People in the News

Associate Professor of Chemistry Regina Stevens-Truss, Ph.D., recently attended a conference on the barriers and challenges faced by minority biochemists and molecular biologists when establishing and sustaining externally funded research programs. Held in Chantilly, Va., “A Comprehensive Assessment of the Barriers, Needs, and Challenges Facing Underrepresented Minority Faculty in Biochemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology,” brought together 50 junior and senior faculty members from public and private institutions who have applied for research funding from the National Science Foundation and have either never received funding or did not received renewal of already funded projects. According to Stevens-Truss, the gathering provided a venue for attendees to network and to compare each other’s experiences. “Our desire is to understand the ‘politics’ surrounding this issue—if there are any,” she said. “This helped fill a gap for many scientists in attendance, and gave me insights as I write the renewal proposal for my current NSF grant that is about to expire.” Stevens-Truss also helped organize the conference. She said one expected outcome is a set of recommendations to assist federal agencies and academic institutions in identifying the needs of those who have historically been underrepresented in life science disciplines.

Matthew Olson '86, principle research scientist at Johnson & Johnson, is the spotlighted member of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. You can read the interview with Dr. Olson in the latest issue of ASBMB Today.

Nick Jones '12 steps in this season as the Hornet football team's starting quarterback. The Kalamazoo Gazette did a story on the transition that begins this weekend.

Chad Goodwill '92 (photo at left) has published his first book, "Uncivilized: Pursuing a Shameless Faith." Writing is not Goodwill's full-time job; he works as a marketing professional (Pivotal Communications in Kalamazoo) and teaches business and economics part time at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. A review of his book appeared in the Kalamazoo Gazette.

Adam Kotsko, Religion, penned a column in response to Timothy Larsen’s "No Christianity Please, We’re Academics,” published in the July 30 issue of the online journal, Inside Higher Education. Larsen, who is McManis Professor of Christian Thought at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, cited what he called evidence of discrimination against Christians in academia, and called for more study to determine whether this discrimination represents isolated incidents or is part of a broader trend. Kotsko responded that he is “among those who would view such research as questionable — not because I think Christians have it coming or because there are ‘bigger problems’ (there always are), but because I believe the question is ill-posed.” Read why in Christians in Academe: a Reply, Kotsko’s response in the August 9, 2010, issue of IHE.

Johnnie Stroud '87 and his wife, Taiko, own and operate Sake Nomi, a sake shop and tasting bar in Seattle, Washington. It was the subject of a Japan Times article that included a shout-out to Kalamazoo College.

Jan Tobochnik, Physics, has co-authored (with Harvey Gould of clark University) a new textbook titled Statistical and Thermal Physics with Computer Applications. The textbook is designed to be used in a standard upper level undergraduate course on thermal physics or statistical mechanics. Novel features include extensive discussion of probability concepts and methods, a self contained introduction to thermodynamics, integration with stand alone computer simulations written by Tobochnik and others, and the inclusion of many ideas and methods from contemporary research. Tobochnik and Gould also wrote an extensive solutions manual for the book, which is available to instructors.

Kristaps Butners '11 is a summer intern at Stageworks/Hudson, a theatre company some 30 miles from Albany, New York. He is assistant stage manager for the play Imagining Madoff, by Deborah Margolin. The play has been somewhat controversial, as recently reported in a New York Times article.

Richard Compans ’63 has helped to create a disposable, degradable microneedle flu vaccine that people could self-administer in their own homes. He led the collaboration that developed the new transdermal vaccination technology approach. It uses vaccine-loaded microneedles that dissolve into the skin. Tests in mice show the approach provides better protection against flu than injections using traditional syringes. Compans is professor of microbiology and immunology at Emory University.

Barry Ross, Music (emeritus), will conduct the Kalamazoo Symphony with guest artist--American Idol winner Matt Geraud, on Saturday, August 24. The concert is part of "Taste of Kalamazoo" and will be held at the Arcadia Creek Festival Site in downtown Kalamazoo.

The University of Massachusetts Press has recently publized its Juniper Prize winners--in fiction and in poetry. Of course, the poetry winner is none other than Kalamazoo College's own Diane Seuss, author of Wolf Lake, White Gown Blown Open.

Governor Jennifer Granholm presented Dorothy Young of Kalamazoo with the Michigan Senior Volunteer of the Year award at the annual Governor’s Service Award ceremony June 24 at the Gem Theatre in Detroit. The award honors a senior citizen who has taken action to make her or his community a better place to live. Young, who is well known in the Kalamazoo College community, was nominated by Teresa Denton, associate director of the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Institute for Service-Learning. She is a leader in Community Advocates for Parents and Students (CAPS), a grassroots, volunteer organization that strives to enhance student preparation for college and career opportunities by providing academic support and promoting parent participation at the Interfaith Homes Neighborhood Center. Hundreds of current and former “K” students have served as CAPS tutors under Dorothy Young. With the announcement of the Kalamazoo Promise in 2005, the Institute for Service-Learning was deluged with requests for students to tutor in various initiatives. According to Denton, the decision to partner with CAPS was easy because they had something none of the other groups had: Dorothy Young as their leader. “Not only has Dorothy been instrumental in supporting the academic achievement of Kalamazoo Public School students through the CAPS program, she has also been a teacher, mentor, and role model  to Kalamazoo College students.” In the photo are (l-r) Dorothy Young, Governor Jennifer Granholm, First Gentleman Daniel Mulhern, and Jim Vella, chair of the Michigan Community Service Commission.

The combined Senior Individualized Project work of Thomas Nelson ’09 and Kevin Groth ’09 has been published as a paper in Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. The title of the article is “Maternal investment and nutrient use affect phenotype of American alligator and domestic chicken hatchlings.” Professor of Biology Paul Sotherland is a co-author. The SIP research on which the article is based took the three authors on a 2,700-mile alligator egg hunt to the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana. The Fall 2008 LuxEsto included a story on that adventure (“A Great Egg Time”). “Those two SIPs were gems,” said Sotherland. “I’m pretty geeked about the article. It’s not every day that SIP theses get published.”

A book titled Psychology of Music: From Sound to Significance was published by Siu-Lan Tan, Psychology, and colleagues Peter Pfordresher and Rom Harré in April 2010, exploring the interdisciplinary scope of their field. The publisher (Psychology Press and Routledge, London) kindly rushed 20 advance copies so that Tan's “Psychology of Music” class could use the book during the Spring quarter. Also, a study on the role of contingent and non-contingent sound and music on performance in a video game, co-authored by John Baxa '09, Siu-Lan Tan, and Matthew Spackman, will be published in the new peer-reviewed International Journal for Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations in summer 2010. Kalamazoo College students Matthew Vazquez ’09, Katherine Keegan ’10, Allison Jacobs ’11, Jessica Messerschmidt ’10, and Emily Adelstein ’10 composed the enthusiastic research team that assisted in the study.

Noriko Sugimori, Instructor in Japanese Language (a position supported by a grant from the Freeman Foundation) will be busy this summer. She is presenting papers in Tokyo and Ishikawa, Japan, and in Malaysia. She also will serve as a research associate at the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University.

Kalamazoo College feted the 2010 high school graduates who earned Heyl Scholarships for Kalamazoo College (science and math) or Western Michigan University (nursing). The prestigious scholarship covers tuition, book costs, and room charges. The 2010 winners are (l-r): Elizabeth Nelson, Megan Walsh, Megan Davis, Cara Cunliffe, Cindy Lee; second row—Sherin John, Lucas Kushner, Chelsea Olivares; back row—Andrew Hassevoort, Quinn McCormick, Christina Tarn, and Ryan D’Mello. Nelson and Cunliffe will attend Western Michigan University. The others begin their “K” journeys this fall. Not pictured are Sanjay Sharma and Matthew Beck. Both will attend Kalamazoo College in the fall.

Four Kalamazoo College students attended the 2010 Experimental Biology meeting (Anaheim, California, April 24-28), the annual meeting of several societies including the American Society For Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB).  Seniors Laurence Briski and Catherine Mocny and junior Alyssa McNamara presented their research at the ASBMB 14th Annual Undergraduate poster competition.  They were three of 191 undergraduate students from across the country to present their research findings as part of the competition.  Briski’s SIP research (mechanistic insights into the function of an enzyme from Haemophilus influenxae) was conducted at the University of Michigan in the lab of Dr. Ron Woodard.  Mocny’s SIP research (inhibition of human cytochrome P450 enzymes) was conducted in the lab of Dr. Laura Furge at Kalamazoo College; Mocny’s poster was also presented as part of the regular scientific research session of the Anaheim meeting.  McNamara’s research (selective inhibition of nitric oxide synthase) was conducted in the lab of Dr. Regina Stevens-Truss.  Sophomore Philip Jackson, who conducts research in the Truss lab at the College, also attended the meeting.  Furge and Stevens-Truss are regular members of the ASBMB, and both served as judges of the student posters at this year’s meeting.  Briski, Jackson, and McNamara recently became undergraduate members of the ASBMB as members of the Kalamazoo College Undergraduate Affiliate Network. That chapter was initiated on the campus by Stevens-Truss in 2009.  “This is an incredible opportunity for our students as they get to meet other scientists—young and more seasoned—and get to make connections and network” Stevens-Truss says.  Next year’s meeting will be held in Washington, D.C., “We plan is to involve ‘K’ students at that meeting as well.” Pictured are (l-r) Laurence Briski, Philip Jackson, Alyssa McNamara, and Catherine Mocny.

Margaret and Roger Scholten Professor of International Studies David Barclay (in photo) is the consulting historian for a German TV documentary broadcast by a German television network on the life of Ernst Reuter, the mayor of postwar West Berlin and a major figure in post-1945 European history. “Ernst Reuter: Ein zerrissenes Leben,” which Barclay translates as “Ernst Reuter: A Tumultuous Life,” will be shown nationally on Germany’s ARD network Wednesday evening May 26, and will include interviews with Barclay, as well as with former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, former Daimler-Benz CEO Edzard Reuter (Ernst’s son), and Egon Bahr, former German diplomat and a major figure in Cold War history. Barclay wrote a book about Reuter in 2000. Read more about the production (in German!) here. 

Through a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Great Lakes Colleges Association has launched the New Directions Initiative. The focus of this program is to support the renewal and continued professional growth of liberal arts faculty members in “mid-career”—the extensive professional period between receiving tenure and thinking seriously about retirement. Nine Kalamazoo College professors received NDI grants, one of the most remarkably successful outcomes of all GLCA schools, according to Michael Sosulski, Kalamazoo College’s campus facilitator for NDI. “K” recipients and their projects are: Eric Barth, Mathematics, From Scientific Computation to Computational Musicology; Charlene Boyer Lewis, History, Every American His or Her Own Gardener: The Cultural Significance of Gardens and Gardening, 1750 to 1850; Sarah Lindley, Art, an Arts/Industry  Sculptural Residency in the Kohler Company Factory in Kohler, Wisconsin; Tom Askew, Physics, Thermoelectric Devices for Recovery of Wasted Energy from Boiler Stacks; Patrik Hultberg, Economics and Business; The Use of the Case Method in the Teaching of Business in a Liberal Arts Environment; Richard Koenig, Art, Contemporary Views Along the First Transcontinental Railroad; Michael Sosulski, German Studies, Searching for Meaning in Dark Times: A Genealogy of Vocation from Goethe and the Early German Romantics; and Enid Valle, Spanish, Embarcada al Dielo (The Voyages of Carmelita Peralta). The total of the grants exceeded $60,000.

Kalamazoo College students learn more than the skills needed to enter the workforce after graduation. They learn how to be “at home in the world.” Through classroom experiences, service learning, study abroad, internships and externships, and many other educational experiences, “K” students acquire the ability to cross cultural boundaries of language, nationality and geographic region, in addition to personal boundaries of faith, tradition, and perspective. Read more about these amazing students—hundreds of whom pass through the doors of College’s Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Institute for Service-Learning each year—in the 2010 edition of Compact Magazine, published by the Michigan Campus Compact.

Richard Koenig, Art, is one half of a two-photographer exhibition taking place at the Lansing (Mich.) Art Gallery from May 7 through June 25. The title of the exhibition is Photographic Prevarications, and it places the viewer at the intersection of depiction and deception. Koenig's images of his own photography within a space create a visual conundrum. In other news, Koenig has a received a New Directions Inititiative grant from the Great Lakes Colleges Association. The money will support his project, "Contemporary Views Along the First Transcontinental Railroad," of which he wrote, "My topic combines the history and tradition of western landscape photography with the subject of being the first transcontinental railroad in North America. For 11 years I have been doing a form of photography that is decidedly conceptual in nature in that it downplays subject matter. With this years-long project, subject matter is paramount, and I'll be working with a documentary approach. We are coming up to the sesquicentennial of the joining of the two halves of the first transcontinental railroad, and this project, in its long form, is designed to be complete by that anniversary."

Charlene Boyer Lewis, History, and James Lewis, History, received Research Fellowships for the fall semester from the International Center for Jefferson Studies in Charlottesville, Va. Boyer Lewis also received a winter/spring semester Residency Research Fellowship from the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies at the University of Michigan. And she received short-term visiting fellowships from both the Library Company of Philadelphia and the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond.

Mike Tanoff, Physics, and John Fink, Mathematics, are Math Circle teammates! They and fellow teammates (Kalamazoo Public School math teachers Rahsaan Hawkins, Jim Roth, and Sue Riker) were accepted as a team to the "How to Run a Math Teachers' Circle" workshop in Washington, D.C. this July. Math Circles are a form of educational enrichment and outreach that bring mathematicians and mathematical scientists in direct contact with pre-college students. They meet informally to work on interesting mathematical problems and topics. As a result, students become passionate about math.

Genevieve Leet ’11 is the College’s first Udall Scholar a second time! Udall Scholarships are awarded to students intending to pursue careers related to the environment. Leet is one of 80 2010 Udall Scholars selected from a pool of more than 500 applicants across the United States. And she is one of five returning scholars. Because the Udall is a non-renewable scholarship, Genevieve went through the same application process and review as a first-time applicant. She had the additional challenge of doing most of her application from study abroad (Chaing Mai, Thailand) this year. She joins one student from Grand Valley State University and one from University of Michigan as the only three Michigan students to earn the honor this year. Though it’s not unprecedented for sophomore awardees (such as Leet was last year) to win again as juniors, it’s hardly guaranteed. The selection committee looks for increased assumption of leadership roles, more defined career goals, and deeper engagement in campus and community activities. The 2010 Udall Scholars will assemble August 4-8 in Tucscon, Arizona, to receive their awards and meet policymakers and community leaders in environmental and other fields. An article on Leet appeared in the Fall 2009 LuxEsto.

Six Kalamazoo College psychology majors participated in the annual Michigan Undergraduate Psychology Research Conference [MUPRC], which was hosted by Calvin College on April 24, 2010.  Ashlee Steudle ’10 presented her S.I.P., Predicting Early Literacy Growth: The Influence of Temperament and Social Behaviors, which was conducted at Michigan State University.  Two students who conduct on-campus research with Assistant Professor of Psychology Autumn Hostetter presented their recent work: Catherine Skirving ’10—Actions Gesture Louder Than Words: Encoding Modality Affects Representational Gesture Rate; and Andrea Potthoff ’11—Meaningful Movements Produce Meaningful Gestures: A Test of the GSA Framework.  Scott Dexheimer ’10, Leigh Ann Ulrey ’11, and Steven Rowe ’11 presented Overshadowing and Potentiation Can Be Produced Using the Same Stimuli, which was conducted in the lab of Professor of Psychology Robert Batsell.

WARM Detroit was named a 2010 Michigan Green Leader by the Detroit Free Press. Jacob Stevens Corvidae ’92, Green Programs Manager for WARM Training Center, oversees WARM's Green Building Demonstration Center. Corvidae, as an individual, received a MI Earth Day Award for his work at WARM. Corvidae provides seminars and consulting on energy efficiency, green building and renewable energy for the general public, school students and builders, and has authored a variety of reports and guides on energy savings and green building. He is also a professor of sustainable design at University Detroit Mercy School of Architecture. Corvidae has been working with grassroots groups on sustainable development since 1998. He is a co-founder of Sustainable Detroit and the Urban Ecovillage Network. He has studied integral theory and sustainable development at the Integral Institute. Corvidae is a member of the Kalamazoo College Sustainability Guild and has hosted “K” student interns at his work.

Jeanne Hess and Kristen Smith, Physical Education and Athletics, were 2010 Alumni Honor Academy Inductees of the Department of Health, Physical Education & Recreation, Western Michigan University. Smith earned her Master of Arts in Physical Education with a specialization in Athletic Training from WMU in 1992. Hess earned her Master of Arts in Physical Education with an emphasis in Exercise Science in 1985. They were two of seven inductees in the 2010 Honor Academy class, and were feted at a dinner that set a new record for attendance. They received their awards from WMU President John Dunn.

Genna Gent '94 has been named vice president of state and local affairs for the American Beverage Association, a trade association representing the broad spectrum of companies that manufacture and distribute non-alcoholic beverages in the United States. Gent will be responsible for representing the interests of ABA members before state legislatures and regulatory bodies. The non-alcoholic beverage industry employs more than 220,000 people with a direct economic impact of more than $136 billion. Gent has more than a decade of experience in state government relations and most recently served as deputy chief of staff and Washington office director for Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm.

Song for a Future Generation, the new play by Joe Tracz ’04, is presented by the Horse Trade Theater Group and The Management at UNDER St. Marks in New York City. Dubbed a “sci-fi dance party spectacle,” the play features clones, robots, and teenage time travelers searching for connection at a dance party aboard a satellite. The occasion?--a celebration of an exploding star. The play will run Thursdays through Saturdays, April 29 through May 15. The author of several critically acclaimed plays, Tracz is a member of the Ars Nova Play Group and a Playwrights Realm writing fellow. He earned an MFA in dramatic writing from New York University.

Laura Barraclough, Anthropology and Sociology, was awarded a Franklin Research Grant from the American Philosophical Society to conduct archival rsearch this summer in Los Angeles for her new project, "The Contested Cowboy: Mexican American Charros in Suburban Los Angeles." Since the 1890s white elites in Los Angeles had donned the costume of the charro, or Mexican gentleman cowboy, to promote regional development and cultivate civic identity. By the late 1960s Mexican American charros contested these appropriations, and their efforts to redefine the charro fundamentally challenged one cowboy, on of the most potent symbols of white American masculinity. Barraclough's study examines the contested figure of the charro amidst Los Angeles's chainging racial climate in the 1970s by focusing on two groups of Mexican American charros who tried to practice charreria (Mexican-style rodeos) in the city's integrating suburbs.

Five senior anthropology and sociology majors presented their senior individualized projects in Chicago at a joint meeting of the Midwest Sociological Society and the North Central Sociological Association. They shared SIP findings with professional sociologists and conference guests and were praised for the quality of their work.  The seniors and their presentations were: Katy Ehlert, “Redefining the Role of the Art Museum in the 21st Century: A Look at the Detroit Institute of Arts”; Caitlin Riley, “Women, Hair and Identity: The Social Processes of Alopecia”; Amanda Lawrence: “Commuter Behavior at Kalamazoo College: Manifesting Ontological Security in Environmental (In)Action”; Chuck Mason: “Economic Practice, Social Consequences: Motivations and Methods of Zoning in American Communities”; and Barret Mueller (see photo), “Affluence, Loss, and the Ethos of the American Dream: The Impact of Tragedy on Upper Class Suburban Identity.”

Christine Hahn, Art History, won a grant from the Association of Asian Studies’ Northeast Asia Council for short-term research travel to Korea. Hahn will spend about two to three weeks in Seoul and its environs this summer to research the paintings of Park Soo Keun, a mid-20th century Korean painter. She will use the research to help complete an article on which she is working as well as a longer book-length manuscript on modern Korean painting. That manuscript is in early stages of development. That book will explore articulation of the local and indigenous in Korean painting relative to global developments in modern painting.

Rosemary K. Brown Professor in Mathematics and Computer Science John Fink has been elected to serve on the Mathematics Association of America board of governors for a three-year term starting July 1, 2010. The MAA is the largest professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure and applied mathematicians; computer scientists; statisticians; and many others in academia, government, business, and industry. The MAA mission is to advance the mathematical sciences, especially at the collegiate level.

Artist Julie Mehretu ’92 is the subject of a feature article (“Big Art, Big Money,” by Calvin Tomkins) in the March 29 issue of The New Yorker. Mehretu won the commission for and created “Mural,” the 80 foot by 23 foot painting that appears in the entrance lobby of the new Goldman Sachs office building in lower Manhattan. The piece was planned as a visual history of capitalism in abstract terms and is described as “the layered confluences and contradictions of the world economy in a mural.” Mehretu lives in New York City and Berlin, Germany, with her partner, artist Jessica Rankin, and their son, Cade. The New Yorker piece is a fascinating read about the person whom Professor of English Gail Griffin describes as, “officially, Kalamazoo College’s most famous alum.” Mehretu's exhibition, Grey Area, opens Friday, May 14, at the Guggenheim in New York City.

Hannah McKinney, Economics and Business., has been recognized by the Kalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce as the 2010 ATHENA International Award recipient, presented annually to the person who provides service to the Kalamazoo community, demonstrates excellence within a profession, and who assists women in attaining leadership skills and professional goals.

Sarah Lindley, Art, was awarded a GLCA New Directions Initiative Grant. She will use it to collaborate with Norwood Viviano (Grand Valley State University) on an Arts/Industry Residency in the Kohler Company Factory in Kohler, Wisconsin. As resident artists (March-December, 2010), Lindley and Viviano will create sculptural works that respond to the dynamic history of the Kohler factory in relation to the surrounding village--one of the earliest planned industrial garden communities in the United States.They will create one to three "industrial landscapes" comprised of multiple slip-cast clay components and altered factory detritus. They will use both hand skill and three-dimensional digital prototyping technology to create the original forms for their slip-casting molds. In other news, Lindley was part of “Dis/Arming Domesticity,” one of three exhibitions that recently occurred in the Philadelphia area (Community Arts Center) on the occasion of the 44th meeting of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts. Lindley was one of some 90 artists involved in the exhibitions but one of only five highlighted in a Philadelphia Inquirer art review. The article includes a picture of her piece “Widow.”

Lisa Ailstock, Student Health Center, was elected vice president for the Mid-America College Health Association. MACHA, an affiliate of the American College Health Association, includes Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Michigan.

Erin Donnevan '12, English and music double major, took first place in the Musical Theatre division at the Midwest Regional of the National Association of Teachers of Singing Auditions. She competed against sophomores in the same division that hailed universities and colleges throughout Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Ontario, Canada. By virtue of her win, Donnevan is eligible to compete in the national level of vocal competition. Jim Turner, professor of voice and director of choral activities, send several of his select students to the Midwest Regional.

Greg Slough, Chemistry, has received a competitive national grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the project titled "RUI: Confined Chirality Transfer in Organic Polymers: A Combinational Library Approach." Slough directs the project, which is supported by a continuing grant approved for three years. Contingent on available funding and project progress, NSF expects to fund the project for 2011-12 and 2012-13. The first year of the award was effective March 1, 2010, and expires February 28, 2011.

Robert Batsell, Psychology, recently traveled to New York City to present his research, "CS-US Interval Determines Expression of Potentiation in at Taste-Taste Compound," at the annual meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association. While in the Big Apple, he hosted a group of recent Kalamazoo College alumni at Boqueria-Soho, the tapas restaurant owned and operated by "K" alumnus (and Iron Chef contestant) Seamus Mullen '96. Attendees included (l-r): James Pollock '04, Allison Felolak '05, John Baxa '09 (standing), Batsell, Gabriela Bond '07, Justine Dolorfino '09, and Stephanie Anderson '06.

This past weekend the Board of Trustees met and granted tenure and promotion to associate professor to the following faculty: Jennifer Einspahr, Ph.D., Political Science; Elizabeth Manwell, Ph.D., Classics; and Timothy Moffit, D.B.A., M.B.A., Economics and Business. "Please join me in congratulating these faculty on this important achievement," said Provost Mickey McDonald. "Their service to our students, the College, and the academy are to be commended." A feature article on their teaching philosophy and commitment to the liberal arts will appear in the November issue of LuxEsto.

Nothing is more foundational to American education than tolerance, according to Adam Kotsko, Religion. "In fact, in my experience my students' commitment to keeping an open mind and valuing others' opinions is so strong that it's often difficult to convince them to express straightforward disagreement with each other," he wrote for Inside Higher Ed in a column advocating a theological approach to teaching Christianity. "We all of course want to avoid the nightmare scenario of a professor who grades on the basis of agreement and attempts to 'indoctrinate' students on that basis, but even such a person would most likely wind up doing a disservice to his cause by definitively turning students off to Christianity due to their very healthy aversion to close-mindedness." He blogs at An und für sich

The J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board has selected John Dugas, Political Science, for a Fulbright award to Ecuador. Dugas will spend nine months to a year in Ecuador reseaching the country's Human Rights Ombudsman Office, specifically its effectiveness protecting citizens from the state. Fulbright grantees establish open communication and long-term cooperative relationships, and thus enrich the educational, political, social and cultural lives of countries around the world. More than 300,000 persons have participated in the program since its inception more than 60 years ago.

Kalamazoo College bestowed the 2010 Senior Leadership Recognition Award on 28 students. They serve as student organization leaders, athletic team captains, student housing resident assistants, peer leaders, departmental student advisors, literacy tutors, civic engagement scholars, teaching assistants, career advisors in the Center for Career and Professional Development, and peer advisors in the Center for International Programs. Their leadership has benefited fellow students and members of the Kalamazoo Community, and their work has amplified the achievements of organizations like Kaleidoscope, K-Crew, Student Commission, Sisters in Science, Habitat for Humanity, Amnesty International, Community Advocates for Parents and Students, Helping Youth through Personal Empowerment, and many more. The senior leaders are (l-r): front row—Emilia LaPenta, Rebecca Aulph, Brianne Wood, Emily Kuehn, Catherine Mocny, Dana Schmitt; second row—Anne Weir, Phillip Chinzi, K’tanaw Schiff;  third row—Sara Locke, Emily Meloche, Karah Boodt, Ajka Suljevic, Lisa Phillips; fourth row—Ann Schimon, Andrew Grayson, Katja Samati, Joseph Unger, Jillian Belstler; back row—Eric Aiken, Brian Barkley, Catherine Skirving, and Robert Cooper. Not pictured are Andrew Dozier, Natalia Holtzman, Brandon Luczak, Jacqueline Postelnic, and Travis Smith.

Karyn Boatwright, Psychology, has published and presented recent work. She is co-author of “The influence of adult attachment styles on workers’ preferences for relational leadership behaviors,” published in the Psychologist Manager Journal (13, 1-14). “K” alumna Abbie VanderWege ’04 was also a co-author. Boatwright also presented a paper titled “Connectedness needs as a predictor of gender differences in student responses to feminist pedagogical strategies” during a symposium at the Association of Women in Psychology National Conference. Three current students contributed to that work—Kelly Bauer ’10, Katharine Keegan ’10, and Caitlin Finan ’11.

Laurie Russell '77 is the owner of Nature Connection, a Kalamazoo gift shop that provides nature-related gifts and educational items, many made in Michigan and the United States. She was featured in a recent article that appeared in the Kalamazoo Gazette.

Jillian McLaughlin '10 has been named a U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association 2009 Division III Cross Country All Academic Honoree.

Rob Oakleaf '01 will assume the role of executive director of Ministry with Community, a shelter for the homeless in Kalamazoo. Oakleaf, who is currently MwC’s deputy director, joined the organization in 2008 as a finance and technical coordinator. Prior to that, he ran his own freelance graphic and web design firm and, before that, taught web design and improvisational comedy classes at The Henry Ford Academy in Dearborn. As a child, Oakleaf served the underserved as a member of the First United Methodist Church in Kalamazoo through food drives and work with Habitat for Humanity. As the president of Loy Norrix High School’s National Honor Society, he helped to coordinate blood drives and other charitable events. As a “K” student, Rob tutored struggling students and gave homework assistance to area youth. Rob was recently featured in the Kalamazoo Gazette.

The essay "Sleeping With Jacob," by Bruce Mills, English, received special mention for the Pushcart Prize in nonfiction. Published in the New England Review (Winter 2009), the piece was one of six works (among all genres) nominated for a Pushcart by the editors of the literary magazine. Mills also has had another essay published in Gravity Pulls You In: Perspectives on Parenting Children on the Autism Spectrum (Woodbine Press). Both essays address the early years with his autistic son. Mills is co-editing a collection of essays by siblings of those on the autism spectrum. The book is currently set to be published by Jessica Kingsley Press in the fall.

Breigh Montgomery, Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Institute for Service-Learning, received the Michigan Campus Compact Faculty/Staff Community Service-Learning Award, the highest honor MCC bestows on faculty and staff in the state of Michigan. Montgomery recruits, trains, and supports of cadre of 25 to 30 of the Institute's Civic Engagement Scholars. These leaders, in turn, engage more than 250 "K" students who work in more than 20 different year-round ongoing community partnerships that promote a more just, equitable, and sustainabile community. A former Civic Engagement Scholar herself, Montgomery worked at Woodward Elementary during her four undergraduate years at "K". She receives her award during a special MCC ceremony in Traverse City, Mich.