Williams College Announces New Administrative Appointments

12:00AM / Friday, September 29, 2006Print Story | Email Story

Williams College announces the following administrative appointments: Donald Brooks, athletic administrative and assistant coaching intern. Before coming to Williams, Brooks served as a graduate assistant coach at Springfield College and as athletic director at the New Leadership Charter School. Brooks received his B.A. in business management from Springfield College in 2002 and is working towards his Masters of Sport Management at Springfield. Stewart Burns, coordinator of community partnerships for the office of community service. Burns has been a visiting professor of leadership studies and history at Williams since 2004. He is the author of several books, including "To the Mountaintop: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Mission to Save America, 1955-1968," which won the 2005 Wilbur Award for excellence in communication of religious themes to a secular office. Burns received his B.A. in history from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1975 and his Ph.D. in history and politics from UC at Santa Cruz in 1984. Maria Cruz, registered dietician and nutrition educator. Cruz most recently served as the nutrition consultant at Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Mass. From 1991-93, she worked on maternal and child heath as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras. Cruz studied various health care methods at Maui School of Therapeutic Massage and then continued her training at the University of Wisconsin where she earned her B.S. in dietetics. Gretchen Eliason, database programmer in the office of information technology. Before coming to Williams, Eliason worked as a database analyst/developer at Aspen Technology in Cambridge, Mass. She earned her B.A. in English in 1990 and her Master of Science in computer information science in 1998 from Boston University. Susan Galli, library administrator. Galli earned her Associate of Science degree in computer science from Berkshire Community College in 1975. She recently worked for the Town of Williamstown as an administrative assistant. Galli volunteers with the Hospice of Northern Berkshire and coordinates the Meals Ministry Program for St. Patrick and St. Raphael parishes. Mevan Gunawardena, postdoctoral research fellow in physics. Gunawardena received his B.Sc. from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka in 1996 and his Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from Purdue University in 2006. At Purdue, he was awarded the Magoon Award for Teaching Excellence for 2005-06 and 2001-02. He is moderator of the Lanka Academic Network, a volunteer organization dedicated to providing academic opportunities for underprivileged students in Sri Lanka. Jennifer Hermanski, career counseling intern. Hermanski graduated from Williams in June with a B.A. in art history. As a student at Williams, she worked at Sawyer Library, the Williams College Museum of Art, and in the theatre department. She spent the fall semester of her junior year studying at the Siena School for Liberal Arts in Italy. Amy Johns, environmental analyst. Johns recently worked at the Center for Ecological Technology as a renewable energy and solid waste specialist and has been an Americorps volunteer with the Berkshire Conservation Team. She graduated from Williams with a B.A. in biology in 1998. Skye Johnson, web developer in the Office of Public Affairs. Johnson received her bachelor of information technology from the University of Ballarat, Australia in 2003. Before coming to Williams she was a freelance web designer and developer, having worked earlier for the Hi-Tek Data Corp and TehnoFrolics. Katharine Kamieniecki, campus life coordinator. She received her B.A. in political science from Goucher College in 2006. While at Goucher, Kamieniecki served as a resident assistant and then as a mentor resident assistant. She also interned in a Baltimore city councilman's office. Rodd Lanoue, assistant athletic trainer. Lanoue received his B.A. from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in 1998 and his M.A. in physical education from Western Michigan University in 2000. Before coming to Williams he was an instructor in athletic training and wellness, basketball and skiing at Delta College in University Center, Mich., and worked as an athletic trainer at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, Mich. Erika Noebel, assistant director of corporate and foundation relations. Noebel most recently worked with the Pueblo of Acoma as a tribal grant writer and with the New Mexico Coalition against Domestic Violence as a development consultant. She received her B.A. from Smith College in 2000. In 2001, she was awarded a Fulbright and spent the year studying in Norway. Noebel is working on her M.A. in international development at Antioch University. Liliana Rodriguez, assistant director of admission. Rodriguez received her B.A. from Williams College in 2001, her M.S. in clinical psychology from the University of Massachusetts in 2004, and is a candidate for a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Massachusetts. Before coming to Williams she worked for MainStreet Academix, a consultant to schools and organizations. Arif Smith, campus life coordinator. Before coming to Williams, Smith worked as a residential counselor with the Turning Point Center in Fort Collins, Colo., and served as an advisor with the Upward Bound Program at Colorado State University. He received his B.A. in psychology from Oklahoma State University in 2002. Kathleen Smith, alumni relations intern. Smith recently worked at the Museum of Modern Art in New York as an intern and then as a senior gift research coordinator. She graduated from Williams in 2003 with a degree in art history and practice. Following that, Smith studied under the sponsorship of MoMA at the Courtauld Institute of Fine Art in London during the summer of 2004. Joseph (Jody) Spooner, associate director of the Office of Career Counseling and director of fellowships and advance study advising. Spooner received his B.A. from Yale University in 1991 and his M.A. in American Studies from Florida State University in 1995. He has been director of the Office of National Fellowships at Florida State University and the Phi Theta Kappa advisor at Chipola College Marianna, Fla. Aram Stump, Hughes Research Fellow in bioinformatics, genomics, and proteomics. Stump has spent the last year as a research associate with the biology department of the University of Notre Dame. He received his B.S. from the University of Michigan in 1996, his M.S. in entomology from Michigan State University in 2000, and his Ph.D. in biological sciences from the University of Notre Dame in 2005. Robert Swann, assistant director of alumni relations and director of off-campus programs. Having spent four years as manager of program planning with the Discovery Health Channel, Swann was most recently a stay-at-home dad while pursuing freelance and volunteer opportunities in Williamstown and beyond. He received his B.A. in political economy from Williams in 1990 and continued his studies at American University where he earned his M.A. in producing film and video in 1997. Cynthia Way, director of education and visitor experience at WCMA. Way comes to Williams from positions as writer/editor for both the Education Alliance at Brown University and the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York. She has also served as the coordinator of community programs at ICP. Way received her B.A. from Brown University in 1989 and earned her M.F.A. in fiction writing in 1995 from Columbia University. Christine Williams, admission intern. She received her B.A. in English from Williams in June. As a Williams student, she served as personnel manager of Goodrich Coffee Bar, interned with Girvin and Ferlazzo, and played on the varsity softball team. Williams also represented the college on the Price is Right in 2006.

iBerkshires.com Text Ads

RIBCO Supply

Check out our great lineup of Boss Plows, and spreaders. 2 Locations Clarksburg & Pittsfield!

ribcosupply.com

rk MILES Blding Materials

Are You Ready to Update Your Home? Start With rk MILES. 4 Locations (800)670-7433

www.rkmiles.com

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

2025 Year in Sports: Mount Greylock Girls Track Was County's Top Story

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
08:43AM / Sunday, December 28, 2025

Mount Greylock Regional School did not need an on-campus track to be a powerhouse.

But it did not hurt.

In the same spring that it held its first meets on its new eight-lane track, Mount Greylock won its second straight Division 6 State Championship to become the story of the year in high school athletics in Berkshire County.

"It meant so much this year to be able to come and compete on our own track and have people come here – especially having Western Mass here, it's such a big meet,"Mounties standout Katherine Goss said at the regional meet in late May. "It's nice to win on our own track.”

A week later at the other end of the commonwealth, Goss placed second in the triple jump and 100-meter hurdles and third in the 400 hurdles to help the Mounties finish nearly five points ahead of the field.

Her teammates Josephine Bay, Cornelia Swabey, Brenna Lopez and Vera de Jong ran circles around the competition with a nine-second win in the 4-by-800 relay. And the Mounties placed second in the 4-by-400 relay while picking up a third-place showing from Nora Lopez in the javelin.

Mount Greylock's girls won a third straight Western Mass Championship on the day the school's boys team claimed a fourth straight title. At states, the Mounties finished fifth in Division 6.

View Full Story