Dyson College of Arts and Sciences

D Y S O N Y E A R I N R E V I E W 2 0 2 0 – 2 0 2 1 12 Harold Brandford '72, Biology Dr. Harold Brandford is an anesthesiologist in private practice in Sea le, Washington. Originally from Barbados, he is one of the first Pace students to a end medical school. Adam Heydt '96, History Adam Heydt is a TV director for The Drew Barrymore Show at ViacomCBS and an Emmy Award–winning director/producer experienced in live multi-camera studio and field production. Fern Johnson '91, Literature and Communications Fern Johnson is the CTO Vice President, Global Infrastructure and Operations, and champion of diversity, inclusion, and engagement initiatives at PepsiCo. Chris Jones '96, '08, BA Literature and Communications, MBA Managerial Marketing Chris Jones is a veteran communications executive and vice president of corporate communications for FanDuel, a premier player in the spo s fantasy industry. Nadia Owusu Nadia sta ed writing at an early age. She recalls being five or six, si ing on the floor of her father's home office while he worked, writing (and illustrating) "novels," and then giving them to him to edit. Today, she is the author of A ershocks: A Memoir, which she describes as "a literary memoir with threads of cultural history that explores themes like the complexities of family, the multiplicity of identity, the ripple effects, both personal and generational, of trauma, and the meaning of home." This weaving of subjects is fi ing for Owusu, who is truly a citizen of the world, with a Ghana-born father, maternal Armenian ancestry, and time spent in Rome, London, and East Africa. In addition to being a writer, Owusu works full-time for a nonprofit as a racial justice organizer and on issues of equitable urban policy, with her writing informing her approach to social justice work, and her social justice work informing her work as a writer. Released in January 2021, A ershocks was well reviewed by The Washington Post, The New York Times, The New Yorker, and others, and Owusu has had the oppo unity to speak about it on NPR, on podcasts, and at events with bookstores across the country. In 2019, she was honored for A ershocks with a Whiting Award, given annually by the Whiting Foundation to 10 emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama, and through it, joins an illustrious list of great American writers. Owusu wrote the book as pa of her thesis for an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Southern New Hampshire University's Mountainview Low-Residency Program. However, A ershocks first came about as a private project, and without an intention to become a book. She was simply following her curiosities, an inherent principle in her writing. It also began from a place of grief. Owusu's mother le when she was two and her father died when she was thi een, and through the writing, she was able to process those losses in a way she never had before, as well as have the oppo unity to rewrite and revise harmful narratives she had internalized— about African history and the history of the Armenian genocide that brought her ancestors to America. "I wanted to narrate myself to deeper understanding of the beautiful and rich histories and cultures of the places my family came from and the forces and private choices that shaped my life," she said. In writing this book, Owusu hopes readers who are struggling with feelings of isolation, dislocation, and disconnection will persevere in loving each other, especially when distance or other forces make it difficult. Dyson Dialogues From marketing and media creatives to one of the first Pace students to a end medical school, a full line-up of inspiring alumni speakers came to campus vi ually to meet with students. Dyson Diaries Nadia Owusu '05, political science, and Marcos Gonsalez '15, English, have both authored memoirs that have been published to critical acclaim. Their writings come from a place deep within themselves and are informed by their very personal experiences. Here is the story behind these two Dyson alumni's stories—or diaries—of so s.

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