GS Class of 2007

Wei Ying Wong ’02 AM, ’07 PhD, has been appointed president and CEO of the Alaska SeaLife Center, where she has served as chief science and education officer since December 2021. Her experience includes serving in executive roles at the Washington Sea Grant, Woodland Park Zoo, and the Philadelphia Zoo. She has received numerous awards and fellowships and is a 2019 graduate of the Association of Zoos and Aquarium Executive Leadership Development Program.

Harris Solomon ’07 AM, ’11 PhD, published Lifelines: The Traffic of Trauma with Duke University Press in October. Harris is Fred W. Shaffer Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology and Global Health at Duke University and author of Metabolic Living: Food, Fat, and the Absorption of Illness in India, also published by Duke University Press. His new book takes readers into the trauma ward of one of Mumbai’s busiest public hospitals, narrating the stories of the patients, providers, families, and frontline workers who experience and treat traumatic injury from traffic.

Jessica Levai ’03 AM, ’07 PhD writes: “My first novella was published in April 2021 from Lanternfish Press. It’s called The Night Library of Sternendach: A Vampire Opera in Verse, and it’s what it says on the tin: a story of family, first love, and vampires told in 253 Pushkin sonnets. Here’s a link for more information: https://lanternfishpress.com/catalog/sternendach.” 

Leslie Shimotakahara ’07 PhD writes: “My second novel, Red Oblivion, was published in September by Dundurn Press. The novel is a literary thriller set in Hong Kong. It deals with a daughter’s investigation into her father’s escape from Guangzhou, China, during the Cultural Revolution and the family secrets she confronts. More about the novel can be found at https://www.dundurn.com/books/Red-Oblivion.