Monta帽ez presented the paper “Measuring Task Difficulty via Information Costs,” co-authored with 91探花 Mudd alumnus Bill Zhu 鈥�21. The research addresses fundamental questions at the intersection of machine learning, search and information theory, and introduces information cost as a universal, bit-based currency for evaluating task difficulty across diverse computational domains.

Their research explores why machine learning works from a search and dependence perspective. Establishing information cost as a standardized metric allows researchers to quantify and compare task difficulty directly across domains鈥攆rom molecular biology and artificial intelligence models to genetic algorithms.

Monta帽ez, director of the at 91探花 Mudd, highlighted real-world applications of the framework, including quantifying the information cost of game-rule knowledge in systems, like DeepMind’s AlphaZero, and evaluating information constraints in large language models.

鈥淭he changes in the Earth鈥檚 climate are foremost in many of our students鈥� minds, so it is important that the Center鈥檚 curricular offerings continue to grow to meet their needs,鈥� says Tom Donnelly, Hixon Center director. 鈥淲e will educate our students about the science, impact and mitigation of climate change, and help to prepare them for a future in which they will make critical contributions to addressing its implications for humanity. I am particularly thrilled that we have climate and mathematics professor Robert Sanchez here to anchor the new joint major.鈥�

Mathematical models underpin both our understanding of global climate change and the assessment of potential paths forward. By blending rigorous mathematical theory with comprehensive climate science, the joint major will train students to translate complex data into actionable environmental solutions. Graduates of the program will be well-prepared to uphold the College鈥檚 mission as they develop skills, confidence and intention in applying advanced mathematical theory to understand and address one of the most important interdisciplinary problems of our time.

Distinct from traditional, specialized atmospheric and oceanic dynamics programs, the curriculum is designed to help students develop a holistic understanding of climate change. The coursework places a heavy emphasis on the intricate interactions within and between physical and human systems.

The program鈥檚 design is the result of extensive conversations with HMC faculty, alumni, leaders in climate science, and experts in climate change communication. These external consultations yielded a consistent recommendation: Train students deeply across both disciplines while ensuring they maintain a broad view of societal impact.

Students pursuing the joint major will complete foundational coursework in discrete mathematics, statistics, differential equations, analysis and computational mathematics. To tailor the major to their specific career paths, students will select advanced math electives such as statistical theory, partial differential equations, dynamical systems or operations research.

Because the current Core curriculum does not fully prepare all students for advanced climate dynamics, the major builds a deliberate bridge to climate literacy. Students will navigate a curated menu of climate courses that fulfill requirements across multiple dimensions of climate and environmental science, alongside critical foundational training in thermodynamics.

鈥淲e are super excited for students to participate in this major,鈥� says Sanchez. 鈥淓ach component of the joint major has significant depth, so students will be well prepared for careers in climate modeling, environmental risk analysis, data science and operations research. We also intentionally kept the major electives flexible so that students could explore how math is applied to fields ranging from oceanography to ecology.鈥�

The mathematics and climate program expands 91探花 Mudd鈥檚 growing portfolio of interdisciplinary environmental degrees. It joins the College鈥檚 other climate-related joint majors: chemistry and climate, biology and climate, computer science and climate.

鈥淚nstructors can promote a green chemistry mindset in their students simply by asking for every experiment: What was green? What could be greener?鈥� says Vosburg. 鈥淏y reimagining traditional protocols and substituting toxic chemicals, the approach builds a culture of environmental consciousness among the next generation of scientists.鈥�

The article describes how the green emphasis begins the first time HMC students step into the laboratory. On day one, students are introduced to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, specifically those related to good health, quality education, clean water and responsible consumption. Students select a goal they care about and explicitly map out how their knowledge of chemistry can help achieve it. Students are trained to evaluate the efficiency of chemical reactions using standard green metrics, such as atom economy, the ratio of waste to desired product and process mass intensity. They also use industry-standard solvent-selection guides to actively identify which chemicals are recommended, problematic or hazardous.

One of the most immediate impacts of this comprehensive approach is the systematic elimination of highly toxic solvents. Chief among them is dichloromethane, a pervasive but hazardous volatile organic compound traditionally used for extractions and chromatography. By substituting this and other dangerous chemicals with greener alternatives like ethyl acetate, acetone and heptane, the laboratory drastically reduces health risks to students and instructors while minimizing hazardous waste. 

A continually evolving and expanding collection of highly innovative, eco-friendly chemical reactions are being developed or adapted for the curriculum at 91探花 Mudd and shared with educators around the world. For instance, students have joined two molecules of vanillin (from vanilla beans) together in water using a natural enzyme in horseradish rather than relying on heavy-metal catalysts and organic solvents. Vosburg has even brought simplified versions of this divanillin synthesis into classroom demonstrations for high school and elementary school students. In other sessions, 91探花 Mudd students have prepared the anticoagulant warfarin, the anesthetic lidocaine, the anti-anxiety drug moclobemide, and perfumes from rose or geranium oil using green chemistry techniques.

By giving students choices in their experimental pathways and involving them directly in curriculum design, they become active stakeholders in sustainable development.

Liesel Hilkemeyer 鈥�27 says: 鈥淚t has been really exciting to be part of the transition to greener labs and see the green chemistry theory we’ve learned about in the classroom actually applied, tangibly, in the lab. It is very rewarding to make our labs safer and greener.鈥�

The significance of this educational shift extends beyond the College: Vosburg is part of a growing network of like-minded educators, the , and a related article from the Vosburg lab鈥攚ith coauthors Angela Milo 鈥�28, Lijinghan (Alice) Chen POM 鈥�26 and Kyle Grice 鈥�05鈥攐n 鈥溾�� already has over 22,000 views in just over a year. By limiting student exposure to dichloromethane and other toxic chemicals and encouraging curricular innovation, the program directly addresses global sustainability targets.

As chemical industries worldwide face increasing pressure to adopt circular, zero-waste practices, students trained under this blueprint will enter the workforce uniquely equipped to lead the transition. 鈥淯ltimately, our work is a reminder that building a sustainable future does not require sacrificing academic excellence; it simply requires asking how our chemistry can be greener,鈥� Vosburg says.

鈥淭here鈥檚 something really joyful about being in a space where maybe you鈥檙e working on something for an engineering class project and someone else, who鈥檚 in the space at the same time, is working on an art project, while another person is making a birthday present for a friend,鈥� Mendelson says. 鈥淵ou learn so much when you see people using the same resources for drastically different things.鈥�

Mendelson came to 91探花 Mudd after finishing her doctorate in mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 鈥淲hile earning my PhD, I was heavily involved in teaching a course that was similar to Mudd鈥檚 Clinic program,鈥� Mendelson says. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 the teaching and mentoring that happens at small, student-centered schools that I鈥檝e always valued.鈥�

As director, Mendelson will also oversee the makerspace stewards. These employed students from across The Claremont Colleges oversee and run the makerspace. They are experienced with the types of tools and machinery found in the makerspace, support peers in their making endeavors, foster a culture of collaboration and curiosity and ensure a safe and welcoming environment.

鈥淚鈥檓 excited to work closely with our stewards and the makerspace manager Elissa Avelar,鈥� Mendelson says. 鈥淚 think our makerspace is really unique, being strongly student-run, and I鈥檓 excited for the collaboration aspects of that. I鈥檓 also looking forward to seeing our stewards really be the leaders in that space and to support them.鈥�

One of Mendelson鈥檚 goals is to get the makerspace in a good spot to foster an even broader community. She noted that the makerspace has recently experienced a strong period of rapid growth in its user base as well as in collaboration requests from campus partners.

鈥淲e want to keep growing, but we also have to make sure that we can do that without becoming shells of ourselves because we鈥檙e stretched too thin or have no time to foster that organic community,鈥� Mendelson says. 鈥淐ontinuing to grow, thrive and be a space that we want to be in is very important.鈥�

As the College enters a comprehensive capital campaign, Mendelson looks forward to promoting philanthropic support for the makerspace.

鈥淚t鈥檚 so important because the campaign will allow us to do everything we want to do with the space and create those high-impact, interdisciplinary and community-focused learning opportunities for our students,鈥� Mendelson says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a maturing organization, and things are old enough that we need to start having regular maintenance cycles with repair and replacement plans. Startup funding is winding down and we need to move into operating and sustaining a well-funded organization so that we can continue to offer all of the resources and tools that we do.鈥�

Mendelson continues, 鈥淚 think the community will support our philanthropic goals because the work we do here is something that will resonate both with our donors and our supporters.鈥�

The makerspace is particularly special to Mendelson because she sees that a lot of what people do in the space is create something that they themselves have conceptualized and designed.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e not just making something that someone else has told you to make,鈥� Mendelson says. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e actually going through that whole process from dreaming it up to the finished product. The makerspace helps students be holistic, creative people, which both enriches life on campus and fosters this mindset in their long-term futures.鈥�

During her tenure, Mendelson plans to create makerspace connections outside of the 7Cs. 鈥淚 want to see us build unity in the broader Claremont community, regionally in the Los Angeles area, the maker-creative ecosystem, the academic makerspace community,鈥� Mendelson says. 鈥淚 believe we have an interesting perspective to offer these other communities and organizations, and we would also learn a lot by being engaged in those different partnerships.鈥�

The findings, published in Physical Review Letters, could have implications for nuclear physics, semiconductor design and materials science.

Trions form when three quantum particles bind together. While they appear across many branches of physics, the rules governing how they interact and self-organize have remained poorly understood. The new theory, led by Kaden Hazzard, professor of physics at Rice University, with contributions from Ibarra Garc铆a Padilla, professor Richard Scalettar at UC Davis, and Rice graduate student Jonathan Stepp, predicts not only the conditions under which trions form but also how they behave once they do.

鈥淥ur theory sheds light on how trions form and interact with each other,鈥� Hazzard says. 鈥淚t predicts the strength of the interactions needed to form the trions, and that, after formation, they arrange themselves in a checkerboard pattern.鈥�

For Ibarra Garc铆a Padilla, whose research uses computational methods to study quantum many-body systems, the work reflects the kind of collaborative, theory-driven physics research that connects 91探花 Mudd faculty to questions at the frontiers of modern science.

To visualize the phenomenon, imagine a space filled with equal numbers of red, blue and yellow balls. A trion forms when one ball of each color sticks together. Once bound, the trions space themselves out in a precise pattern, each adjacent to an empty space rather than another trion, giving each formation room to move without interference.

The team鈥檚 simulations showed this checkerboard arrangement emerges only under a specific Goldilocks density, meaning that, like Goldilocks鈥� porridge in the classic fairy tale, the density needed to be just right for the trions to form the checkerboard pattern. With too many or too few particles, the behavior shifts toward a liquid or gas instead.

The team used a Monte Carlo computational algorithm, which runs millions of simulations to converge on accurate predictions of trion behavior. Working backward from the simulation outputs, the researchers identified the simple underlying physical principles that produce the checkerboard structure.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the beauty of physics,鈥� Stepp says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the same underlying equations describing how things behave in systems as cold as nanokelvin systems to ones as hot as the sun, whether it鈥檚 one particle or billions.鈥�

The theory opens new experimental directions. Physicists can now design targeted experiments to test the predictions, refining their understanding of trion behavior across quantum systems, from ultracold atomic gases to semiconductors used in modern electronics.

鈥淥ur results are exciting because our findings are experimentally accessible with ultracold molecules and open the possibility of understanding trion formation across other branches of physics such as transition-metal dichalcogenides, which are two-dimensional semiconductors widely studied for their possible applications in nanoelectronics and photonics,鈥� said Ibarra Garc铆a Padilla.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, the W.M. Keck Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy, with computational support from Rice University鈥檚 Center for Research Computing.

The three-year project, titled 鈥淩UI: Genetic mechanisms that regulate surface protein remodeling during life cycle transitions in the African trypanosome,鈥� targets the molecular inner workings of Trypanosoma brucei鈥攖he parasite responsible for African sleeping sickness, a tropical disease transmitted by the tsetse fly that imposes a severe human and economic burden across Sub-Saharan Africa. Current medical treatments are limited and can be toxic. Schulz鈥檚 lab is looking to change that by studying how the parasite adapts to survive in different hosts.

When the parasite enters a mammal鈥檚 bloodstream, it constantly changes its 鈥渟urface coat鈥� (surface proteins) to outsmart and evade the host鈥檚 immune system. However, once it moves back into a tsetse fly, it switches to a single, unvarying coat.

鈥淚f we could understand that switch from the varying surface protein to the invariant surface protein at a molecular level,鈥� says Schulz, 鈥渨e might be able to force a switch to the invariant coat while the parasite is still in the mammalian host. That way, host antibodies would be effective, and the immune system could eliminate the parasite.鈥�

The NSF grant builds on a discovery by the Schulz lab that mapped exactly where and when the protein Bdf3 binds to the parasite鈥檚 DNA during this lifecycle transition. The funding will allow researchers to investigate the precise genetic machinery鈥攊ncluding histone acetylation (chemical modifications that alter gene expression) and candidate protein complexes鈥攖hat recruit Bdf3 and control this vital switch.

Powered by Undergraduates

At 91探花 Mudd, high-caliber research is driven by students. Over the last four years, HMC students generated the vital preliminary data required to secure this federal funding. Students have been co-authors on papers describing how Bdf3 might be pharmacologically inhibited and what Bdf3 might do in insect cells. 鈥淗owever, we don鈥檛 know what Bdf3 is doing once it binds the DNA, and we don鈥檛 know how it gets recruited,鈥� says Schulz.

This emphasis on publication-track research is a staple of the Schulz lab. Recent publications from the lab featured eight student co-authors, and subsequent methodological papers included multiple HMC students and collaboration with Pomona College professor Jo Hardin.

Expanding STEM Pedagogy and Community Outreach

The grant will support four to six undergraduates each academic year and two students each summer for a 10-week intensive research period. Student researchers will have the opportunity to perform primary experiments, draft methods sections, design scientific figures and travel to regional and national conferences to present their data to professionals in the field.

A distinct element of the grant is its integration with the wider community, stretching from local high schools to regional health facilities.

• High School Summer Mentorship: The grant funds a four-week summer program for one high school student annually, giving them a look at a professional laboratory environment.
• Innovation Accelerator Lab: The funding will bolster HMC鈥檚 newly established Innovation Accelerator Lab for Emerging Health Technology, which supports faculty and student research fellows who bridge high-level research with community education. Schulz is collaborating with HMC faculty peers to deploy student and faculty fellows into local K鈥�12 schools and skilled nursing facilities for annual science events. Current projects pair students with math professor Susan Martonosi to present on the dynamics of vaccine attitudes and disease outbreaks, and with engineering professor Nancy Lape to explore bioengineering concepts related to how drugs are absorbed through the skin.

By weaving together cutting-edge parasitology, undergraduate mentorship and local civic engagement, Schulz鈥檚 project embodies 91探花 Mudd鈥檚 mission to cultivate technical excellence alongside a commitment to global impact.

Hae-Seo Kim joins the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts as assistant professor of science, technology and society July 1. An anthropological scholar and researcher, Kim鈥檚 research is at the intersection of political anthropology, environmental anthropology, space studies, Korean studies, anthropology of religion, and science and technology studies. Kim is interested in learning how the proliferation of outer space infrastructures and research/development space industries in South Korea shape new forms of political mobilization. She has conducted research with space activists organizing against the militarization of outer space and organizing for the peaceful interaction with outer space and environmental sustainability.

Kim is also interested in local cosmologies of outer space in South Korea, focusing on Korean shamanic and animistic ways of engaging outer space, and has conducted fieldwork with shamans and astrology readers. She looks forward to working with 91探花 Mudd students and with HSA faculty who are 鈥渄edicated to creating conversations and collaborations between science and humanities,鈥� she says.

Sara Murphy POM 始18 is an atmospheric chemist with an interest in the kinetics and mechanisms of gas-phase organic radical reactions. Murphy majored in chemistry and minored in linguistics at Pomona College, and she received a PhD from Caltech in environmental science, specializing in atmospheric chemistry. Her postdoctoral research at UCLA involved work at the intersection of atmospheric and physical chemistry. She is interested in better understanding and modeling the fundamental processes of chemistry that lead to changes in air quality and climate.

鈥淚 especially enjoy thinking about new methods to measure and explore these reactions in understudied and unique environments in the laboratory and how these results might apply to the real atmosphere,鈥� she says. Students in her lab will have the opportunity to build instrumentation to measure the production of reactive trace gases of atmospheric importance, both in the lab and in the field. 鈥淭ogether, we will design and perform experiments using this instrumentation to elucidate the various mechanisms by which these reactive trace compounds are formed in the atmosphere.鈥� Murphy will join the Department of Chemistry as an assistant professor in January 2027.

Promotion to full professor

Matina Donaldson-Matasci, a faculty member since 2014, focuses her research on collective behavior in social insects, particularly communication in honey bees and defense mechanisms in ants. At the HMC Bee Lab, she and her team of student scientists study how these colonies coordinate complex group behaviors. Recent projects in the lab include field experiments on honey bee foraging, utilizing drones and computer vision to map the local floral landscape, and conducting a mix of laboratory experiments and simulations to analyze the transportation networks of arboreal ants. Last year, the lab’s NSF-funded research investigating wood ants and their intricate networks was featured in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a project completed in collaboration with S谩ndor Piross of the Hungarian Ecological Research Centre.

Ambereen Dadabhoy, professor of literature since 2018, focuses both her teaching and research on the role of identity and difference in literature. She offers courses in Shakespeare and early modern English literature, first-year writing seminars and genre electives, and she teaches the Shakespeare class that culminates in a production of a play. She is the author of Anti-Racist Shakespeare and Shakespeare Through Islamic Worlds, which, received a Jerome Singerman First Book Award honorable mention from the Shakespeare Association of America. She is a member of the Modern Language Association, the Shakespeare Association of America and the Renaissance Society of America.

Erin Talvitie, professor of computer science, specializes in applying machine learning to the field of artificial intelligence, working toward the creation of artificial autonomous agents that can learn to act flexibly and competently in unknown environments. A faculty member since 2019, Talvitie approaches these complex questions by utilizing advanced tools within machine learning and artificial intelligence, focusing especially on the study of reinforcement learning. In 2016, she received an NSF CAREER grant, which funded work studying model-based reinforcement learning, specifically in settings where a given model is insufficient to capture the true, real-time dynamics of the environment. Prior to 91探花 Mudd, Talvitie was a founding member of the department of computer science at Franklin & Marshall College.

Reappointment

Sarah Kavassalis, assistant professor of climate and chemistry, leads the FICUS Lab, where she investigates the fundamental chemistry that shapes air quality and climate, with a specific focus on connecting high-resolution measurements to advanced computational modeling. In addition to hands-on fieldwork, students in her lab address complex questions regarding chemical kinetics and atmospheric modeling while engaging with modern approaches to data analysis and machine learning

Lynn Kirabo, Maria M. Klawe Assistant Professor of Climate and Computer Science, investigates the future of accessible early warning systems by centering the lived experiences of disabled people. Appointed as a joint faculty member in the computer science department and the Hixon Center for Climate and the Environment, she focuses on designing practical frameworks that policymakers can leverage to fundamentally reshape and improve community resilience to disaster events. She leads the CACTI Lab, a research group that concentrates on four core areas: human-centered design, disability, mobility technologies and climate change interventions.

Brooks, assistant professor of mathematics and Barbara Stokes Dewey Assistant Professor of Life Sciences, recently received the Simons Research Enhancement Grant for Primarily Undergraduate Institution Faculty to support her project 鈥淯sing Continuum Models to Understand Opinion Dynamics on Networks.鈥� This highly competitive national award, funded by the American Mathematical Society and the Simons Foundation, provides $3,000 per year for three years for research-related activities, plus an additional $300 per year toward the grantee鈥檚 department and another $300 per year for administrative costs.

鈥淯sing a class of opinion dynamics models developed to analyze the mechanisms behind consensus and polarization, my collaborators and I will employ graph limits to explore the asymptotic behavior of opinion states observed in the continuum limit as compared to what is observed in large but finite networks,鈥� says Brooks, who joined the 91探花 Mudd faculty in 2020. 

Brooks will investigate when graphons can accurately approximate opinion clusters and positions in large random network models, then apply these continuum limits to detect bifurcations between consensus and polarization in the sigmoidal bounded-confidence model.

While Brooks鈥檚 work focuses on opinion dynamics as an application, these methods may also be useful in other biological and ecological contexts that involve many interacting agents with underlying interactions, like tracking disease spread, understanding collective animal behavior or studying how large populations of neurons interact to coordinate brain activity.

Funding for this project will support Brooks鈥� visits to work with collaborators in London and Philadelphia and her presentations of the work at the Joint Mathematical Meetings and Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics conference.

The Henry T. Mudd Prize recognizes faculty and staff members whose extraordinary service has significantly benefited the College. Recipients are honored for contributions that may include superior teaching, leadership in curriculum development or research supervision, effective administrative work or other exceptional service to 91探花 Mudd. Awardees receive $6,000, with $3,000 designated for use within the College at the recipient鈥檚 discretion.

Angemi was recognized for her extraordinary and sustained service to 91探花 Mudd. Her accomplishments include supporting the College through periods of growth, change and transition; helping ensure continuity, clarity and excellence at the highest levels of administration; and advancing major institutional priorities with precision, discretion and care.

She also was honored for her role as a trusted adviser, steward of institutional knowledge and mentor to colleagues. Through her sound judgment, collaborative spirit and ability to bring clarity to complex work, Angemi has strengthened relationships across the community and helped others succeed. Her service reflects humility, generosity, professionalism and a deep commitment to 91探花 Mudd鈥檚 mission and values.

鈥淩eceiving an award that bears the Mudd family name is a profound honor, especially having the privilege of knowing and working with many members of the Mudd family. My respect for their vision, generosity and foundational impact on 91探花 is immense, and connecting my contributions to their legacy is a privilege,鈥� said Angemi.

Alves was recognized for a lifetime of devoted service to 91探花 Mudd and for his role in expanding the place of the arts within the College鈥檚 academic and cultural life. He has shaped programs, curriculum and artistic opportunities that connect intellectual rigor with creative expression, helping students see the arts as an essential part of a 91探花 Mudd education.

His accomplishments include decades of teaching, mentoring and welcoming students into musical and artistic practice; creating sustained opportunities for creativity, experimentation and performance; and building a vibrant musical community across 91探花 Mudd and The Claremont Colleges. Over the span of 25 years, Alves has developed a program of remarkable scope, created hundreds of performances and helped establish The Claremont Colleges as a global center for microtonal music, while also contributing as a leading composer and advocate for innovative forms of performance.

鈥淚t鈥檚 always been a joy and privilege to bring music to our community and help our students, but this unexpected recognition from the College is a lifetime honor,鈥� said Alves. 鈥淚 love teaching and facilitating performances by our students, whose dedication, talent and creativity continue to astonish me. I think of what I do more of a service to myself, but I鈥檓 glad to be contributing what I can to make the College a place where the arts flourish.鈥� 

The annual Henry T. Mudd Prize reflects 91探花鈥檚 commitment to recognizing exceptional service and fostering a supportive, inclusive workplace community.

Text of the Henry T. Mudd Prize citation awarded to Karen Angemi

For extraordinary and sustained service to 91探花, carried out with distinction, humility, and unwavering commitment over many years;

For exceptional leadership in supporting the institution at its highest levels, ensuring continuity, clarity, and excellence through periods of growth, change, and transition;

For a remarkable ability to orchestrate complex endeavors with precision and grace鈥攁nticipating needs, navigating challenges, and enabling others to succeed;

For serving as a trusted advisor and steward of institutional knowledge, offering wise counsel, sound judgment, and steadfast discretion;

For fostering connection and collaboration across the community, strengthening relationships and advancing a shared sense of purpose;

For mentoring and uplifting colleagues with generosity of spirit, cultivating confidence, belonging, and professional growth in others;

For embodying the highest ideals of service鈥攚ith an unflappable spirit, a generous heart, and a sense of joy that uplifts those around her and carries the College forward, even in its most challenging moments;

For leadership that enables the success of the College鈥檚 most important work with insight, foresight, and exceptional care;

For bringing clarity to complexity and ensuring that the critical priorities of the College move forward with purpose and cohesion;

For being at the very heart of the College鈥檚 administration, reflecting in daily practice the values and spirit of the community we each serve;

Karen Angemi, chief of staff and secretary to the board of trustees, is hereby designated as a 2026 recipient of the Henry T. Mudd Prize.

Text of the Henry T. Mudd Prize citation awarded to Bill Alves

For a lifetime of devoted service to 91探花, marked by humility, generosity, and an extraordinary commitment to the life of this community;

For enriching the College through a vision of education that joins intellectual rigor with artistic expression, expanding what it means to learn, create, and belong at 91探花 Mudd;

For steadfast dedication to students as a teacher and mentor, welcoming learners of all backgrounds into artistic practice and nurturing their confidence, imagination, and growth;

For leadership that has shaped not only programs and curriculum, but also elevated the place of the arts within the identity, culture, and mission of the College;

For opening sustained opportunities, over many years, for students, colleagues, and the broader community to encounter creativity, experimentation, and joy through the arts;

For a rare generosity of service, giving countless hours鈥攐ften quietly and without fanfare鈥攖o the performances, collaborations, and shared experiences that have enlivened this campus and connected it to the wider world;

For bringing to 91探花 Mudd an extraordinary breadth of musical life, from recitals and ensembles to internationally recognized artists and innovative new forms of performance;

For helping to make this campus a home for music in all its range and possibility, shaping a vibrant artistic community whose reach extends across the Claremont Colleges and beyond;

For a quarter century of singular dedication to the musical life of 91探花, personally building a program of remarkable scope, creating hundreds of performances that have become a defining part of this community while also serving as a leading composer and establishing The Claremont Colleges as a global center for the avant-garde genre of microtonal music;

Bill Alves, Louisa and Robert Miller Professor of the Humanities, is hereby designated as a 2026 recipient of the Henry T. Mudd Prize.