Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy ’02 is slated to direct a new Star Wars film currently in development. Known for her Oscar-winning documentaries Saving Face and A Girl in the River, Obaid-Chinoy also directed two episodes of Disney’s Ms. Marvel and plans to direct Paramount’s adaptation of Brilliance starring Will Smith.  

In the latest issue of the Smith Alumnae Quarterly, Christine McCarthy ’77, Disney’s chief financial officer, talks about her heroes, her struggles and fighting for what she’s worth. “You don't win anything by waiting for things to just come along,” she says.

Caren Byrd ’68 recently celebrated 50 years with Morgan Stanley. In this interview with Wharton Magazine, she discusses what’s changed, how she defines success, the loss of her husband and her advice for her children. “Have confidence in your judgment. Don’t let self-doubt get in the way,” says Byrd.

Read about Joemy Ito-Gates ’03 and her work as an ethnic studies teacher in Berkeley, California. A second-generation immigrant of Japanese descent, Ito-Gates credits Smith with providing her first in-depth exposure to Asian American history. “Learning that history snapped so much of my family’s trauma into perspective,” she says.

Running November 5–20, the Fall Mum Show kicks off with a lecture on November 4 by Margaret M. Bruchac AC ’99 titled “Walk With the Indian Doctress,” in which she’ll discuss her research on Native medicine. The lecture will be in the Campus Center’s Carroll Room and livestreamed on the botanic garden’s Facebook page.

Check out the poem “My Closeness” by Elisabeth Paulk ’26, recently published in the Baltimore Beat, which is running poems from young writers in the group Writers in Baltimore Schools. Paulk is an alum of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and a first-year student at Smith.

Nearly a century after it was built, the Alumnae House is being renovated. According to Beth Balmuth Raffeld, senior vice president for alumnae relations and development, “The renovation is a love letter to our alums, inviting their presence on our campus.”

In a year that’s had a record number of anti-LGBTQ state bills, Becca Damante ’17 highlights eight trans women running for state legislatures across the country. One of them is Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender state senator in the country.

On November 18, CUNY law professor Sarah Lamdan will discuss her new book, Data Cartels: The Companies that Monopolize and Control our Information, which explores the unregulated power of data analytics companies. The webinar is being sponsored by several Smith departments; to attend, register here.

Smith NewsTracker

Selected items from the news media featuring Smith College people and programs

Becca Balint ’90 could be VT’s first woman in Congress

Lyza Fennell AC ’22 creates festival for art by mothers

Prof. Kimberly Ward-Duong on capturing images in space

Prof. Carrie Baker: #MeToo five years later

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