There’s a lot you can learn about where Brown has been and where it’s headed from more than 250 years of never-before-seen resignation letters written by trustees and fellows of the University’s highest governing body as they completed their terms.

During a talk at the historic Nightingale-Brown House last week (hosted by Kevin McLaughlin, director of the John Nicholas Brown Center for Advanced Study), Lauren Zalaznick '84, former Corporation member and author of “Letters from the Corporation of Brown University,” couldn’t have made that clearer.

Whether reading a heartfelt entry from a trustee who reflected on how financial aid from Brown changed his life or sharing accounts from members who marked the end of their terms amid times of social, cultural, or political unrest in the country, Zalaznick brought the collection of curated letters to life for attendees and encouraged them to see them as an opportunity to both demystify the Corporation and shed light on the power of a Brown education.

“I wanted to show juxtaposition and the throughline in history,” says Zalaznick. “It’s a guiding principle in leadership and really helps to articulate what makes Brown unlike any other University to the people who went here.”

Did you miss the event? Stay tuned for another talk organized by the Office of Alumni Relations with Zalaznick in the months ahead.

+ Learn more about “Letters from the Corporation of Brown University”: https://bit.ly/3R0i5xO

“The ice skating is a bit of a twist, given that it requires an extra level of precision in formation and movement in contrast to the band’s typical scramble style. But it reflects the band’s drive to be edgy and do the unexpected.” —Former Brown Band sousaphone player Brian Guest ’13

During a hockey matchup against Harvard last weekend, dozens of alumni spanning several decades took to the rink in Meehan Auditorium to join the Brown Band for its 55th annual Alumni Ice Show.

The ice show was just one of many special performances commemorating the band’s centennial. #BrownAlumni

📸: Nick Dentamaro | Brown University

Brown University Athletics’ annual career summit has served as a bridge between the past and present, allowing current student-athletes to learn from those who once stood in their shoes.

And this year’s gathering with members of the Brown University Football team was no different.

Nearly 60 accomplished football alumni working in healthcare, finance, management, real estate, technology, and other fields returned to campus to share practical advice on how they’ve forged successful careers and built meaningful connections after graduating from Brown.

The summit began with a keynote address by Will Burroughs ’05, a distinguished judge advocate general (JAG) officer for the U.S. Navy, who offered his unique vision about leadership and resilience. "Leadership is thinking about how to make someone’s day better," he said, shedding light on the power of empathy and teamwork in both professional and personal spheres.

The players later branched off into smaller breakout sessions, where they engaged in intimate discussions with alumni across various industries.

“One of the things every student should take away is not just how important the network is from a career development standpoint, but how important it is for you all to stay together during your four years on College Hill, and develop these bonds that are really gonna be a brotherhood for not just the four years you’re here, but the 40, 50, 60 years afterwards,” said Eric Hunt ’10.

A heartfelt thank you to the dedicated #BrownAlumni who shared their time and advice at the summit, and to the student-athletes whose enthusiasm made it a success.

📸 : Brown Athletics | Brown Bears

“I realized, at that moment—that first climb—that I was at the portal of this virtually unknown world.”

From programs in prisons to her own version of Barbie, pioneering ecologist Nalini Nadkarni ’76, “Queen of the Forest Canopy,” looks for ways to get us to connect with the arboreal world—and with one another.

+ Read more in the latest issue of Brown Alumni Magazine: bit.ly/4aUwc0W

📸: Christian Sinibaldi | #BrownAlumni

As part of Brown 2026, a campus-wide initiative that will mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, Tony and Grammy award-winning actor, writer, and producer Daveed Diggs ’04 joined Professor of Africana Studies Tricia Rose for a conversation about art, theater, and democracy.

Diggs is widely known for originating the dual roles of Thomas Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette in “Hamilton,” for which he won a Tony award. Throughout his creative career, he has continued to explore some of the questions at the heart of a pluralistic, democratic society, such as who counts, who participates, and why.

“This method of research to performance, and creating art and theater based on rigorous research of the things going on in society around you, searching for the ‘why’ and then figuring out a way to perform that — that was what really my performance experience at Brown University was about,” said Diggs. “Getting to come at it from that kind of perspective was a continuation of how I'd been growing up in the Bay Area and reaffirmed my already-existing value system on how we can create work that speaks to the moment — and that also was really fun.”

+ Read more: https://bit.ly/3E6xeL0

📸: Aiyah Josiah-Faeduwor

#BrownAlumni

Happy New Year to our community of #BrownAlumni, families, and friends!

“It shook up the rest of the Ivy League because entrepreneurship was embedded in the New Curriculum at Brown.” —Jamie Kiernan ’74

In the spring of 1974, Joe Martino ’74 and Jamie Kiernan ’74 approached professor emeritus Barrett Hazeltine, who was then the associate dean of the college, about the benefits of a managerial course at Brown that trains students to think through everyday problems that businesses face in the real world. Hazeltine welcomed their ideas, later developing ENGN 9: Management of Industrial and Nonprofit Organizations, now called ENGN 90.

“The real focus was on action and planning a strategy and a set of steps,” Hazeltine tells Brown Alumni Magazine. “That was different than most courses.” https://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/articles/2024-11-04/barrett-hazeltine-engn-9

Sparkling lights illuminate every corner of campus. ✨ #SceneAtBrown

In the spirit of the season, Brunonians came together to reconnect, share laughs, and spread holiday cheer at #BrownAlumni gatherings across the country and around the world.

📸 : Brown Club of Houston, Brown Club of Miami, Brown Club of New Jersey, Brown Club of DC, Brown Club of Charlotte, Brown Club of Japan, and the Brown Alumni Pride Association

As the daughter of immigrants whose father practiced medicine in a small Pennsylvania coal-mining town, Judy Jang ’03 MD’07 knew from an early age that she wanted to be a doctor—but she also loved visual arts and was interested in economics.

She chose The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University‘s Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME) so she could “do all of it.”

“It’s a unique privilege to be given the freedom of exploration in undergrad while still getting a taste of medicine and knowing that it is what you ultimately want to do,” said Jang, who now leads The Warren Alpert Medical School’s innovative program.

+ Read about Jang’s journey back to Brown in the latest issue of Medicine@Brown: https://bit.ly/4iaaOYx #BrownAlumni

From city streets to doctors’ offices and classrooms, the recipients of the 2024 Brown Medical Alumni Association Awards represent a range of achievements.

+ Read more: https://bit.ly/4fm9xLH

Brown Medical Alumni and Friends

Dry Bridge, one of the largest solar energy projects in Rhode Island, is on track to power nearly two-thirds of Brown’s 231 campus buildings.

The culmination of the project, to which Brown committed in 2018, marks a key milestone in the University’s commitment to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.

“The project underscores the need to ensure the University does all it can — through our physical plant and our leading-edge environmental research and scholarship — to contribute to global efforts to seek climate solutions and combat the threats posed by climate change,” said Brown President Christina H. Paxson. https://ecori.org/one-of-r-i-s-largest-solar-projects-to-help-brown-university-move-toward-net-zero-emissions/

Law, camera, action! 🎬

During a Q&A discussion organized by Brown’s Center for Career Exploration last week, Bryan Tallevi ’01 spoke to Brown students about his journey to broadcast law. As a legal executive at NBCUniversal, Tallevi oversees a team of professionals who are responsible for managing legal matters for Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and other programming.

But this isn’t Tallevi’s first encounter in the arts. At Brown, he played oboe in the orchestra, participated in various on-campus theater productions through Sock & Buskin and the Production Workshop, and served as the 2000-2001 chair of the Musical Forum.

“I worked with a lot of people who went to Brown in my field,” Tallevi told students. “There’s something special here. Tap into the network as much as you can.”

+ Learn more about the work of the Brown Career Center: https://bit.ly/3BtNW5q #BrownAlumni

As the International Mentoring Program (IMP) marked 25 years of cultivating a home away from home for students from outside the U.S., it also welcomed the University’s largest cohort of international undergraduate students to date.

It’s a milestone that IMP founder Maithili Parekh ’02 is especially proud of.

“In my sophomore year, we set up IMP with the hope that it would be a safe space where international students could feel a sense of belonging,” said Parekh, who returned to College Hill last month to deliver a keynote address at this year’s International Orientation. “I’m deeply honored to be here 25 years later celebrating what generations of international students have done to contribute to its growth.” #BrownAlumni

+ Learn more about IMP: https://bit.ly/4d2boE5

Brown student-athletes recently learned what it takes to excel on the field—and in the workplace—with a little help from former Brown Bears.

Last month, Brown Athletics partnered with the Brown Career Center to organize a student-athlete career summit that consisted of breakout sessions on career readiness, speed networking with alumni, and a special luncheon with female student-athletes and alumnae.

During the event, over 100 students connected with alumni working in marketing, business, healthcare, law, media, biotech, education, and finance. They also heard from Brown’s M. Grace Calhoun '92, vice president for athletics and recreation; former men’s track and field athlete Zachary Malet '10, a senior director of business development and innovation at ESPN; and keynote speaker Paris Dupree '11, a former U.S. Women’s National Lacrosse Team member who is now vice president and assistant general counsel of sports, entertainment, media, and brand at JPMorgan Chase & Co. #BrownAlumni

The Ivy Film Festival — a student-run festival held annually at Brown since 2001 — kicks off this week on College Hill with more than a dozen film screenings and discussions, including a conversation with director-producer Doug Liman ’88 (“Swingers,” “The Bourne Identity,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” “Edge of Tomorrow”).

Liman spoke about his filmmaking journey, AI in entertainment, creative risk-taking, and more.

+ Read about the 24th annual Ivy Film Festival: https://bit.ly/4cVch2w #BrownAlumni

It’s the first day of spring and we’re enjoying early signs of the season! 🌼

#BrownAlumni: What are some of your favorite spring traditions at Brown?