VASE’s Annual Meeting and Public Forum was held on September 23rd, 2019 at Middlebury College’s McCardell Bicentennial Hall in Room 216. The room was nearly full with ~100 attendees, including VASE members, honorees and their guests, students, and members of the general public. VASE President Grace Spatafora introduced Outreach Coordinator John Cohn who announced VASE's 2019 Paula Fives-Taylor Awards for Outstanding Teaching in Science.



The keynote speaker for the evening was Dr. Michael Gilmore, the Sir Osler Professor of Ophthalmology, Microbiology and Immunology at the Harvard Medical School. Dr. Gilmore delivered a lively talk entitled “Ancient Roots of our Antibiotic Resistance Problem” which was very well received and followed by a vigorous question and answer session.



Following Dr. Gilmore’s presentation, ~50 VASE members, honorees, and guests convened for dinner at Middlebury’s Kirk Alumni Center. The Middlebury a capella group, the “Mischords” sang a few tunes before dinner was served. Later during the evening, VASE welcomed two new VASE inductees: Dr. Suresh Garimella, President of the University of Vermont (UVM), and Dr. Robert Waterman, Professor of Chemistry and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at UVM. VASE members who had been recently inducted into the National Academy were also recognized at the meeting and applauded. The meeting ended after the science teacher awardees delivered some brief reflections on their teaching careers and philosophies.