Thanks to Sharon Howard

I just read about the amazing and loved Sharon Howard ’87 [former executive director of alumnae/i relations] leaving Wheaton after so many years. She was the most important mentor of my entire life and career.

I went to Wheaton in 1978 (when it was all women) with a dream based on the promise that we were women and we could do anything we set our minds to, and that it wasn’t just a man’s world.

My first month at Wheaton I met Sharon, who enchanted me with talk of my career and internship possibilities. She helped me keep an open mind to the arts, even though I thought of myself as an athlete who had no place in my life for creative expression. She would never tell me I was wrong; she would guide me to be flexible.

She helped me start a résumé, taught me how to interview, set me up with meetings with alums so I could learn about their careers. I had the best internships while living with alums in Boston and Washington, D.C. As a result of all this amazing exposure, I was able to narrow down my focus to a major in marketing. I went on to be marketing director at Ann Taylor, and international marketing director for Coach Leatherware, while having two children with my husband of 21 years (Sharon introduced us). If everyone could have someone care this much, the world would be a better place.

Deirdre Corcoran Foote ’82 

Remembering Professor Briggs

It was with sadness that I read of the death of Professor Edwin Briggs. As an English major, I remember him fondly, especially his sense of humor. I recall his discussion one day in class of graveyards, and how their quiet, reverent and contemplative atmospheres served as sanctuaries for many poets who found their inspiration there. He went on to say he wished that in order to accommodate these graveyard dreamers, upon his own passing, his grave marker would be a simple stone bench with the inscription, “Have a seat on Briggs.”

Jeanne Poznysz Dignan ’72

Good work!

In the winter issue of the Quarterly, we offered you all another code-breaking challenge, courtesy of Professor William Goldbloom Bloch: QZIAI  MYTVX  SIAQI  VELVX  SRIAS  ITACQ  ISZAL  BLNFL  WIAXC  LLVXQ  LRYTN  RATQR  LATAC  RAALU  TQRLA. One alum—Christina Nelson ’11—solved it first (and really fast). Eric Drewniak ’11 also solved it, as did Wheaton staffer Kathleen Bentley. It’s not surprising that both alums took Professor Bloch’s cryptography course their sophomore year.

Nelson wrote: “I received the Wheaton Quarterly and was excited to see the code-breaking challenge. I took Professor Bloch’s cryptography class my sophomore year, and I did my math senior seminar project on breaking codes. I’ve come up with the following: THE NEW MARS CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OPENS DOORS TO IMAGINATION AND INNOVATION. I am excited the Mars Center for Science and Technology is doing so well, but jealous I never got to use it!“