In Photos

Mechanical Design, also known as ME 204, has a reputation for being one of the toughest courses mechanical engineering students experience. And thanks to professor Chris Muir's approach to the class, it is also one of the most rewarding. In one of the final competitions, seniors Haley Wohlever, Leo Liu, and Crystal Kim must "walk the plank" to see how much weight their balsa wood structure can bear before it snaps into pieces.

As the University photographer, J. Adam Fenster sees—and subsequently documents—more than the average person at Rochester. Here he picks some of his favorite photos and gives us a behind-the-scenes look at what makes each special.

Today's Rochester researchers are taking science developed at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics to develop the next generation high-power lasers and to better understand the fundamentals of high-energy-density physics. 

On December 3, 1847, the first issue of the North Star newspaper was published in the city of Rochester. One hundred and seventy one years later, the city again celebrated abolitionist, activist, author, and orator Frederick Douglass in an evening of words and song at Rochester’s Hochstein Hall. The Prophet of Freedom event include a performance by Eastman School of Music student Jonathan Rhodes '20 of a song written for Douglass in 1847 that had not been performed in 100 years.

Lee Koonce ’96E (MM), president and artistic director of the Gateways Music Festival, delivers remarks at a memorial service for University Vice President Emeritus and University Dean Emeritus Paul Burgett ’68E, ’76E (PhD) yesterday afternoon. Burgett championed the festival, a multiday series of concerts, performances, and other events designed to provide classical musicians of African descent a performance showcase of their own. (University photo by J. Adam Fenster)

In the first of an ongoing initiative to bring challenging conversations to campus, Donald Hall (right), the Robert L. and Mary L. Sproull Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Sciences & Engineering, welcomed basketball icon and activist Kareem Abdul Jabbar to meet with students and host a talk on the issues dividing America, including racism, economic inequality, and social injustice. “Basically we have to overcome fear … That type of bigotry has no basis in logic,” Abdul Jabbar told the audience in the Palestra last night. “We have to learn to appreciate that people of intelligence come in all shapes and sizes and colors, and if we don’t learn to appreciate that then I think we’re just doomed as a species.” (University photo by J. Adam Fenster)

University alumni, community members, and friends celebrated the annual Meliora Weekend traditions of reunions, thought-provoking conversations, performances, and family fun.

Alumni and their families assemble food packages at the Baltimore Hunger Project, which was founded by Rochester alumna Lynne Kahn '91. University of Rochester alumni are joining with alumni groups from the nation's leading colleges and universities this month in a Global Day of Service. Alumni groups in San Francisco, New York City, Baltimore, Rochester, and other cities around the country are gathering to support the work of local nonprofits and community organizations. (AP Images for Rochester Review / Steve Ruark)

NROTC midshipmen Vanessa Carollo ’21, and Rochester Institute of Technology students Julie Nguyen and Daniel Sause take the first shift in a vigil on Eastman Quadrangle to honor members of local university communities who were killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. (University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)

Members of incoming Class of 2022 pose for their class photo on Monday before heading out into the Rochester community for the annual Wilson Day of service. The class totals  more than 1,300 students from 47 states (plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico) and 76 nations and is the most select yet, with 29 percent admitted from more than 20,000 College applicants. (University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)

Ankit Dahal receives his white coat from professor of surgery David Kaufman as the School of Medicine & Dentistry welcome members of the Class of 2022 and the annual Dr. Robert L. & Lillian H. Brent White Coat Ceremony. (University of Rochester photo / J. Adam Fenster)