Wellesley Boosts Region's Intellectual Firepower

H. Kim Bottomly, president of Wellesley College; Phillip Levine, Katharine Coman and A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Economics; and Marc Tetel, associate professor of neuroscience (pictured); were among the faculty featured in “The Brain Trust,” an article about the concentration of intellectual firepower in Wellesley and its neighboring town Weston (site of Regis College), in the regional Wellesley Weston Magazine.

“In 2009, Forbes magazine named Wellesley the second most educated small town in America,” notes Beth Furman, publisher of Wellesley Weston Magazine. As the home of Wellesley College and fellow Three College Collaboration member Babson College, plus Massachusetts Bay Community College (and esteemed private and public secondary schools), the town’s distinction for smarts stands to reason.

But besides being “most educated,” the town and region are enriched by college faculty and students, whose research and educational outreach efforts affect the population directly; whose energy and involvement enliven the community; and whose public events of a cultural, intellectual, or athletic nature provide entertainment and food for thought. President Bottomly also told the magazine that Wellesley College welcomes residents “to take advantage of the College: to run on the College paths; visit the Davis, one of the nation’s finest academic museums; attend public stargazing nights at Whitin Observatory; and visit the Wellesley Botanical Gardens.”