She never thought she’d leave Yale, but then he swept her off her feet. They married last April, moved to Rochester, N.Y., and lived happily ever after.
The characters in this fairy tale are Catherine Hutchison Winnie, former director of Yale’s study abroad and fellowship programs, and former Berkeley College Dean Lawrence Winnie, who have left New Haven and are now working at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Their departure leaves Yale’s International Education and Fellowship Programs office headless for a few months. Charles Porter, a professor emeritus of French, is serving as interim director until Barbara Rowe comes from Bucknell University in October to take over Yale’s IEFP program, which was organized by Hutchison Winnie.
“Yale students, I hope, can see the difference after two years: a new office, new professional advisers for both fellowships and study abroad,” said Hutchison Winnie about the changes that occurred during her two-year tenure, “and a growing awareness in the Yale community that these are opportunities available to all students.”
Before Hutchison Winnie came to Yale, IEFP was part of Undergraduate Career Services. Hutchison Winnie organized the new office at 55 Whitney Ave., which for the first time provided advisors who could work exclusively on fellowships and study abroad — and not also on job searching. The office took control of all fellowships, including the Rhodes fellowship, which had been handled for years by the Yale College Dean’s Office.
“It was an office that in many ways Cathy created,” said Porter, who has served since Hutchison Winnie left in July.
Hutchison Winnie came to Yale after heading the international study program at Smith College and working as assistant director of study abroad at Harvard University.
Porter said he expects Rowe to be an excellent director because she managed a similar program to IEFP at Bucknell.
“I think she is someone who’ll understand how a community like Yale functions,” Porter said.
Rowe was hired in the beginning of August after another candidate fell through. Rowe will move to the New Haven area with her family this fall.
Yale College Dean Richard Brodhead was particularly involved in the search for a new IEFP director, Porter said.
“At the time of this appointment of a new director, the dean of Yale College and the president [Richard Levin] are very interested in increasing the global outlook of the University,” Porter said.
Yale administrators have said globalization will be one of Yale’s main goals for the next century.
Hutchison Winnie said she hopes to use her experience at Yale to improve Rochester Institute of Technology’s office for study abroad and an honors program, which she is now heading.
“Essentially, for the first two years, I am building an office and expanding its services and programs, [and] I will probably add fellowships soon. Sound familiar?” she said. “I love doing this stuff; it is exciting and challenging to be a builder of new programs.”
And, as a bonus, Hutchison Winnie is with her new husband, Larry, the new associate dean of Rochester Institute of Technology’s College of Liberal Arts.
“We commuted back and forth for a semester, as so many do,” Hutchison Winnie said. “When RIT asked me to lead a new office in academic programs, allowing me to live in the same city as Larry, I took a long hard look at the job there. It was still a difficult decision to leave a job I loved and the students and staff at Yale.”