Improving the quality of life in Arizona to benefit future generations.
Over the last two years, a stunning total of 14 undergraduates at Arizona State University and the University of Arizona won the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, the most prestigious undergraduate award in the nation for students in mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering who intend to pursue research careers. One reason for the Goldwater glut at Arizona's universities: a deck stacked with Flinn Scholars.
Flinn Scholar alumna Katherine Larson ('96) has had a big year.
Last March, Yale University Press published Katherine's first volume of poetry, Radial Symmetry, her reward for winning the Yale Series of Younger Poets prize, the oldest annual literary award in the United States and a distinction not far short of winning the Pulitizer Prize.
Writing on the Paris Review Daily in May, Nicole Rudick summed up the collection well: "The natural world has never felt more physical, more alive with tiny movements and infinite textures." In a review for The Independent, Carrie Etter wrote, "Poem by poem, Radial Symmetry exhibits an extraordinary wakefulness, an immersion in nuance that enriches experience."
Now Katherine has been named winner of the $10,000 Kate Tufts Discovery Award, given each year by the Claremont Graduate University "for a first book by a poet of genuine promise." A CGU news release continues:
"The Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry Awards are among the most important prizes in all of the arts, and they lift our spirits year after year," Claremont Graduate University President Deborah Freund said. “My most heartfelt congratulations go out to Timothy and Katherine for their extraordinary books. It will be an honor to host these wonderful and creative talents when they visit our campus this spring."
A ceremony for this year's winners will be held on the campus of Claremont Graduate University at 5 p.m. on April 19. Author Maxine Hong Kingston will give special remarks.
As a Flinn Scholar, Katherine earned bachelor's degrees in creative writing and ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona, then earned a master of fine arts degree in creative writing at the University of Virginia.
Ten years ago, when Andrew Shemin ('98) traveled to France for a semester as a Flinn Scholar, one of his independent-study projects involved spending many days in the city parks of Paris, where, notebook in hand, he recorded his observations about how public space contributes to Parisian life. Today, Shemin's new project, a documentary film, provides evidence that his semester in Paris was time well spent.
The application period for the 2012 Flinn Scholarship has closed. All applicants will be notified of their status in mid-December. Semifinalist interviews will take place Jan. 6-7, 2012; finalist interviews will be March 2-3, 2012.
BusinessWeek, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News... As global economic turmoil has continued in the second half of 2011, one news outlet after another has turned to Flinn Scholar alumna Sara Zervos ('87).
After Scholar alumnus Jeremy Babendure ('97) graduated from ASU, he headed to the University of California at San Diego to work with recent Nobel laureate Roger Tsien and earn a doctorate in biomedical sciences. Upon finishing his Ph.D., Jeremy dedicated his professional energies to science education, establishing with Dr. Tsien an educational outreach program called ScienceBridge.
Now Jeremy has returned home to Arizona, as director of the Arizona Science and Technology Festival, a new initiative spearheaded by the Arizona Technology Council Foundation, ASU, and the Arizona Science Center. The inaugural Festival will occur during February 2012 with events at sites across the state.
What are the aims of the Festival, and how big an undertaking will it be? Here's what Jeremy has to say:
The Arizona Science and Technology will be 6-week statewide celebration involving 200+ orgs in industry, education and community to inspire Arizonans about how STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) will drive the future of Arizona.
Through a series of hands-on activities and workshops, discussions, exhibitions, concerts, and tours centered during the month of February 2012, the First Annual Arizona SciTech Festival’s goals are to (1) brand Arizona as a leader in science and technology; (2) inform/inspire our future workforce about opportunities in AZ; and (3) serve as a focal point to bring diverse stakeholders in workforce, education and community together.
We anticipate the festival will reach 100,000+ Arizonans through 300+ activities that take place in diverse neighborhoods throughout the state with: signature events highlighting the innovative character of each region (aerospace, technology, bioscience) with high energy exhibitions and shows; 20+ neighborhood hubs providing workshop and discussion opportunities at accessible locations such as libraries and community centers; tours of science/technology facilities statewide; and activities, talks and challenges in-schools to get kids engaged before, during and post festival.
Something this big doesn't happen without energetic support from a lot of people. Individuals and organizations wishing to participate in and support this unique opportunity to showcase Arizona's scientific strength and potential should contact Jeremy--today.
Halfway through her studies at one of the nation's premier medical schools, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minn., Nicole Person-Rennell has passed her Step 1 board exams and is nearing the end of a summertime surgery rotation at Mayo Clinic's Scottsdale campus. But her time in her home state is short; in September, the 2005 Flinn Scholar will step away from medical school for a year to complete a master's degree in public health at Cambridge University in England. Funding her studies is one of the world's most prestigious post-graduate prizes, the Gates Cambridge Scholarship.
In Sunday's print edition, the New York Times will examine an audacious experiment in training teachers, the Relay Graduate School of Education, which opens this summer in New York City.
One of the primary leaders of Relay is our own Brent Maddin ('94), who was snatched from the Harvard Graduate School of Education even before he could finish his dissertation. Good thing he wrapped up that Ph.D. this spring--the Times piece notes that he will soon become Relay's provost.
What kind of teacher is Relay trying to produce? I'd be willing to bet they'd be thrilled to have their graduates lead careers something like that of Becki Norris ('95). After several years of teaching junior-high science and math as a founding faculty member at the Community Charter School of Cambridge, this month the Harvard and MIT grad began a new post: principal of CCSC's lower school.
Congratulations, Brent, and congratulations, Becki.
Talk about a bunch of lucky kids.
In late May, the Flinn Scholars Program made its annual pilgrimage across the Atlantic for the Central European Seminar. A cornerstone of the program, the seminar inserted the entire 2010 class--Scholars who had just completed their first year of college--into Hungary and Serbia for three weeks of--
Actually, let's hear from them in their own words. Read on...
Each summer the Flinn Scholars Program takes an entire class of Scholars to Budapest, Hungary, and neighboring Slovakia and Serbia for a three-week seminar on the emerging democracies of Eastern Europe. Here’s a day-by-day account.
John Ernzen ('10)
Veni, Vidi, Vici.
Today began just like any other day on the Central European Seminar: with an early alarm that came far too soon and some sliced bread, meat, and cheese for breakfast at our beloved Radio Inn. However, even as we gathered downstairs talking about the various shenanigans that went on last night, hurriedly finishing our paper evaluation packets, and remembering what souvenirs or gifts we had left to buy, inside we were all thinking the same thing–that this was our final day together. With that in mind, while no one would say it out loud, we agreed to make it count.
And so we set off, embarking on our final “Find your own way!”--not to our rooms (thank you, Alan, for that) but to the IIE (Institute of International Education) office for our final trip evaluation. It felt fitting, realizing that we had gathered here on Day 1 of the seminar to go over our expectations and hopes for the trip, that we would now reconvene to share our reflections on what we had learned and gained from the entire experience. And while regrettably I don’t have the room or the memory to include some of the insights shared, it was absolutely surreal listening to my fliblings reveal how much we’ve all grown in the past three and a half weeks.
Following this, we had a brief recommendation section where we went over what worked and what could possibly be improved or revised for the coming years, led by the one and only Kata, of course. Even with all the different opinions and suggestions though, each one of us could agree that the week in Serbia was phenomenal and provided some excellent contrast and insight with our Hungarian adventures.
As morning turned to afternoon and our stomachs started grumbling, we wrapped up our evaluation session, said goodbye to most of the IIE staff, and went our separate ways to savor the final hours of free time.
Some of us struck out to grab a final lunch at the beloved hummus bar; others headed back to the Radio Inn to finish packing or catch up on some much needed sleep for tonight; still others (myself included) journeyed to the Great Market Hall and Váci utca to finish finding gifts for chaperones, coordinators, and loved ones. But no matter how we each chose to spend the afternoon, eventually seven o’ clock rolled around and with that came a massive migration to the nearby Kogart House for our seminar’s closing reception.
Enormous and situated right along Andrássy utca, even as we approached the Kogart House looked promising as the setting of our itinerary’s final activity. And once inside the reception hall, surrounded by IIE staff and past presenters and lecturers alike, we all realized that Kata and Michael had ensured our seminar would go out with a bang.
Before dinner, this bang (quite literally) sounded with a surprise concert of classically-trained guitarist Robert Sinha, along with fellow guitarist Róbert Vidák and the stunning Szilvia Péter Szabó on vocals. Demonstrating a blend of Spanish flamenco and Hungarian folk music, with a few traditional gypsy pieces as well, the concert was beautiful, and it was an honor to experience the music in such an intimate setting.
Even more than the numbers themselves though, what I loved most was hearing Robert’s explanation of how all three musicians came from separate styles and backgrounds so that together they could create this hybrid harmony that reached beyond their guitars to tug at our heartstrings.
Just after their final number, we were all surprised when our very own Savannah rose and explained that she was going to sing a number that she and Robert had (secretly) planned out a few days prior. Before beginning, Savannah beamingly addressed our class saying “This performance isn’t about me, because tonight isn’t about me. Tonight is about all of us, and so I need you all to sing along.”
It took me a few seconds to recognize the chords on the guitar, and then Savannah was belting out the opening verse of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” bringing home what had become our class’ adopted anthem for the past three weeks.
As cameras flashed and tears fell, our class put up a resounding chorus of “Don’t Stop” for the final time, realizing that we didn’t want to stop believing–not in this trip, but in each other and in ourselves. Each of us understood how much we’d grown and what a close family we had become in the past month, and we wanted to ensure that the end of this trip wouldn’t mean the end of that bond.
And so as the final applause died down, it was now time for Michael, Kata, and Agi (the former program coordinator from years past, and now director of IIE Europe) to take the stage and share some of their thoughts about what the trip had meant to them. What I loved most was hearing Agi, whom we had only met that night, address us saying “I feel like I know you all, because I can see in your faces the same thing that I’ve seen in all Flinns–passion.”
Following these three touching presentations, dinner was served, and I very gratefully grabbed my plate and hurried to get in line. During the meal we enjoyed (in addition to the food) last-minute discussions with some of our past presenters and IIE staff, all the while reminiscing about favorite memories and moments with each other.
After finishing dessert, it was finally time for the much anticipated Scholar awards, and with that our two amazing chaperones, Amy and Alan, took the stage to commend each of us in a very ‘personal’ way. I took home the “Ninja of Help” award and laughed uncontrollably as my classmates were honored with their own occasionally-serious, mostly-hilarious titles. Then it was finally time for our class to present our gifts and our gratitude to our chaperones, to Kata, and especially to Michael, all of whom had guided us so well on this journey.
While our presentations marked the end of the reception dinner and the end of our itinerary, our class decided that we weren’t ready for that to be our final moment together. Instead, during and shortly after dinner we came together and agreed that we would all head to Heroes’ Square–where we had ventured the first night in Budapest after our midnight arrival–for one final memory with one another.
As I walked back to the hotel with my fliblings to change from our formal attire, I realized that (since not all of our class would even be flying home tomorrow) this would indeed be a final moment for us, and so all bets were off.
After arriving there together and setting up camp at the square’s center (meanwhile asking a random stranger to take a picture of us for hopefully the last time), we voluntarily went around one by one and just opened up: Be it insecurities or reflections, memories or confessions, we each spoke about what this trip had meant to us and, even more importantly, what this class now meant to us.
As we watched a central lunar eclipse happen before our very eyes (the only one since 2007), we all knew that this memory and this moment were meant to be. We were truly a family now and, after agreeing to attend a whole lot of weddings, we promised each other that, even without future seminars, that fact would never change.
After a fresh set of tears and countless hugs, we all left Heroes’ Square for the last time and returned to the Radio Inn to finish packing and try and catch what little sleep we could before our early flight tomorrow.
So as I finish this terribly long final entry to our phenomenal journey, I feel that I must say thank you to the Flinn Foundation for allowing me to be part of such an amazing trip and providing the means through which this family could come together. Even more, though, I’d like to say thank you to all of my fliblings as well, for showing me just how blessed I am to be a member of such a family.
And so, as I close I have to apologize to Nikil for once more borrowing his talents in saying:
We came, we saw…
Boom, conquered!
For information about Flinn Scholars, please contact:
flinnscholars@flinn.org or (602) 744-6802
