Monday Memo April 25, 2016

Message from the Dean

Dear Colleagues,

We have beautiful weather to enjoy, finals are underway, graduation ceremonies will be here before we know it and for the first time we will get to hood the MFA degree earners.

We are also celebrating another successful year. Of UofL’s 13 Fulbrights, Arts & Sciences can claim ten winners and five alternates. Of our winners, four are undergraduates, five are alumni, and one is a graduate student. For the second consecutive year, Arts & Sciences is also the home for the UofL Truman Scholar. Congratulations to Hannah Wilson, a junior majoring in Political Science, Women’s & Gender Studies, and Philosophy. All of these successful students join me in thanking our many faculty and staff for assistance.  

Happy grading, and I hope to see you all at commencement.

Sincerely,

Kimberly Kempf-Leonard
Dean

Teaching, Research, Service & Creative Activity

Prof. Ehrick appointed to Latin American history journal board
Prof. Christine Ehrick (History) was elected to the Editorial Board of the Hispanic American Historical Review, the leading journal for Latin American History in the United States.

Kudos & Congratulations

Geography graduate student earns Fulbright Research Grant
Geography & Geosciences graduate student Ariel Weaver was recently awarded a Fulbright Research Grant for 2016-2017 to work with the Namibian Government and local NGOs. Her research is focused on using satellite imagery to track settlement expansion along the wildlife corridors of the Zambezi region. The Zambezi region is centrally located within the largest terrestrial conservation area in the world, and home to the world's largest population of elephants and many endemic species.

Prof. Griner wins KY Literary Award
Prof. Paul Griner (English) – already a recipient of the A&S Distinguished Research and Creative Activity Award – won the  Kentucky Literary Award. Previous winners include Bobbie Ann Mason, ZZ Packer, James Baker Hall, Wendell Berry, Kim Edwards, Sena Naslund, Holly Goddard-Jones.

Geography senior named PBK’s outstanding graduate
Geography & Geosciences senior Laura Krauser has been selected as this year's Phi Beta Kappa Association outstanding graduate from the University of Louisville. Krauser is also being recognized as the most outstanding student by the UofL Honors Program and will be giving a speech at the Honors Convocation.

Criminal Justice Department honors graduates
The Department of Criminal Justice hosted their annual Graduation and Awards Reception on Thursday, April 21. The following students were recognized as award winners: the 2016 Kenneth J. Marshall Award went to Jeremy Slusser; the 2016 Kenneth R. Nally Award went to Kelli Ryan; the 2016 John C. Klotter Award went to Jeremiah Harrod; and the 2016 Ida B. Wells Award went to Mike Alasadi.

Chemistry alumnus earns prestige in academia
Eduard Chekmenev, (Ph.D. Chemistry, 2002), was recently granted tenure at Vanderbilt University. He held post-doctoral positions at the National High Field Magnet Lab and the California Institute of Technology where he was awarded an NIH K99 grant, a highly competitive award to promote the careers of young scientists. Eduard is exemplary of the growing number of Chemistry graduates who positively represent A&S in the larger scientific and academic communities.

A&S Advisors win award for NACADA presentation
A&S Advisors Eddie Bobbitt and Bret Hirsch took home the “Best of Region” awards for their presentation, “Hashtags to High-Fives,” at the NACADA region 3 conference. This award includes a trip to NACADA’s annual conference in October where they will have an opportunity to present to advisors from across the country.

In the News

Elite Empowerment: The neoliberal “empowerment zones” that Hillary Clinton touts have done little to alleviate urban poverty (Jacobin Magazine, 4/21/2016) – Prof. Timothy Weaver (Political Science) on Democratic presidential primary candidate Hillary Clinton and “empowerment zones.”

Local Underground Railroad history remembered as Tubman honored (WAVE-3, 4/21/2016) – Prof. A. Glenn Crothers (History) on the Underground Railroad.

UofL students show off brain power at ACC’s Meeting of the Minds (UofL News, 4/20/2016) – A&S students Karen Udoh (Biology) and Conrad Smart (Mathematics/Physics & Astronomy, 2016 Goldwater Scholar) on their experiences at an ACC research conference.

Truman Scholar from small town pursues big dreams (UofL News, 4/22/2016) – A&S junior Hannah Wilson (Political Science, Women’s & Gender Studies, and Philosophy) earned Kentucky’s only 2016 Truman scholarship.

Nobel Prize winner speaks about recent prizes (The Courier-Journal, 4/21/2016) – On a talk by Nobel prize-winning chemist Alan Heeger and hosted by the A&S Chemistry Graduate Student Association and Clariant.

30+ must-see art exhibits this week in Louisville (The Courier-Journal, 4/21/2016) On art exhibitions happening around UofL.

Remove Confederate statue at U of L (The Courier-Journal, 4/21/2016) – Prof. Ricky Jones (Pan-African Studies) calls for the removal of the Confederate statue on Third St.

A&S junior Hannah Wilson earns Truman Scholar

Ten of UofL’s twelve total Truman Scholars are College of Arts & Sciences graduates from the Department of
Political Science.