Boston College

Some 425 students from 67 countries on six continents enter Boston College this semester—90 as undergraduates, 185 in graduate programs, and 150 in non-degree programs—an increase of nearly 50 percent over last year’s international enrollment, according to Adrienne Nussbaum, director of the Office of International Students and Scholars. Fifty-eight students from the People’s Republic of China constitute the largest contingent. Other well-represented nations include South Korea with 47 new students, France with 33, Australia with 25, India and Italy each with 21, Canada with 17, and the Dominican Republic with 12. All took part in the University’s four-day International Student Orientation Program, held from August 23 to 26. It included greetings from President William P. Leahy, SJ, and faculty, as well as introductions to University systems and facilities, the sights and sounds of Boston, and the culture of American campus life.

In addition to carbon dioxide gas, aerosols—tiny particles suspended in the air—influence climate change and public health, according to chemistry professor Paul Davidovits, who for more than 15 years has worked in partnership with Aerodyne Research, Inc. studying the complex behavior of soot particles in the atmosphere. Some 20 researchers from across the country came to the Davidovits Labs in the Merkert Center at Boston College during the month of July to share and test new research technologies aimed at analyzing aerosol particles by mass, shape, chemical composition, and even the sound they make as they become warm. Above, on July 18, graduate student Eben Cross (left) and Aerodyne’s Timothy Onasch work in the lab using newly developed apparatus that generates uniform soot particles and analyzes their behavior and interactions. “Measuring the many forms of atmospheric aerosols has led researchers to invent their own devices,” said Davidovits. “The challenge now is to fine-tune those instruments in concert with each other in order to set reliable scientific benchmarks for future study.”

On the evening of July 21st, the planning committee of Reconnect, the first-ever AHANA reunion, met at Alumni House on Newton Campus. The group, composed entirely of alumni and chaired by Boston College Trustee Keith Francis ’76, has been meeting monthly since April and is tasked with coordinating the largest gathering of AHANA alumni in Boston College history. The reunion, according to Francis, is designed to reconnect AHANA alumni to the University, and encourage them to become active in local Alumni Association chapters and engage in gift-giving to the University. The meeting featured a presentation by Ines Maturana Sendoya, director of the Office of ANANA Student Programs, about her office’s contributions to Reconnect, as well as programming and budget discussions. Pictured above (from left) are Juan Concepcion ’96, JD’03, MBA’03; Stalin Colinet ’96; Dan Bunch ’79, MSW’81, director of the Learning to Learn program; Donald Garnet ’77; and Dawn McNair ’82, M.Ed.’83. Reconnect is scheduled for July 17¬–19, 2009.