Admission
A Community of Cultures
Alumni of Color
We are proud of our alumni. Below you’ll find a list that highlights a few of our graduates of color.
Alea Adigweme '06 graduated in Russian. As a Reed student, Alea was a DJ at KRRC, Reed’s radio station, and wrote a weekly entertainment column for the student newspaper. She also served a year term as a student body senator. She had many jobs on campus including working in the mail room, assisting her thesis advisor, working in the library and interning in the admission office.
Andrea Brambila '06 wrote her thesis in anthropology entitled Roots and Wings: Reconstructing the Past in Two American Danza Azteca Groups. While at Reed, she was active in the Latino Student Union and helped spearhead the first annual !Zapata Vive! Portland Festival. Andrea also studied abroad in France, participated in the Peer Mentor Program both as a mentee and mentor, and was deeply involved with SEEDS (Reed’s community service programs). She is an intern at Oregon Public Broadcasting in their Radio News Department as the Jon R. Tuttle Minority Intern.
Beverly Lau '06 wrote her Reed senior thesis, Constructing a Magneto-Optical Trap, in the physics department. Always an active member of the Reed community, Beverly spent her time out of class as a dorm host for the admission office, on the Gray Fund Committee, and tutoring other students in physics. She is now on her way to getting a Ph.D. in medical physics at the University of Chicago.
Ritesh Nath '05 is finishing up a masters program in health science from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, focusing on international health, specifically disease prevention and control. At the end of the program, Ritesh heads to Mauritania for a two-year stint with the Peace Corps to work on water and sanitation projects.
Anees Ahmed '04 is a first-year medical student at Charles University, in Prague. Anees’ biology thesis addressed gene overexpression and “barley yellow dwarf virus” -programmed stop-codon readthrough in yeast.
Jennifer Fang '04 studied history while at Reed and researched the intersection of culture, gender, and race in the 20th century. Her studies culminated in a Reed senior thesis on American weddings during the Cold War. She is currently a Hagley Fellow at the University of Delaware working towards her Ph.D. in history and a museum studies certificate.
Ravi Sekhon '04 is a graduate student in material science at the University of Arizona. He’s been involved with a project with the nanotechnology research group that is using proteins from living cells to "grow" wires on microchips. He is responsible for metallizing microtubules with copper, characterizing the metallized microtubules and measuring their conductivity. Ravi’s physics thesis researched the quantized conductance of a break junction.
Rachel Wilch '04, anthropology major, is on a year-long leave from MIT’s city planning program to work in New Orleans, surveying post-Katrina community organizing for the Unitarian Universalist Church’s philanthropic group responsible for responding to humanitarian crises. She’s working on marshalling resources for the neighborhood planning process and generally learning about the rich culture of New Orleans as the city rebuilds.
Ligaya Beebe '03 is working towards a second master’s degree in the social sciences at the University of Chicago. A religion major at Reed, Ligaya went on to get a master’s of science in education at St. John’s University in Queens, New York, where she also taught special needs students.
Crystal Chaw '02 gained some notoriety in the biology world with her senior thesis on the development of spider eggs. She presented her research at the American Arachnological Society’s conference in 2003 with Steve Black, her advisor in the biology department. In 2006, Crystal was awarded a fellowship from the National Science Foundation and is continuing to work on this topic with professor Black. She will start work in a doctoral program in biology at the University of California, Berkeley in the fall.
Patty Hsue '02, a biology major, was the inspiration for Reed’s Peer Mentor Program, a program that serves under-represented students at Reed. Her efforts to make change at Reed have had long lasting effects; the Peer Mentor Program is currently in its fifth year. After working as a legal case assistant, she is now studying law at Northwestern and hopes to move into education reform in the future.
James Chavez '01 is a law student at University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall) where he was an articles editor on the Berkeley La Raza Law Journal, a member of student government, and co-director of the La Raza Workers' Rights Clinic. As a Reed student, James was selected for the Walter Mintz Economics Scholarship as well as the Gerald M. Meier Award for Distinction in Economics. James's thesis, Understanding Mexican migration to the United States: determinants of the repatriation of earnings, investigated international migration theory, patterns, policy, law and history.
Jason Martinez '01 is a Graduate Research Assistant in physics at Old Dominion University. He now studies theoretical atomic and plasma physics. At Reed, Jason did his thesis research on the quantum features of wave packets.
Juan Arellano '00 wrote his thesis in the political science on the question "Is Mexico a Democracy?" He then received the Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship through the State Department to attend Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and received his Masters in 2005. After interning at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan for three months, Juan officially joined the U.S. Foreign Service. He is now posted as vice-consul at the consulate in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and is working in the immigrant visa section.
Kevin Dilley '99 is the Educational Programs Specialist at the Cornell Center for Materials Research Educational Programs Office. Kevin studied the mechanics of a scanning tunneling microscope in physics at Reed. After graduating from Reed, Kevin taught physics in Gambia with the Peace Corps for two years.
Misha Hutchings '98 wrote her linguistics thesis on joint national language planning in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei Darrusalam. She was Gray Fund Chair, and worked as a dorm parent and admission intern. Misha now volunteers as an alumni interviewer. She is currently a graduate student at the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at University of California, San Diego, studying international environmental policy, with a focus on water and natural resources management issues, particularly in Southeast Asia. Misha is also a carnaval dancer with CubaCaribe, a San Francisco-based Afro-Cuban cultural organization.
Dr. Shareen Joshi '98, studied in economics and mathematics at Reed. She is a post doctorate Research Fellow in economics, at the University of Chicago. She received her Ph.D. from Yale and a John and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation grant in 2005. In 2001, Shareen was a consultant for the World Bank. In her free time, Shareen practices traditional Indian music and dance.
Graham Jones '97 is currently at New York University working toward a Ph.D. in anthropology and French. He was awarded both a Fulbright Fieldwork award and a Social Science Research Council International Dissertation Research Fellowship in 2005. After studying literature at Reed, Graham spent two years in Washington, D.C. teaching high school English.
Smith Banomyong '96 is the Vice President for the Global Relationship Banking Institutional Banking Group with Citigroup/Citibank. Hence it should be no surprise that his senior thesis in economics studied the effect of economic integration on technology transfer to developing countries. He lives in Bangkok, Thailand.
Mark Chen '96 studied studio art while at Reed. His senior thesis focused on a virtual tour of part of Reed’s Eliot Hall. His thesis project reflected a strong interest in game design and the meeting of art and technology, which he pursued professionally after Reed. Mark now works as a teacher’s assistant in the Teacher Education Program at the University of Chicago.
Greg Lam '96 studied political science at Reed. His senior thesis was Wicked Games: an Experimental and Theoretical Examination of Free Riding and Costly Communication. Games of all kinds are Greg’s passion. When he is not working on graphic design and web design, Greg spends his free time gaming and writing.
Bakul Soman '96 majored in economics at Reed. Her senior thesis focused on the existence of credit markers in India. Bakul is now a network engineer at Terra Lycos, Inc.
Robin Gordon '94 was a dance/theatre major at Reed. Since graduating and earning an MFA in New Works from The Ohio State University, Robin Gordon pursued a career in professional theatre. She works as the artistic administrator and an actor for the Contemporary American Theatre Company in Columbus, Ohio. Last season she performed the role of Maggie in Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and this season she’ll play a sea creature in Edward Albee's Seascape. In addition to stage work, she’s been shooting commercials including ads for West Virginia tourism, Panasonic, and, most recently, Subway. Also an educator, Robin has taught at Ohio State University, University of Toledo, Clark State College, The Wellington School, and Otterbein College, where she currently teaches acting.
Esteban Gutierrez '94 studied linguistics and psychology at Reed, focusing on attempts to understand how patterns of language flow in the mind. Now he's focused on finding patterns in the chaos of the Internet, searching for signs of hackers and malicious code in the data streams. Having worked in the Department of Defense world doing computer network defense for many years, he now works in the world of fortune 100 corporations doing information security architecture, design and forensics. He attributes his success in the information security world to his curiosity, his eagerness to question, and his willingness to read the manuals, all of which were encouraged by Reed.
Afshin Feiz '91 is a Paris-based fashion designer with roots in Iran. His early years in London and Vancouver as well as his time spent studying French at Reed have allowed him to draw on many cultures for his couture line. These influences can be seen in his recent collection, “The Butterfly Catcher,” which is inspired, in part, by Persian poetry and his Iranian background.
Mingus Mapps '90 investigated the symbolic construction of men in rape trials for his political science senior thesis. He’s since moved to the other side of the country, where he’s an assistant professor of Africana studies and government at Bowdoin College. His research looks at race-based redistricting and Black representation in state legislatures.
Nancy Osa '88 wrote Cuba 15 (2003), a novel that one reviewer described as “a well-written novel about a girl coming of age amongst the pulls of Cuban and Polish families.” Osa currently resides in Portland, Oregon. She penned her first novel as a Reedie… it was her senior thesis for the English department.
Gabriela F. Arredondo '87 majored in history and wrote her thesis on Fernand Braudel. She subsequently earned a Ph.D. in history from The University of Chicago. Currently she is Associate Professor of Latin American & Latina/o Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Dr. Arredondo is the author of Mexican Chicago: Race, Identity and Nation, 1916-1939 (2007) and co-editor of/Chicana Feminisms: A Critical Reader (2003). Most recently she has been awarded a research fellowship at the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Stanford University for 2007-2008.
Dr. Michael Mercy '87 studied biology and chemistry at Reed, and went on to study medicine at Johns Hopkins. He was the chairman and medical director of the emergency department at St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, and is currently on staff at three hospitals. Dr. Mercy serves on many boards including the Idaho Black History Museum board of directors and the board of Albertson College. He is also an adjunct faculty member at the University of Washington.
Justice Alex J. Martinez '73 currently serves on the board of trustees at Reed College. He has been a Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court since his appointment in 1997. Justice Martinez has received many honors and awards, such as being named the Outstanding Professional by both the Pueblo Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association. He has also served on many boards and committees including the board of directors of Servicios de la Raza, a social service agency, and the University of Colorado Law School Alumni board of directors. In his spare time Justice Martinez likes to spend time with his family and keep active with running, cycling, or racquetball.
Frank Wilson '71 graduated from Columbia Law School in 1974 and has
since worked for the federal government in varied capacities; first with
the General Counsel's Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission
and then with the United States Department of Justice in Oregon andHawaii. Wilson has now spent 20 years with the Department in Spokane,
Washington. He is proudest of his accomplishment as a parent
of four intelligent, curious, lifelong learners who are college students
and recent graduates across the country.
Tamim Ansary '70, an Afghan-American intellectual and writer, spoke to the graduating class of 2006 at Reed College’s commencement in May. His book, West of Kabul, East of New York (2002), showed his thoughtful understanding of the interaction between Islam and the West in both the pre and post 9/11 worlds. He soon became a public voice in the discourse because of his bi-cultural past. In his concluding remarks at the commencement, his advice to the class of ’06 was, “Do not let someone else write the story of your life.”
Linda G. Howard '70 has been a member of the board of trustees since 1988. At Reed she studied mathematics, but went on to study law at the University of Virginia. She has had many accomplishments in her outstanding career, including work as a White House staff member in the Carter administration, legal counsel to Hunter College, and civil rights lecturer. Now, Linda is the administrative assistant corporation counsel for the city of New York. Linda has this to say about Reed, “At other schools serious students are distinguished and treated differently from the rest of the students. Reed is a school of serious students being taken seriously by the faculty.”
