked for the Food Network, Conde Nast, and Rodale’s
Prevention magazine, as well as serving as a contributing writer for SAVORING GOTHAM: A Food Lover’s
Companion to New York City

Town Hall: Austin Sarat - Political Scientist, Author, and Teacher "Four Trials That Changed America"
2022-05-10 13:00 - 14:30 | Virtual Lecture, by Zoom
Austin Sarat is Associate Dean of the Faculty and the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College. He is also the Hugo L. Black Visiting Senior Faculty Scholar at the University of Alabama School of Law. Dr. Sarat earned a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin and a J.D. from Yale University Law School. At Amherst, Dr. Sarat founded both the Department of Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought and the Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities. A well-known author, teacher, and researcher, Dr. Sarat is also a pioneer in the development of legal study in the liberal arts, and the humanistic and cultural study of law. Dr. Sarat’s primary research interest is the use of the death penalty. His teaching has been featured in the New York Times and NPR’s Fresh Air, and one profile noted he is “one of the best loved professors at Amherst College.” Dr. Sarat has authored or edited more than 90 books including Mercy on Trial: What It Means to Stop an Execution, and is currently writing Hollywood’s Law: Film, Fatherhood, and the Legal Imagination. His writing has appeared in The Boston Globe and the Daily Beast, and he has been a commentator or guest on ABC World News Tonight, Al Jazeera America, The O’Reilly Factor, and NPR’s All Things Considered.

Waterman Board Meeting
2022-05-10 09:30, 2022-03-08 09:30, 2021-11-16 09:30, 2021-09-14 09:30, 2021-06-08 09:30 | Virtual Meeting, by Zoom
Zoom meeting; invitation will be sent to board members prior to the date.

Town Hall: Caroline Winterer - Historian and Author "The Genius of Ben Franklin"
2022-04-13 13:00 - 14:30 | Virtual Lecture, by Zoom
Caroline Winterer, the William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies at Stanford University, earned a Ph.D. in History from the University of Michigan. She specializes in American history before 1900, particularly the history of science, ideas, and political theory. Dr. Winterer has authored or edited five books, most recently Time in Maps: From the Age of Discovery to Our Digital Era, and is currently writing How the New World Became Old: The Deep Time Revolution in America. She has also written 33 refereed articles and book chapters, and has received numerous awards, including the Smithsonian Institution’s American Ingenuity Award for mapping Ben Franklin’s social network. She was elected to membership in the Society of American Historians for “literary distinction in the writing of history.” In addition to her endowed and public lectures throughout the U.S., Dr. Winterer can be heard on public media such as NPR, with popular presentations including, “The Remarkable Genius of Benjamin Franklin”; and “Unexplained History: What Historians Still Don’t Understand.”

Town Hall: Andrew Och - Television and Multimedia Producer "First Ladies: Influence and Image"
2021-11-10 13:00 - 14:30 | Virtual Lecture, by Zoom
Andy Och, an award-winning television and multimedia producer, has traveled the world with his pen, paper, and camera. A University of Maryland graduate, Och began his production career in music, later adding his camera to the mix. A storyteller from a young age, he will go anywhere in the world for knowledge, greater understanding, and a good story. Och is a true documentarian of life. For C-SPAN’s First Ladies: Influence and Image, he traveled widely to tell the stories of every First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS).
Through this unique and historical journey to learn about first ladies before, during, and after their time in the White House, Och has completed one of the most comprehensive collections of material and information about this unique sorority of women. Known as “The First Ladies Man,” Och brings a fresh look to an oft-overlooked subject in American history. Och cannot name a favorite FLOTUS, noting that “…their separate contributions need to be looked at as a whole because together they’ve helped sew the unique fabric of our country, and for that we’re extremely lucky.”

Town Hall: Kara Cooney - Egyptologist "The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt"
2021-10-19 13:00 - 14:30 | Virtual Lecture, by Zoom
Kara Cooney, a professor of Egyptian Art and Architecture at UCLA, specializes in craft production, coffin studies, and economies in the ancient world. Dr. Cooney earned a Ph.D. in Egyptology from Johns Hopkins University. She was co-curator of Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She also produced a comparative archaeology television series, Out of Egypt, which aired on the Discovery Channel, and is available online via Netflix and Amazon.
In The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut’s Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt, Dr. Cooney crafts an illuminating biography of a lesser-known female king. As an archaeologist who spent years at various excavations in Egypt, Dr. Cooney draws from the latest field research to fill in the gaps in the physical record of Hatshepsut’s reign as a woman in a patriarchal society. Her current research in coffin reuse, focusing on the 20th Dynasty, studies the socioeconomic and political turmoil that plagued the period, ultimately affecting funerary and burial practices in ancient Egypt. Over the span of six years, Dr. Cooney has studied and documented more than 300 coffins from collections in Cairo, London, Paris, Berlin, and Vatican City. She currently resides in Los Angeles.

UM Alumnae Council Virtual Meeting
2021-10-16 11:00 - 13:00 | Virtual Meeting, by Zoom
You’re invited to the VIRTUAL University of Michigan Alumnae Council Fall Meeting and program on Saturday, October 16, 2021.
Business Meeting – 11:00 a.m.
Program – 12:00/Noon
(The Zoom Link will be sent later.)
Join us as we honor Michigan’s National 2021 Championship Women’s Gymnastics Coach Bev Plocki
And save the date for the Spring Alumnae Council Meeting: April 2, 2022.

Town Hall: Sean Hartley
2021-05-19 13:00 - 14:30 | Virtual Lecture, by Zoom
“Musicals That Changed Broadway”
– Sean Hartley is the director of Theater@Kaufman, the musical theater division of the Kaufman Music Center. He curates, produces and often hosts the series Broadway Close Up and Broadway Playhouse. As a lyricist, composer and/or playwright his productions include Cupid and Psyche, Little Women (Syracuse Stage, Village Theater), Love and Real Estate (written with composer Sam Davis) and Snow, which won the ASCAP Harold Arlen Award for Best New Musical. He is currently writing lyrics for Prelude to a Kiss, based on Craig Lucas’s play, with book by Mr. Lucas and music by Daniel Messe. His works for television include songs for the Disney Channel’s The Book of Pooh and Bear In the Big Blue House. His theater works for children include Number The Stars (adapted from the Newbury Medal book by Lois Lowry), Sunshine (based on a book by Ludwig Bemelmans, music by John O’Neill) and Vashti!, and Holy Moses! (both with books by Bob Kolsby.) He is a proud member of the faculties of Special Music School, One Day University and Lucy Moses School.
(Note that if social distancing allows there may be a luncheon scheduled for this lecture)

Waterman Annual Meeting
2021-05-19 12:15 - 13:00 | Virtual Meeting, by Zoom
The meeting will be held on Zoom before the final 2020-21 Town Hall lecture.

Town Hall: Carol Berkin
2021-04-14 13:00 - 14:30 | Virtual Lecture, by Zoom
“Revolutionary Mothers”
– This former Presidential Professor of History brings the early days of our country to life as she examines the times, the issues and the personalities of our Founders. She explodes myths of the American Revolution, examines the evolution of the US Constitution from concept to passage, and sheds light on some early crises that actually put our new republic in peril. By gaining a better understanding of our country’s birth, audiences can extrapolate that knowledge to gain a better understanding of the issues of today. So many of the hurdles we face as a nation today are stunningly similar to the issues of the late 18th century.
(Note that if social distancing allows there may be a luncheon scheduled for this lecture)

Waterman Board Meeting
2021-03-09 09:30 - 11:30 | Ann Arbor District Library – Pittsfield Branch, 2359 Oak Valley Dr., Ann Arbor, MI, 48103

Town Hall: Joseph Luzzi
2020-11-17 13:00 - 14:30 | Virtual Lecture, by Zoom
“The Power of Literature in a Time of Crisis”
– Joseph Luzzi is an award-winning author and widely sought after speaker whose recent books include My Two Italies, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and In a Dark Wood: What Dante Taught Me About Grief, History, and the Mysteries of Love, a Vanity Fair “Must-Read” selection. He received his PhD from Yale and is Professor of Comparative Literature at Bard College. An active critic and cultural commentator, Luzzi’s essays and reviews appear frequently in the New York Times, Times Literary Supplement, and Chronicle of Higher Education, among many others. His presentation topic is From Twain to Toni Morrison: A Literary Journey Through America.

Waterman Board Meeting
2020-11-10 09:30 - 11:30, 2020-09-09 09:30 - 23:30 | TBD

Town Hall: Colin Woodard
2020-10-06 13:00 - 14:30 | Virtual Lecture, by Zoom
“American Nations: The Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America”
– An award-winning author and journalist whose books include American Nations: A History of The Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America, which was named a book of the year by The New Republic and The Globalist and won the Maine Literary Prize for Non-Fiction, and The Republic of Pirates: Being The True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down, a New York Times bestseller. A longtime foreign correspondent, he reported from more than 50 foreign countries and seven continents for The San Francisco Chronicle, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Chronicle of Higher Education before joining the staff of the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram, where he won a 2012 George Polk Award was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting.

TBD Waterman Board Meeting
2020-06-09 09:30 - 11:30 | Zion Lutheran Church, 1501 W Liberty St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48103, United States
First meeting of newly elected board will be held when and how circumstances permit. Look for a meeting announcement by email.

CANCELLED Waterman Annual Meeting
2020-05-13 10:15 - 11:30 | WCC – Morris Lawrence Building, 4800 E Huron River Dr, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, United States
For all Waterman members. Election of new board and review of the year.

Waterman Board Meeting
2020-03-10 09:30 - 11:30, 2019-11-12 09:30 - 11:30 | Zion Lutheran Church, 1501 W Liberty St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48103, United States

Waterman Member Social Event - Authors/Illustrators Michael and Colleen Monroe
2019-11-19 11:30 - 13:30 | Paesano Restaurant, 3411 Washtenaw Ave, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
For Waterman members and their guests. Enjoy a great lunch followed by a presentation by Michigan’s own Michael and Colleen Monroe. Their books will be available for purchase…great gifts for children.
Cost: $45 per person. Questions and RSVPs to Sue Holdaway-Heys.

Town Hall: Tina Rivers Ryan - Art Historian and Critic
2019-11-13 11:30 - 13:30 | WCC – Morris Lawrence Building, 4800 E Huron River Dr, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, United States
Art Historian Tina Rivers Ryan is currently Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, NY. Dr. Ryan earned a B.A. from Harvard, three Master’s Degrees, and a Ph.D. from Columbia, and specializes in art from the 1960s to present day, with a focus on the uses of new media technologies. She has taught at the Museum of Modern Art, the Pratt Institute, and Columbia, where she was one of the top-ranked instructors of the introductory course, Art Humanities: Masterpieces of Western Art. A regular critic for Artforum, her writing has also appeared in periodicals such as Art in America and Art Journal, and in catalogs published by museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Walker Art Center, and the Tate. As a public speaker and scholar, Dr. Ryan has delivered lectures on topics ranging from Michelangelo to Warhol in more than 50 international cities.

Waterman Member Social Event - Author Sharon McRill: Downsizing the Silver Tsunami
2019-10-29 10:00 - 11:30 | Ann Arbor City Club, 1830 Washtenaw Ave, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104, United States
For Waterman members and their guests. Sharon McRill, owner and president of the Betty Brigade, an organization and relocation company in Ann Arbor, will discuss her work and book “Downsizing the silver tsunami: who to call and where does the stuff go?” Cost is $30 and includes her best-selling book. Space is limited; please reserve early by contacting Sue Holdaway-Heys. (view event flyer)

Town Hall: James Delgado, Underwater Explorer, Archaeologist, Journalist and Historian
2019-10-15 11:30 - 13:30 | WCC – Morris Lawrence Building, 4800 E Huron River Dr, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, United States
James Delgado, maritime archaeologist, has spent decades in the fascinating world of underwater exploration, from diving in the shallows to supervising cutting-edge modern expeditions that have spanned the seven seas. He has worked on some of the most famous shipwreck sites in history, such as the RMS Titanic and the USS Arizona. His expeditions have solved long-standing undersea mysteries, brought closure to families, and connected the modern world with powerful, human stories from the past.
Within the span of his career, Mr. Delgado has hosted the popular TV show, The Sea Hunters; was the Director of the Maritime Heritage Program at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); and is currently the Senior VP of SEARCH, Inc. He is the author of more than 30 books, numerous magazine and newspaper articles, and is a frequent TV guest on breaking news stories.
