Category: Alumnae News

Name: Holly Trostle Brigham

Class Year: 1988

How long have you lived in Philly?

We moved back to Philadelphia in the fall of 2008.  My husband and I lived here for a few years in the early 1990’s when he was working on his PhD at Penn.  We were married at the Glen Foerd mansion on the Delaware in 1990.

What is your favorite restaurant in the city?

My favorite restaurant is Osteria.  I especially love the roasted veggie platters!

What are you up to now?

I am a painter and am currently preparing for five exhibitions of my work.  I will have a show at the Grossman Gallery at Lafayette College which opens on January 19.  In the summer of 2015, I will have a show at the Benton Museum of Art in Storrs, Ct, and I will be in a group show at the New Bedford Art Museum in MA. I am in a group of women artists called Corpus VI.  We all paint the figure and this show will feature examples of all of our work.  In Early 2016 I will have a show at the Michener Museum and the Benton Museum show will travel to Penn State/Lehigh Valley.

What house did you live in on campus and what was your favorite thing about it?

At Smith, I lived in Hubbard House for my first two years, then went to Florence, Italy and senior year I lived in Gillett House.  I loved the teas and all the house traditions.  The fire drills at Hubbard were fun as my close friend was the Fire Chair so I always got a head’s up and got to go down to Dunkin Donuts beforehand to get snacks for when every one was wide awake!  She would blast the Talking Heads “Burning Down the House” as the alarm was blaring.

Why did you choose Smith?

I chose Smith because of its wonderful Art History program and because of its reputation and because it was a small, gorgeous Liberal Arts school in New England.  The fact that it was an all women’s college wasn’t a factor in the decision but looking back I am so glad that it is such a strong all female environment.  I have chosen to send my daughter Flora to the Baldwin School, the prep school for Bryn Mawr College, because it reminds me so much of Smith.

What is your favorite Smith tradition and why?

I love Mountain Day!  I think it is fabulous to be given a day off in my favorite season of the year!  It would be a wonderful surprise, a day to catch your breath and to enjoy your friends and the wonderful autumn scenery.

How did your Smith experience shape your life?

My favorite professor was in the studio art department, Nicholas Von Bujdoss.  I felt at ease around him and he guided me on the path that is now my career.  At the time, I was an Art History major, but I knew deep down that I would be an artist one day.  I think he did too.

Smithie of The Month

Name: Anna Kegler

Class Year: 2005

How long have you lived in Philadelphia? What’s your favorite restaurant in the city? I’m originally from Minnesota, but I’ve lived in Philly for four years now. My favorite restaurant at the moment is Cheu. Best noodles ever!

What are you up to now? I’m a Staff Writer on the marketing team for RJMetrics, a tech startup in Center City. I love it! We’re doing a ton of hiring right now, so definitely reach out if you’re interested in any of our open positions. I have also been involved in anti-street harassment activism in Philly, through HollabackPHILLY and Feminist Public Works.

What house did you live in on campus and what was your favorite thing about it? I lived in Northrop House, and my favorite thing about it was the amazing Ada Comstock scholars I met there. I also loved our Robert Smith Tea tradition, where we had a sing-along in our house living room, and tried our best to look like this:

Why did you choose Smith? I got lucky. I really had no idea what I was doing when I was looking at colleges, but I found Sylvia Plath’s poetry in high school, and it led me right to Smith.

What is your favorite Smith tradition and why? Mountain Day! Finally hearing those bells ringing early in the morning was magical.

Who was your favorite professor/what was your best class? My favorite professor was Frédérique Apffel-Marglin, in the Anthropology Department. I was one of her STRIDE scholars and every conversation with her was fascinating. And I’m even more grateful that the other STRIDE scholar was none other than the amazing Sarah Epstein, ‘05, who has been one of my favorite people in the world for almost 10 years now.

Do you have a defining/favorite/most memorable/transformative Smith moment? Sitting in class on the morning of September 11, 2001 – the first month of my first year of college – when someone decided to turn on the TV because the professor was late and we were bored. We couldn’t believe our eyes. We watched the second plane hit the towers, live.

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Smithie of The Month

Name : Deborah Davis MD

Class Year: 1976

How long have you lived in Philadelphia? Lived outside Philly all of my 60 years.

What’s your favorite restaurant in the city? Bibou.

What are you up to now? I am a practicing as a pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist and intensive care physician and currently serve as the Director of Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit/ Nemours Cardiac Center at DuPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington Delaware.

What house did you live in on campus and what was your favorite thing about it?  Lawrence. I lived in Sylvia Plath’s room and hoped that her creativity would rub off on me!!!

Why did you choose Smith? They gave me the best financial aid package which allowed me to go to college.

What is your favorite Smith tradition and why? Thursday night candle light dinners with professors. We felt all grown up eating a formal meal with linen tablecloths, good food and sophisticated conversations. We got to see our professors in a different light from the classroom and could interact with them on a different level.

Do you have a defining/favorite/most memorable/transformative Smith moment? Coming to Smith  as a first year and meeting women who were smarter, more talented, more athletic and prettier (sorry it was the early 70’s and that stuff still mattered!!) than me. It was a very humbling experience and forced me to work hard to keep up and learn from them.

How did your Smith experience shape your life? Smith fostered and further developed my inquiring mind by exposing me to a camaraderie of intelligentsia that I had never encountered before. That experience drove me to pursue a trajectory of excellence in my subsequent education and training. Furthermore, by allowing me attain leadership positions on campus, I saw that women could be leaders. I continued to assume those roles throughout  my career which were traditionally held by males in the field of medicine.

Smithie of The Month
Name: Lisa Platt Carmalt
Class Year: 1968

How long have you lived in Philadelphia? What’s your favorite restaurant in the city?
I moved to Philadelphia from New Jersey 5 1⁄2 years ago. I like the Vietnam Café on 47th Street.

What are you up to now?
I am retired from a career as a non-profit director, consultant to non-profits, and instructor of English as a Second Language. An organization I founded in Trenton, Interfaith Caregivers of Greater Mercer County (in-home services to seniors and people with disabilities), is now in its 20^th year.  I helped start similar programs around the country through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  While retired I have volunteered for several organizations which promote literacy.  I’m taking classes through an outreach program of Temple U.  I visit my grandchildren in Seattle whenever possible.

What house did you live in on campus and what was your favorite thing about it?
I lived in Gillett which was convenient to the Hatfield language building where I studied Russian and to JM Green and Hills Chapel where I practiced organ. Of course my friends were the best part.

Why did you choose Smith?
Partly because my mother and others I admired had gone there. Also it was strong in languages and music. And I liked the house system.

Who was your favorite professor?
I especially liked one of my Russian Lit profs, Maria Banerjee, and my piano prof, Lory Wallfisch.

Do you have a favorite/most memorable Smith moment?
The ’68 Chamber Singers European tour was a highlight. I still enjoy choral singing locally and perform with an a cappella quartet in Trenton.

How did your Smith experience shape your life?
Smith prepared me to work for change. The college was in a time of transition and re-definition while I was there. The women’s movement and civil rights were gaining momentum in the world outside. The role of single-sex colleges was being re-examined. I absorbed a desire to make my community a better place, which I have attempted to do since then as a non-profit leader and as a volunteer. Since moving to Philly I have loved working with young alums on revitalizing our local Smith club. It has been exciting to hear from them about the many changes that have made the college what it is today. Here’s to the new Smith of the 21st century!

Name:  Colby Loew

Class Year: 2013

How long have you lived in Philadelphia? I moved here just a few weeks after commencement, so I have lived in Philadelphia for one year this June.

What’s your favorite restaurant in the city?  The little pizza shop across the street from where I live, Fiesta Pizza, has the best hoagies!

What are you up to now?  I just finished with my first year teaching high school chemistry across the bridge over in Camden, New Jersey.

What house did you live in on campus and what was your favorite thing about it? My first two years I lived in Lawrence House, then I finished up as Reslife in Gardiner during junior and senior year.  Lawrence House was awesome because I met my core group of best friends there, and Gardiner had the best house parties.

Why did you choose Smith?  I first came to look at Smith because I wanted to go to a women’s college that was strong in the sciences.  When I got to campus, it just felt right.  I was so incredibly impressed by all of the students and professors I spoke that I knew it was the perfect fit.

What is your favorite Smith tradition and why?  Now that I’ve been away from Smith, I have a got a serious, new found appreciation for Friday afternoon tea.  It was great to have the chance to catch up with people in the house after long, stressful weeks of studying and assignments.

Who was your favorite professor/what was your best class?  My favorite professor was Cristina Suarez in the chemistry department, and though I never took a class with her she was my honors thesis advisor.  Professor David Bickar taught my favorite class which was pharmacology and drug design—he told a lot of crazy stories in there.

What makes a Smithie unique?  A Smithie is confident, creative, eloquent, and the ideal candidate for any position.

How did your Smith experience shape your life?  Smith prepared me for a lifetime of learning.  I use skills I developed at Smith in my life every day.  Even more importantly, I will carry the friendships I made at Smith with me throughout my life.  My best friends at Smith have become my family.

Smithie of The Month

Name:  Bernadette Miller

Class Year: 1990 AC

How long have you lived in Philadelphia? I moved to Philadelphia in 1994. I rejoined The Hay Group, the company I had worked with in Pittsburgh as an Administrative Manager prior to enrolling at Smith.  Because Hay was headquartered here, I was already familiar with the city prior to moving here for the job. When my job in Marketing and Communications at Hay was eliminated in 1997, I decided to stay in Philly.

Why did you choose Smith?

In 1996, I saw a piece on CBS’s Sunday Morning television show with Charles Kurault about Smith’s Ada Comstock Program, and was swept away with the idea of getting my degree at Smith.  I was impressed with the women’s stories and the Smith environment.  In addition to working full time in a responsible job, I had been attending the University of Pittsburgh part time at night, and was almost halfway through, but I had run out of steam attending school part time while working, and lacked the motivation to keep going.

During this time, I was looking at condos in Shadyside, my Pittsburgh neighborhood. After viewing the Smith piece on television, goodbye condo!  I went to the Atlantic Bookstore on a lunch hour, looked up Smith’s telephone number, called the Ada Comstock Office, and scheduled an appointment for an in-person interview. After visiting the campus for my interview, I was even more convinced that Smith was the right place for me to experience life as a full-time student.

Who was your favorite professor/what was your best class? Two professors and classes come to mind: Joan Garrett-Goodyear’s Writing Autobiography class and Elizabeth Harries’ Romantic Period Comparative Literature seminar.  Joan and Betsey were smart, inclusive, open, empathetic, eloquent, and very aware of gender and class issues– truly the best of what Smith had to offer. Although their backgrounds did not represent mine, they understood and appreciated me. We were different, but as women we had much in common.  And they actually made working hard fun.

What’s your favorite restaurant in the city?  

My favorite restaurants include: McNally’s Tavern in Chestnut Hill (Meg McNally is a Smith graduate), Paris Grill in Chestnut Hill, and The London Grill.

What are you up to now?  Although I retired when my job was eliminated, I plan to return to work part time this summer. In a sense, I started my career over after graduating from Smith. I’ve held several interesting jobs, one at Hay as noted above, another at Lincoln Financial Services in HR, and a few clunkers in between that I did to pay the bills.

What house did you live in on campus and what was your favorite thing about it? I didn’t live in a campus house, but in a small apartment in Old School Commons at 35 South Street, close to campus.  I chose not to live in a house because I had a cat and, frankly, because I valued my privacy. However, I lived close enough to campus to immerse myself fully in campus activities, including Rally Day, the school Senate, and meeting with other students at Davis Hall and the Ada Center.

What makes a Smithie unique?

Smith women celebrate the life of the mind!  Smith women participate. Smith women are life-long learners, e.g., the woman I met at a Club meeting from Betty Friedan’s class who was still traveling.   Smith women understand that we don’t have to sit back and defer to men, that we don’t have to let others define who and what we are.  That we can change who we are at mid-life, as I did.  I have met many exceptional Smith women—young and old, professors, teachers, nurses, graduate students–through the Smith Club and Smith Club of Philadelphia Book Group.  Although our backgrounds, opinions, and professions may differ, we are open to a free exchange of ideas.

How did your Smith experience shape your life?  For me, Art in all of its forms—music (Beethoven to Bob Dylan), painting, dance—truly makes life worth living. Through my liberal arts education, I gained the “language skills” that I needed to help me express myself and, importantly, to help me navigate my life in the wider world as a single woman from a working-class background.  In the process, I learned something about myself too. My English degree and liberal arts education reinforced the idea that everything is connected—from the Bible, to Shakespeare, to Mary Shelley, and beyond.

Do you have a defining/favorite/most memorable/transformative Smith moment? Not so much one moment but appreciating the experience of–referencing Sylvia Plath–being in the company of women.  All the women who had been at Smith before me, and all the women who would be students after I graduated. We mattered!