Meet Our Alumni

Cynthia J. Tong is a Tony-nominated, Drama Desk Award-winning Broadway producer and is currently Producer at Tom Kirdahy Productions. Recently named one of Variety’s “41 Under 40: New Leaders Class of 2025” and selected for the prestigious The Shubert Organization Artistic Circle (2025), she is currently working on the new “smash hit” (Chicago Tribune) Broadway musical. Cynthia has also worked on the psychological Broadway thriller Grey House; New York, New York [9 Tony Award noms]; The Piano Lesson [2 Tony Award noms]; and The Inheritance [Tony Award, Best Play]. She is a founding member of The Industry Standard Group, a BIPOC-led organization innovating Broadway by creating new pathways to investment and producing. Cynthia has a B.A. in Sociology from Wesleyan University.

Cynthia was a camper at Great Books Summer Program for one year and a program assistant for three years.  She reported that the greatest impact Great Books had on her was teaching how to share her love of learning.  She went on to note, “Being at Great Books helped me develop my convictions and gave me a stronger sense of myself. I also was lucky enough to develop lifelong friends from my experiences.“

A four-year Great Books camper, multi-year program assistant, and now faculty member, Dr. Andrew Sanchez is co-founder and CEO of AI music platform Udio.

Andrew earned his DPhil at the University of Oxford where he studied the future of work and basic income as an Ertegun Scholar. He has lectured at the World Basic Income Congress, at the University of Cambridge, and his work was included in a book chapter on the intellectual history of basic income. He is a graduate of Oxford, Harvard, and Phillips Academy and is the recipient of Clarendon and von Clemm scholarships.

In a recent conversation with Andrew about his leadership of the Great Books Critical Thinking for Entrepreneurship & Innovation Program, Andrew shared the impact of Great Books on opening his world up as a young student. He also noted that one of the greatest lessons he learned at Great Books, one that he continues to use today, is the power of narrative, “The importance of narrative comes through every single day in the business environment. Your ability to express and create narratives is something that enables you to be a leader. It enable you to persuade people of your vision and ultimately to bring about the change that you want to see in the world….”

Now a practicing attorney in Washington D.C., Christina Lamoureux received her JD from the George Washington University Law School.  When she first came to Great Books as a middle schooler, she never imagined  just how relevant her summer learning would be to her future career.

Christina and friends at Great Books on the Amherst campus.

Today as an attorney, Christina tells us that she uses what she learned at Great Books daily. “I learned how to examine a text through different lenses, determine the significance of different sentences and clauses, and break down a challenging piece of writing into comprehensible parts- all things I continue to do in my day-to-day work.”

Christina even joked that she got a jump start on reading legal cases as GB, “Learning how to read a Supreme Court case becomes much less challenging when you’ve already learned how to read Aristotle’s philosophy of law!”

Nick has spent 13 years at Nike, where he has worn many hats across the product creation and supply chain ecosystem. His experience includes material development, operations, materials integrity risk assessment, and product integrity issue management. He studied History and Business at the University of Oregon (Go Ducks!), grounding his work in a blend of analytical thinking, storytelling, and strategic perspective.

A Great Books student who later came back for four years as a Program Assistant on our Stanford and Oxford campuses, Nick tells us that he “lived for the moments when students bonded, recited poetry for the first time, or surprised everyone at the talent show. Great Books is truly a place where everyone can belong — a community that celebrates curiosity, creativity, and the courage to be yourself.”

And yes—he was absolutely the one leading the fountain‑jumping adventures across Stanford’s campus while confused tourists looked on!

Sarah “Sally” Ward is now a practicing urogynaecologist in New York.  A surgery fellow in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery at Mount Auburn Hospital / Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center / Harvard Medical School and a graduate of Tufts University School of Medicine and Bowdoin College, she credits Great Books with helping her grow important skills that fueled her success in college and beyond.

Sally recently shared this special message with Great Books:

“I am so grateful to GBSP for making a summer educational experience both intellectually stimulating and fun. I left with valuable learning tools, and great friends and memories – what could be better!  I know that learning to think critically in a supportive environment helped me make the most of my college experience and ultimately reach my goal to become a physician.”

Now a software engineer, Jamie credits Great Books with broadening his perspective and equipping him for deeper critical engagement with the defining ideas and systems of our world.

“By directly pursuing the ideas I first encountered at camp, I found myself developing a lasting passion for understanding the foundations of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, where I made my career. Skills from the humanities like organized reasoning, critical thinking and dealing with nuance and ambiguity were (and still are) essential throughout that process.

Inspired by my time at Great Books, I joined a year-long humanities intensive as a freshman at Stanford University and finished with a Bachelors of Science covering mathematics and computer science, a degree which set me up for my work tackling hard problems with talented peers as a software developer today.”

Now completing his Master of Education degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Ilan is an Associate Producer at NBCUniversal’s Peacock. A former Great Books camper, he returned for several summers as both a lead program assistant and a program assistant. Ilan began his career as a classroom teacher in Spain and Massachusetts and is a graduate of Vassar College.

Reflecting on his summers with Great Books, Ilan notes, “GBSP taught me to love literature as a communal project; it helped me see the magic in shared inquiry, debate, and discussion.”

The storytelling and communication skills he gained at Great Books, he says, have helped him at every stage of his journey — from teaching abroad to working in the entertainment industry.

Now a mechanical engineer, Eric received his MS in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA and his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Tufts University.  A former UCLA Robotics and Mechanisms Lab researcher, and Formlabs intern, Eric is winner of the Samsung 2023 Research American A1 Inventor Award and the 2021 President’s Award. With projects ranging from LEGO SPIKE sensor integrations to a vast array of robotics from buoyancy assisted legged units to dynamic, miniature quadrupeds, his passion for innovation in engineering is clear.

Joining us as an international student from Beijing, Eric shared this about his experience at Great Books, “Great Books was one of the first environments where I learned to engage deeply with literature and think critically in an intellectually stimulating setting, surrounded by wonderful mentors and peers. Although I pursued a career in STEM, that foundation has remained very much influential in how I approach problems—both in my work and in life.”

If you remember Eric from Great Books, you also may remember that he was (and continues to be!) a whiz with cardistry, the art of performing intricate and creative flourishes with a deck of playing cards.

Eric performing cardistry at camp for GBSP President David Ward.

Now a business development specialist at an AmLaw 100 law firm, Dan Siegelman was a two-year Great Books camper, and four-year program assistant at the Amherst campus. In between summers working at Great Books, he attended Swarthmore College, where he studied History and Political Science.

Dan shared, “Great Books deeply shaped  how I view the world, and broadened my horizons—I met so many people who were so different from me, and yet we all shared the same love of literature and learning. I felt like I was constantly developing new skills which still are hugely informative to who I am as a person. As a camper, the program feels like a microcosm of college: you have high level discussions led by professors, live in the dorms, and get to explore so many new things; Great Books definitely teed me up for the liberal arts education I pursued.

At camp, I learned how to read between the lines and against the grain to uncover hidden meaning; to be comfortable with nuance and uncertainty when interpreting texts; and how to disagree with others in a meaningful and productive way. Those skills are not limited to English or Philosophy—they were useful to me all the classes I took, be they history, biology, or economics.

In some ways, the most important thing Great Books gave me was the gift of curiosity–in college and in my role now, wanting to know more, and knowing which questions are the right ones, sets you apart. At Great Books, curiosity like that is infectious. I am certainly a better person for the summers I spent there.”

Recently completing her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University, Nicole continues to use the skills she learned at Great Books.

“Great Books created a strong foundation for my love of literature and critical thinking – both of which have aided me as I pursue a career in STEM. The ability to dive deep into literature and then engage in thought provoking conversations translates from the gardens of Emily Dickinson 12 years ago at Great Books all the way into my PhD studies today. My reading topics have shifted from the Don Quixote and Grimm Brothers at Great Books to technical publications on global health, infectious disease diagnostics, and biotechnology. I am profoundly grateful for Great Books not only teaching me scholarly skills, but also for giving me that flavor of independence and collegiate living I was so eager to experience.”

Nicole and friends at Great Books!

Trevor Atkins is a graduate of liberal arts college Union College in Schenectady, New York. He was awarded the Erasmus Mundus Language and Communication Technologies scholarship from 2020-2022. He currently works at Rakuten in Tokyo, Japan as a Data Analyst.

Trevor shared with us, “For an anxious, shy teenager Great Books was a safe haven and a family of friends that helped guide my development and find my own voice. Not only have the skills and knowledge learned at Great Books carried over in work and life but also the lasting memories and relationships built there have made the experience priceless.”

Always a bookworm, Thea Goodrich is editor at W. W. Norton & Company, managing the Norton Critical Editions and Norton Library and a graduate of Kenyon College.

She shared that Great Books Summer Program helped not only preparing for college but that the skills she fostered at Great Books still help her today.

Thea said, “My time as a Great Books camper was not only an introduction to dorm life that made college seem less scary, but also the proof I needed that there were bookworms like me in the world—shy teenagers who just needed smaller spaces than high school in which to bloom. As a camper I swallowed my fear to read aloud poems I had written during elective, and a few years later as a PA I encouraged other creative young people to do the same, coming ever further out of my own shell along the way.

Today in my work on undergraduate textbooks in the humanities, I often engage with texts I first encountered at camp. The close reading (and public speaking!) skills I learned there have served me well in college and my career, but I’m most grateful for the ways that GBSP helped this introvert push the boundaries of her comfort zone beyond books.”

Annie Youchah is a practicing attorney in Las Vegas, Nevada, working for legal aid. She received her JD from UC Davis School of Law in 2020. She remembers her summers at the Stanford Campus as highlights of her childhood and young adulthood.

Annie with friends at GBSP on the campus of Stanford.

Annie shared, “Great Books prepared me mentally to understand and interpret texts from many perspectives, and speak confidently about my ideas. Both are critical for the practice of law and continuing to learn.

Everything from lessons from Stanford professors to splashing around in a fountain helped me become not only a lawyer, but a more confident person.”

We were excited to hear her tell us that Great Books taught her how to critically examine texts—useful from middle school to present day—as well as helped her feel comfortable in her own skin as she grew up. She fondly remembers all of her counselors and administrators as supportive people, and her friends as the same.

Taylor Tetreau is a screenwriter in Los Angeles, California. She’s been filling notebooks with scribbles as far back as she can remember — including across multiple Creative Writing electives as a Great Books camper at Amherst and later teaching her own screenwriting elective as a Program Assistant at Stanford.

Taylor graduated from Emerson College in 2013, joined the Writers Guild of America West in 2020, and has been a working writer ever since. Represented by United Talent Agency and Artists First, she’s sold scripts to 20th Century Studios, Netflix, Amazon Studios, Monarch Media, and more. She’s currently balancing rewriting two original feature scripts for major studios: a college-set romantic comedy and a coming-of-age straight comedy about a high school trip to Europe.

Taylor’s work focuses primarily on funny young adults finding their people and finding their way — inspired in no small part by her time at Great Books. Taylor told us that during her summers at Great Books, she “connected with like-minded weirdos from across the country” who shaped her creative voice and encouraged her to take her own dreams seriously.

Taylor also shared that she fell in love with so many major works of literature over the course of her time at Great Books — most notably, Walt Whitman. One of her most empowering creative experiences as a teenager was turning his poem, “Song of Myself,” into a piece of performance art for a Great Books theatre elective. Many years later, Taylor would quote Whitman in her wedding vows — with multiple friends she’d met at Great Books in attendance.

Now an editor for a prominent publishing house, Alexandra “Xan” Kanovsky is a graduate of Kenyon College.  Xan first came to Great Books as a middle schooler, returning for several years and later coming back as a program assistant to mentor the next generation of Great Books students.

Xan as a program assistant, excited and ready to welcome campers.

Xan shared with us, “Great Books highlights the power of meaningful and exploratory collaborative discussion and how it can positively impact group dynamics and shared learning — these skills are helpful in school and collegiate settings, as well as in the workplace and beyond. The program also encourages curiosity and the importance of lifelong learning, both of which have endless benefits in the world beyond camp.”

She went on to say, “I found GBSP an incredibly meaningful experience that has shaped how I see the world!”

Madeline Horan came to Great Books Summer Program in our initial years at Amherst.  She shared with us that is was here at Great Books that she found her tribe.  Writing to us recently, she shared,  “It was the first time my Arkansas self met fellow odd ducks – literary ducks, silly ducks, soulful ducks – who loved reading and storytelling and enacting the transcendent stories of yesterday. My weeks there were the highlight of my teenage years, full stop, and the only way my father bribed me to prom was by flying in my Great Books soul friend to be my date.”

Through Great Books, Madeline found her path to become a liberal arts college student, then a Program Assistant at Great Books, now an international school literature teacher.  Madeline noted that she still considers her teaching at Great Books as her first and best teaching job. She noted, “Teaching in school is so different…focused on quotation integration and timed essays and transcripts and grades and competition. There is so little time to love stories. My best teaching is always when I have a chance to glimmer in the world of Great Books – a world of meaningful dialogue, of play and acting, in love of language, of exchanging stories for wisdom and delight.”

A graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and currently a Hearn Fellow, Jack Smalls was a four-year camper who explored the Oxford, Dublin, and Amherst campuses with Great Books.

Jack’s father reached out to Great Books with a warm thank you and this photo of Jack enjoying an excursion into London while spending the year at Mansfield College, University of Oxford. Mr. Smalls noted that “after spending 2 weeks at Oxford during the Great Books Summer Program in 2019, he swore he would go back…He is having the time of his life!”

Jack and a friend enjoying Oxford with GBSP.

According to Jack’s dad Great Books helped instill this love of learning “in a very curious young boy,” and went on to note that Jack “is far better for attending the 4 Great Books programs.”

We can’t wait for what the next chapter holds for Jack!

A Senior Sales Leader at a fast growing tech company based in Boston, Charlotte Sawyer was a three-year Great Books Summer Program camper. . She studied English and Psychology at Connecticut College.

Charlotte tells us that the greatest impact Great Books had on her was teaching her to embrace her love of learning. Breaking down text into small pieces and discussing as a group uncovered a special confidence within Charlotte. She noted, “Great Books helped me develop stronger critical thinking skills, and encouraged me to lean into a more inquisitive mindset.” Because of the positive experience she had at Great Books, Charlotte studied English and Writing in college.  She is a graduate of Connecticut College.