PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
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First Year Convocation
While You Were Away
‘States of Becoming’
AI expert Fei-Fei Li to speak at annual event for first-year class.
Boston College news from the summer of 2024.
McMullen Museum fall exhibition to open in September.
PUBLISHED BY THE BOSTON COLLEGE OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
HugFest
AUGUST 29, 2024 VOL. 32 NO. 1
University Convocation
Fr. Leahy: BC’s Essential Qualities Key to Continuity BY SEAN SMITH CHRONICLE EDITOR
photos by caitlin cunningham
Monday was the start of a new academic year at Boston College—and an occasion to renew some old campus friendships.
Q&A: Ralf Bissdorf
‘Anything Is Possible’ This summer, Boston College Assistant Fencing Coach Ralf Bissdorf was busy accomplishing something no one else ever has: leading the American women’s foil squad to a team gold medal at the Olympic Games. On August 1, the Americans defeated top-ranked Italy in a gold medal match before a packed Grand Palais, solidifying the United States as a powerhouse in the sport and giving Bissdorf, a former silver medalist in men’s foil, another victory to celebrate. Bissdorf recently spoke with Alix Hackett, senior digital content writer in the Office of University Communications, about his Olympic experience, and how it will impact his work on the Heights. What have the last few weeks been like for you? It’s been a mixture of joy, a deep sense of fulfillment, and a party. That describes it best. When you board the plane for Paris, you hope that everybody comes back with a medal. So to be on the plane back, and for some of them to actually have two medals—because two of them won in the
Speaking at yesterday’s University Convocation, Boston College President William P. Leahy, S.J., said American higher education’s financial and demographic challenges have been exacerbated by an increasingly negative image: that colleges and universities are elitist, too costly, and out of touch with traditional beliefs and commitments. But Boston College—while not immune to the effects of such trends and is-
sues—has innate strengths and resources to continue building on its success as a toptier, Jesuit, Catholic university, he said. “I can say with great conviction that amid a competitive and sometimes challenging environment,” Fr. Leahy told the Robsham Theater audience, “Boston College today is so fortunate and strong, and has a bright future.” Executive Vice President Michael Lochhead and Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley also spoke at the convocation, a longstanding tradition of the new
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Seidner Gift Will Rename BC Finance Department BY JACK DUNN ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
Ralf Bissdorf exults after the Americans’ gold medal victory in the Olympic Games. photo by
#bizziteam via usa fencing
individual competition—is just a great joy. These are phenomenal athletes and they all deserve an Olympic medal. You won a silver medal in men’s individual foil at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. How did coaching in the Olympics compare to competing as an athlete? It’s very different. When you compete yourself, that’s your number one goal in life, so everything else is put on hold. As
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The Finance Department in the Carroll School of Management will be renamed the Seidner Department of Finance thanks to a major gift—the largest in the Carroll School’s history—from University Trustee Marc Seidner ’88. The gift will provide income support for continued scholarship, research, and teaching in the Seidner Department of Finance, and will endow the Seidner University Professorship, currently held by Nobel laureate Paul M. Romer. Through the gift, Finance becomes the University’s first named academic department and one of the few endowed departments in American higher education. Seidner, the chief investment officer for non-traditional strategies, a managing director, generalist portfolio manager, and member of the Investment Committee of Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO), said he made the gift in recognition of the transformative education both he and his daughter Alexis ’24
Marc Seidner ’88
received at Boston College, and to further strengthen the Finance Department, which is ranked seventh in the most recent U.S. News survey of undergraduate programs and ninth globally in the prestigious Academic Ranking of World Universities. “Our philanthropy is a thank-you to Boston College for taking a chance on me as a student and equipping me with the toolkit to succeed personally and profes-
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