Miranda (Zindel) Strong, a senior in Philosophy, will be attending Law School at the University of Washington. She has been selected as a Scholar in the William H. Gates Public Service Law Program. This scholarship covers tuition, books, room and board and other fees. Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Five Gates PSL Scholars are selected from the University of Washington's admitted students through a competitive review of applications and interviews and commit to a minimum of five years of public service following graduation. Miranda's interest in health and disability law drew her to UW. Miranda was also selected as a Truman Scholar in 2006.
Amber Sawyer, a junior in Political Science, was selected to intern in the White House. Amber spent Spring Semester 2008 in Washington DC interning for four months which entailed working full time and assisting with public White House events such as the Pope’s visit to the White House. The American Legion Auxiliary and the American Legion of Palmer Post 15 paid for her to continue her education while interning and Amber took online classes through UAA’s distance education program while interning. She has also served as an officer on the Honors Student Advisory Board, the VOX: Voices for Planned Parenthood student group, and will be the Resident Advisor for the Honors Housing for the 2008-2009 school year.
Jeanette Gabryszak, a senior in biological sciences, will be attending the Univeristy of California Davis to pursue a M.S. in Forensic Science. Jeanette was accepted a multiple universities, but is thrilled to be going to her top choice of institutions. She plans to return to Alaska to work at the Anchorage Crime Lab.
Elizabeth Percak-Dennett, a senior geological sciences major, will be attending the University of Wisconsin Madison to pursue a Ph.D. in Astrobiology on a full tuition scholarship and stipend. She was also accepted at Penn State University on a full tuition scholarship and stipend. She has served as the Resident Advisor on the Honors Floor in East Hall. She has also served as chair for the UAA Concert Board.
Mindy Graham, a senior in Chemistry, will be attending Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to pursue a PhD in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology on a full tuition scholarship and stipend. She was also accepted at the University of Cambridge, a joint biomedical program between NIH and Karolinska Institute in Sweden, and Texas A&M.
Umair Iqbal, a senior in Biological Sciences, has accepted a position with Teach for America. TFA is a national teacher corps of recent college graduates who commit two years to teach and to effect change in under-resourced urban and rural public schools. Umair will be going to the Mississippi Delta region. Less than 20 percent of those who apply are selected. Umair was selected as the 2008 UAA Commencement Speaker. He is was a National Finalist for the Simon Fellowship for Nobel Purpose. For the second consecutive year, he was a national finalist for Elie Wiesel Essay contest in Ethics.
Honors student, Candace Lewis, a junior majoring in Psychology, was selected as a Truman Scholar, one of the nation's most esteemed undergraduate awards. Lewis will receive the $30,000 merit-based grant which is given annually by the Truman Scholarship Foundation in recognition of students with exceptional leadership potential who are committed to careers in government, non-profit or advocacy sectors, education, or pubic service. This is the third year in a row that a University Honors College student from UAA has been selected as a Truman Scholar.
Honors student, Mindy Graham, a senior majoring in Chemistry, was awarded the Discovery Award. Honors student Brit DelMoral, a junior majoring in Sociology was selected as the runner-up for the Discovery Award. This award recognizes one UAA undergraduate student each year who exemplifies overall academic excellence that must include exceptional achievement in research or creative activities. Mindy will receive a $2000 cash prize, and Brit will receive $1000 as the runner-up.
Honors student, Severin Randall, a junior majoring in Philosophy, was named the 10th Place Speaker in debating competition at the Tilbury House Intervarsity competition over Spring Break, March 10-14 in Cologne, Germany. This places her among the likes of the reigning European Champion from Cambridge. The Tilbury IV was attended by 35 teams from Cambridge, Manchester, Moscow Law, Turkey, and Bulgaria. This was the second time the Seawolf debate team traveled overseas this year.
Honors student, Jared Kettler, who is majoring in Marketing and Aviation Technology, was named to the 2007-2008 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men’s All-Academic Team. He tied for the second-best GPA among the 18 men’s honorees.
Honors student and Economics major Natasha Udovyk is the recipient of the Congress-Bundestag Scholarship for 2008-2009. Natasha will spend next year in Germany taking German language classes and doing an internship in her field. All of her expenses will be covered by the scholarship. Natasha was selected as one of 70 Congress-Bundestag Scholars from a pool of 700 applications nationwide. Natasha follows two other great UAA students who have been selected by this scholarship, and all of these students have been mentored by Dr. Natasa Masanovic, Assistant Professor of German in the Languages Department.
Honors student and Philosophy major Severin Randall has been selected to participate in the Crossing Borders Conference and Debate on March 6-7 in Seattle, Washington. This conference brings together students from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, British Columbia, and Alberta. Severin was selected as one of eight Americans to represent the US. This event is sponsored and organized by the Consulate General of Canada in Seattle and Anchorage. As a member of the UAA Debate Team, Severin will be bring many skills to this conference. Dr. Cason, Alaska Representative to the Pacific Northwest Canadian Studies Consortium, helped open this event to UAA and UAF students.
