CAMPUS CURRENT
Gates Exclusive MICROSOFT FOUNDER AND TECH VISIONARY INTRODUCED TO MUDD COMMUNITY
Commons. There he was treated to six presentations, chosen to align with Gates’ interests in global health and education, and HIV/AIDS research. Alice Conant ’12 discussed her work on a project called Energy for Health that connects access to vaccines and clean water in developing countries by utilizing cell phone technology. Other student presenters and their faculty advisors includ-
ed Athena Anderson ’11, Ashley Kretsch ’13 and chemistry Professor Karl Haushalter, “Lasting inhibition of HIV-AIDS by lentiviral-mediated delivery of small interfering RNA”; Brendan Folie ’11 and physics Professor Tom Donnelly, “Downsizing Fusion: Creating optimal conditions for laser- driven fusion”; and Wynn Vonnegut ’12, Sven Wijtmans ’12 and physics Professor Peter Saeta, “Enhancing absorption in thin-film solar cells.”
Bill Gates discusses HIV/AIDS research with Athena Anderson ’11, President Maria Klawe, Lisa Scherer of City of Hope National Medical Center, Prof. Karl Haushalter and Ashley Kretsch ’13.
Computer scientist and philanthropist Bill Gates spent four hours on the HMC campus Thursday, March 10, having a casual lunch with students, meeting with President Maria Klawe and listening to faculty and student research presentations. Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corp. and co-chair of the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation, arrived on the HMC campus at noon, the first stop during his visit to Claremont that also in- cluded an evening talk at Pomona College’s Bridges Auditorium. At HMC, Gates enjoyed an In-N-Out burger lunch (a
favorite of his) with six mathematics and computer science stu- dents at Garrett House. Sarah Ferraro ’12, a computer science major, said, “We shared a bit of our culture with him (prank stories, dorm life), and he was interested to hear about our aca- demics: classes, Clinic and future careers.”
Gates on education: “One of the great assets of the United States is the higher education system, including institutions like the ones here. It makes me optimistic about the future.”
The other HMC students in attendance at the lunch were
Samantha Mesuro ’12, Erin Coughlan ’14, Bea Metitiri ’12, Nicholas Card ’11, Maksym Taran ’12, Dan Fielder ’14 and Andrew Turner ’14. After lunch, President Klawe, who, as a member of the
board of Microsoft Corporation, was instrumental in bringing Gates to Claremont, escorted him to Hoch Shanahan Dining
6 Har vey Mudd College SPRING 2011
Gates on volunteering: “I also like to encourage people to think about picking a cause that affects the poorest in the world and learn about that and, ideally, some time when they’re young, get out and actually see it. That’s what draws you in and gives you the great picture of what’s going on, a sense of it. Most of these things, once you see them, you’ll have a lifelong commitment to want to make a difference.”
“It’s great to see the energy, the optimism,” Gates said of the presentations. “Some of the projects will succeed in having a meaningful impact.” Gates also met with faculty about HMC’s recent curriculum
revision and the College’s mathematics education outreach. Stu- dents Ryan Muller ’11, Neal Pisenti ’11, Jeffrey Burkert ’11, Chandler May ’11 and CIO Joseph Vaughan described Learn- stream, an innovative online learning platform. View Gates’ talk —co-sponsored by the Harvey Mudd Col- lege Annenberg Speaker Series and the Pomona College Distin- guished Speakers Series—online:
www.hmc.edu/specialinterest- features/innovators/
bill-gates-at-hmc.html.
College News
KEVIN MAPP
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