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:
Visiting Assistant Professor of Art History James Denison will conduct a public lecture from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 11, at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts titled “Hogan-Minded: Race and Place in Georgia O’Keeffe’s Southwest.”
Denison will discuss his recently completed dissertation, which argues that past interpretations of O’Keeffe’s New Mexican paintings have obscured her engagement with Southwestern indigenous cultures. He will highlight the influence of tourist contexts and period racial thinking on her work, describing how it relied upon and perpetuated romantic stereotypes about those cultures circulating within interwar New Mexico and the Manhattan avant-garde. Ultimately, her paintings and writings show that she saw the region much as countless others had before: as both deeply informed by the presence and history of its native peoples and as open, empty and ripe for claiming.
Denison, a native of the Washington, D.C., area and a graduate of Bowdoin College, completed his Ph.D. in art history at the University of Michigan. He joined the KIA and Kalamazoo College last summer as the postdoctoral curatorial fellow. The event is presented jointly by KIA and Kalamazoo College.
The lecture is free to attend, but registration is encouraged through the KIA website.
James Denison is a postdoctoral curatorial fellow at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts and a visiting assistant professor of art history at Kalamazoo College.
We asked Assistant Professor of German Studies Michael Powers about his own academic journey, what interests him about German studies and culture, what makes his students special, and why he’s excited to be a part of the Kalamazoo College community. Here’s what he said.
Question: What sparked your interest in German studies and how has it evolved throughout your academic journey?
Answer: My path to becoming a professor of German studies began unexpectedly. I grew up in an English-Spanish bilingual household, and on a whim, I started taking German in school. I was surprised by how fun the language is, and I quickly developed a passion for it and at the same time a deep interest in German culture and history. The language became my gateway to a host of exciting new worlds and experiences. At first, my studies focused on German literature and film, then later increasingly on philosophy and the intersection of politics and aesthetics. Today my main research interests span critical theory, media studies, and the environmental humanities.
Q:As an assistant professor of German studies, what aspects of German culture or literature do you find most captivating and why?
A: German-speaking writers and thinkers have left an indelible mark on major cultural and intellectual traditions. One of the things I relish most as a professor of German studies is the opportunity to engage with great works of art and influential social movements from a variety of interlinked perspectives: language, art, philosophy and history. Learning to combine these approaches and discover the complex forms of interrelation between them is something that I value immensely.
There’s nothing quite like reading Freud’s cultural theory in the original German, and thus engaging simultaneously with questions of linguistic belonging, psychoanalysis and social theory; or with engaging with Marx’s ideas in the language in which he first expressed them, which affords one insights into the links between power, language and violence.
Q: How would you describe your students and what makes them special?
A: I tremendously enjoy working with the students at K. Their curiosity and interest to learn inspires me and I love sharing my passion for German art, literature and culture with them. In my classroom, students are constantly working actively with one another, engaging with one another in a shared learning community. Learning does not occur from reading or memorizing words or facts, but is actively generated through discussion, debate and deep engagement with texts, works and ideas.
We asked Assistant Professor of German Michael Powers about what sparked his interests in German studies, what he admires about K students and why he appreciates being a part of the College’s community.
Q: As a newcomer to Kalamazoo College, what excites you the most about joining our K community, and what unique perspectives do you hope to bring to your students?
A: I taught previously at K as a visiting professor for two years, and I am very excited to return this year as permanent faculty. My own undergraduate education was at a small liberal arts college, and my scholarly path has been shaped by the liberal arts mission and the dedicated professors I came to know as mentors. I cherish the opportunity to work closely with students both inside and outside the classroom, whether discussing Expressionist art in a film course, or taking students on a tour of the arboretum as part of a unit on environmentalism in Germany.
The tenure milestone recognizes excellence in teaching, scholarship and service to the College, and signifies its confidence in the contributions these faculty will make throughout their careers. The Board of Trustees-approved tenure recipients are:
Assistant Professor of Spanish Ivett Lopez Malagamba
López Malagamba currently serves as a co-chair in the Department of Spanish Language and Literatures. In her time at K, she has taught beginning through intermediate language courses, and advanced courses on Latin American literature and visual culture topics including indigeneity, contemporary women writers, fiction and documentary film, visual culture practices, and representations of nature. In fall 2019, she took 27 students to the Dominican Republic as part of K’s first faculty-lead experiential study abroad program.
Lopez Malagamba’s research centers on 20th– and 21st-century Latin American literature and visual culture. Her publications explore questions around exclusionary social and political practices and discourses in contexts of armed conflict, migration, and forced displacement. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Peninsular and Latin American literatures and Latin American Studies, and her Ph.D. in Hispanic language and literatures from the University of California, Berkeley. López Malagamba’s experience extends to the non-profit sector. Before earning her Ph.D., she worked with Latinx youth in Southern California facilitating educational programs to prepare them for college. López Malagamba sees her work at K as a continuation of her commitment to help youth access and successfully navigate higher education.
Assistant Professor of Spanish Ivett Lopez Malagamba (middle) with Spanish 101 students.
Marlene Crandall Francis Assistant Professor of Religion Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada
Maldonado-Estrada serves as the editor of the journal Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art and Belief, a co-chair of the men and masculinities unit at the American Academy of Religion, and an editorial board member of the journal American Religion.
At K, Maldonado-Estrada has taught courses on religion and masculinity, Catholics in the Americas, urban religion, and religions of Latin America. As an ethnographer, her research includes focuses on material culture, contemporary Catholicism, and gender and embodiment. In 2021, Maldonado-Estrada was among 24 scholars from around the world selected for the Sacred Writes public scholarship training cohort. She was also chosen as one of the Young Scholars in American Religion at IUPUI’s Center for the Study of Religion & American Culture.
Maldonado-Estrada is the author of Lifeblood of the Parish: Men and Catholic Devotion in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, an ethnography about masculinity and men’s devotional lives in a gentrified neighborhood in New York City. She also is working on projects about the technological and sensory history of prayer, and Latinx art and religion in New York City. She received a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from Princeton University.
Marlene Crandall Francis Assistant Professor of Religion Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada
Assistant Professor of Mathematics Stephen Oloo
Oloo served K as a visiting assistant professor from 2015-2017 before earning his current position in which he teaches a variety of pure math classes such as Calculus I, II and III, Number Theory, Real Analysis and Abstract Algebra.
Beyond teaching he has served in various roles by directing the Math and Physics Center, being in charge of the George Kitchen Memorial Lecture, and running the math club MathletiKs.
Oloo’s Ph.D. work was in topology of algebraic varieties and geometric representation theory. He is currently applying his knowledge of geometry and representation theory in a collaboration with physics professor Dave Wilson in which they are studying how viruses change shapes as they undergo maturation. He holds mathematics degrees including a bachelor’s degree from Amherst College, and a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Assistant Professor of Mathematics Stephen Oloo
Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Assistant Professor of Computer Science Sandino Vargas-Perez
Before arriving at K, Vargas-Perez worked as an adjunct instructor at Western Michigan University, where he earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in computer science. He also holds a bachelor’s degree from Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra in the Dominican Republic.
Vargas-Perez has taught courses at K in data structures, algorithms, parallel computing, computing for environmental science, object-oriented programming, and programming in Java and web development. His research interests include high-performance computing, parallel and distributed algorithms, computational genomics, and data structures and compression.
Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Assistant Professor of Computer Science Sandino Vargas-Perez
Chinese Endowed Assistant Professor of Chinese Language and Literature Leihua Weng
Weng has taught first-year Chinese, advanced Chinese, Women in China, 20th Century Urban China, and Chinese Films at K. She taught at Sarah Lawrence College and Pacific Lutheran University before joining the College.
Weng holds a bachelor’s degree from Zhejiang University, a master’s degree from Peking University and a Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina. Her research interests have spanned the receptions of classical texts, modern and late imperial Chinese literature, and gender studies. She is currently engaged in research on late imperial Chinese literature and is working on a book about the reception of Plato in modern China.
Chinese Endowed Assistant Professor of Chinese Language and Literature Leihua Weng
Fulbright is honoring a key individual at Kalamazoo College when it comes to referring students to the federal program’s international immersion opportunities.
Jessica Fowle ’00—K’s director of grants, fellowships and research—was selected to be part of the inaugural Fulbright Program Adviser (FPA) Mentors Cohort. As an FPA mentor, Fowle is one of 20 from around the country who will provide 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.
Fulbright is the federal government’s flagship for international exchange. It allows graduating seniors, graduate students, young professionals and artists to teach English, perform research or study abroad for one academic year.
“The mission of the Fulbright program makes it one of the competitive postgraduate fellowships that seeks a variety of people, without a minimum GPA for applicants, while laying some foundations to make access feasible,” Fowle said. “FPAs are the liaisons between the Fulbright program and the Fulbright student applicants.”
Fulbright grant recipients are chosen for their own merit and leadership potential, but there’s certainly data to back up the value of Fowle’s counsel to those who apply, making her insight and experiences valuable to professional counterparts who seek to do the same. For example, K has been a Fulbright U.S. Student Program Top Producer in six of the last seven years; the College had a total of 11 representatives abroad this year; 12 current applicants are semifinalists for awards that will be announced this spring and summer; and K has been the only college in Michigan to earn Top Producer distinction in the bachelor’s institution category in the past two years.
“I’m a lover of storytelling and I get to do that with students, alumni and faculty on their applications for grants and applications for fellowships like Fulbright,” she said. “They reflect on what they want from the opportunity, and I help foster some reflection that strategically highlights what pieces of their stories are the most compelling.
“I love the opportunity to transfer my experience working with students into a different format of the story of Fulbright. It’s really exciting to have a seat at the table and meet the folks at the Fulbright Program who are thinking about what they want to do on the national level. We’re asking, ‘What’s the story of Fulbright?’ and ‘How are we incorporating that story to keep federal funding and help FPAs understand their institution’s storytelling?’ It’s fun for me.”
Kalamazoo College Director of Grants, Fellowships and Research Jessica Fowle ’00 is one of 20 professionals from around the country who will provide virtual training and information sessions, presentations at the Forum for Education Abroad, and advice to new Fulbright program advisers at other institutions.
Fowle (front row, fourth from right) is grateful for an opportunity to network with her fellow Fulbright Program advisers.
The fact that Fowle is an office of one at K makes connecting with colleagues in addition to Fulbright officials appealing, and she appreciates the recognition this opportunity presents, as mentors have reputations for successful program growth.
“I like building things, so the opportunity to help other FPAs build a successful program is intriguing,” Fowle said. “I’m kind of the ‘small liberal arts college’ representative. There are folks from HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and community colleges. They want Fulbright grantees to represent all of America. Historically, as with many selective fellowships, selectees primarily are white students from the coasts, so they want to expand the applicant pool to include all of the country’s identity and geographic representation.”
Fowle has been part of K’s staff in various roles for more than 20 years—nearly five as director of grants, fellowships and research—and the advice she has to offer students is applicable to any post-college experience they wish to pursue.
“The universal quality of each Fulbright experience is this genuine desire and curiosity about a new culture and community, so it’s important to pursue opportunities in college that build those skills of getting to know a new community and understanding cultural dynamics,” Fowle said. “For our K students, that shows up by taking full advantage of things like the Center for Civic Engagement and the interdisciplinary components of K’s curriculum. My advice would be that they dig into how the topics that come up in language classes can intersect with issues that come up in other academic departments. They should see how their peers major in a million different things while taking advantage of study abroad, study away and Senior Integrated Projects. Build that curiosity, that critical thinking and the flexibility to be uncomfortable, because those are things that not only the Fulbright program looks for, but employers, as well.”
A longtime Kalamazoo College professor with connections around the world is being honored by five alumni from the Class of 2009 with a fund in his name that will help support a field of study for years to come.
Péter Erdi was hired as the Henry Luce Professor of Complex Systems Studies in 2002 when the College received a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. K’s efforts to attain the grant were driven by a small but vocal group of students who were mathematically skilled and interested in applying their skills to social problems through quantitative models. Ever since, Erdi has influenced many deeply curious alumni, including Brad Flaugher, Jerrod Howlett, Trevor Jones, Elliot Paquette and Griffin Drutchas, who are the five benefactors initiating the Interdisciplinary Fund for Complex Systems Studies in Erdi’s name.
Flaugher, who works in software development for startup companies, double majored in computer science and economics at K. He met Erdi in his first year on campus when he took Computational Neuroscience—a study of the mathematical models, computational algorithms and simulation methods that contribute to an understanding of neural mechanisms—before taking all the classes Erdi offered.
“There were so few of us in his classes—I think in my year we had only three or four computer science majors—that he took all of us under his wing,” Flaugher said. “He got us jobs in his lab with funding. All of us except Jerrod had gone to Hungary to work with him at his lab in Budapest. All of us were studying artificial intelligence back in 2006 and 2007, which was amazing. We were super close to him. He wrote all of us recommendation letters for graduate school. He did everything he could for us and taught us the hottest topic in the world 10 years before we needed it.”
Flaugher was attending an event in Philadelphia last March when President Jorge G. Gonzalez shared examples of how alumni were endowing funds in honor of their favorite or most influential professors. That led Flaugher to rally support from his classmates and recognize Erdi in complex systems studies.
“I talk to Dr. Erdi pretty regularly and I want to keep the interdisciplinary spirit of what he does alive,” Flaugher said. “I think it’s a great fit for a liberal arts institution, and when I was at K, I got not only job skills thanks to him, I got jobs-of-the-future skills.”
Henry Luce Professor of Complex Systems Péter Erdi presented at the Brain Bar, a technology and music conference in Budapest, while wearing a T-shirt that says “OK, Boomer” as a way to connect with a younger audience. He is being honored by five alumni from the Class of 2009 with a fund for Kalamazoo College in his name.
Erdi receives applause from Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez while presenting his lecture for receiving the 2018 Florence J. Lucasse Fellowship for Excellence in Scholarship.
Erdi received the 2018 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. He has dozens of publications from his time at K, including two 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 recently finished another book due out soon, Feedback Control: How to Destroy or Save the World and has served the University of Michigan as a visiting professor and scholar.
Complex systems studies can be described as an examination of how a system’s parts contribute to its collective behaviors, and how the system interacts and forms relationships with its environment. Erdi added that complex systems theory finds connections among seemingly very different phenomena. For example:
The onset of epilepsy, an earthquake eruption and a stock market crash are different occurrences, but all three are abrupt, extreme events. Complex systems theory looks at the predictability of these events, and interestingly, there are algorithms for predicting the probability of earthquakes that also can be adopted by brokers to estimate stock prices.
When we look at the spreading of viruses, ideas and opinions, we can examine all three through similar mathematical models.
Network theory offers methods that can help us understand the structure and dynamics of topics as varied as the human brain, interacting social groups, food chains in specific ecosystems, financial networks and more.
With a program such as complex systems studies being rare at a small college, it has been difficult to efficiently increase its offerings over the years; Erdi remains the program’s sole representative at K despite its interdisciplinary nature, with applications in fields such as physics, computer science and psychology. The fund in Erdi’s name, however—thanks to Flaugher, Drutchas, Jones, Howlett and Paquette getting it off the ground—will ensure the professor’s legacy lives on after his retirement.
Despite the deeply analytical nature of his field, Erdi is also known for his sense of humor. For example, in September 2022, when he spoke at the Brain Bar, a technology and music conference in Budapest, he donned a red T-shirt with the words “OK, Boomer” on it while presenting to and connecting with a young audience. Also, when he was recently asked how he would like to be remembered at K in years after his retirement, he said: “Péter was an interesting character on the campus with his terrible ‘Hunglish’ accent. It looks like he managed to motivate some students.”
In all sincerity, however, Erdi was grateful to hear from Flaugher and his fellow alumni regarding the Interdisciplinary Fund for Complex Systems Studies.
“I knew that I had influenced several students intellectually,” he said. “Maybe five per year is a good estimation, so about a hundred may positively remember my name when they reflect on their college education. Still, the mail from Brad, and then the correspondence with Elliot, Griffin, Jerrod and Trevor, and the establishment of the Fund were wonderful surprises, and I am humbled to have this Fund while I am still active.”
