Notable Achievements

Honors Students Notable Achievements

Abdelrhman Mohamed,WSU graduate research assistant and Honors College graduate, co-authored a paper, In situ enrichment of microbial communities on polarized electrodes deployed in alkaline hot springs, in the Journal of Power Sources. Read More

Honors Students Notable Achievements

Daniel Goto and his teammates took first place overall at the first annual Hack Washington hackathon at Seattle’s Space Needle.

August 2018

June 2018

Honors Students Notable Achievements

Honors College student Elizabeth Warren received the Virginia E. Thomas Endowed Scholarship

The following Honors College students received Top Ten Senior Awards:

Campus Involvement: Garrett Kalt and Alyssa Norris
 for Campus Involvement; Joanne Kunze for Community Service; Alice Hiemstra for Performing Arts.

Honors College students Samantha Reyes and Camille Culbertson were awarded Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships.

The following Honors College students were recognized with the 2018 President’s Award for Leadership:

Parker Blekkenk

Devon Holze

Keesha Matz

Nam Nguyen

Hannah Oliason

Savannah Rogers

Garrett Snedecker

Elizabeth Warren

Honors Faculty Notable Achievements:

Honors Faculty Fellow William Hamlin received to 2018 Sahlin Award for Research, Scholarship and the Arts.

Honors Students Notable Achievements

Honors College student Madeline Nichols is part of the WSU swimming team that has been recognized as a College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All America Team for the fifth straight semester.

Honors College students Abagail Poelstra and Shi Min Tan both received the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships. Abagail will study in Australia and Shi Min in Costa Roca.

Honors College student Matthew Winchell was selected for the prestigious Mount Vernon Leadership Fellows program. Honors College students have represented WSU in this program every year since its inception – the only institution in the US to do so.

Honors College student Sterling Smith was awarded a prestigious DAAD RISE fellowship and will conduct research in physics this summer in Germany.

Honors College student Kainoa Torres will participate in the 37th Climate Reality Leadership Corp program in Mexico City.

Honors College student Julianna Brutman’s Honors thesis research was published in the peer-reviewed international journal Physiology & Behavior. The citation is: Brutman JN, Zhou X, Zhang Y, Michal J, Stark B, Jiang Z, Davis JF, “Mapping diet-induced alternative polyadenylation of hypothalamic transcripts in the obese rat.” Physiol Behav. 2018 Jan 31;188:173-180. Julianna’s thesis advisor was Professor Jon Davis.

Honors College Faculty Notable Achievements

Honors Council faculty members Denise Smart and Janessa Graves (Janessa is also an Honors Faculty Fellow) created a new graduate certificate in public health offered by the nursing college:

https://news.wsu.edu/2018/02/08/certificate-in-public-health/

The following 23 Honors College student athletes were part of the 2017 WSU Athletics All-Academic Team:

• Miranda Armstrong (Rowing)
• Marin Auth (Soccer)
• Elyse Bennett (Soccer)
• Jordyn Brounstein (Rowing)
• Ella Cowan de Wolf (Rowing)
• Emma Dahline (Soccer)
• Paige Danielson (Rowing)
• Cameron Dean (Track and Field)
• Katherine Dittmann (Track and Field)
• Ivy Elling Quaintance (Rowing)
• Hanna Goff (Soccer)
• Grace Hancock (Soccer)
• Samantha King-Shaw (Track and Field)
• Kyler Little (Track and Field)
• Conner Nantkes (Baseball)
• Madeline Nichols (Swimming)
• Lindsey Schauble (Track and Field)
• Hayden Schmidt (Football)
• Marlow Schulz (Track and Field)
• Kristel Tohu (Rowing)
• Hanna Welzbacker (Rowing)
• Chloe White (Rowing)
• Sue Yu (Rowing)

The following Honors College students are ASWSU senators:

• Ryan O’Dea
• Emma Taylor
• Savannah Rogers
• Lindsay Schilperoort
• Devon Holze
• Hayden Arend
• Harald Hyllseth

Honors College student Sarah Sherrod is presenting a paper entitled Experiential Learning and High Impact Practices in Undergraduate Education: A First Person Account of Undergraduate Research in Criminal Justice at the 55th annual meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. Sarah’s research advisor is Dr. Melanie-Angela Neuilly.

Honors College student Garrett Snedeker presented a lecture/recital on Brazilian pianist and composer Chiquinha Gonzaga at the Music Teachers National Symposium Collegiate Chapters Piano Pedagogy Symposium in Austin, TX

Honors Students Notable Achievements

Honors College student Nam Nguyen was featured by the WSU Foundation:
https://foundation.wsu.edu/2017/12/06/meet-nam-nguyen/

Nam is on track to become the first undergraduate in WSU’s 127-year history to ever have studied on all seven continents through the University’s study abroad programs. He hopes to attain that goal by March 2018.

Nam is also a Young Ambassador for the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) North America (USA & Canada).

Honors Faculty Notable Achievements

Honors College faculty member Annie Lampman was awarded a 2017 NCHC Portz Grant – the first such award in the history of WSU. Annie’s project partners the Washington State University Honors College and the Washington State University Global Campus by developing, delivering, and assessing the first online honors course at WSU. This innovative course—Honors 280: Contextual Understanding in the Arts and Humanities Through the Short Story— will also serve as the first online creative writing course offered at WSU, and one of the first, if not the very first, online honors creative writing courses offered in the nation. The proposed project will have the potential to serve as a model across the wider WSU institution, especially as other campus units—such as the English Department with its established creative writing program—look to develop online degree programs with Global Campus. The project also has the potential to serve as a national model for other honors colleges and programs outside of WSU that are looking to diversify their course offerings and course delivery systems by developing and offering online honors courses.
http://www.nchchonors.org/resources/newsletter

Honors Students Notable Achievements

Honors College student Margaux McBirney was first author on a paper published in the journal PLoS One. This paper has already been viewed online almost 7,000 times since its publication in September. Margaux’s research in the laboratory of professor Michael Skinner determined the epigenetic effects of atrazine, one of the most commonly used herbicides in the agricultural industry.

Honors College student Emelia Stephan was part of a team from the Carson College of Business that won the San Diego State University International Business Case Competition.

Honors College student Erik Reyes was awarded the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship.

Honors College student Garrett Snedeker took first place in the Washington State Music Teachers Association Young Artist Competition for the second year in a row.

Honors Students Notable Achievements

Honors College student and mechanical engineering major Daniel Goto’s idea won first prize at the Hackathon, which is sponsored by Boeing.

https://news.wsu.edu/2017/11/01/161849/

Honors College student and Freshman Elyse Bennett scored the game-winning goal against ASU: her second goal of the season.

Honors College student and electrical engineering major Ryan Summers is a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship. Washington State University’s last Rhodes Scholar was in 1956.

Honors Students Notable Achievements

Halle Schulz’s Honors thesis was highlighted by the College of Nursing
https://nursing.wsu.edu/2017/05/17/photovoice-halle-schulz-nursing-homeless/

Sara Van Natta, will present her Honors thesis research at the Society for the Advancement of Violence and Injury Research (SAVIR) Annual Meeting in Ann Arbor, MI, September 18-20, 2017

Both Halle and Sara were advised by Professor Janessa Graves of the College of Nursing.

Paige Danielson, Honors College student majoring in electrical engineering, became the first student-athlete in history to receive the NCAA Elite 90 Award.
http://www.wsucougars.com/news/2017/5/23/rowing-paige-danielson-named-ncaa-elite-90-award-winner.aspx

Honors College student Alyssa Norris was appointed to the Board of Regents by Governor Jay Inslee. Alyssa also received an Honorable Mention from the Udall Foundation in the environment category and was a finalist for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship (WSU’s first finalist since 1990).

Honors students Julianna Brutman and Keesha Matz were recipients of the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for 2017

Honors students Andrew Cannon, Logan Winston, and Cassi Phillips spent the summer at Southeast University in Nanjing conducting research in advanced materials. Southeast University is ranked in the top twenty worldwide in engineering/technology and computer science.

Honors student Nam Nguyen has been selected as a DAAD Young Ambassador – one of 29 from North America and the only ambassador from the state of Washington.
https://www.daad.org/en/about-us/network/young-ambassadors/

Honors student Savannah Rogers spent the summer at the competitive Mount Vernon Leadership Program.

Honors alumna, Rachel Anna Neff has a book of poetry, The Haywire Heart and Other Musing of Love coming out in December.

Honors College student, Garrett Snedeker took part in the Bowdoin International Music Festival this summer.

Honors student, Michael Young, was awarded a U.S. Department of State Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship.

Four Honors College alumni Kyle Geiger, Michelle Hedeen, Ethan Payton, Christina Street, were in the charter class of the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine

Honors College student Ryan O’Dea was 1 of only 10 students chosen nationally for a new CET program in Taiwan and was selected for an internship at CCIFT – the French Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan – where he was in charge of marketing and communications.

Honors Faculty Notable Achievements

Honors Faculty Dr. Janessa Graves received an Excellence Award from the College of Nursing in the category of Outstanding Graduate Faculty.

Honors College dean, M. Grant Norton, received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar award for Germany

Honors Students Notable Achievements:

SIX of the Outstanding Seniors in the College of Arts and Sciences are members of the Honors College:

• Mia Ryckman, Biology
• Victoria-Pearl Young, Comparative Ethnic Studies
• Rebecka Bence, Earth and Environmental Science
• Natalie Feeney, Philosophy
• Matthew Waldrip, Physics and Astronomy
• Bre Daugherty, Zoology

The following 17 Honors College students won awards at SURCA:

Applied Sciences

Brennan Hyden, Gray award

Arts and Design

Philip VanDevanter, Novice award

Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, and Information Sciences

Ryan Summers, Crimson award

Engineering and Physical Sciences

Matthew Waldrip, Gray award

Molecular, Cellular, and Chemical Biology

Shi MinTan, Crimson award
Sierra Bishop, Gray award
Marie Andresen, Novice Researcher award
Ryan McLaughlin, Early Career award

Organismal, Population, Ecological, and Evolutionary Biology

Ashley Huyhn, Crimson award
Madison Armstrong, Gray award
Angela Rocchi, Gray award

Social Sciences

Mia Ryckman, Crimson award
Zachery Schramm, Crimson award
Sara Van Natta, Crimson award
Halle Schulz, Gray award
Claire Thornton, Gray award
Heather Heidenreich, Early Career award

Honors student Keesha Matz won 1^st place at the Western Regional Honors Conference for her poster “The Innate Immune Response and the Nipah Virus (NIV)”.

Honors student Teva Mayer received the prestigious NCHC Portz Fellowship for 2017.

Honors student Joanne Kunze’s Junior Writing Portfolio was selected as one of the top 10 portfolios out of 5545 submitted portfolios from January 2016-December 2016.

Honors student Angela Rocchi received the Top Ten Senior Award for Academics.

Honors students Victoria-Pearl “Tori” Young and Connor Wolcott received the Top Ten Senior Award for Campus Involvement

Honors student Alyssa Norris was a finalist for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship (WSU’s first finalist since 1990)

Honors student Madison Broers was named Voiland College Outstanding Sophomore

Honors student Alyssa Norris was named Voiland College Outstanding Junior

Honors student Ryan Summers was named Voiland College Outstanding Senior

Honors student Kayla Cribben was first author on a paper in BMC Genomics. Cribbin, K.M., Quackenbush, C.R., Taylor, K., Arias-Rodriguez, L., and Kelley, J.L. (2017). Sex-specific differences in transcriptome profiles of brain and muscle tissue of the tropical gar. BMC Genomics 18, 283. Kayla’s advisor is Dr. Joanna Kelley in the School of Biological Sciences.

Honors student Keesha Matz was co-author on the paper “Cytoplasmic Motifs in the Nipah Virus Fusion Protein Modulate Virus Particle Assembly and Egress” published in Journal of Virology. Keesha’s advisor is Professor Hector Aguilar.

Honors College students Hannah Booth, Madison Armstrong, and Heather Young received awards from the WSU Emeritus Society.

Honors Faculty Notable Achievements

Honors Faculty Fellow Dr. Lydia Gerber received the Exceptional Professor Award for the Honors College at the Fourth Annual ASWSU Faculty Staff Appreciation Awards.

Honors College Assistant Dean Dr. Robin Bond won an “Outstanding Advising Award” in the faculty advisor category from the National Academic Advising Association.

Honors College professor Kim Andersen was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Western Regional Honors Council.

Honors Students Notable Achievements:

Honors College students Bardya Banihashemi and Alyssa Norris were named as University Innovation Fellows. The University Innovation Fellows program is out of Stanford University’s Design school and selects students who will increase innovation and entrepreneurship at their university.

Honors College student Natalie Feeney was named Outstanding Senior for the Philosophy B.A. program by the faculty of the School of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs.

Honors College students Keesha Matz and Julianna Brutman received Barry. M. Goldwater Scholarships. Since 2013 Honors College students have been recognized 10 times by the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship in Excellence & Education Foundation (7 awards; 3 Honorable Mentions)

Honors College students Sam Flor and Joseph Chung were participants in the recent Associated Schools of Construction competition, the largest construction management contest in the U.S.

Honors College student Garrett Kalt was elected ASWSU Vice President.

Honors College student Alice Hiemstra won this year’s WSU Concerto Competition; she will perform the Hummel Oboe concerto with the orchestra later this spring.

Honors Students Notable Achievements:

The WSU Ethics Bowl team reached the quarterfinals of the national competition in Dallas. The team, coached by Honors Faculty Fellow Nathan Nicol, featured four Honors College students: Heidi Stallman, James Aguirre, Natalie Feeney, and Alyssa Norris.

Honors College student Alyssa Norris was announced as a finalist for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship.

Nam Nguyen, a sophomore in the Honors College was the only WSU student in 2016, and one of only 50 students nationwide, to receive a grant from the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE). The grant has allowed him to study abroad at the CIEE Global Institute in Rome, Berlin, and London during fall 2016.
ip.wsu.edu/2017/02/21/going-global/

Honors College alumnus, Dr. Michael Scott, will meet students from the Honors College Global Leadership Program on March 29. The Honors College Global Leadership Program is funded by Boeing. Dr. Scott was one of the scientists on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore.

Honors Faculty Notable Achievements

Honors College faculty member Annie Lampman’s recent essay “Into the Desert”, which was published in the High Desert Journal was nominated for a 2017 Pushcart Prize (a very highly respected annual U.S. writing award).

Honors College faculty member Kim Andersen was appointed to the Large Research University Committee of the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC). The NCHC has nearly 900 member institutions and impacts 330,000 honors students nationwide.

Honors Students Notable Achievements:

Honors student Harald Hyllseth is currently in D.C. as an intern for Washington Congressional Representative Pramila Jayapal.

Earth Day founder and President of the Bullitt Foundation, Denis Hayes, speaks with Honors College students in the Global Leadership Program. This program is part of a two-year leadership sequence in the Honors College supported by a Boeing Cybergrant and generous gifts to the Honors College from David and Jeanne McGoldrick.

Honors students Garrett Kalt and Alyssa Norris have been nominated for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship.

Honors students Keesha Matz and Juliana Brutman have been nominated for the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship.

Honors student, Camren Richards, is one of the students involved in the Solar Decathlon project featured in the Daily Evergreen.

Honors Faculty Notable Achievements

Honors Faculty Fellow Kim Burwick has her 4^th collection of poems, Custody of the Eyes, published by Carnegie Mellon University Press.

Honors College Professor Annie Lampman has a poem, “My Galapagos”, and an essay “A Mother’s Guide to Birds and Boys” accepted for publication in a new anthology Manifest West #6: Women of the West, Western Press Books, Western State Colorado University, 2017

Honors Students Notable Achievements:

Honors student Marleny Garcia, majoring in zoology pre-med, won a national award for outstanding presentation at the 2016 Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) in Tampa, Fla in the cell biology category. The title of Marleny’s presentation was “Kallikreins in Female Reproductive Tract: New Players in Semen Liquefaction.”

Honors student Garrett Snedeker was awarded first place at the Washington State Music Teachers Association Young Artist Piano Competition.

Honors student Bogdan “Theo” Mynka received first place in Inland Empire Chapter of the National Association of Teachers Singing Competition.

Honors student Garrett Kalt has formed LEAD Green a Nevada Non-Profit 501c(3) organization. “The mission of LEAD Green is to develop and cultivate high school students within Churchill County to become servant leaders equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to improve their respective communities and have a successful future.”

Honors alumnus Travis King (’16) had his undergraduate research featured in Science:
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/12/ocelot-bathrooms-are-meeting-place-several-central-american-mammals. Travis’s work also caught the attention of the BBC and Travis may be featured in a new BBC documentary WILDCATS. The full paper was published in Journal of Mammalogy.

Honors Students Notable Achievements:

The following Honors College students were named Auvil Fellows for 2016-2017 (mentors in parenthesis):

Madison Armstrong, biology (Mark Dybdahl)
Sierra Bishop, chemistry and material science engineering (Cliff Berkman)
Andrew Cannon, physics (Jeffrey McMahon)
Grace Carrell, microbiology (Alan Goodman)

Joseph Hall, bioengineering (David Lin)
Zachary Howard, genetics and cell biology (Alan Goodman)

Ashley Huynh, biology and Spanish (Omar Cornejo)
Brennan Hyden, agricultural biotechnology (Amit Dhingra)

Jonathan Moore, materials science and engineering (Michael Kessler)
Elizabeth Rice-Reynolds, genetics and cell biology (Michael Griswold)

Mia Ryckman, biology (Carrie Cuttler)
Seth Schneider, genetics and cell biology (Anthony Nicola)

Heather Young, animal sciences and Spanish (Amber Adams-Progar)

Honors student and ASWSU Vic President Kyle Strachila was named Student Leader of the Month for November

https://studentinvolvement.wsu.edu/leadership/special-events/student-leader-of-the-month/

Honors Faculty Fellow Nathan Nicol took a student team featuring Honors College students James Aguirre, Alyssa Norris, Reed Simock, and Heidi Stallman to the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl competition in Tacoma WA. The team qualified for the National Championship tournament to be held at the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics conference on Feb 26^th, 2017 in Dallas Texas. The WSU team was the only team in the nation to go undefeated through the first three rounds.  This will be WSU’s first time to the nationals.

Notable Faculty and Staff Notable Achievements:

Honors College Associate Dean David Shier and Honors Faculty Fellow Nathan Nicol received a Samuel H. Smith Teaching funding for “Bringing Logic into the 21st Century: Retooling Classes for Enhanced Student Success,” which flips the Philosophy 201 (Introduction to Formal Logic) classroom and incorporates recent advances in logic software.

https://news.wsu.edu/2016/11/07/faculty-teaching-learning-grants/#more-152482

Honors Faculty Fellow Nathan Nicol took a student team featuring Honors College students James Aguirre, Alyssa Norris, Reed Simock, and Heidi Stallman to the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl competition in Tacoma WA. The team qualified for the National Championship tournament to be held at the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics conference on Feb 26th in Dallas Texas. The WSU team was the only team in the nation to go undefeated through the first three rounds.   This will be WSU’s first time to the nationals.

Honors Students Notable Achievements

Honors College sophomore and Genetics and Cell Biology major Julianna Brutman will present her research titled “Binge Exposure to High Fat Diet Attenuates Motivated Behavior in Female Rats”at Obesity Week, which is an international conference held by The Obesity Society and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery in New Orleans.

 Honors College alumna Nicole Smolinske (’13) was awarded a David L. Boren Fellowship to study in Thailand.

Honors College alumnus Travis King (’16) was part of a team that photographed a Canada lynx in the Kettle River Mountain Range. This observation is important because it is the first time in many decades that a lynx has been seen in what was once a historically important region for lynx. A link to one of the press releases is: http://www.conservationnw.org/news/updates/lynx-photographed-in-washingtons-kettle-range

Eight Honors College students presented their research at the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) meeting in Seattle last month:

Chloe Erikson, “Maladaptive Behavioral Regulation in Alcohol Dependence: Role of Dynorphin / Kappa-Opioid Receptor Modi cations in the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis ”

Alice Hiemstra, “Beauty in the Biographies: An Analysis of Beauty in “Exemplary Women of Early China” by Liu Xiang”

Kendra Kendall, “Hamlet and the Visconti-Sforza Tarot ”

Keesha Matz, “Roles of Nipah Virus Attachment, Fusion, and Matrix Proteins in Viral Assembly and Budding”

Angela Rocchi, “Chronic Neurological Treatment of Normal Rats Presents Potential Treatment for Heart Failure”

Ryan Summers, “Accelerating Computation in Genome-Wide Association Studies using Graphics Processing Units”

Matthew Waldrip, “Time Delayed Collection Field Techniques for Organic Solar Cells”

Connor Wolcott, “Gestational Lordosis and Its Effect on Dynamic Balance Control ”

Notable Faculty and Staff Notable Achievements:

Dr. Sergey Lapin, Clinical Associate Professor of Mathematics and Honors Faculty Fellow received the ASWSU Exceptional Professor Award.

Honors Students Notable Achievements:

Paige Danielson an Honors student majoring in electrical engineering and a member of the Washington State University Rowing Team was featured by the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture. Paige also serves as an Honors College Mentor, working with incoming freshmen helping them make a successful transition to college.

https://vcea.wsu.edu/2016/09/06/training-for-success/

Shea DeWald an Honors student majoring in bioengineering and double minoring in mathematics and mechanical engineering is co-author on the paper “Hyperbaric oxygen treatment suppresses withdrawal signs in morphine-dependent mice” published in the journal Brain Research. Shea is working with Honors College Faculty Fellow Dr. Raymond Quock.

https://news.wsu.edu/2016/08/31/hyperbaric-chamber-eases-drug-withdrawal-symptoms

Notable Faculty and Staff Notable Achievements:

Dr. Robin Bond, Assistant Dean in the Honors College is the recipient of the WSU ACADA Award for Faculty Advising

Dr. Annie Lampman, Clinical Assistant Professor in the Honors College, received a Best American Essays notable award for 2016 for her essay “The Joints That Hold Us Together”, which was published in The Massachusetts Review. This award is one of the biggest literary/creative writing honors there is.

Dr. David Shier, Associate Professor in the School of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs has been appointed Associate Dean in the Honors College beginning October 1, 2016

Dr. Brendan Walker, Honors College Distinguished Professor co-organized and co-chaired a symposium entitled, “Translational strategies to treat alcohol abuse/dependence and associated depression/anxiety comorbidities: focus on opioid dysregulation,” This is the most esteemed psychiatric-related conference in Europe.

Honors Students Notable Achievements:

Honors College alumna Joey Redmon is the most recent alum to be featured on the WSU Foundation web site. As an undergraduate Joey was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in the UK and completed research in Tanzania at the Nelson Mandela Institute. Joey is now in the College of Pharmacy at WSU-Spokane:

https://foundation.wsu.edu/category/meet-students/

Honors College student in the Carson College of Business Luke Slaughterbeck had his Honors Thesis research “Investor-State Dispute Settlement and Global Trade Agreements” accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed journal Journal of Global Business and Community (JGBC).

Honors student Garrett Kalt, ASWSU Senator, and Honors student Kyle Strachilla, ASWSU Vice President, attended the Pac 12 Student Leaders Summit at University of Colorado, Boulder.

Honors College sophomore Garrett Snedeker was the student speaker at the Fall 2016 Convocation.

Honors Faculty Notable Achievements:

Dr. Brendan Walker, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology was named the Honors College Distinguished Professor for 2016-2018. This professorship was created by the Honors College and the College of Arts and Sciences.

Honors Students Notable Achievements:

Andrew Rink a sophomore in the Honors College majoring in computer science and music, recently placed third in live competition at the 2016 International Tuba-Euphonium Conference in Knoxville, Tenn. “This event marks the first time a WSU tuba student has participated in and placed in such a prestigious competition,” said Chris Dickey, clinical assistant professor of music at WSU.

Garrett Kalt, an Honors College student majoring in communication is currently interning with Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval. Garrett has been working with Governor Sandoval on a STEM education campaign and also helping with speech writing and the Governor’s social media presence.

Carl Bunge (’16), Honors College alumnus and current graduate student in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering received funding from NASA for research on a Heisenberg Vortex for Light-Weight Refrigeration of Liquid Hydrogen.

Honors College Faculty Achievements/Awards:

Monica Johnson, Honors College Distinguished Professor and faculty member in the Department of Sociology was recently elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences.

Interesting facts:

Honors faculty and staff advised over 285 incoming freshmen during Fall 2016 Alive! This is the largest number of incoming first-year students in the history of the Honors College at WSU.

WSU faculty advised over 120 Honors College theses over the past year (to August 15, 2016). That number is more than the total number of PhD and MS theses from the College of Engineering over the same period.

Honors Students Notable Achievements:

Garret Kalt is attending the Mt. Vernon Leadership Conference in Washington DC as a Mount Vernon Fellow.

Heidi Stallman is attending the SOAS summer program at the University of London as a Thomas Gale Fellow.

Angela Rocchi is working this summer at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle. Her 2016 paper, part of a collaboration with the University of Cambridge, was published in Journal of Biological Chemistry. Angela received a 2016 Barry M. Goldwater Honorable Mention.

Ryan Summers is at a summer internship at SpaceX, entrepreneur Elon Musk’s aerospace manufacturer and space-transport services company. Ryan is a 2016 Barry M. Goldwater Scholar.

Keesha Matz will present her research on Nipah virus this summer at an international gathering hosted by the American Society for Microbiology in Boston. Keesha received a 2016 Barry M. Goldwater Honorable Mention.

Carl Bunge recipient of a NASA Space Grant Fellowship is interning this summer at a NASA space center.

Lindsay Cannon in is Dakar researching the local availability of women’s health services.

Honors alumni Travis King and Lara Heersema were awarded National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships

Emily Willard is President of Engage: an Honors student led start-up launched in 2016 that won the University of Washington Health Innovation Challenge.

Rebecka Bence was selected for a summer fellowship at Wood’s Hole Oceanographic Institute.

Justin Niedermeyer was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study at Heidelberg University in Germany. Justin is the first WSU student to be recognized with two distinguished scholarships. He was previously a recipient of the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship.

Alyssa Norris is participating in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Minority Educational Institution Student Partnership Program (MEISPP), in the Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs in Washington D.C. She will be working closely with leaders who are working on energy policy for rural America, Native American reservation and Alaska, with an emphasis in renewable and sustainable energy.

Interesting fact: Honors student theses are among the most frequently accessed documents on the WSU Research Exchange:

As of May 2016, Chelsea Bloomberg’s thesis, “Beethoven’s piano sonatas: an analysis of compositional trends from 1795-1822” was accessed more than 6100 times and Jeff Deeter’s thesis, “The price response to Dow Jones sustainability world index additions and deletions in 2005: An event study” has been accessed over 6900 times.

Honors College Faculty Achievements/Awards:

Dr. Robin Bond, Clinical Associate Professor in Honors, has been promoted to Assistant Dean in the Honors College.

Dr. Samantha Gizerian, Chair of the Honors Council and faculty member in the College of Veterinary Medicine, was recognized for excellence in advising with the NACADA award for Global Community for Academic Advising.