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What do a debate champion, a violinist, a biodiesel expert,
a pair of state government interns and a biophysicist have in common?
They’re all Willamette students who recently earned some of
the nation’s top academic honors.
Alex Dukalskis ’04 has a leg up on the average college graduate
– he’s already got the next two years of his life well
planned out. Dukalskis, of Roseburg, Ore., is a Fulbright Grant
recipient and will spend the next year teaching English in South
Korea. The winner of numerous awards for forensics and a volunteer
debate coach for Silverton High School, Dukalskis was president
of both Willamette’s Debate Team and the National Society
of Collegiate Scholars. Along with his debate partner, Matt Lehman
’05, Dukalskis won the title of grand champion at an international
debate tournament in Eastern Europe last January.
The Fulbright Program is the perfect fit for Dukalskis, who plans
to focus his career on international politics and human rights.
The program, created in 1946 to foster mutual exchange and understanding
between countries, will cover the cost of travel, room and board
with a host family and provide a stipend of approximately $1,200
a month for 13 months. Once he’s completed his Fulbright,
Dukalskis’ international experience will continue in England,
where he’s scheduled to enter the London School of Economics
in the fall of 2005.
Economics is the subject Justin Brown ’04 will be trotting
the globe to study for the next year. Brown, of Bakersfield, Calif.,
is one of two Willamette students to receive a Thomas J. Watson
Fellowship – a one-year grant of $22,000 that enables recipients
to travel and complete independent research projects out-side the
United States. In Brown’s case, he is exploring effectiveness
of barter networks, time banks and other alternative currency systems
in helping local communities maintain their cultural and economic
vitality.
The project will take Brown from England and Thailand to Australia
and South Africa. While this will be his first extensive travel
outside the United States, Brown knows something about investing
in communities. While here at Willamette, he was active on campus
with Willamette Students for Peace and Justice, the Environmental
Council of the States and the Environmental Sustainability task
force. He also helped initiate the Goudy Greasecar Project, which
turned hundreds of gallons of waste fryer fat into biodiesel fuel.
Passion for music is what fuels Ellen McGehee’s ’04
study of cultures from mountainous regions. The second of Willamette’s
Watson Fellows is spending the year in regions like the Andes, China
and the Kyrgyz Republic trying to learn if there is a common thread
among the music of mountainous people. The experience will mix McGehee’s
talents as a violinist with her love of the outdoors as she attempts
to learn local instruments such as the antara (pan-pipes) from Peru
or the piwang, a two-string Tibetan fiddle.
McGehee, a physics major from Bellevue, Wash., has long been interested
in the science of sound. For a Science Collaborative Research Project
studying the vibrational modes of violins, she designed a vibration
isolation system and a specialized laser to achieve accurate measurements.
McGehee and Brown are two of only 50 liberal arts college seniors
in the nation who received Watson Fellowships.
Another pair of Willamette students to grab top national honors
were politics and sociology major Jennifer Heidt ’05 and politics
major Lesley Meyer ’05. They each received Truman Scholarships,
a $26,000 merit-based federal grant awarded to college juniors planning
to enter graduate or professional school in preparation for careers
in governmental/public service or the non-profit sector.
Meyer and Heidt were two of 80 Truman recipients selected from
among 221 finalists representing 146 U.S. colleges and universities.
Eight Willamette students in the past five years have been Truman
Scholars. For Heidt, the scholarship will allow her to earn advanced
degrees in law and public policy and devote herself to issues such
as health care, affordable housing and equal education. Heidt, of
Boise, Idaho, has been involved in a number of advocacy groups on
campus including Students for Choice and the women’s group,
SHE. The World Views tutor and Opening Days leader has also interned
with First Lady Patricia Kempthorne in the Idaho governor’s
office.
Meyer, from Missoula, Mont., plans to pursue graduate degrees in
law and public health, but she wants to focus specifically on reproductive
rights and reproductive health. Like Heidt, Meyer is a member of
both Students for Choice and SHE, but she has also served as an
ASWU senator and member of the Finance Board. She has been an active
participant in cam-pus life, serving as a resident assistant and
as a member of the University’s Chamber Choir and Master Chorus.
Meyer’s decision to pursue public service was significantly
influenced by internship experiences with the Oregon Department
of Education and with Montana Senator Max Baucus.
It seems that everything has been reacting well to chemistry and
Spanish major Natalie Muren ’06. Muren was named a 2004 Barry
M. Goldwater Scholar. The Goldwater is awarded to outstanding undergraduates
in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering.
Muren was one of 310 recipients – from a field of 1,113 nominees
nationwide – to receive the two-year scholarship that pro-vides
upwards of $7,500 per year for tuition, books and room and board.
Muren, a native of Keizer, Ore., has excelled in the sciences
since high school, when she placed second in her category at the
2001 Intel International Science and -Engineering Fair. Currently
she is working on a project with Professor Sarah Kirk to synthesize
and purify novel neomycin B-amino acid conjugates, a type of antibiotic
that may one day lead to a new treatment for cancer. A member of
Willamette’s cross country and track team, Muren has mapped
out her future career with the same precision that she runs a race.
After Willamette, she plans to earn a Ph.D. in molecular biophysics
and become a researcher for a major university.
While these six outstanding award winners will encounter different
experiences, opportunities and challenges, their success clearly
indicates that Willamette students are headed in the right direction.
– Brad Millay ’97
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