Julie Mehretu ’92 is one of 14 new members voted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Mehretu is among the most celebrated of contemporary painters in the world. She works from studios in New York City and Berlin. She has exhibited in several important group exhibitions including “Poetic Justice”, 8th Istanbul Biennial (2003); Whitney Biennial; São Paolo Biennial and Carnegie International, Pittsburgh (2004); the Biennale of Sydney and the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2006); Prospect 1, New Orleans (2008); “Automatic Cities” MCA San Diego (2009); “From Picasso to Julie Mehretu,” British Museum, London (2010) and Document XIII, Kassel (2012). Solo exhibitions include Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; REDCAT, Los Angeles and Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo (2003); St Louis Art Museum (2005) and MUSAC, Léon, Spain (2006); “City Sitings,” Detroit Institute of Art and “Black City” Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark (2007); North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, (2008); “Grey Area,” Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin (2009) and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2010). In 2015 Mehretu was honored with the U.S. State Department’s National Medal of Arts.
The arts academy, an honorary society with a core membership of 250 writers, artists, composers and architects, was founded in 1898, with members since ranging from Henry James and William Dean Howells to Chuck Close and Stephen Sondheim. The new inductees will be formally welcomed at a ceremony at the New York-based academy in May, where academy member Joyce Carol Oates will deliver the keynote address. Previous speakers have included Helen Keller, Robert Frost and Robert Caro. The new group of inductees features Kalamazoo College connections through its Summer Common Reading program. Among the writers the academy honored this year are Junot Diaz, Ann Patchett and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. All visited K for the SCR program, which featured their novels, respectively, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Bel Canto, and Purple Hibiscus.
Mansi Dahal ’20 has a vision so impressive that the Michigan Colleges Alliance (MCA) has awarded her one of its Independent Innovators Network Scholarships. The scholarships recognize entrepreneurial concepts submitted by students from the 15 MCA schools. Mansi will receive a $5,000 scholarship in spring. The overall top entrepreneurial concept will be selected by MCA in the coming weeks.
Her goal after graduation in 2020 is to open a small clothing manufacturing business that employs women who have been physically, verbally and sexually abused. She envisions an operation–small at first–that incorporates design, production, marketing and advertising and sales. She plans to begin her business in Nepal, the home from which she matriculated to Kalamazoo College.
In addition to training and employment, her operation would provide housing and food for those employees who need it. The growth of her business will help ameliorate an important social issue. “Women who have undergone such trauma are often left jobless and without support,” wrote Mansi. With training, new skills and employment opportunities the women can regain power in their lives. Improvement in the lives of women has been a cause important to Mansi since her adolescence. At that time her first careers yearnings leaned toward medicine. And undergraduate study in the United States was not part of her plan. “Nothing happens according to my plans,” she says, “and I’ve been delighted by that.” When she first arrived at K, she was considering a major in economics. However, her first-year creative writing class has her thinking about a possible major in English.
She has a year before declaring a major (which happens in the sophomore winter term), plenty of time and opportunity to exercise her liberal arts spirit. Whatever her major ends up being, it will apply to the business idea she’s determined to bring to fruition–a business she hopes to expand to countries outside of Nepal. And the profits from that business Mansi plans to invest in its growth and to donate to organizations that promote sustainable hygiene and health for girls worldwide.
The Modern Language Association’s MLA Field Bibliographer Newsletter includes a profile of a Distinguished Indexer who is none other than Kalamazoo College’s own Joe Fugate, professor emeritus of German studies and director emeritus of the Center for International Programs. Indexers and bibliographers are indispensable to the art and science of scholarship in all fields. The MLA article notes that Joe has been a field indexer longer than any other contributor, enriching the coverage in the German literature section for almost fifty years, adding thousands of citations to the MLA International Bibliography. He has also served as a member of and consultant to the Bibliography Advisory Committee. He was awarded an MLA International Bibliography Fellowship for the years 2011 to 2014. Much of the article is in Joe’s own voice. He says, “My tenure as a bibliographer has differed from that of any other bibliographer I have known because for almost 30 years while maintaining my faculty status, I held an administrative post in our study abroad program, including 18 as director.
“I was fortunate because my faculty interests–German language and literature, especially of the 18th century and in particular J. G. Herder–and my administrative post complemented each other. My frequent overseas trips visiting universities on three continents enabled me to establish personal contact with a number of foreign scholars who shared my academic interests and to perfect my fluency in other languages. The fact that my name appeared in the International Bibliography helped immensely in establishing these contacts.
“Over the years I have witnessed a number of changes in the production of the bibliography. When I first became a contributor all entries were typed or hand written on three by five slips of paper (some of which I still have in my files) and sent to MLA headquarters. These slips were replaced by the color-coded sheets which likewise were completed by hand or typed and then submitted.
“Now everything is on the computer. Traditionalist that I am however, I continue to miss the printed edition. I am sure that the MLA staff was relieved when they no longer had to deal with handwritten entries. Looking back I recall with pleasure the yearly meetings of the bibliographers with the staff at the annual convention. The gathering not only gave us an opportunity to discuss bibliographical matters but also to get to know each other personally. One of our colleagues, a contract interpreter for Russian with the State Department, would enliven our meetings with stories about her experiences with visiting Russians and their habit of proposing frequent toasts of vodka. When she was asked how she handled this, she replied that she tried to stand next to a plant into which she emptied her vodka. She never did tell us what this did to the plant.
“It was my privilege to serve on the Bibliography Advisory Committee. One issue we discussed at length was the lack of recognition as a scholarly and professional activity of being a bibliographer. In this connection I was able to cite one of my colleagues, now retired but still writing and publishing, who proclaimed for all to hear that my work as a bibliographer made his and other scholars’ possible. There are many to whom I owe a debt of gratitude for making my activity as a bibliographer an interesting and enriching experience: those who originally accepted me as a bibliographer, the heads of the bibliography department at the MLA, the section heads and the MLA staff with whom I have worked together and continue to work with even today.”
Thirty-five Kalamazoo College seniors (class of 2017) were honored with the institution’s prestigious Senior Leadership Award. These remarkable individuals include teaching assistants, peer instruction leaders, resident assistants, team captains, all-conference and academic all-American selections, Dean’s List honorees, student ambassadors for the president of Kalamazoo College, departmental student advisors, Center for Career and Professional Development career associates, and interfaith student leaders. One has even served as the mascot, Buzz the Hornet.
They lead or participate in groups that include, among others, Sisters in Science, Frelon Dance Troupe, College Singers, Young Men of Color, Black Student Organization, Coalition for Reproductive Justice, Hillel, Swim for Success, the Cauldron, Health Professions Society, and the Athletic Leadership Council. Some have distinguished themselves as Hornet athletes in golf, soccer, softball, baseball, tennis, basketball and swimming; as performers in theatre and music; and as persons committed to thinking, listening and acting in collaboration on behalf of civic engagement and social justice.
Above all, these 35 individuals are, as one nominator wrote, “exemplary human beings.” Congratulations, seniors. Pictured are (l-r): front row–Moises Hernandez (holding his son Gael), Emily Levy, Marlon Gonzalez, Lauren Perlaki, Elizabeth Clevenger, Jacob Scott, Dana DeVito, Colleen Orwin; second row–Thaddeus Buttrey, Grace Smith, Kathleen Sorensen, Allie Brodsky, Suma Alzouhayli; third row–Allia Howard, Sarah Bragg, Kayla Dziadzio, Suzanne Miller, Sabrina Dass, Gabrielle Holme-Miller, Emily Kowey; fourth row–Melissa Erikson, Anh-Tu Vu, Riley Boyd, Ellie Goldman, Erin DuRoss; back row–Nate Donovan, Eric DeWitt, Douglas Robinett, David Smith, and Sidney Wall. Not pictured are Sarah Glass, Chenxi Lu, Leland Merrill, Branden Metzler, and Lindsay Worthington.
Rejuvenation might be a theme for this year’s tennis Australian Open. Venus and Serena Williams meet in the women’s singles championships match. And if Rafael Nadal (age 30) wins his semifinal match, he’ll face the 35-year-old (ancient by professional tennis standards) Roger Federer in the men’s championship.
There’s a K connection to this year’s Open as well. The late Vic Braden, Kalamazoo College class of 1951, is one of the 2017 recipients of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. That class was inducted during the Australian Open on January 23. Vic was a groundbreaking tennis instructor and sports scientists. Other members of the hall-of-fame class of 2017 include former world number-one ranked players Kim Clijsters and Andy Roddick, wheelchair tennis player Monique Kalkman-van den Bosch and journalist and historian Steve Flink.
One great outcome of the K-Plan is an aptitude for adventure–one that lasts a lifetime, with a concomitant fearlessness of failure. Take Laura Livingstone-McNelis, class of 1989. The English major, theatre arts minor, LandSea participant (who studied abroad in the United Kingdom) has taught in the public schools, owned and administered a bed & breakfast business and, for the past four years, served as the company manager for the College’s Department of Theatre Arts and Festival Playhouse Productions. Next month you can add to that résumé the title: Playwright.
Laura’s one-act play, “Lost in the Shuffle,” has been accepted by and will be performed during the Seventh Annual New Play Festival at the Epic Center in downtown Kalamazoo. Her play will stage on Saturday, February 4, at 2 p.m.
Laura cites three reasons for her adventure into playwrighting.
“I was intrigued by the New Play Festival’s call for plays and thought, ‘Why not try?'” she says. Actually, the genesis of “Lost” dates back several months before that call. As a member of the Lake Effect Writers Guild, Laura remembers a particular meeting the previous winter. “The assignment was to write something with a ‘bit of dialogue.’ I thought, ‘Here’s my chance,’ and began the first draft of ‘Lost’ in January 2016.” So the metamorphosis of “Here’s my chance!” to “Why not try?” constitutes one of three motives driving our nascent playwright.
The second had to do with the seminal event that inspired the play. Laura explains: “The play is about Alzheimer’s disease and its effect on the patient and the family, especially family caregivers. My stepfather eventually died of the disease. I recall during a visit to my mom and stepfather’s house finding in a desk a box with a harmonica. I was familiar with the harmonica because years earlier my kids had given it to my mom and inscribed on the box ‘Grandma.’ But when I saw the box that day the word ‘Grandma’ had been carefully crossed out, and in the painstaking handwriting of my stepfather was written instead the word ‘harmonica.’
“Often you cannot see the devastation of Alzheimer’s until its late stages. Those early effects can be hidden. And yet already the disease had stolen from his mind–at least intermittently–the concept of possession. In his mind, the box did not contain a grandma; it contained a harmonica, so he fixed it.”
The hiddenness and drama of that discovery in the desk relates to the third reason Laura wrote her play. “Theatre is a community of inclusion, able to inspire empathy and be an agent for change,” she says. “Theatre brings light to issues hidden beneath our inattentiveness, and the effects of Alzheimer’s disease require more light,” she adds.
Her script development continues through the rehearsal process and in collaboration with the play’s director and actors. “I’ve done five rewrites during rehearsals,” says Laura, “and learned a great deal in the revisions.” In her play, Laura is writing movement as much as dialogue. For example, her staging of “shuffling” acquires multiple layers of meaning in this poignant work, as much poem as performance. Launching an adventure takes teamwork, and Laura is deeply grateful to the producers of the New Play Festival, Kevin Dodd and Steve Feffer, for providing the opportunity for playwrights like her to develop their work. Ed Menta has served as her mentor since her college days. “And my family and friends have enthusiastically encouraged my writing,” she adds.
“Lost” may be just the beginning of her writing career. “I have things to say,” she smiles, “and I’m no longer too intimidated to try.” She’s at work on a family book about the power of love. “It’s meant to be read by parents to children, and it focuses on the extraordinary relationship between my mom and my daughter.” The working title is “A Kiss Across the Miles.”
Who knows, though, its genre may morph to a play. As might her second work-in-progress, a memoir based on a nightly diary Laura has kept for 41 years (seriously!)…every night, with no more than a couple dozen exceptions, since she was NINE YEARS OLD.
“I don’t have a working title for the memoir,” says Laura. “It’s shaping into the arc of a young woman growing up with a set of expectations and then having to manage a life direction that diverges quite radically from those expectations.”
Add to this oeuvre a second version of “Lost.” February’s performance (version one) takes about 12 minutes. Laura will expand that to a one-act play of standard length (40 to 45 minutes). Who knows, maybe one day she’ll make it a full-length play.
In the meantime, Rave on, Laura. And thank you for the courage.
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 2016 academic term. Students who elect to take a letter-graded course on a credit/no credit basis (CR/NC) are not eligible for Dean’s List consideration during that term. Nor are students who receive an F, NC or W grade for that particular term. Students with incomplete (I) or in-progress (IP) grades will be considered for Dean’s List upon receipt of the final grades. Dean’s List recognition is posted on students’ transcripts. Kudos to the entire group of more than 300 students, and good luck in Winter Term, 2017.
Azra Ahmad
Bekhzod Akilov
Michelle Alba
Georgie Andrews
Ryan Andrusz
Grant Anger
Hunter Angileri
Jill Antonishen
Mary Beth Arendash
Jacqueline Arroyo
Taylor Ashby
Meredith Ashton
Max Aulbach
Juan Avila
B
Jo Babcock
Sonal Bahl
Benjamin Baldwin
Garrett Barkume
Cameron Bays
Ethan Beattie
Logan Beck
Dylan Beight
Matt Benedettini
Chris Benedict
Kate Bennett
Erin Bensinger
Brigette Berke
Madelyn Betts
Kevin Bhimani
Riya Bhuyan
Daniel Bidwell
Maribel Blas-Rangel
Vanessa Boddy
Sean Bogue
Jake Bonifacio
Georgie Booker
Kennedy Boulton
Emily Boyle
Amelia Brave
Maxine Brown
Molly Brueger
Matthew Burczyk
Mary Burnett
Thaddeus Buttrey
Shanice Buys
C
Kefu Cao
Shannon Carley
Owen Carroll
Charlie Carson
Kebra Cassells
Marissa Castellana
James Castleberry
Sharmeen Chauhdry
Chido Chigwedere
Tapiwa Chikungwa
Emiline Chipman
Youngjoon Cho
Lakshya Choudhary
Iffat Chowdhury
Yoensuk Chung
Chris Coburn
Paige Coffing
Stefan Coleman
Cody Colvin
Carmen Compton
Anthony Convertino
Valentina Cordero
Gaby Cordova
Amanda Crouch
Conall Curran
Peter Czajkowski
D
Mansi Dahal
Addie Dancer
Christina Dandar
Elan Dantus
Nesma Daoud
Mason Darling
Bonnie Darrah
Amelia Davis
Robert Davis
Steven Davis
Ximena Davis
Zoe Davis
Fabien Debies
Joshua DeGraff
Anthony Diep
Cecilia DiFranco
Amelia Donohoe
Nathan Donovan
Anna Dorniak
Tuan Do
Libby Dulski
Trisha Dunham
E
Cameron Earls
Daniel Eberhart
Emma Eisenbeis
Tiffany Ellis
Melissa Erikson
McKinzie Ervin
Amanda Esler
Ihechi Ezuruonye
F
Alex Fairhall
Mario Ferrini
Anders Finholt
Matthew Flotemersch
Steven Fotieo
Rachel Frank
Valentin Frank
Ian Freshwater
Maria Fujii
Lydia Fyie
G
Amanda Gardner
Brett Garwood
Cory Gensterblum
Bill Georgopoulos
Audrey Gerard
Sarah Gerendasy
Camille Giacobone
Joshua Gibson
Jake Gilhaus
Anthony Giovanni
Rachel Girard
Sam Gleason
Beau Godkin
Dominic Gonzalez
Rj Goodloe
Monica Gorgas
Adam Gothard
Janelle Grant
Keenan Grant
Natalie Gratsch
Andre Grayson
Claire Greening
Alyse Guenther
Sapana Gupta
Rebecca Guralnick
David Gurrola
Gus Guthrie
H
Kyle Hahn
Kalli Hale
Emmy Hall
Isabella Haney
Caryn Hannapel
Martin Hansknecht
Maverick Hanson-Meier
Mara Hazen
Kaiya Herman-Hilker
Richard Hernandez
Natalie Hershenson
Sophie Higdon
Addie Hilarides
Sophia Hill
Kento Hirakawa
Megan Hoinville
Mathew Holmes-Hackerd
Aly Homminga
Daniel Horwitz
Nicole Huff
Ayla Hull
I
J
Sadie Jackson
Eric Janowiak
Jelena Jenkins
Emilio Jerez Garcia
Hanna Jeung
Ziyu Jiang
Finneas Johnson
Janay Johnson
Monica Johnson
Emily Johnston
Brittany Jones
K
Kyle Kane
Kendall Kaptur
Maria Katrantzi
Alex Kaufman
Greg Kearns
Christian Kelley
Sam Kenney
Christina Keramidas
Jasmine Khin
Benjamin Kileen
Dahwi Kim
David Kim
Eunji Kim
Gyeongho Kim
Judy Kim
Min Soo Kim
Izzy Kirck
Beryl Kohnen
Kate Kreiss
Matthew Krinock
Lily Krone
L
Megan Lacombe
Lauren Landman
Mackenzie Landman
Zoe Larson
Gabby Latta
Madeline Lauver
Sebastian Lawler
Sabrina Leddy
Phuong Le
Joo Young Lee
Kelsi Levine
Joy Lim
Jiazhen Liu
Rosella LoChirco
Shelby Long
Sara Lonsberry
Brandon Lopez
Henry Lovgren
Nick Ludka
M
Elaine MacInnis
Sam Maddox
Madisyn Mahoney
Kayla Marciniak
Cydney Martell
Kathryn Martin
Barthelemy Martinon
Eliza McCall
Kevin McCarty
Katherine McKibbon
Sara McKinney
Ian McKnight
Clayton Meldrum
Ana Mesenbring
John Meyer
Sam Meyers
Danny Michelin
Chelsea Miller
Sangtawun Miller
Zach Miller
Michael Mitchell
Zach Morales
Aidan Morley
Tamara Morrison
Ryan Mulder
Emma Mullenax
Libby Munoz
N
Ravi Nair
Ellen Neveux
Viet Nguyen
Anne Nielsen
Sara Nixon
Jonathan Nord
Emily Norwood
Brooke Nosanchuk
Drew Novetsky
O
Maddie Odom
Eli Orenstein
Michael Orwin
P
Dylan Padget
Daniel Palmer
Karina Pantoja
Yansong Pan
Jimmy Paprocki
Alan Park
Kayla Park
Sung Soo Park
Andrew Parsons
Cayla Patterson
Caleb Patton
Gabriel Pedelty Ovsiew
Songyun Peng
Jessica Penny
Allie Periman
Kaitlyn Rose Perkins
Matthew Peters
Caroline Peterson
Uyen Pham
Brad Popiel
Maylis Pourtau
Sarada Prasad
Tulani Pryor
Zach Prystash
Q
R
Erin Radermacher
Ari Raemont
Hannah Rainaldi
Malavika Rao
Zack Ray
Tori Regan
Erin Reilly
Mili Renuart
Dulce Reyes Martinez
Megan Rigney
Meg Riley
Philip Ritchie
Annika Roberts
Scott Roberts
Danna Robles-Garcia
Ramisa Rob
Justin Roop
Orly Rubinfeld
Tim Rutledge
S
Shiva Sah
Sharayu Salvi
Paige Sambor
Danielle Sarafian
Anselm Scheck
Austen Scheer
Faruq Schieber
Natalie Schmitt
Billy Schneider
Hannah Scholten
Jd Seablom
Nori Seita
Rachel Selina
Yeji Seo
Sivhaun Sera
Sharif Shaker
Yu Shang
Will Sheehan
Chase Shelbourne
Riley Shepherd
Gabrielle Shimko
Kriti Singh
Simran Singh
Austin Smith
Ben Smith
Erin Smith
Maggie Smith
Matt Smolinski
Sundas Sohail
Shannon South
Sophie Spencer
Simona Stalev
Gabriel Stanley
Evan Stark-Dykema
Katelyn Steele
Grant Stille
Andrea Strasser-Nicol
Mimi Strauss
Claudia Stroupe
Michelle Sugimoto
Sarah Sui
Caroline Sulich
Vikram Surendran
Shelby Suseland
Matt Suter
Jake Sypniewski
T
William Tait
Maia Taylor
Hanna Teasley
Derek Thomas
Paige Tobin
Alayna Tomlinson
Carolyn Topper
Maddie Tracey
Trevor Trierweiler
Van Truong
Ethan Tucker
Lydia Turke
Matt Turton
U
Lexi Ugelow
V
Adriana Vance
David Vanderkloot
Zach VanFaussien
Natalie Vazquez
Travis Veenhuis
Chris Vennard
Ashley Ver Beek
Allen Vinson
Aiden Voss
Evan Voyles
Anh-Tu Vu
W
Evie Wagner
Sidney Wall
Tim Walsh
Anthony Wang
Hedy Wang
Maya Wanner
Madeline Ward
Jake Wasko
Ailih Weeldreyer
Jack Wehr
Alex White
Sarah Whitfield
Annarosa Whitman
Hans Wieland
Brian Will
Meg Wilson
Madeline Woods
Sarah Bragg discusses her research during a poster session at the inauguration of President Jorge Gonzalez.
Sarah Bragg ’17 won an award for her poster detailing research on barriers to HIV testing. She presented the poster at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students in Tampa, Florida, this month. Her work was awarded in the conference’s Behavioral Science and Public Health category.
Sarah conducted her research during 12-week summer internship at Morehouse College and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention. She plans to expand the project she completed (titled “Barriers and Solutions to HIV Testing Among College and University Students”) and make it the basis of her Senior Individualized Project. That project will compare the prevalence and contexts of HIV testing at public and private institutions of higher education. During all four years of her undergraduate experience at K, Sarah has served as a Civic Engagement Scholar in the College’s Center for Civic Engagement. She has worked in a weekly mentoring program with young women. She also has worked with Assistant Professor of Psychology Kyla Fletcher on her three-year NIH study on daily HIV risk reduction behavior in African-American partner relationships.
Sarah is earning her bachelor’s degree in psychology with a concentration in community and global health. She plans to pursue a career in public health and, after graduating this June, to apply for a one- or two-year fellowship with the CDC. About the work she did during her summer internship, Sarah wrote: “I was able to use the skills that were cultivated at Kalamazoo College, especially through my work at the Center for Civic Engagement.” The CCE stresses the connection between effective social change and work that applies a social justice perspective. “We do not strive to save the world,” explained Sarah. “We collaborate with communities in an effort to find solutions that are suitable and that ensure the dignity and respect for the community.”
Honors Day soloist Lauren Landman and President Jorge Gonzalez
Kalamazoo College Family Weekend served as backdrop for the College’s annual Honors Day convocation. More than 250 students were recognized for excellence in academics and leadership in six divisions: Fine Arts, Foreign Languages, Humanities, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Social Sciences and Physical Education. Recipients of prestigious scholarships were recognized as were members of national honor societies and students who received special Kalamazoo College recognition awards. In addition, student athletes and teams who have won Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association awards were feted. The students who received awards or recognition are listed below.
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. Kaiya Herman-Hilker Qynce Chumley
LILLIAN PRINGLE BALDAUF PRIZE IN MUSIC, awarded to an outstanding music student. John Bowman Christopher Coburn Matthew Peters Madeline Lauver
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. Quincy Crosby
THEATRE ARTS FIRST-YEAR STUDENT AWARD, given to a sophomore for outstanding departmental efforts during the first year. Kate Kreiss Robert Davis Maren Prophit Louise Thomas
FOREIGN LANGUAGES DIVISION
LeGRAND COPLEY PRIZE IN FRENCH, awarded to a sophomore who, as a first-year student, demonstrated the greatest achievement in French. Lauren Arquette Danny Horwitz
HARDY FUCHS AWARD, given for excellence in first-year German. Emma Eisenbeis
MARGO LIGHT AWARD, given for excellence in second- or third-year German. Eric Thornburg
ROMANCE LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT PRIZE IN SPANISH, awarded for excellence in the first year in Spanish. Kate Kreiss Daniel Cho
CLARA H. BUCKLEY PRIZE FOR EXCELLENCE IN LATIN, awarded to an outstanding student of the language of the ancient Romans. Emma Peters
CLASSICS DEPARTMENT PRIZE IN GREEK, awarded to an outstanding student in the language of the ancient Greeks. Brittany Jones
PROVOST’S PRIZE IN CLASSICS, awarded to that student who writes the best essay on a classical subject. Danielle Gin
HUMANITIES DIVISION
O.M. ALLEN PRIZE IN ENGLISH, given for the best essay written by a member of the first-year class. Kate Kreiss
JOHN B. WICKSTROM PRIZE IN HISTORY, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in history. Mackenzie Callahan
L.J. AND EVA (“GIBBIE”) HEMMES MEMORIAL PRIZE IN PHILOSOPHY, awarded to that sophomore who, in the first year, showed the greatest promise for continuing studies in philosophy. Katherine Bennett Garrett Sander
NATURAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS DIVISION
WINIFRED PEAKE JONES PRIZE IN BIOLOGY, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in biology. Min Soo Kim Cydney Martell Maggie Smith
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in chemistry. Meghan Horal
FIRST-YEAR CHEMISTRY AWARD, awarded to a sophomore student who, during the first year, demonstrated great achievement in chemistry. Anthony Diep Nicholas Ludka
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. Collin Steen
COMPUTER SCIENCE PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in computer science. Hans Wieland
FIRST-YEAR MATHEMATICS AWARD, given annually to the sophomore student who, during the first year, demonstrated the greatest achievement in mathematics. Dahwi Kim
Allegra Allgeier
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. Abhay Goel
COOPER PRIZE IN PHYSICS, given for excellence in the first year’s work in physics. Kayla Park Ricardo DelOlmo-Parrado
SOCIAL SCIENCES DIVISION
DEPARTMENTAL PRIZE IN ANTHROPOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY, awarded for excellence during the first and/or second year’s work. Paige Tobin Meghan Horal Hannah Muscara Adam Edery Benjamin Smith
C. WALLACE LAWRENCE PRIZE IN ECONOMICS, awarded annually to a economics student who has done outstanding work in the Department of Economics and Business during the sophomore year. Maria Franco Hannah Kline Logan Smith
C. WALLACE LAWRENCE PRIZE IN BUSINESS, awarded annually to a business student who has done outstanding work in the Department of Economics and Business during the sophomore year. Cody Colvin Jacob Wasko Alex White
IRENE AND S. KYLE MORRIS PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s courses in the Department of Economics and Business. Christopher Coburn Rachel Frank Evelyn Wagner
WILLIAM G. HOWARD MEMORIAL PRIZE, awarded for excellence in any year’s work in political science. Lauren Arquette
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY FIRST-YEAR STUDENT PRIZE, awarded for excellence in the first year’s work in psychology. Michelle Alba
MARSHALL HALLOCK BRENNER PRIZE, given by the 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. Kyle Hernandez
PHYSICAL EDUCATION DIVISION
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. Jordan Wiley Amanda Moss Cheyenne Allyn-White
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. Malak Ghazal
COLLEGE AWARDS
GORDON BEAUMONT MEMORIAL AWARD, awarded to the student who displays qualities of selflessness, humanitarian concern and a willingness to help others, as exemplified in the life of Gordon Beaumont. Sarah Bragg Mireya Guzman-Ortiz
HENRY AND INEZ BROWN PRIZE, awarded in recognition of outstanding participation in the College community. Sidney Wall
VIRGINIA HINKELMAN MEMORIAL AWARD, awarded to a student who displays a deep concern for the well-being of children, as demonstrated through career goals in the field of child welfare. Moises Hernandez
HEYL SCHOLARS – CLASS OF 2020
Taylor Ashby Kento Hirakawa Matthew Krinock Samuel Maddox Shukrani Nsenga Michael Orwin Marjorie Wolfe Julie Zabik
POSSE SCHOLARS – CLASS OF 2020
Iffat Chowdhury Fabien Debies Neelam Lal Madisyn mahoney Israel Mazas Joseph Ney-Jun Melissa Pasillas Cesar Soria Gabriel Ugarte Raphaela Varella
NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLAR – CLASS OF 2020
John Patton
ALPHA LAMBDA DELTA – CLASS OF 2019
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.
Lauren Arquette Meredith Ashton Max Aulbach Katherine Bennett Kevin Bhimani Emily Boyle Moly Brueger Mackenzie Callahan Tapiwa Chikungwa Heeseong Cho Jennifer Cho Christopher Coburn Ricardo DelOlmo-Parrado Anthony Diep Emma Eisenbeis McKinzie Ervin Alex Fairhall Rachel Frank Ian Freshwater Sarah George Natalie Gratsch Claire Greening Meghan Horal Sadie Jackson Min Soo Kim Mackenzie Landman Madeline Lauver Hyunyn Lim Sara Lonsberry Nicholas Ludka Cydney Martell Abigail McDonough Jacob Mooradian Emma Mullenax Kayla Park Andrew Parsons Cecilia Ringo Skylar Rizzolo Scott Roberts Timothy Rutledge Austin Smith Benjamin Smith Margaret Smith Natalie Thompson Evenly Wagner Ailih Weeldreyer
ENLIGHTENED LEADERSHIP AWARDS
ARCUS CENTER FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE LEADERSHIP Donovan Williams
CREATIVE EXPRESSION IN JOURNALISM Emiliana Renuart Maia Taylor
CREATIVE EXPRESSION IN MUSIC Anna Christinidis Liam Fries Joshua Gibson Kathryn Martin Boemin Park Orly Rubinfeld
CREATIVE EXPRESSION IN VISUAL ARTS Georgie Andrews Brianna Burnell Lizi Chinchilakashvili Nutsa Chinchilakashvili
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT Lakshya Choudhary Shiva Sah
ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM AND SUSTAINABILITY Aiden Voss Madeline Ward
MICHIGAN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION (MIAA) AWARDS
The following Hornet teams earned the 2015-2016 MIAA Team GPA Award. Team members achieved a 3.3 or better grade point average for the entire academic year.
The MIAA each year honors students at member colleges who achieve distinction on the classroom and in athletic competition. Students need to be a letter winner in a varsity sport and maintain at minimum 3.5 grade point average for the entire school year.
Michael Allen Kelsey Adamski Ryan Andrusz Elizabeth Arellano Lauren Arquette Alberto Ayala Sonal Bahl Victoria Beehler Kennedy Boulton Riley Boyd Allie Brodsky Molly Brueger Thomas Bryant Hayley Buckhout Matthew Burczyk Janice Burnett Alex Cadigan Kathryn Callaghan Olivia Cares Charlie Carson Katherine Cebelak Madeleine Chilcote Cody Colvin Anthony Convertino Anna Dairaghi Christina Dandar Elan Dantus Sabrina Dass Eric De Witt Ricardo DelOlmo-Parrado Dana DeVito Cecilia DiFranco Mikayla Doepker Guillermo Dominguez Garcia Alivia DuQuet Erin DuRoss John Dynes Charles Edick Emma Eisenbeis Rachel Epstein Angelia Evangelista Kevin Ewing Andrew Feeley George Fishback Matthew Fitz Chris Francis Maria Franco Ian Freshwater Brett Garwood Sarah George Camille Giacobone Emily Good Evan Gorgas Monica Gorgas Kyle Hahn Griffin Hamel Jordan Henning Kaiya Herman-Hilker Kyle Hernandez Samantha Hicks Megan Hoinville Shelby Hopper Allia Howard Robert Hudson Nicole Huff Julia Hulbert Jordan Jabara Clare Jensen Claire Kalina Spencer Kennedy Kelsey Kerbawy Benjamin Kileen Dahwi Kim William Kirchen Hannah Kline Emily Kozal Stefan Leclerc Da Bin Lee Jacob Lindquist Jordan Loredo Nick Ludka Megan Malish Sarah Manski Nicholas Marsh Cydney Martell Mallory McClure Alexander McDonnell Thomas McLravy Madison Moote Christopher Muir Victoria Najacht Jonathan Nord Skyler Norgaard Mackenzie Norman Andrew Novetsky Michael Oravetz Alexandria Oswalt Dylan Padget Dana Page James Paprocki Bradley Popiel Nicole Prentice Megan Riley Phillip Ritchie Scott Roberts Sophie Roberts William Roberts Rebecca Rogers Anna Roodbergen Keigan Ryckman Matthew Ryder Mason Sarosi Ashley Schiffer Grady Schneider Eleanor Schodowski Aaron Schwark Cameron Schwartz Jacob Scott Lauren Seroka Sharif Shaker Claire Slaughter Grace Smith Kathleen Sorenson Sophia Spencer Vethania Stavropoulos Mira Swearer Lily Talmers Alexander Townsend Lydia Turke Elizabeth Tyburski Kaela Van Til David Vanderkloot Jacob Waier Kyra Walenga Jacob Wasko John Wehr Alex White Joshua Whitney Hans Wieland Jordan Wiley Madeline Woods Sarah Woods Brent Yelton Matthew Zhiss
Statistical physicists like Jan Tobochnik rely heavily on computers to explore anything and everything that has lots of parts.
Jan Tobochnik, the Dow Distinguished Professor in Natural Sciences, has been named as the 2017 recipient of the prestigious Hans Christian Oersted Medal, presented by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). The Oersted Medal recognizes outstanding, widespread, and lasting impact on the teaching of physics. In connection with the award, Tobochnik will deliver a talk on “The Changing Face of Physics and the Students Who Take Physics” at the 2017 AAPT winter meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. Past winners include Carl E. Sagan, Edward Purcell and Richard Feynman, among others.
Jan’s research interest fall in the area of statistical physics, the development of computer models that predict behaviors, not only of physical phenomena (like earthquakes and nucleation) but also social situations, such as wealth distribution patterns and traffic jams. Because Jan incorporates his research into his teaching, students get a better sense of what science is all about. “Without my research,” he says, “my examples would be stodgy.” In fact, the award specifically cites Jan’s “lasting impact on the teaching of physics through his contributions to the use of computer simulations to motivate active learning.”
Jan is well known for his series of texts (six) written with Harvey Gould. They cover computer simulation methods at the introductory level and statistical and thermal physics at the intermediate level. In the early 1990’s he was a practitioner of active learning methods, long before it became fashionable, and was busy developing software to assist student learning. Jan’s fluency in computational methods especially in the service of advanced thermal and statistical physics research has informed dozens of publications in refereed journals. He served as the editor for the American Journal of Physics from 2001 to 2011.
Jan was born and reared in Philadelphia, and he remains an only occasionally wavering Phillies fan. He graduated summa cum laude from Amherst College in 1975 with a major in physics. He then went to Cornell University and earned a Ph.D. in physics (1980).
Jan came to K in 1985. In addition to teaching in the physics department he has served as acting provost and interim provost. And every year, in the spirit of the liberal arts advocate that he is, Jan leads discussions on the year’s Summer Common Reading selection, none of which, as yet, have been about physics.
Julie Mehretu ’92 is one of 14 new members voted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Mehretu is among the most celebrated of contemporary painters in the world. She works from studios in New York City and Berlin. She has exhibited in several important group exhibitions including “Poetic Justice”, 8th Istanbul Biennial (2003); Whitney Biennial; São Paolo Biennial and Carnegie International, Pittsburgh (2004); the Biennale of Sydney and the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2006); Prospect 1, New Orleans (2008); “Automatic Cities” MCA San Diego (2009); “From Picasso to Julie Mehretu,” British Museum, London (2010) and Document XIII, Kassel (2012). Solo exhibitions include Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; REDCAT, Los Angeles and Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo (2003); St Louis Art Museum (2005) and MUSAC, Léon, Spain (2006); “City Sitings,” Detroit Institute of Art and “Black City” Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark (2007); North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, (2008); “Grey Area,” Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin (2009) and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2010). In 2015 Mehretu was honored with the U.S. State Department’s National Medal of Arts.
Mansi Dahal ’20 has a vision so impressive that the Michigan Colleges Alliance (MCA) has awarded her one of its Independent Innovators Network Scholarships. The scholarships recognize entrepreneurial concepts submitted by students from the 15 MCA schools. Mansi will receive a $5,000 scholarship in spring. The overall top entrepreneurial concept will be selected by MCA in the coming weeks.
The Modern Language Association’s MLA Field Bibliographer Newsletter includes a profile of a Distinguished Indexer who is none other than Kalamazoo College’s own Joe Fugate, professor emeritus of German studies and director emeritus of the Center for International Programs. Indexers and bibliographers are indispensable to the art and science of scholarship in all fields. The MLA article notes that Joe has been a field indexer longer than any other contributor, enriching the coverage in the German literature section for almost fifty years, adding thousands of citations to the MLA International Bibliography. He has also served as a member of and consultant to the Bibliography Advisory Committee. He was awarded an MLA International Bibliography Fellowship for the years 2011 to 2014. Much of the article is in Joe’s own voice. He says, “My tenure as a bibliographer has differed from that of any other bibliographer I have known because for almost 30 years while maintaining my faculty status, I held an administrative post in our study abroad program, including 18 as director.
Thirty-five Kalamazoo College seniors (class of 2017) were honored with the institution’s prestigious Senior Leadership Award. These remarkable individuals include teaching assistants, peer instruction leaders, resident assistants, team captains, all-conference and academic all-American selections, Dean’s List honorees, student ambassadors for the president of Kalamazoo College, departmental student advisors, Center for Career and Professional Development career associates, and interfaith student leaders. One has even served as the mascot, Buzz the Hornet.
Rejuvenation might be a theme for this year’s tennis Australian Open. Venus and Serena Williams meet in the women’s singles championships match. And if Rafael Nadal (age 30) wins his semifinal match, he’ll face the 35-year-old (ancient by professional tennis standards) Roger Federer in the men’s championship.
One great outcome of the K-Plan is an aptitude for adventure–one that lasts a lifetime, with a concomitant fearlessness of failure. Take Laura Livingstone-McNelis, class of 1989. The English major, theatre arts minor, LandSea participant (who studied abroad in the United Kingdom) has taught in the public schools, owned and administered a bed & breakfast business and, for the past four years, served as the company manager for the College’s Department of Theatre Arts and Festival Playhouse Productions. Next month you can add to that résumé the title: Playwright.
