ñ

Life After Fire illustration for Occidental magazine, Spring 2025
Life After Fire
The Eaton and Palisades fires in January took their toll on members of the Occidental family, including students, alumni, faculty, and administrators. With a long rebuilding process ahead, they find strength and support among the...

Occidental magazine brings you campus news, in-depth features, and profiles of exceptional alumni. For the 2024-25 academic year, the magazine will publish two print and digital issues (Fall 2024 and Spring 2025) and one digital-only issue (Summer 2024).

SpringMag16_Shtulman
Associate professor of psychology Andrew Shtulman studies people's intuitive ideas about how the world works—and finds that people are usually wrong
SpringMag16_Asians
Oxy's international enrollment is booming, with Chinese students leading the charge. How are they adapting to Oxy—and how is Oxy adapting to their needs?
From Winter 2003: Dubbed the "Smiling Assassin" as a prosecutor, Jacqueline Nguyen '87 now wields a gavel as the first Vietnamese-American woman appointee to the California state judiciary
Undeterred by life's obstacles—including the 15 surgeries he's endured related to his rheumatoid arthritis—Professor Roger Boesche and wife Mandy share a love for the world, adventure, and...
A long-simmering debate over diversity and equity at Oxy came to a boil in November, with hundreds of students demanding institutional reform. As a new semester dawns with the promise of...
Oxy's 10th president—who died January 15—advanced the College to greater heights with a clear vision and a personal touch
Working with community partners and documenting the history of Northeast Los Angeles, Oxy's Special Collections fosters direct links to the classroom and the academic life of the College...
Before Kwame Do '16 became SCIAC's all-time rushing leader in football, he had to rekindle his love for the game. It's a good thing for Oxy that he did
Winter16_ThirdLA
With architecture critic and adjunct professor Christopher Hawthorne setting the agenda, Oxy's 3rd L.A. series brings the city into the conversation
Winter16_Kondracke
Biographer Mort Kondracke makes the case for Jack Kemp '57's legacy as a conservative for the ages
Winter16_Runoff
With the collection of his noir/horror comic book series Runoff into a single volume, Tom Manning '99 revisits the culture he grew up in, and the story he began at Oxy
Winter16_Kakehashi
Japan's Kakehashi Project promotes better understanding of its culture by sending 23 Oxy students to the Land of the Rising Sun
Winter16_BirmanMain
In addition to mentoring scores of geohydrologists, professor emeritus Joe Birman—who died at 91—loved his work, apple trees, and a well-turned limerick
Winter16_Axelrod2
Under the guidance of adjunct professor Jeremiah Axelrod, Occidental marshals its resources for a new Institute for the Study of Los Angeles
Winter16_Letters
Recalling the lessons of emeriti professors Joe Birman and Léon Dostert, and a plateful of memories from dining at Clifton's

Features

Life After Fire illustration for Occidental magazine, Spring 2025
Life After Fire
The Eaton and Palisades fires in January took their toll on members of the Occidental family, including students, alumni, faculty, and administrators. With a long rebuilding process ahead...
Assistant Professor Janna Ireland
Advanced Projects in Photography
With two exhibits opening simultaneously and a new teaching space at Oxy, Assistant Professor Janna Ireland navigates her burgeoning career as she parents two growing boys
Eddie Gorton ’01, Paul “PK” Kim ’98, and David Murphy ’02
Sitting Down With the Stand-ups
Paul “PK” Kim ’98, Eddie Gorton ’01, and David Murphy ’02 trace their comic odysseys from talent shows and laundromats to Thorne Hall and the Laugh Factory
Professor William D. Ward at his desk in the Hall of Letters on Occidental’s Highland Park campus.
Unseen Occidental
From 1898 to 1914, ñ called Highland Park home—and a treasure trove of photos from the 1910s offers a glimpse of campus life before the move to Eagle Rock
Filmmaker Angelina Lee '22
Farm to Film
Combining her interest in sustainability with her prowess behind the camera, Angelina Lee ’22 harvests a new documentary around permaculture

First Word

From the Quad

New tenure-track faculty at ñ, 2024-25.
All Paths Lead to Oxy
Hailing from China, India, Mexico, and all over the United States, Occidental’s newest cohort of tenure-track faculty embraces the liberal arts in Los Angeles
Chris Kim, the Choi Family Director of Instrumental Music, conducts the Occidental Symphony in a performance of Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature.”
The Sounds of Branca
A concert for the ages celebrates the generations-spanning clientele of music attorney John Branca ’72 and the launch of the John Branca Institute for Music
Members of the Pacific Crossings “Dream Team”: From left, Nakatsuka, Gilder Lehrman program coordinator Leah Baer, administrative assistant Thea Wilson ’24, and Hong.
Teachable Moments
Associate Professor Jane Hong and a “dream team” of educators bring 150 years of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander history into focus

Mixed Media

Terry Kitchen '81 performs "We All Dream."
Mixed Media
A host of new works by Oxy alumni explore explore themes of democracy, resilience, and human connection—as well as our fascination with horses, dragons, and ocean life
Carole MacNeil ’84 with her mom, Eleanor, in 2019.
Mixed Media
New books by Carole MacNeil ’84, Jessica C. Harris ’08, Jessica Keith ’00, Marsha de la O ’74, and the latest documentary short by César Martínez Barba ’17

Oxy Talk

Administrative Law Judge Brian Gee ’87
Judgment Calls
Separated by 2,700 miles, National Labor Relations Board administrative law judges Brian Gee ’87 and Ira Sandron ’71 find common ground in Oxy
As program director of Research Corporation for Science Advance- ment’s RCSA Fellows Initiative, Spain will support postdocs in physics, astronomy, and chemistry as they transition into their faculty careers.
To Chemistry and Beyond
After 28 years in the classroom and mentoring 74 students in her lab at Oxy, Professor Eileen Spain pivots to prepare future generations of faculty in the physical sciences

Last Page

Contact Occidental Magazine
Arthur G. Coons Administrative Center


Office of Communications F-36
1600 Campus Road
Los Angeles CA 90041-3314