The International Neural Network Society (INNS) is honoring Kalamazoo College Luce Professor of Complex Systems Studies Péter Érdi with a promotion to its College of Fellows, providing him with the highest grade of membership in the organization and recognition of his exceptional achievements in the field of neural networks.
Artificial neural networks are a set of algorithms, inspired by functions found in the human brain, that recognize patterns. Such systems learn to perform tasks by considering examples through processes such as image recognition. The networks might learn about those images to identify similar images, then label them and organize them. The INNS gathers global experts interested in neural networks as they seek to develop new and more effective forms of machine intelligence. Fellows of the society are elected by the INNS Board of Governors.
The International Neural Network Society is honoring Luce Professor of Complex Systems Studies Péter Érdi by naming him to its College of Fellows.
“I have received the two most significant recognitions of my life this year, and they come from two separate communities,” Érdi said. “The Interdisciplinary Fund for Complex Systems Studies was established by my former students, and I have been voted to be a Fellow by my peers from the neural network community. I am not sure I deserved it since the majority of the fellows are the giant pioneers of the field. I mention just three names: Shun-ichi Amari, Stephen Grossberg and the late Teuvo Kohonen.”
Kalamazoo College is pleased to welcome the following faculty members to campus this fall:
Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Kelsey Aldrich
Aldrich arrives at K from Duquesne University, where she earned a Ph.D. and served as a graduate teaching assistant in biochemistry. Her educational background also includes a Bachelor of Science in chemistry with American Chemical Society (ACS) certification from Grove City College, where she was an undergraduate teaching assistant in organic, analytical and general chemistry.
Aldrich will teach a Shared Passages Seminar course this fall titled Cultured: The History and Science of Fermented Foods. In winter spring terms, she will teach classes in general chemistry and biochemistry. Her professional affiliations include membership in the ACS and the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB).
Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Kelsey Aldrich
Visiting Assistant Professor of English Erika Carbonara
Carbonara recently earned her Ph.D. in English from Wayne State University. She additionally holds a master’s degree from Oakland University and a bachelor’s degree with university honors from Wayne State.
She specializes in early modern literature with an emphasis on gender, sexuality, and kink studies. In her previous teaching positions, she has taught a wide range of courses from introductory composition to literature classes focused on Renaissance literature, children’s literature, and women’s literature. This term she will lead a course on social justice from a literary perspective with a focus on issues, events, movements and historical moments while emphasizing areas of power difference such as race and ethnicity, disabilities, class, gender and sexuality.
Visiting Assistant Professor of English Erika Carbonara
Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics Rachel Chaiser
Chaiser’s educational background includes a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Colorado Boulder, and a bachelor’s degree with honors in mathematics from the University of Puget Sound.
In Boulder, she served as a part-time graduate instructor in linear algebra for non-math majors and calculus courses, a graduate teaching assistant in precalculus and an advanced undergraduate research mentor. At K this fall, she will teach calculus with lessons in algebra, precalculus and analytic geometry.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics Rachel Chaiser
Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology Sharon Colvin
Colvin has teaching experience with the University of Pittsburgh School of Education as an instructor, leading students with research methods and applied research; and the University of Maryland First-Year Innovation and Research Experience (FIRE) as an assistant clinical professor. Before getting her PhD., she was a youth services librarian for 10 years. At K, Colvin will teach educational psychology in fall, which applies the principles of psychology to the practice of teaching.
Colvin holds a Ph.D. in learning sciences and policy from the University of Pittsburgh School of Education, Health and Human Development; a master’s degree in library science from the Simmons University Graduate School of Library and Information Science; a master’s degree in mind, brain and education from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education; and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Wellesley College.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology Sharon Colvin
Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Caitlin Coplan
Coplan arrives at K from Northwestern University, where they recently earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry. They also hold a bachelor’s degree with honors in physical and educational chemistry from the University of Utah.
Coplan has prior professional and teaching experience as an instructor as a part of the Arch program for incoming first-year students, and a teaching assistant for general chemistry and nanomaterials courses at Northwestern. They have also served as an interim undergraduate chemistry advisor, College of Science student ambassador, and teaching assistant in general chemistry at the University of Utah. At K, they will teach analytical chemistry this fall.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Caitlin Coplan
Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology Mahar Fatima
For the past seven years, Fatima has served the University of Michigan, first as a postdoctoral researcher and then as a research laboratory specialist. Her research interests include studies of the sensory neural circuits under physiological or pathological conditions, the molecular mechanisms required to interpret sensory information, and how relations between neural and non-neuronal systems contribute to chronic pain, chronic itch, and pulmonary disorders. This fall, Fatima will teach neurobiology at K, addressing the structure and function of the nervous system with topics including the cell biology of neurons, electrophysiology, sensory and motor systems, brain development, and nervous system dysfunction.
Fatima earned a Ph.D. from the National Brain Research Centre in India along with master’s and bachelor’s degrees in biochemistry and life sciences respectively from the University of Allahabad.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology Mahar Fatima
Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion Shelby King
King holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in religious studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) along with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Texas State University, San Marcos.
Her teaching areas include the history of religion in America, religion and popular culture, religion and American politics, theories and methods in religion, and theories of genders and sexualities. Her professional memberships include the American Academy of Religion, and the UCSB Center for Cold War Studies and International History.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion Shelby King
Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics Cemile Kurkoglu
Kurkoglu comes to K from Denison University, where she had been a visiting assistant professor, teaching undergraduate mathematics and statistics courses since 2021.
Kurkoglu holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from Indiana University Bloomington, where she served as an associate instructor for algebra, calculus and finite mathematics courses and she assisted for graduate mathematics courses. She also has a master’s degree from Bilkent University and a bachelor’s degree from Hacettepe University. Her graduate-level coursework included abstract and commutative algebra, number and representation theory, and ordinary and partial differential equations, real and complex analysis, and topology.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics Cemile Kurkoglu
Visiting Assistant Professor of History Josh Morris
Morris is arriving at K from Wayne State University, where he has been a visiting assistant professor at Grand Valley State University since 2021. Elsewhere, he has served St. Clair County Community College, the University of Toledo and Wayne State University as an adjunct faculty member; a graduate teaching assistant at Wayne State and Cal State University Pomona; and a lecturer for the Los Angeles Workers’ Center and the University of California, Irvine.
Morris holds a Ph.D. from Wayne State, a master’s degree from CSU Pomona, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, all in history. His professional memberships include the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, the Historical Materialism Society for Critical Research in Marxism, the Labor and Working-Class Historical Association and the Historians of American Communism.
Visiting Assistant Professor of History Joshua Morris
Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Sociology Koffi Nomedji
Nomedji holds a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Duke University, a master’s degree in economics from Oklahoma State University, and bachelor’s degrees in sociology and economics from the University of Lomé, Togo, West Africa. At Duke, Nomedji taught courses in introductory cultural anthropology, the digital revolution, the anthropology of money, and development and Africa.
Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Sociology Koffi Nomedji
Visiting Assistant Professor of Computer Science Nick Polanco
While recently earning a Ph.D. in computer science at Michigan State University, Polanco conducted research in automotive cybersecurity specific to autonomous vehicles. He also was a teaching assistant in artificial intelligence, computer organization and architecture, software engineering, computer systems, discrete structures, mobile applications and development, and database systems.
At K, Polanco will teach courses in introductory computing and programming basics for JavaScript and web development this fall.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Computer Science Nick Polanco
Director of African Studies and Assistant Professor of Anthropology Dominique Somda
Somda has arrived at K from the Institute for Humanities in Africa (HUMA) at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, where she was a research fellow. She also has past appointments as traveling faculty with the International Honors Program (IHP) at study abroad and world learning sites in the U.S., Spain, Jordan, India, Nepal, Senegal, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina and Chile; as a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Reed College and the Department of Anthropology and Center for Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania; as a visiting scholar in anthropology at the London School of Economics; as a postdoctoral fellow at the Université Paris Nanterre in France; and as a teaching and research fellow at the University of Paris Nanterre.
Somda has a Ph.D. and two master’s degrees in ethnology and comparative sociology from the University of Paris Nanterre, and a master’s and bachelor’s in philosophy from the University Clermont Auvergne.
Somda will lead a course this fall at K titled On Being Human in Africa. The course will examine the experiences of Africans through racialized and gendered existences, their affective relations, their ways of relating to and caring for each other and the land; and explore what it means to think and write about Africa with representations and discourses including fiction, academic writing and social media.
Director of African Studies and Assistant Professor of Anthropology Dominique Somda
Assistant Professor of Biology Clara Stuligross
Stuligross was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Riverside prior to K. She holds Ph.D. in ecology from the University of California, Davis, and a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from Earlham College.
Stuligross studies the impacts of environmental stressors on native bee ecology and recently received a federal grant to study the effects of climate change on bees. She also has professional experience as a museum educator at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, where she taught science outreach programs and developed hands-on climate change education lessons. At K this fall, she will teach Biology Explorations.
Assistant Professor of Biology Clara Stuligross
Visiting Instructor of Chinese Ruyuan Yang
Yang has a master’s degree in teaching Chinese to non-native speakers from the Beijing Language and Culture University, and a bachelor’s degree in teaching Chinese as a second language from Yunnan Normal University in Kunming, China.
Yang previously has taught college-level courses in beginning, intermediate and advanced Chinese at K; basic and intermediate Chinese, and Chinese dance and culture at Western Michigan University; and integrated Chinese and Chinese listening and speaking courses at Beijing Language and Culture University. Yang’s courses this fall include beginning and intermediate Chinese.
Kalamazoo College today awarded one faculty member and one staff member with two of the highest awards the College bestows on its employees.
Professor of Theatre Arts Lanny Potts was named the recipient of the 2024–25 Lucasse Fellowship for Excellence in Scholarship, honoring his contributions in creative work, research and publication. Kelly Killen Ross, office coordinator for Campus Safety and Religious and Spiritual Life, was granted the W. Haydn Ambrose Prize, recognizing her outstanding service to the College community.
Potts is a professional designer and consultant. His work includes international lighting and production design; national tour designs for opera and dance; regional designs for opera, modern dance, ballet, drama and corporate events; concert work for Willow Creek International and the Indigo Girls; work in architectural lighting and consulting; TV studio production design and consulting; and consultant planning for performance venues and events including the 1996 Olympics.
In addition to such work, Potts has sustained a 25-year teaching career within higher education while also providing guest masterclass design instruction at various venues, and providing professional presentations on lighting design, design communication, and leadership and creativity within the arts at professional conferences and workshops. He has presented portfolio examples of his work at regional conferences, worked at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and has received numerous professional awards including a Michigan Governor’s Commendation and Atlanta Critic’s Choice awards for his design work, which included the Atlanta premier of A Few Good Men.
In recent years, Potts has earned five Wilde Awards—distributed through EncoreMichigan.com—for his lighting-design work in Farmers Alley Theatre productions such as Bright Star, Bridges of Madison County and The Light in the Piazza; and a National Lighting Design Award from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College production of Fun Home. He’s also served K as an associate provost of academic affairs..
A ceremony to confer the Lucasse Fellowship traditionally occurs in the spring term, where the honored faculty member speaks regarding their work.
Killen Ross received five nominations for the Ambrose Prize, with nominators saying she’s humble, kind and always putting others first. They credited her for organizing chili lunches for struggling first-year students, breakfast for custodians during the pandemic, and transportation to the train station or airport for those in need.
The Ambrose Prize is named after W. Haydn Ambrose, who served K for more than 20 years in a variety of roles, including assistant to the president for church relations, dean of admission and financial aid, and vice president for development. Ambrose was known for being thoughtful in the projects he addressed and treating people with respect.
In addition to a financial award, Killen Ross has earned a crystal award to commemorate the achievement and an invitation to sit on the Prize’s selection committee for two years.
Congratulations to the honorees.
Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez congratulates Theatre of Arts Professor Lanny Potts on earning the 2024–25 Lucasse Fellowship.
Kelly Killen Ross receives the Ambrose Prize from President Gonzalez.
Kalamazoo College has appointed six faculty members as endowed chairs, recognizing their achievements as professors. Endowed chairs are positions funded through the annual earnings from an endowed gift or gifts to the College. The honor reflects the value donors attribute to the excellent teaching and mentorship that occurs at K and how much donors want to see that excellence continue.
The honorees are:
Espelencia Baptiste, the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership Senior Faculty Chair
Anne Marie Butler, the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership Junior Faculty Chair
E. Binney Girdler, the Dow Distinguished Professor in Natural Sciences
Sohini Pillai, the Marlene Crandell Francis Endowed Chair in the Humanities
Dwight Williams, the Kurt D. Kaufman Endowed Chair
Daniela Arias-Rotondo, the Roger F. and Harriet G. Varney Endowed Chair in Natural Science
Espelencia Baptiste, Anthropology-Sociology
Baptiste is currently on sabbatical in Benin where she is working on a book project focused on different ways Africans and Haitians claim each other across time and space. Her research focus centers on the relationship between Africa and its diasporas. She has been active and engaged within the College since her arrival; most recently, she received the College’s Outstanding Advisor Award in 2023 and served as Posse mentor from 2019-2022.
Her courses include Lest We Forget: Memory and Identity in the African Diaspora, You Are What You Eat: Food and Identity In a Global Perspective, Communities and Schools, and Missionaries to Pilgrims: Diasporic Returns to Africa. Within her teaching, she is invested in challenging students to imagine the production of power, particularly as it relates to belonging, as a continuous phenomenon.
Baptiste has a bachelor’s degree from Colgate University, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University.
Espelencia Baptiste, the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership senior chair, received the College’s Outstanding Advisor Award in 2023 as presented by President Jorge G. Gonzalez
Anne Marie Butler, Art and Art History; Women, Gender and Sexuality (WGS)
Butler has a joint appointment in Art History and Women, Gender, and Sexuality. Her research focuses on contemporary Tunisian art within frameworks of global contemporary art, contemporary global surrealism studies, Southwest Asia North Africa studies, gender and sexuality studies, and queer theory. At K, she teaches at the intersection of visual culture and gender studies, instructing courses such as Art, Power and Society; Queer Aesthetics; Performance Art; and core WGS classes, and this is her fourth season as volunteer assistant coach for the swimming and diving team at K.
Butler is co-editor for the volume Queer Contemporary Art of Southwest Asia and North Africa, which will be available in October (Intellect Press). She has been published in ASAP/Journal, Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies, Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies, and The London Review of Education. She is also an editor for the volume Surrealism and Ecology, expected in 2026.
Butler has a bachelor’s degree from Scripps College, a master’s degree from New York University and a Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Anne Marie Butler is the the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership junior chair.
E. Binney Girdler, Biology
Girdler is the director of K’s environmental studies program and a biology department faculty member. She focuses on plant ecology and conservation biology with her research involving studies of the structure and dynamics of terrestrial plant communities.
Girdler previously had an endowed chair as the Roger F. and Harriet G. Varney Endowed Chair in Natural Science. She develops relationships with area natural-resource agencies and non-profit conservation groups to match her expertise with their research needs and the access needs of students. In 2022, she and K Associate Professor of Biology Santiago Salinas contributed to a global research project that proves humans are affecting evolution through urbanization and climate change. The study served as a cover story for the journal Science.
Girdler commonly teaches courses titled Environmental Science, Ecology and Conservation, and Population and Community Ecology along with an environmental studies senior seminar. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia, a master’s degree from Yale University and a Ph.D. from Princeton University.
Dow Distinguished Professor in Natural Sciences E. Binney Girdler at Batts Pavilion.
Sohini Pillai, Religion
Pillai is the director of film and media studies at K and a faculty member in the religion department. She is a comparatist of South Asian religious literature, and her area of specialization is the Mahabharata and Ramayana epic traditions.
Pillai is the author of Krishna’s Mahabharatas: Devotional Retellings of an Epic Narrative (Oxford University Press, 2024), a comprehensive study of premodern retellings of the Mahabharata epic in regional South Asian languages. She is also the co-editor of Many Mahabharatas (State University of New York Press, 2021) with Nell Shapiro Hawley and the co-author of Women in Hindu Traditions (New York University Press, under contract) with Emilia Bachrach and Jennifer Ortegren. Her courses have included Religion in South Asia; Hindu Traditions; Islam in South Asia; Dance, Drama, and Devotion in South Asia; Religion, Bollywood, and Beyond; Jedi, Sith, and Mandalorians: Religion and Star Wars; and Princesses, Demonesses, and Warriors: The Women of the South Asian Epics.
Pillai has a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley; a master’s degree from Columbia University; and a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College.
Marlene Crandell Francis Endowed Chair in the Humanities Sohini Pillai displays some of her personal Star Wars memorabilia including a painting of Grogu gifted to her by a student.
Dwight Williams, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Williams previously was an endowed chair at K, having served as the Roger F. and Harriet G. Varney Assistant Professor of Chemistry from 2018–2020. He teaches courses including Organic Chemistry I and II, Advanced Organic Chemistry and Introductory Chemistry. His research interests include synthetic organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry and pharmacology.
Williams spent a year as a lecturer at Longwood University before becoming an assistant professor at Lynchburg College. At Lynchburg, he found a passion for the synthesis and structural characterization of natural products as potential neuroprotectants.
Williams learned more about those subjects after accepting a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral research fellowship at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical College of Virginia Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. During that fellowship, he worked in medicinal chemistry and pharmacology, where his work was published in six peer-reviewed journals.
Kurt D. Kaufman Endowed Chair Dwight Williams holding a molecular model in his office.
Daniela Arias-Rotondo, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Arias-Rotondo earned a grant valued at $250,000 last year from the National Science Foundation through its Early-Career Academic Pathways in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences (LEAPS-MPS). The LEAPS-MPS grant emphasizes helping pre-tenure faculty at institutions that do not traditionally receive significant amounts of NSF-MPS funding, including predominantly undergraduate institutions, as well as achieving excellence through diversity. She uses the funding primarily to pay her student researchers, typically eight to 10 per term, and bring more research experiences into the classroom.
This year, Arias-Rotondo earned an American Chemical Society (ACS) Petroleum Research Fund grant, which will provide $50,000 to her work while backing her lab’s upcoming research regarding petroleum byproducts. Her lab traditionally develops molecules that absorb energy from light while transforming that energy into electricity. The grant will allow her and her students to take molecules they have designed to act as catalysts and unlock chemical transformations through a process called photoredox catalysis. In this case, those transformations involve petroleum byproducts and how they might be used.
Arias-Rotondo teaches Introductory Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, and Molecular Structure and Reactivity, and commonly takes students to ACS conferences. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the Universidad de Buenos Aires in Argentina and a Ph.D. from Michigan State University.
Daniela Arias-Rotondo has been named the Roger F. and Harriet G. Varney Endowed Chair in Natural Science.
This story was written by Kalamazoo College Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations Maria Newhouse.
Kalamazoo College is taking a major step toward providing equal access for talented, first-generation students from South Texas through a new $250,000 endowed fund created in collaboration with Toyota Motor North America. The College has established the Toyota Success Fund to provide critical financial support to these students, helping remove barriers to pursuing higher education. This fund represents an important collaboration between K and Toyota North America, united in their commitment to opening doors for underrepresented students with significant potential.
Over the past few years, the College has seen a substantial increase in applications and enrollment from students in South Texas, particularly from the IDEA schools in the region, many of whom are the first in their families to attend college. However, national and local data has shown that retention rates for first-generation students—who made up 30% of the incoming class at the College in 2023—are lower than that of their peers, highlighting the need for targeted interventions and support systems.
“At Kalamazoo College, we are committed to providing a transformative liberal arts experience that prepares our students to understand, thrive in, and lead our complex world,” said President Jorge G. Gonzalez. “This endowment—and others like it—will ensure that our doors remain open to students from all walks of life, regardless of socioeconomic background.”
The Toyota Success Fund stems from a pilot program begun in 2019. Since inception, the program has supported three cohorts of Toyota Scholars from South Texas. Toyota’s North American headquarters are located in Plano, Texas. The pilot program provided important insights from students about unexpected hurdles to their success.
“The pandemic, which occurred during the pilot program, really highlighted some previously unseen needs,” said Bob Batsell, a Kalamazoo College psychology professor from South Texas who mentored many of the Toyota Scholars. “Unfortunately, the College wasn’t prepared initially. No one was. Watching the pilot program evolve to truly listen and support students was vital to relieving at least some of their financial burdens so they could focus on being students.”
Toyota Scholars have had the opportunity to meet with their mentors and program staff during their time at K and provide insights and feedback. Based on this feedback, the newly established Toyota Success Fund will offer health insurance and book stipends to qualifying, first-generation students from Texas beginning in fall 2025—forms of aid not covered by other financial assistance yet identified as crucial for student success.
“This program has really benefited me,” shared Tracy Galeana, a member of the Class of 2025. “Without it, I don’t even think I’d be in college.” Galeana, an art history major, recently accepted an internship at an art museum in Brownsville, Texas—an internship that her Toyota Scholars scholarship will help fund.
Classmate Caleb Allen, a history major, echoed Galeana’s experience. “I don’t think I would have been able to afford this school without it,” said Allen, who is also heavily involved in the College’s theatre department. Allen plans to write an original script to present at a theatre festival this fall before staging a reading as part of his Senior Integrated Project (SIP) in 2025.
“The Toyota Scholars program definitely helped eliminate economic stress,” said Luis Ayala ’24, an avid race fan and recent graduate, who joined a local Porsche racing league in Texas this summer. He was recently hired as an ophthalmic technician at a retina clinic in Austin where he will be training to become a retinal angiographer. Of his time at K as a Toyota Scholar he said, “I am grateful for everything the program offered. I really was able to have a smooth college experience thanks to this scholarship program.”
The endowment is part of Kalamazoo College’s broader efforts to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for students from diverse backgrounds, which is also a priority for Toyota North America. “The Toyota Success Fund at Kalamazoo College aligns perfectly with our core values,” said D’Juan Randolph, manager, Multicultural Business Alliance and Strategy, TMNA. “We know that an investment in students today is an investment in the diverse leaders and problem-solvers of tomorrow, and we are excited to see what these students accomplish.”
The current scholarship is just the beginning. Leveraging funds raised during the College’s ongoing $190 million comprehensive fundraising effort, the Brighter Light Campaign, Kalamazoo College will continue building on the pilot program’s success to expand support for first-generation students. “The Toyota Success Fund lays a powerful foundation, but our vision extends much further,” Gonzalez said. “We will continue to build an increasingly robust support system so that a Kalamazoo College education is accessible to any qualified student who desires this transformative experience, regardless of financial means.”
Kalamazoo College’s Toyota Scholars celebrated a year-end dinner in 2023 with Bob Batsell, a Kalamazoo College psychology professor from South Texas who mentored many of the scholars.
Kalamazoo College’s Toyota Scholars toured the Stryker Corporation in 2023.
Angela Hernandez ’23 (left) participates in Commencement ceremonies in 2023.
A new grant awarded to a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry will provide seed money for new research and support Kalamazoo College students performing lab work over the next two years.
Roger F. and Harriet G. Varney Assistant Professor of Chemistry Daniela Arias-Rotondo, affectionately known to her students as Dr. DAR, has earned an American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund award. The honor bestows $50,000 to her work while backing her lab’s upcoming research regarding petroleum byproducts.
Arias-Rotondo’s lab traditionally develops molecules that absorb energy from light while transforming that energy into electricity. The grant will allow her and her students to take molecules they have designed to act as catalysts and unlock chemical transformations through a process called photoredox catalysis. In this case, those transformations involve petroleum byproducts and how they might be used.
“When you extract petroleum, you get crude oil, and crude oil gets refined to make things like diesel fuel and the gasoline that you put in your car,” Arias-Rotondo said. “The petroleum byproducts that come with it are compounds that we cannot use in our cars or to generate electricity. But if we can turn those molecules into plastics, pesticides or medicines, for example, we would add value to the byproducts. It’s a highly desirable research avenue because we can potentially turn this waste into something we can use.”
Roger F. and Harriet G. Varney Assistant Professor of Chemistry Daniela Arias-Rotondo, pictured with her lab students this summer, has earned an American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund award. The honor bestows $50,000 to her work while backing her lab’s upcoming research regarding petroleum byproducts for the next two years.
The grant requires that at least 40% of the funds be used to support students. Some students currently working in Arias-Rotondo’s lab note how grateful they are, not only to work alongside her, but to be paid for their efforts thanks to similar grants. Will Tocco ’26, for example, said that being able to do summer lab work prepares him for classes and labs during the academic year and can set him apart on grad school applications when institutions look for research experience.
“The grants that Dr. DAR has received in the past have made it possible to be here this summer,” Tocco said. “They paid for me to attend the national American Chemical Society Conference this last spring and present a poster there. They have sponsored my research and all of the expenses that go along with that. They’re the reason why I’m able to be do this work.”
Unayza Anika ’26 added that the lab work reflects the kind of experience students can expect at K.
“It’s obviously rigorous, and it’s teaching me so much more than what I would have learned in classrooms,” Anika said. “It also involves a lot more personal attention that I can get from a faculty member who has a Ph.D. I’ve personally grown a lot.”
“What I really appreciate about this grant is how much of a focus there is on supporting students,” Arias-Rotondo said. “It’s going to help us give students the chance to be in the lab and not have to decide between that and affording something else. The grant helps them do exciting research, and they will learn a lot that’s not just about chemistry. It will also teach them how to conduct themselves in a lab, how to manage their time and how to think like scientists. That’s going to be super important for the future.”
Kalamazoo College Henry Luce Professor of Complex Systems Péter Érdi will release a new book, Feedback: How to Destroy or Save the World, on October 15. The publication will share a non-technical and intellectual journey that analyzes how feedback control can lead down a narrow path that separates reasonable growth from existential risk.
Érdi said a forward in the book by Michael Arbib, a computational neuroscientist and pioneer of brain theory, shows how such reactions to feedback work by considering a couple who share a double bed and an electric blanket that has separate heating elements.
“Imagine if, by some happenstance, the controls get mixed,” the forward says. “Here, when each person thinks they are controlling their half of the blanket they are instead controlling the other. When one person is feeling cold, they use the control on their side of the bed to turn up the heat. But, unfortunately, it is the heat on the other side. Their companion gets too hot and reaches for their control only to making the bed even colder for the first person, who responds by turning up the heat on the other’s side even more.”
Arbib said even though such a case reflects positive feedback, it has a negative effect because it increases a problem at hand. Such an example can be extended to more interpersonal relationships as some might respond to criticism with soothing words while others get angry to destroy or save a relationship.
According to reviews, the book has applications for a variety of people across generations including young people growing up in a world where everything seems to be falling apart; people in their 30s and 40s who are thinking about how to live a fulfilling life; readers in their 50s and 60s, who are thinking back on life; and Baby Boomers reflecting on their past successes and failures.
Érdi was hired at K in 2002 when the College received a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. Since, he has received the Florence J. Lucasse Fellowship for Excellence in Scholarship, the highest award bestowed by K’s faculty, which honors the recipient’s contributions in creative work, research and publication.
Érdi has written dozens of publications, including two other books since 2019, Ranking: The Hidden Rules of the Social Game We All Play and Repair: When and How to Improve Broken Objects, Ourselves and Our Society, which have received international acclaim. He also was honored by five alumni from the Class of 2009 this year when they initiated the Interdisciplinary Fund for Complex Systems Studies in his name.
Feedback: How to Destroy or Save the World is available for preorder through Amazon.
Henry Luce Professor of Complex Systems Péter Érdi will release a new book, “Feedback: How to Destroy or Save the World,” on October 15.
Henry Luce Professor of Complex Systems Studies Péter Érdi is the author of a new book, “Feedback: How to Destroy or Save the World.”
Kalamazoo College bids farewell to the following faculty and staff members who have dedicated decades of service to the institution as they are retiring. As they embark on their well-deserved retirements, the College thanks them for their significant contributions, the legacies they leave behind, and the indelible marks they have made on students and colleagues alike.
Kim Aldrich ’80, Alumni Engagement
Aldrich joined Kalamazoo College in 1980, two days after her graduation from K. An economics major, Aldrich’s first role was as a gift and data systems processor in the Advancement division before becoming the assistant director of Management Information Systems (a previous iteration of Information Services). She then served for several years as the Director of Operations and Records in Advancement before taking on the role for which she is best known—the Director of Alumni Engagement—in 2006.
Since then, Aldrich has served as a bridge between the institution and its alumni, helping to build lasting relationships, create meaningful experiences, and ensure that alumni always feel like an integral part of the K community. Aldrich was named the College’s Lux Esto Award of Excellence recipient in 2020 and was presented with the Honorary Hornet Award by the Kalamazoo College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee in 2024. At 44 years of service, she is the longest tenured employee among those currently working at K today.
Director of Alumni Engagement Kim Aldrich ’80
Leslie Burke, Collection Services Librarian
Burke joined the Kalamazoo College Library in 2012, having previously worked for EBSCO Information Services and various libraries in Grand Rapids.
She started a master’s degree in library science at Western Michigan University, and when Western dropped the program, she finished the degree at the University of Michigan.
Working as collection services librarian has enabled Burke to serve the K community in various ways, all in pursuit of ensuring that K has the best and most accessible collection of materials possible. She has enjoyed advising students and serving on various committees at K. Some of her favorite memories are the epic Information Services summer and holiday parties. Her personal interests include genealogy, reading, traveling and her Bernese mountain dog, Woodford, shared with her husband, Clyde. She plans to combine genealogy, traveling and reading to research her ancestors.
Collection Services Librarian Leslie Burke
Teresa Denton, Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement
Denton is the founding associate director of the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement (CCE). She served in her role for 23 years, committing herself to ensuring that the CCE’s community partnerships are authentic, reciprocal and sustainable. Her primary responsibility has been to connect K students, faculty and staff with the greater Kalamazoo community so they may learn from and work alongside community members to address systemic and historical issues of injustice.
Denton holds a Master of Social Work and was especially involved with Kalamazoo Public Schools (KPS). As the mother of three Woodward students, she immersed herself in the school community in many ways, but primarily as the liaison between Woodward and K. She had been doing such work for three years before her role was formalized in 2001 when K hired her to develop and sustain community partnerships through the Institute for Service-Learning, now known as the CCE.
Teresa Denton, founding associate director of the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement.
Thomas G. Evans, Director of Bands and Professor of Music
Evans joined the faculty of Kalamazoo College in 1995. He has conducted and overseen all aspects of the band program—symphonic band, jazz band and pep band—and taught courses in music history, music education, jazz, trombone and euphonium.
He has been the principal conductor of the Kalamazoo Concert Band since 2002. His jazz bands have toured internationally to Russia, Estonia, Finland and Tunisia, and nationally to Chicago, Washington, D.C., Cincinnati and Detroit. In 2004 and 2013, he took a seven-piece jazz combo from Kalamazoo College to Numazu, Japan.
Evans holds a Doctorate of Music Arts in trombone performance from the University of Michigan, a master’s degree in music education and trombone performance from Boston University, and a bachelor’s degree in music education from the State University of New York at Fredonia.
In 2020, Evans received the Community Medal of Arts award sponsored by the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, recognizing an individual for their significant creative contributions and leadership in the arts. This lifetime achievement award also highlights an artist who has received acclaim on a local or national level and who has made a tremendous impact on our community through art.
Director of Bands and Professor of Music Thomas Evans
Ann M. Fraser, Professor of Biology
Fraser came to K as an assistant professor of biology in 2003. She served as the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Assistant Professor of Biology from 2007–2010, and has been a professor of biology since 2018.
She received her Ph.D. in biology from Harvard University and her Bachelor of Science with honors in biology from Acadia University in Canada. Before her studies in biology, she earned a diploma in land surveying from the Nova Scotia Land Survey Institute and spent several years working as a hydrographic surveyor for the Canadian government.
Fraser’s research has centered around biodiversity and behavior of insects. She has used behavioral, physiological and ecological approaches to probe how interactions between certain insect species arise and are maintained, and the consequences of these interactions for generating biodiversity. In 2008, her lab turned its attention to pollinators and their conservation. She has worked with students to document native bee diversity in Southwest Michigan, examine interactions between bees and native plants, launch the citizen science project Southwest Michigan Bee Watch and collaborate on a project examining pollinator health and apple grower livelihoods in the Western Himalayas.
Professor of Biology Ann Fraser
Alison Geist, Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement
Alison Geist, who joined K in 1997, is a founding director of the CCE and has served as co-director of the Community and Global Health (CGHL) concentration. Geist taught service-learning public health courses alongside community organizations beginning in 1999 and established the CGHL concentration with Diane Kiino in 2010–11. In 2013, Geist received the Linda Vail Spirit of Health Equity Award from Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services for her work with the CCE. During her tenure, the CCE has has grown into a key element of experiential learning and the K Plan, fostering partnerships and engaging the community with students and faculty through community-based courses, student-led programming and community-based internships.
Geist holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan and is interested in the intersections between sustainability, public health, gender and social justice, with a particular interest in food systems. She lived in Morocco from 1983–89, where she conducted village-based research in the High Atlas Mountains and pre-Sahara on maternal issues and health, range fuels, cookstoves, and women’s and girls’ roles in livestock production. She was also the first director of the Near East Foundation (NEF).
Previously, Geist coordinated several National Institute of Mental Health-funded projects at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research in the Center for Research on the Utilization of Scientific Knowledge. Geist also worked at the Health Institute at Tufts–New England Medical Center as coordinator of a multidisciplinary, five-university qualitative study of ethnicity and well-being.
Alison Geist, founding director of the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement
Thomas Massura, Physics
Massura, an instrument technician in both the physics department and chemistry and biochemistry department at K, was the 2022 recipient of the Lux Esto Award of Excellence. The honor recognizes an employee who has served the institution for at least 26 years and has a record of stewardship and innovation while exemplifying the College’s spirit through leadership, selfless dedication and goodwill.
Massura started at the College in 1987. More recently he has maintained more than 50 machines used exclusively in K’s science division while managing general science instrumentation and setting up physics labs.
Instrument Technician Tom Massura receives the Lux Esto Award of Excellence from President Jorge G. Gonzalez in 2022.
Bruce Mills, Professor of English
Mills, a K faculty member since 1992, was the 2024 recipient of the Lux Esto Award of Excellence, honoring a College employee who has served the institution for at least 26 years with a record of stewardship, innovation, leadership, selfless dedication and goodwill.
He has taught first-year, service-learning seminars on autism and disability as well as classes on short fiction, autobiography, African-American literature, American literature from 1500–1790 and 1790–1865, and the life and legacy of James Baldwin. He also has led the digital humanities portion of the Humanities Integrated Locational Learning (HILL) project, a Mellon Foundation-funded effort combining classroom and in-person experiences in cities such as New Orleans, San Diego and St. Louis that seeks solutions to societal problems while promoting the critical role of the humanities in social justice work. Along with K alumna Donna Odom ’67, and through the support of a GLCA grant, he also oversaw the Engaging the Wisdom Oral History Project, a local racial healing initiative and digital humanities project featuring Kalamazoo residents involved in and/or influenced by the civil rights movement.
Mills has published three books in his area of 19th-century American literature: Cultural Reformations: Lydia Maria Child and the Literature of Reform; Poe, Fuller, and the Mesmeric Arts: Transition States in the American Renaissance; and an edition of Child’s Letters from New-York, originally published in 1843. In addition, he has written and edited books of creative non-fiction, including An Archaeology of Yearning: A Memoir and Siblings and Autism: Stories Spanning Generations and Cultures, co-edited with Debra Cumberland.
Professor of English Bruce Mills
Timothy E. Moffit, Associate Professor of Economics and Business
Moffit joined the faculty at Kalamazoo College in 1989. He received his undergraduate degree in economics from Kalamazoo College, his Master of Business Administration from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College and his Doctor of Business Administration in finance from Nova Southeastern University.
Moffit’s research interests include valuation theory, mergers and acquisitions, and the intersection of faith and finance. He has published journal articles, case studies and books in valuation theory and practice.
Over the past 20 years, he has owned 10 different small businesses. He currently owns three local businesses with his son—Kalamazoo Kettle Corn, Heilman’s Nuts & Confections, and a medical-supply company. Moffit is a board member of Delta Dental Corporation and Renaissance Health Services Corporation.
Associate Professor of Economics and Business Tim Moffit
Deia Sportel, English
Sportel began her career at K in September 2008 with Facilities Management. In 2010, she moved to a newly created position as office coordinator with Campus Safety and Religious Life. During her time with Campus Safety, Sportel initiated the formation of the Campus Safety Committee. In September 2011, she began working as the office Coordinator at Humphrey House, where she has remained. Sportel supports the English, classics, religion, philosophy and critical ethnic studies (CES) departments, and the women, gender and sexuality (WGS) program.
In 2018, Sportel became a certified trainer for Green Dot, a national prevention program that significantly reduces the likelihood of dating and domestic violence, stalking and sexual assault. During her time at K, she has also served on the Benefits Review Group, Community Council, and served as the administrator for the Religion Journal Review from 2017–2020. She has a Bachelor of Science in business management from Cornerstone University.
English and Humanities Office Coordinator Deia Sportel
Jan Tobochnik, Dow Distinguished Professor in the Natural Sciences in the Department of Physics
Tobochnik has taught physics and computer science at K since 1985. He has served as Dow Distinguished Professor of Natural Sciences since 2004, as physics chair from 2022–2023 and 1996–2007, as Posse mentor from 2015–2019, as acting provost in winter 2014 and as interim provost from 2007–2008.
Tobochnik earned a Bachelor of Arts in physics from Amherst College in 1975 and a Ph.D. in physics from Cornell University in 1980. His research has involved using computer simulations to understand systems as wide ranging as lattice models of earthquakes, structural glass transitions, granular matter, transport through random media, percolation, patent citation networks, melting in three dimensions, neural system simulations and econophysics.
Tobochnik was editor of the American Journal of Physics from 2001–2011, and he continues to co-edit a column in that journal. He has been especially interested in teaching students how to write and use computer simulations to do physics and co-authored several textbooks. He also taught introductory physics at the top engineering university in Taiwan in fall 2018.
Tobochnik said he enjoyed working with many wonderful faculty, staff and students during his 39 years at the College. He will be moving to Rhode Island to be near his older son’s family, and he will have a visiting scientist appointment at Brown University.
Jan Tobochnik, Dow Distinguished Professor in the Natural Sciences in the Department of Physics
And Finally…
The College congratulates David Saxman, architectural trades coordinator in Facilities Management, and Stephen TenBrink, officer in Campus Safety, who retired earlier this year after more than nine and 11 years with K, respectively.
Isabela Agosa ’17 knows where Kalamazoo College students can find the right stuff when they need to write stuff.
Agosa, once a student employee at K’s Writing Center, now is its director, supervising the current student employees, with poets, Fulbright scholars, editors and more among them. She admits that she struggled in her early years as a K student, but that makes her better at her job now as she once needed to find her academic footing.
“I’m really appreciative of the struggles I had here because they have allowed me to have a different mindset that I can provide to my students,” Agosa said. “I’m sort of like the gardener who helps the students run the center. My students are gentle, welcoming people who can open up a writing bud and allow it to blossom.”
Her own a-ha moment as a student came when she found poetry at K. In fact, she teaches a Poetic of Love senior seminar each winter term, and Poetry Magazine—the oldest monthly publication to verse in the English-speaking world—will print two of Agosa’s poems in its June 1 edition.
Isabela Agosa ’17 (middle), the director of K’s Writing Center, joined her students May 10 for a Community Reflection titled “Destigmatizing Help: Collaboration in the Writing Center.”
Writing Consultants Anum Khan ’24 and Sofia Rowland ’24 discuss their work at the Writing Center.
Writing Consultants Unayza Anika ’26 (from left), Noah Chun ’26 and Daniel Flores ’24 discuss their work at Kalamazoo College’s Writing Center. Schedule an appointment online.
Ellie Pollard ’25 and Sophia Louise ’26 are two of the writing consultants students will meet at the Writing Center.
“When I came to K, I wanted to read fiction or maybe write for TV shows,” Agosa said. “And of course, I still have so much passion for that in my heart, but this is where I fell in love with poetry. I truly had never imagined in a million years that I would be a poet.”
Now, she would like to debunk some of the myths she hears about the Writing Center and empower more students to visit and improve their own writing.
Myth No. 1: Writing collaboration is a form of cheating
“We tend to have a deficiency mindset and think that support is only for people who are doing poorly, or we can be individualistic and think collaboration on writing is plagiarism or cheating,” Agosa said. “I think the Writing Center shows collaboration is an intellectual goal on campus. Why else would we all be together if we weren’t a community of scholars? Yes, we can write by ourselves, but we can do it so much faster when we have someone who can talk us through it.”
Myth No. 2: The Writing Center only helps students with classwork
“In the spring, this is our ‘job time’ when people are coming in with cover letters for jobs, grad school or internships,” Agosa said. “One of my pitches to students would be to remember that the Writing Center isn’t just for classwork. We get to explore all types of writing, so you can expect to have someone who’s invested in hearing about you and your work.”
Myth No. 3: I can get better information during my professor’s office hours
“Office hours are a useful dynamic, but they provide something different from the Writing Center,” Agosa said. “Professors can guide you on a certain path or help you understand the class material better, whereas our writing consultants help you understand yourself better as a writer.”
Myth No. 4: Writing Center employees will judge me and my writing
“Many people have baggage with writing because we feel that writing is a reflection of our soul,” Agosa said. “When they come to us with a fragment of their soul, they can feel guarded and nervous. But students can expect that they will be greeted by someone who cares because my staff loves their work. It’s a job and I hope that I model good ways to practice that job. They’re the types who like people and want to talk about writing. You can expect a lot of passion, a lot of enthusiasm and a judgment-free zone.”
Myth No. 5: I should wait to go to the Writing Center until I need help
“I think students feel that they’re not allowed to need help unless the house is on fire,” Agosa said. “Some people view it as a punishment or think it’s remedial. But you can come to the Writing Center just to talk to someone about your work. It’s good at breaking down tasks, especially for anyone who struggles with activation. I think the joy of talking with someone about your writing is universal and useful at any stage.
“I’m always telling prospective students that this is a place run by your peers who have gone through all the things you have. I would really love for them to see the Writing Center not just in a project- or product-driven environment. I want them to get involved in a supporting, nourishing community of scholarship.”
“The Writing Center is the place where I came to maturity and adulthood because our work is so much about learning, reflection and how to ask questions,” Agosa said. “I honestly learned more about syntax and grammar structure through poetry writing, but Writing Center work is about self-understanding and understanding the right questions to ask while communicating your needs. When students struggle with writer’s block, they might not even know what to name it. We look at roadblocks and ask, ‘what is it and how can we approach it?’ You will always feel connected to this place because we form such a strong community, where we learn how to dialogue with people. We make authentic person-to-person connections here because we can’t work on someone’s writing without them.”
Professor of English Bruce Mills receives the Lux Esto Award of Excellence from Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez at the Founders Day community reflection.
Director of Grants, Fellowship and Research Jessica Fowle ’00 receives Outstanding Advisor Award from Gonzalez at the Founders Day community reflection.
Associate Director of the Center for International Programs Alayna Lewis receives the First-Year Advocate Award from Gonzalez at the Founders Day community reflection.
Professor of English Bruce Mills is this year’s recipient of the Lux Esto Award of Excellence as announced today during the College’s Founders Day celebration, marking K’s 191st year.
The award recognizes an employee who has served the institution for at least 26 years and has a record of stewardship and innovation. The recipient—chosen by a committee with student, faculty and staff representatives—is an employee who exemplifies the spirit of K through excellent leadership, selfless dedication and goodwill.
At K, Mills has taught classes on short fiction, identities, African-American literature, American literature from 1500–1790 and 1790–1865, and the life and legacy of James Baldwin. He also leads the digital humanities portion of the Humanities Integrated Locational Learning (HILL) project, a Mellon Foundation-funded effort combining classroom and in-person experiences in cities such as New Orleans, San Diego and St. Louis that seeks solutions to societal problems while promoting the critical role of the humanities in social justice work.
Mills has published creative nonfiction in The Georgia Review; New England Review; September 11, 2001: American Writers Respond; and Gravity Pulls You In: Parenting Children on the Autism Spectrum. He also co-edited the book Siblings and Autism: Stories Spanning Generations and Cultures. Further, his advocacy in relation to autism has led to presentations at numerous conferences.
Alexa Wonacott, Amelie Sack, Maxwell Goldner and Zachary Ufkes of the Lux Esto Singers perform “Stand in That River” by Moira Smiley.
President’s Student Ambassadors Gabriel Coleman (pictured) and Grey Gardner read the Kalamazoo College land acknowledgement.
Kalamazoo College employees, such as Center for International Programs Executive Director Margaret Wiedenhoeft, who are celebrating milestone anniversaries were recognized at Founders Day.
Mills “has been dedicated to the campus community, with one nominator saying he has done wonders at making his classroom environment open, comprehensive and accessible to anyone, even in higher level classes,” Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez said in presenting the award. “He meets students where they are, making sure that course content is easy to understand and that concepts can be applied to people’s own lives and their own academic understandings. At the same time, he pushes students to think bigger and think differently while making classes engaging, appropriately challenging and fun.”
In accordance with Founders Day traditions, two other employees received additional community awards. Director of Grants, Fellowship and Research Jessica Fowle ’00 was given the Outstanding Advisor Award and Associate Director of the Center for International Programs (CIP) Alayna Lewis received the First-Year Advocate Award.
Fowle is a key individual when it comes to referring K students and faculty to Fulbright’s U.S. Student Program and Scholar Program immersion opportunities. She recently was selected to be part of the inaugural Fulbright Program Adviser (FPA) Mentors Cohort. As an FPA mentor, Fowle is one of 20 experts from around the country providing virtual training and information sessions, presentations at the Forum for Education Abroad, and personal advice to new Fulbright program advisers who are looking to structure applicant support and recruitment at their own institutions. She has been a part of K’s staff in various roles for more than 20 years including nearly five as director of grants, fellowships and research.
“Advisors are academic mentors who work closely with our students, pay attention to their academic progress, and help them identify and fulfill their goals while working towards completing their degrees,” Gonzalez said. “As evidenced in the nominations received, she accomplishes all of this and more.”
Through the CIP, Lewis organizes international student orientation and its activities. She also helps students with F-1 and J-1 Visa regulations, and study abroad programs in Mexico, Central America, South America, the Caribbean and Spain. Her passion for study abroad came from a trip to Spain while she was in high school and her own undergraduate experience studying abroad in Mexico.
Gonzalez noted that nominators said Lewis makes herself available to meet individually with students and listens well to help solve a variety of challenges with compassion. Beyond academics, she helps students by assisting in critical matters such as taxes and legal documentation. Plus, during winter break, many international students stay on campus with Lewis organizing grocery trips, meals and events, making being away from home much easier.
Members of the 2023–24 President’s Student Ambassadors stand to be recognized at Founders Day
Members of the 2024-25 President’s Student Ambassadors stand to be recognized at Founders Day.
Founders Day attendees applaud Lux Esto Award recipient Bruce Mills.
Gonzalez also recognized the students who served as President’s Student Ambassadors in the 2023–24 academic year and introduced those who will serve the College beginning this fall in 2024–25. As student leaders, President’s Student Ambassadors serve as an extension of the president’s hospitality at events and gatherings, welcoming alumni and guests of the College with a spirit of inclusion. About 15 students serve as ambassadors each academic year. The students selected show strong communication skills; demonstrate leadership through academic life, student life or community service; and maintain a minimum grade-point average.
The 2023-24 ambassadors have been:
Madison Barch ’24
Gabriel Coleman ’24
Blake Filkins ’26
Grey Gardner ’26
Emily Haigh ’24
James Hauke ’26
Madeline Hollander ’25
Gavin Houtkooper ‘25
Renai Huang ’24
Lukas Hultberg ’24
Jessica Kaplan ’26
Alex Nam ’25
Blagoja Naskovski ’24
Isabella Pellegrom ‘25
Tyrus Parnell, Jr. ’25
Maxwell Rhames ‘25
Emmeline Wendel ’24
Ava Williams ‘25
The 2024-25 ambassadors succeeding this year’s seniors will be:
