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Raven Fisher ’14 is National Student Day Winner

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Raven Fisher
Raven Fisher

Raven Fisher ’14 earned third-place honors and a $1,000 prize in the 2013 National Student Day Contest that celebrates and promotes social responsibility by college students. The math major from Detroit received her award based on votes from online supporters who read her testimonial, titled “Lifelong Commitment to the Community.”

Lifelong Commitment to the Community
by Raven Fisher

All my life, I have enjoyed assisting those around me, rather it be with homework or an errand that they needed me to run. I have never seen these things as burdens but as opportunities to give back to my community.

During my junior year of high school, I was working at a summer math camp which helped youth from ages 13-21. We worked on a variety of math concepts in order to bring these students up to speed for the upcoming school year. While working with the students, I realized that a lot of them had a hard time grasping concepts that should have been mastered in 6th grade. However, given one on one attention and different options to learn the concepts, the students started catching on immediately.

On the last day of the camp, we played a Jeopardy math game. The students answered every question correctly and even corrected me on a problem in which I had solved wrong. Seeing their faces and senses of accomplishment gave me the same feeling. This is when I committed myself to lifelong community service and aspirations to be a math teacher.

Since then, I have done KDO [Keeping the Doors Open], a math summer camp at Kalamazoo College which helps middle school students stay on track with their math classes. I am also the Civic Engagement Scholar for Community Advocates for Parents and Students, which attempts to eliminate the inequities in education by providing underprivileged students with resources such as tutoring. After college, I will continue my passion for service as a teacher!

Congratulations, Raven!

 

Kalamazoo College Faculty News

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Some recent news about Kalamazoo College professors:

PUBLICATIONS and EXHIBITS
Carol Anderson (Religion) published “The Possibility of a Postcolonial Buddhist Ethic of Wealth,” an article in Buddhist-Christian Studies…Rose Bundy (Japanese Language and Literature) published “Beneath the Moss,” a set of translations by Fujiwara Shunzei, in the new translation journal Transference…Henry Cohen (Romance Languages) published “The Eldorado Episodes of Voltaire’s Candide as an Intertext of Augusto Roa Bastos’ Yo El Supremo: A Utopia/Dystopia Relationship” in Revista De Estudios Hispanicos…Kiran Cunningham ’83 (Anthropology and Sociology) published “Structured Reflection for Transforming Learning: Linking Home and Away,” in the Salzburg Global Seminar’s Creating Sites of Global Citizenship…Péter Érdi (Luce Professor of Complex Systems Studies) co-authored three papers: “The Past, Present, and Future of Cybernetics and Systems Research” in the journal Systems; “An Integrated Theory of Budgetary Politics and Some Empirical Tests: The U.S. National Budget, 1791-2010” in the American Journal of Political Science; and “Anxiolytic Drugs and Altered Hippocampal Theta Rhythms: The Quantitative Systems Pharmacological Approach” in Network: Computation in Neural Systems…Jim Langeland ’86 (Biology) and Blaine Moore (Biology) are co-authors of a paper accepted for publication in Molecular Biology and Evolution that contributes to the understanding of Alzheimer’s disease. The project was partially funded by a GLCA New Directions Initiative and had four Kalamazoo College students or alumni as co-authors (see a recent K News & Events article about this here.)…Amy Lane (Anthropology and Sociology) published “Religion is not a Monolith: Religious Experience at a Midwestern Liberal Arts College,” an article in Journal of College and Character…Sarah Lindley (Art) exhibited her sculptures in shows at Eastern Michigan University, Alma College, and Hope College…Bruce Mills (English) published An Archaeology of Yearning, a book by the Etruscan Press…Siu-Lan Tan (Psychology) co-authored three chapters and served as primary editor for the book, The Psychology of Music in Multimedia (Oxford University Press, 2013).

AWARDS and GRANTS
Kiran Cunningham ’83 (Anthropology and Sociology) has been awarded the 2014 Dr. Winthrop S. and Lois A. Hudson Award, awarded biannually for the purpose of honoring outstanding K faculty members…John Fink (Mathematics) has been awarded the Lucasse Lectureship for Outstanding Teaching at K…Alison Geist (Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Institute for Civic Engagement) was awarded one of the first Kalamazoo County Spirit of Health Equity awards…Binney Girdler (Biology and Environmental Studies) has been awarded grants from the Michigan Botanical Foundation and from the Central Michigan University Institute for Great Lakes Research…Bruce Mills (English) has been awarded a GLCA New Directions Initiative grant for his work on building a civil rights oral history archive…Lanny Potts (Theatre Arts) was awarded the 2013 Wilde Award for “Best Lighting Designer of the Year” in the state of Michigan for his work on “The Light in the Piazza” at Farmer’s Alley Theatre…Regina Stevens-Truss (Chemistry) has received funding from the GLCA Expanding Collaboration Initiative to study digital resources for learning experimental science.

NEW POSITIONS
Alyce Brady (Mathematics and Computer Science) is an Arcus Center Faculty Fellow. She will work collaboratively with universities in Sierra Leone to develop sustainable open-source academic record-keeping software…Reid Gómez is Mellon Visiting Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies, focusing on campus climate, faculty development, and curriculum development…Starting July 1, 2014, Mike Sosulski (German and Media Studies) will serve as Associate Provost and Paul Sotherland (Biology) will be the inaugural Coordinator of Teaching, Learning, and Educational Effectiveness.

ENDOWED CHAIRS
The following Kalamazoo College faculty members are the recipients of newly endowed chairs: R. Amy Elman, William Weber Professor in Social Science…Laura Lowe Furge, Roger F. and Harriet G. Varney Professor of Chemistry…Gary S. Gregg, Ann V. and Donald R. Parfet Distinguished Professor of Psychology…Ahmed M. Hussen, Edward and Virginia Van Dalson Professor of Economics and Business…Richard Koenig, Genevieve U. Gilmore Professor of Art…Amy MacMillan, L. Lee Stryker Assistant Professor of Business Management…Ed Menta, James B. Stone College Professor of Theatre Arts…Taylor G. Petrey, Lucinda Hinsdale Stone Assistant Professor of Religion.

Dean’s List Fall 2013

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Congratulations to the following Kalamazoo College students, who achieved a grade point average of 3.5 or better for a full-time course load of at least three units, without failing or withdrawing from any course, during the Fall 2013 academic term. Kudos to the entire group of some 300 students.

Fall 2013

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

Ayaka Abe
Michael Allen
Suma Alzouhayli
Katelyn Anderson
Giancarlo Anemone
Timothy Antel II
Jill Antonishen
Tyler Armor
Alberto Ayala

B

Shreya Bahl
Katherine Ballew
William Bartz
Abraham Bayha
Zoe Beaudry
Andrea Beitel
Kate Belew
William Bell
Erin Bensinger
Cleome Bernick-Roehr
Yuvraj Bhagat
Anup Bhullar
Mara Birndorf
Alexis Blakley
Reid Blanchett
Allison Bloomfield
Vanessa Boddy
Sean Bolourchi
Kira Boneff
Madeline Booth
Zoe Bowman
Riley Boyd
Andrew Breaugh
Erin Brown
Maxine Brown
Taylor Brown
Joel Bryson
Thaddeus Buttrey
Shanice Buys

C

Willina Cain
Robert Calco
Ellie Cannon
Olivia Cares
Sheila Carter
Marissa Cash
Alejandra Castillo
Nicholas Caywood
Katherine Cebelak
Madeleine Chilcote
Christine Cho
Jennifer Cho
Ji Won Choe
Amelia Chronis
Shahzaib Chughtai
Isabelle Ciaramitaro
Josefina Cibelli
Annaliese Collier
Quinton Colwell
Dylan Cramm Horn
Wilson Cross
David Crudder

D

Anna Dairaghi
Rachel Dandar
Bonnie Darrah
Sabrina Dass
Natalie Davenport
Corrin Davis
Eric De Witt
Emily Deal
Francesca DeAnda
Cecilia DeBoeck
David Demarest
Ryan DeMorrow
Jeremy DePree
Samir Deshpande
Dana DeVito
Melany Diaz
Miranda Doepker
Rachel Dranoff
Trisha Dunham
Erin DuRoss

E

Jordan Earnest
Andres ElAmin-Martinez
Rachel Ellis
Rachel Epstein
Sophia Ernstrom
Andrew Ertle
Michelle Escobar
Rachel Evans
Samuel Evans-Golden

F

Rachel Fadler
Michael Faust Jr.
Mario Ferrini
Alexis Fiebernitz
Claire Fielder
Olivia Finkelstein
Marie Fiori
Joshua Foley
Angela Fong
Van Forsman
Caroline Foura
Christopher Francis
Valentin Frank
Anthony Frattarelli
Annah Freudenburg
Gabriel Frishman
Rina Fujiwara
Lydia Fyie

G

Bridget Gallagher
Jacob Gallimore
Keith Garber
Brett Garwood
Dominic Gattuso
Kathleen George
Carl Ghafari
Mousa Ghannam
Sarah Ghans
Kelan Gill
Danielle Gin
Sarah Glass
Daniella Glymin
Carter Goetz
Marlon Gonzalez
Cameron Goodall
Kaitlin Gotcher
Adam Gothard
Alexandra Gothard
Claudia Greening
William Gribbin
Alexandra Groffsky
Daniel Grost
Guilherme Guedes
Alyse Guenther
Yicong Guo
Rebecca Guralnick

H

Robert Hammond
Nora Harris
Hadley Harrison
Taylor Hartley
Andrew Haubert
Veronica Hayden
Stephanie Heard
Frances Heldt
Ashley Henne
Jordan Henning
Kyle Hernandez
Yessica Hernandez
Alexander Hertel
Jordan Hessbrook
Kelsey Hill
Gabrielle Holme-Miller
Daniel Holtzman
Kaitlyn Horton
Allia Howard
Yuxi Huang
Audra Hudson
Patricia Hunter
Siwook Hwang

I

Pinar Inanli
Yohana Iyob

J

Nicolas Janssen
Clare Jensen
Jon Jerow
Tibin John
Amanda Johnson
Dylan Jolliffe
Brittany Jones

K

Kamalaldin Kamalaldin
Ginny Kang
Daniel Karn
Andrew Kaylor
Nicholas Keen
Jessica Kehoe
Jack Kemper
Allison Kennedy
Spencer Kennedy
Kelsey Kerbawy
Isabella Kerivan
Hannah Kim
Na Young Kim
Siga Kisielius
Benjamin Kochanowski
Younsuk Koh
Mehmet Kologlu
Matthew Kuntzman
Jasmine Kyon

L

Bryan Lara
Samuel Larioza
Bo Gyoung Lee
Gunyeop Lee
Hannah Lehker
Jacob Lenning
Rachel LePage
Madeline LeVasseur
Kelsi Levine
Samuel Lichtman-Mikol
Michael Lindley Jr.
Jacob Lindquist
Emily Lindsay
Gordon Liu
Megan Loyer
Chenxi Lu
Riley Lundquist
Liam Lundy

M

Lucy MacArthur Jr.
Lucy Mailing
Megan Malish
Sarah Manski
Scott Manski
Maxim Marino
Helena Marnauzs
Elizabeth Martin
Robert Martin
Jack Massion
Takumi Matsuzawa
Mindze Mbala-Nkanga
Madison McBarnes
Karly McCall
Mallory McClure
Sophia McFadden-Keesling
Aaron McKay
Sara McKinney
Molly Meddock
Roxanna Menchaca
Joshua Miller
Abigail Miner
Daniel Moore
Aliera Morasch
Cody Mosblech
Hagop Mouradian
Chloe Mpinga
Stuart Murch

N

Victoria Najacht
Alissa Neff
Audrey Negro
Miss Anne Nielsen
Nicholas Nizzardini
John Nocita
Mackenzie Norman

O

Colleen Orwin

P

Yunpeng Pang
Veeral Patel
Bronte Payne
Elizabeth Penix
Marlisa Pennington
Madison Perian
David Personke
Adam Peters
Caroline Peterson
Monysakada Phal
Thanh Thanh Phan
Katherine Pielemeier
Jasmine Policherla
Ayesha Popper
Emily Powers
Beau Prey

Q

 

R

Brian Raetz
Malavika Rao
James Reuter
Jenna Riehl
Melinda Rietkerk
Danielle Riffer-Reinert
Philip Ritchie
Annika Roberts
Sophie Roberts
Annalise Robinson
Megan Rochlitz
Jakob Rodseth
Stefanie Roudebush
Elinor Rubin-McGregor

S

Sharayu Salvi
Alejandra Sanchez
Keenan Sanford
Eri Sawai
Katharine Scheck
Jennie Scheerer
Ashley Schmidt
Natalie Schmitt
Sarah Schmitt
Aaron Schoenfeldt
Aaron Schwark
Rachel Selina
Lauren Seroka
Dylan Shearer
Cameron Shegos
Ke Sheng
Alec Sherrill
Sonam Shrestha
Brandon Siedlaczek
Petar Simic
Kaylah Simmons
Kathryn Skinner
Alexandra Smith
Caitlyn Smith
Emily Smith
Grace Smith
Sarah Smith
Cassandra Solis
Anika Sproull
Jordan Stainforth
Vethania Stavropoulos
Collin Steen
Hailey Stutz
Thomas Stuut
Michelle Sugimoto
Muyang Sun
Shang Sun
Kyle Sunden
Matthew Suter

T

Emerson Talanda-Fisher
Kiyoto Tanemura
Aidan Tank
Miss Farrell Tatum
William Tauke
Abigail Taylor
Kaitlyn Thiry
Brett Thomas
Eric Thornburg
Karen Timm
Nadia Torres
Alexander Townsend
Madeleine Tracey
Brooke Travis
Dakota Trinka
Minhkhang Truong
Ken Tsuchiya
Shelby Tuthill
Elizabeth Tyburski

U

V

Kaela Van Til
Erica Vanneste
Gregory Vasilion
Natalie Vazquez
Jordan Veillette
Madeline Vermeulen
Rachael Vettese
Julia Villarreal

W

Raoul Wadhwa
Reid Wagner
Kyra Walenga
Bailee Wallis
Emily Walsh
Jessica Walters
Samantha Weaver
Perri Weiderman
Paris Weisman
Clayton Weissenborn
Cameron Werner
Sarah Werner
Scott Wharam
Caitlyn Whitcomb
Jacob Whitney
Elijah Wickline
Arshia Will
Kieran Williams
Rachel Williams
Krystal Wilson
Camille Wood
Jenna Wood
Lindsay Worthington
Kate Wynne

X

Anja Xheka
Jie Xu

Y

Sina Yakhshi Tafti
Brent Yelton

Z

Lauren Zehnder
Jingcan Zhu
Kevin Zuker

Hornet Teams Display Computing Power in ACM Competition

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Seniors Kyle Sunden, Lucas Kushner and Fayang Pan at the ACM competition
Orange Hornets (l-r) Kyle Sunden, Lucas Kushner, and Fayang Pan, all seniors.

Two teams of Kalamazoo College students recently competed and computed in the annual Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Intercollegiate Regional Programming competition. When the dust settled, the Orange and Black left some big competitors feeling blue.

The Orange Hornets team of seniors Lucas Kushner, Fayang Pan, and Kyle Sunden solved two of nine problems and placed 34th out of about 126 teams from 61 colleges and universities throughout western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, eastern Ontario, and Indiana. The Black Hornets team of seniors Tibin John and Will Reichle and sophomore Sarah Manski also solved two of nine problems and finished 40th.

“It’s a combination of both time and correct submissions, with penalties for incorrect submissions,” explained K Associate Professor of Computer Science Pam Cutter who accompanied the teams to the competition held at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids.

She said the Orange Hornets solved the first problem in 50 minutes with three incorrect attempts and solved the second problem in 2:30 with one incorrect attempt. The Black Hornets solved the first problem in 1:41 with two incorrect attempts and solved the second problem in 3:39 with one incorrect attempt.

Last year, K teams placed 39th and 53rd out of 131 teams.

Senior Will Reichle, sophomore Sarah Manski and senior Tibin John at the ACM Competition
Black Hornets (l-r) senior Will Reichle, sophomore Sarah Manski, and senior Tibin John.

The 2013 competition included teams from big institutions such as Carnegie Mellon, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, University of Toronto, and University of Michigan—some of which finished behind Cutter’s Hornet squads.

“I am quite proud of our teams,” she said. “If you see this gang, give them a “Good job!”

ACM is the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society.

 

 

Honors Day 2013

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Congratulations to the following Kalamazoo College students, who received awards during the Honors Day Convocation, November 1, 2013, in Stetson Chapel. The awards include all academic divisions, prestigious scholarships, and special non-departmental awards.

FINE ARTS DIVISION

THE BRIAN GOUGEON PRIZE IN ART, awarded to a sophomore student who, during his or her first year, exhibited outstanding achievement and potential in art.
Lucy MacArthur
Emily Walsh

THE LILLIAN PRINGLE BALDAUF PRIZE IN MUSIC, awarded to an outstanding music student.
Geon-Ah Shin
Alexandra Szeles

THE FAN E. SHERWOOD MEMORIAL PRIZE, awarded for outstanding progress and ability on the violin, viola, cello or bass.
Rina Fujiwara

THE MARGARET UPTON PRIZE IN MUSIC, awarded each year to a student designated by the Music Department Faculty as having made significant achievement in music.
Kieran Williams

THE COOPER AWARD, for a junior or senior showing excellence in a piece of creative work in a Theatre Arts class: film, acting, design, stagecraft, puppetry, speech.
Jane Huffman

THE SHERWOOD PRIZE, given for the best oral presentation in a speech-oriented class.
Emily Stillman

THE THEATRE ARTS FIRST-YEAR STUDENT AWARD, given to a sophomore for outstanding departmental efforts during the first year.
Esprit Autenreith
Emily Walsh

FOREIGN LANGUAGES DIVISION

THE LEGRAND COPLEY PRIZE IN FRENCH, awarded to the sophomore who as a first-year student demonstrated the greatest achievement in French.
Jennifer Cho
Stephanie Heard
Alexandra N. Smith

THE HARDY FUCHS AWARD, given for excellence in first-year German.
Muyang Sun

THE MARGO LIGHT AWARD, given for excellence in second-or third-year German.
Emily Walsh

THE ROMANCE LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT PRIZE IN SPANISH, awarded for excellence in the first year in Spanish.
Keith Garber
Michael Lindley
Nadia Torres

THE CLARA H. BUCKLEY PRIZE FOR EXCELLENCE IN LATIN, awarded to an outstanding student of the language of the ancient Romans.
Kaitlyn Greiner

THE PROVOST’S PRIZE IN CLASSICS, awarded to that student who writes the best essay on a classical subject.
Taylor Hartley

HUMANITIES DIVISION

THE O. M. ALLEN PRIZE IN ENGLISH, given for the best essay written by a member of the first-year class.
Mallory McClure

THE JOHN B. WICKSTROM PRIZE IN HISTORY, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in history.
Isabelle Ciaramitaro

THE VOYNOVICH COMPETITIVE SCHOLARSHIP, awarded to a first-year, sophomore or junior who writes the most creative essay based on a selected topic in the alternating areas of Religion and Science.
Tessa Moore

THE L.J. AND EVA (“GIBBIE”) HEMMES MEMORIAL PRIZE IN PHILOSOPHY, awarded to that sophomore who in the first year shows the greatest promise for continuing studies in philosophy.
Brian Dalluge
Sarah Werner

THE DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY PRIZE, awarded for excellence in any year’s work in philosophy.
Riley Cook
Charles Davis
Morgan Jennings

NATURAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS DIVISION

THE WINIFRED PEAKE JONES PRIZE IN BIOLOGY, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in biology.
Reid Blanchett
Lucy Mailing
Elizabeth Penix

THE DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in chemistry.
Matthew Kuntzman

THE FIRST-YEAR CHEMISTRY AWARD, awarded to a sophomore student who, during the first year, demonstrated great achievement in chemistry.
Katherine Cebelak
Nadia Torres

THE LEMUEL F. SMITH AWARD, given to a student majoring in chemistry pursuing the American Chemical Society approved curriculum and having at the end of the junior year the highest average standing in courses taken in chemistry, physics, and mathematics.
Sara Adelman

THE COMPUTER SCIENCE PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in computer science.
Natalie Davenport
Fayang Pan

THE FIRST-YEAR MATHEMATICS AWARD, given annually to the sophomore student who, during the first year, demonstrated the greatest achievement in mathematics.
Paige Maguire
Sarah Manski

THE THOMAS O. WALTON PRIZE IN MATHEMATICS, awarded to a member of the junior class for excellence in the work of the first two years in mathematics.
Tibin John
Philip Mulder
Fayang Pan

THE COOPER PRIZE IN PHYSICS, given for excellence in the first year’s work in physics.
Sarah Manski

SOCIAL SCIENCES DIVISION

THE DEPARTMENTAL PRIZE IN ANTHROPOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY, awarded for excellence during the first and/or second year’s work.
Annaliese Collier
Gabriel Frishman
Shannon Haupt
Brandon Siedlaczek

THE C. WALLACE LAWRENCE PRIZE IN ECONOMICS, awarded annually to a pre-business student who has done outstanding work in the Department of Economics and Business during the sophomore year.
William Cagney
David Personke
Lilian Taylor
Thomas Verville

THE IRENE AND S. KYLE MORRIS PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s courses in the Department of Economics and Business.
Spencer Kennedy
Bo Gyoung Lee

THE WILLIAM G. HOWARD MEMORIAL PRIZE, awarded for excellence in any year’s work in political science.
Audra Hudson

THE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY FIRST-YEAR STUDENT PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in psychology.
Elizabeth Penix

THE MARSHALL HALLOCK BRENNER PRIZE, given by family and friends in memory of Marshall Hallock Brenner (Class of 1955), to be awarded to an outstanding junior for excellence in the study of psychology.
Ian Good

PHYSICAL EDUCATION DIVISION

THE DIVISION OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION PRIZE, awarded to those students who as first-year students best combined leadership and scholarship in promoting athletics, physical education and recreation.
Jacob Lindquist
Lucy Mailing

THE MAGGIE WARDLE PRIZE, awarded to that sophomore woman whose activities at the College reflect the values that Maggie Wardle demonstrated in her own life. The recipient will show a breadth of involvement in the College through her commitment to athletics and to the social sciences and/or community service.
Mallory McClure

NON-DEPARTMENTAL AWARDS

THE GORDON BEAUMONT MEMORIAL AWARD, awarded to the deserving student who displays qualities of selflessness, humanitarian concern, and willingness to help others, as exemplified in the life of Gordon Beaumont.
Paula Dallacqua
Roxann Lawrence

THE HENRY AND INEZ BROWN PRIZE, awarded in recognition of outstanding participation in the College community.
Jessie Owens

THE VIRGINIA HINKELMAN MEMORIAL AWARD, awarded to a deserving student who displays a deep concern for the well-being of children, as demonstrated through career goals in the field of child welfare.
Raven Fisher

THE F. W. AND ELSIE L. HEYL SCHOLARSHIP to Kalamazoo College provides tuition, room, and books for select students who are graduates of Kalamazoo Public Schools or the Kalamazoo Area Mathematics and Science Center and who are majoring in the Sciences or Mathematics.
Robert Brice Calco
Quinton Colwell
Andrew Kaylor
Madison McBarnes
Colleen Orwin
Graeme Timmeney
Eric Thornburg
Raoul Wadhwa

THE POSSE SCHOLAR PROGRAM provides leadership scholarships for public high school students from Los Angeles, California with extraordinary academic and leadership potential. Students are selected for their intrinsic leadership abilities, their skill at working in a team setting, and their motivation and desire to succeed.
Erin Byrd
Kaitlyn Courtenay
Moises Hernandez
Richard Hernandez
Emily Kowey
Francisco Lopez
Jose Lopez
Jessica Magana
Aaron McKay
Phylicia Samuel
Yaneli Soriano

JOHN T. WILLIAMSON SCHOLARS – This scholarship fund was founded in recognition of the work and efforts of John T. Williamson to further the growth of education for our youth. The J.T. Williamson is awarded to black and Hispanic students for their outstanding academic achievements.
Isabela Agosa
Lucas Arbulu
Nathan Arcienega
Alberto Ayala
Maribel Blas-Rangel
Vanessa Boddy
Sarah Bragg
Viola Brown
John Clark
Caitlyn Cook
Quincy Crosby
Amanda Crouch
Bianca Delgado
Olivia Finkelstein
Samantha Gleason
Marlon Gonzalez
Janelle Grant
Brenden Groggel
Mireya Guzman-Ortiz
Fatoumata Hanne
Kyle Hernandez
Jordan Hessbrook
Natalie Hettle
Allia Howard
Yohana Iyob
Janay Johnson
Kourtney Johnson
Siani Johnson
Ebone Jones
Bryan Lara
Gabriela Latta
Jaime Lazcano
Gabriel Lind
Bailee Lotus
Malikah Mahone
Blanca Moreno
Gabriel Ovsiew
Stephany Perez
Nicholas Polzin
Joshua Robison
Rogelio Ruiz
Kaylah Simmons
Kylah Simmons
Oyindamola Sunmonu
Benjamin Toledo
Carmen Torrado-Gonzalez
Natalie Vazquez

THE ENLIGHTENED LEADERSHIP AWARDS are merit-based scholarships created to enhance and reflect the spirit, culture and values of our campus community. As a college with a rich history of excellence, we award students each year who show personal dedication and involvement in the following areas: Social Activism and Community Engagement, Creative Expression, International Activism, Sustainability and Environmental Activism.
Kyle Lampar
Vethania Stavropoulos
Ian Williams
Helena Marnauzs
Chiara Sarter
Katherine Ballew
Gwendolyn Balogh
Bianca Delgado
Valentin Frank
Hannah Lehker
Kelan Gill
Gabriela Latta
Dallas Pallone
Stephany Perez

ALPHA LAMBDA DELTA is a national honor society that recognizes excellence in academic achievement during the first college year. To be eligible for membership, students must earn a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 and be in the top 20 percent of their class during the first year. The Kalamazoo College chapter was installed on March 5, 1942.
Ayaka Abe
Reid Blanchett
Francisco Cabrera
Willina Cain
Kathryn Callaghan
Olivia Cares
Isabelle Ciaramitaro
Annaliese Collier
Brian Cunningham-Rhoads
Susmitha Daggubati
Miranda Doepker
Rachel Dranoff
Marie Fiori
Joshua Foley
Angela Fong
Keith Garber
Evan Gorgas
William Gribbin
Nora Harris
Stephanie Heard
Pornkamol Huang
Audra Hudson
Jessica Kehoe
Spencer Kennedy
Bo Gyoung Lee
Elizabeth Lenning
Madeline LeVasseur
Jacob Lindquist
Riley Lundquist
Madeleine MacWilliams
Lucy Mailing
Sarah Manski
Mallory McClure
Molly Meddock
Gabrielle Montesanti
Chloe Mpinga
Yunpeng Pang
Elizabeth Penix
Jung Eun Pyeon
Emily Salswedel
Cameron Schwartz
Lauren Seroka
Alexsandra Siems
Alexandra Smith
Mira Swearer
Nadia Torres
Alexander Townsend
Elizabeth Tyburski
Sarah Wallace
Emily Walsh
Jared Weeks

THE NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARS are chosen based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishments as evaluated through student’s academic record, information about the school’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’s curricula and grading system, test scores, a high school recommendation, information about the student’s activities and leadership, and an essay.
Liam Lundy

MIAA TEAM AWARDS – These 12 teams earned the 2009-10 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Team GPA Award for achieving a 3.3000 or better grade point average for the entire academic year.
Men’s Basketball
Men’s Cross Country
Men’s Golf
Men’s Soccer
Men’s Swimming and Diving
Women’s Basketball
Women’s Cross Country
Women’s Golf
Women’s Soccer
Women’s Softball
Women’s Swimming & Diving
Women’s Tennis

MIAA ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL – The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association each year honors students at MIAA member colleges who achieve in both the classroom and in athletic competition. A student must be a letter winner in a varsity sport and maintain at least a 3.5 grade point average for the entire school year.
Abby Anderson
Giancarlo Anemone
Alexander Armstrong
Nicholas Beam
Tyler Benmark
Nicholas Bolig
Amanda Bolles
Travis Braun
Kelly Bresnahan
Erran Briggs
Aaron Bunker
Rayanne Burl
Francisco Cabrera
William Cagney
Olivia Cares
Edward Carey
Cody Carr
Brandon Casto
Kathryn Chamberlain
Taylor Clements
Holly Cooperrider
Brock Crystal
Rebecca Cummins-Lanter
Rachel Dandar
Abigail DeOchoa
David DeSimone
Miranda Doepker
Benjamin Dueweke
Trenton Dykstra
Taryn Edsall
Kristen Ellefson
Alan Faber
James Frye
Keith Garber
Jared Georgakopoulos
Mark Ghafari
Cierra Gillard
Ian Good
Evan Gorgas
Alexandra Gothard
Emily Gray
Virginia Greenberger
Alexandra Groffsky
Guilherme Guedes
Dagan Hammar
Stephen Hanselman
Sally Harrison
Kenneth Heidel
Jordan Henning
Robert Hilliard
Jacob Holloway
Benjamin Hulbert
Tibin John
Evan Johnson
Katherine Johnston
Daniel Karn
Grace Kelley
Spencer Kennedy
Michael Korn
Rory Landis
Colin Lauderdale
Elizabeth Lenning
Jacob Lenning
Jacob Lindquist
Emily Lindsay
Christopher Lueck
Shane MacDonald
Dane Macdonell
Lucy Mailing
Megan Malish
Sarah Manski
Scott Manski
Megan Martinez
Gina Massari
Caitlin McCarthy
Mallory McClure
Quinn McCormick
Adam McDowell
Megan McLeod
Molly Meddock
Jordan Meeth
Bradley Merritt
Matthew Mills
Alexander Minch
Michael Minkus
Gabrielle Montesanti
Kelsey Moran
Alexandra Morris
Alexander Numbers
Michael Paule-Carres
Bronte Payne
Adam Peters
Margaux Reckard
Maria Rich
Sophie Roberts
William Roberts
Ryan Rohatynski
Connor Rzeznik
Kira Sandiford
Lauren Seroka
Aaron Schoenfeldt
Cameron Schwartz
Dylan Shearer
Jacqueline Short
Charlotte Steele
Alexandra Stephens
Sarah Sullivan
Nicholas Sweda
Emerson Talanda-Fisher
Brett Thomas
Allison Thompson
Alexander Townsend
Elizabeth Tyburski
Stephanie Verbeek
Samantha Voss
Cameron Wasko
Loren Weber
Jared Weeks
Clayton Weissenborn
Joseph Widmer
Cheryl Zhang
Agron Ziberi
Marc Zughaib

 

 

 

K Alumnus Wins Dissertation Award

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The W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research annually honors the best doctoral dissertation on employment-related issues. The 2013 Dissertation Award is shared by Gregory Leiserson and Will Dobbie. Dobbie is 2004 graduate of Kalamazoo College (major–economics and business; study abroad–Nairobi, Kenya; athletics–varsity cross country). His dissertation comprises three essays in the area of labor economics. The first essay estimates the impact of Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection on subsequent earnings and mortality. The second explores why market failures may exist in subprime credit markets. The third asks whether high quality primary/secondary schools are enough to significantly reduce social disparities. Dobbie earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University. The W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan, independent research organization devoted to investigating the causes and effects of unemployment, to identifying feasible methods of insuring against unemployment, and to devising ways and means of alleviating the distress and hardship caused by unemployment.

Kalamazoo College Professor Péter Érdi Earns Award from International Neural Networks Societies

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Peter Erdi among three accepting awards
Kalamazoo College Professor Peter Erdi (left), Plamen Angelov (Lancaster University), and Daniel Levine (University of Texas at Arlington) received Outstanding Service Awards at the 2013 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks. Photo by Wentao Guo.

Péter Érdi, K’s Henry R. Luce Professor of Complex Systems Studies, served as the Program Chair for the 2013 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN), the premier international conference in the area of neural networks theory, analysis, and application. This year’s IJCNN was held in Dallas, Texas and was attended by more than 500 people.

Professor Érdi, who teaches in K’s departments of Physics and Psychology, was also one of three chairs of the Organizing Committee to receive the Outstanding Service Award from the International Neural Network Society and the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers Computational Intelligence Society, the two leading professional organizations for researchers working in neural networks.

He joined other big names in neural research who received awards at the conference, including Stephen Grossberg (Boston University), considered by many in the field to be the father/inventor of adaptive resonance theory; Terry Sejnowski  (University California at San Diego) who works on President Obama’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies initiative, which is being compared to the Human Genome Project and the moon landing initiative; and Frank Lewis, a Distinguished Professor at University of Texas Arlington Research Institute who received the IEEE Pioneer in Neural Networks Award for his work in bringing together optimal and adaptive control.

Alumnus Wins Nobel Prize

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2013 Nobel Prize winner Robert Shiller in 1963Robert Shiller, who became famous for calling the housing and Internet stock bubbles, was one of three Americans to win the 2013 Nobel Prize in economics. Today, he’s a professor at Yale. In 1963, he was a freshman at Kalamazoo College (see photo at left). He stayed at K through fall of his sophomore year before transferring to the University of Michigan. A true liberal arts learner, he took classes during his five K quarters from Don Flesche (political science), Jean Calloway (mathematics) and Conrad Hilberry (English). Five quarters? How does a student accumulate five quarters by the end of fall of sophomore year? That’s a little known fact of the early K-Plan. One could opt to complete one’s undergraduate studies and graduate in three years. Very few students elected that option and it dropped from disuse. “My experience at K was great,” wrote Shiller recently, “and helped set me on my path. I remember that it was my admiration of Bruce Timmons, an economics major at K, that got me into economics. It wasn’t so much my experience taking economics at K, I only got a B+ in intro econ, as I recall, which I thought, momentarily, might mean that I just did not have talent in economics.” Regarding his transfer to University of Michigan: “The reason I did so is a little complicated to explain,” wrote Shiller. “My foreign language was Russian, and so I did not have any place to go for my junior year abroad, and all my classmates would be gone, so I thought I might just switch to U of M. Another reason was that I signed in to the K three-year program, originally to graduate in 1966, but began to think I wanted to experience more years as an undergrad, and I thought joining a big college newspaper staff (the Michigan Daily) would be great fun. More fun than staying behind when my whole class went abroad. So, that is what I did.” At K, Shiller was a member of the Delmega Society, a student organization that attracted mostly math and science majors and serious students. Another K connection was provided by Professor of Economics Hannah McKinney. Shiller and another professor team taught McKinney’s macroeconomics class during her first year of graduate school. Congratulations on the Nobel Prize, Professor Shiller. We’re proud of your K roots.

Healthy K

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Kalamazoo College has been selected to the Honor Roll of the 2013 Michigan’s Healthiest Employers program. Word of the award came to Ken Wood, the College’s wellness and fitness advisor. The awards and best practices program is presented by Crain’s Detroit Business, MiBiz, and Priority Health to recognize companies around the state whose policies, programs, and culture create healthy employees and healthy workplaces. As an honor roll member, the College will be invited to attend the Healthiest Employers Awards & Best Practices event (January 10, 2014) at DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids. After a healthy breakfast, finalists and honor roll organizations will enjoy a panel discussion with the winning companies to learn about their best practices, challenges, and plans for the future.

Endowed Six Help Extend Excellence and Impact

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In late September K announced the launch of the public phase of its $125 million Campaign for Kalamazoo College (of which $84 million has been raised). The excellence and impact of a K education derives directly from the quality of its faculty. Toward the end of ensuring that excellence and impact, the campaign is already having an effect–specifically by supporting six new endowed professorships (a final goal of the campaign is to fund 10 endowed professorships). Five of the six positions have been appointed. The sixth will soon be named. The five appointees are:

The Arcus Social Justice Leadership Assistant Professor of Anthropology — Adriana Garriga-López

The Arcus Social Justice Leadership Associate Professor of Political Science — John Dugas

Lucinda Hinsdale Stone Assistant Professor of Religion — Taylor Petrey

James B. Stone College Professor of Theatre Arts — Ed Menta

Edward and Virginia Van Dalson Professor of Economics and Business — Ahmed Hussen

Endowed faculty positions honor outstanding faculty members and provide funds for research and the pedagogical explorations of those professors. Such positions suggest the academic prestige of Kalamazoo College. New endowed faculty positions allow faculty expansion in critical academic fields. And because the money for such positions comes from earnings from the principal of endowed gifts, these professorships remove stress on the College’s operating budget, enabling the College to apply the savings that result to educational innovations and opportunities which are often as unforeseen as they are important. The ultimate beneficiaries are Kalamazoo College students and the nonpareil learning experiences they forge with their professors. The Campaign for Kalamazoo College seeks to raise $62 million in endowment monies to support not just new faculty chairs, but also scholarships for students and improvements to the programs that constitute the K-Plan.