SCHOLAR STORIES

clemsonuniversitynationalscholarsprogram april/may 2003

864.656.6160 " Toll Free: 1.866.850.9413 " www.clemson.edu/national_scholars

Scholar
SUMMER PLANS 2 Scholars win Goldwater
Kerr, Ziska tapped for prestigious math, science and engineering award
The first-year Scholars will
spend several weeks in The Monday after spring and Stanford. Kerr and Ziska join third-year
England, and 13 second- and break is typically a tough day to Kerr, a native of Orangeburg, Scholar Chris Welch as
third-years will travel to get back in the swing of things, Goldwater recipients. Welch won
S.C., was recognized for his
Yellowstone National Park in
but for two National Scholars, work in using certain alloys as the award in 2002.
May. The rest of the summer,
the National Scholars will be the day brought good news. thermoelectric materials that can “The fact that three of the five
travelling and working around Third-year Scholar Matt Kerr be used as alternative energy Clemson students who have won
the globe. Below is a partial and second-year Scholar Josesph sources. the Goldwater in the last two
list of what the Scholars will Ziska learned they won Barry M. Ziska, a native of Dover, Del., years have been National
be up to. Goldwater Scholarships. won for a collaborative effort to Scholars shows that our
Clarice Seifert will volunteer at Let A third Clemson student, design and build experiments for investment in recruiting top
the Little Children Come, a home for Meredith Russell, also received a NASA-provided rocket. students from around the country
abused and abandoned children in a 2003 Goldwater. Clemson More than 1,000 U.S. college is paying off even before they
Mexico. received as many 2003 Gold- students applied for the 2003 graduate,” said Dr. William
waters as Yale and the U. of Goldwater, a scholarship Lasser, director of the National
One step closer to medical school,
Ashley Neal and Chris Welch will Virginia, and exceeded the awarded to students in science, Scholars Program.
complete internships at the Baylor number awarded to Georgia Tech math and engineering.
College of Medicine in Houston.
Mike Stadnisky will study 9 students, 7 days, 2 houses built in Guatemala
ethnobotany and biomedicine in Belize
and tropical dendrology in Costa Rica
While many Clemson students spent Spring Break on a beach, Scholars Katherine
before interning with the Amazon Chisholm and Mike Stadnisky, along with 7 other Clemson students, travelled
Conservation Team in Washington, D.C. to Guatemala to build two houses with Habitat for Humanity. Chisholm coordinated the
Matthew Kerr will spend two alternative break trip after spending two weeks in Guatemala during the summer of
months in Geneva, Switzerland, 2002 with another Habitat build. Below are some photos of the students at work --
working with the European Organization and play -- with the children who will move into the new homes.
for Nuclear Research (CERN), the world’s
largest particle physics center.
After Joe Ziska completes a short
internship
donorwithprofile
the Department of
Transportation, he and Jacob Hicks
Katherine/Mike
will spend in
nine weeks in Slovakia
Guatemala
teaching English.
Jenny pics from
Alley Armitage
will spend five weeks in
dinner, lecture
Oaxaca, Mexico, studying Spanish and
livingfish
with aand
Mexican family.party
chips When she
returns, she will translate for a migrant
healthdinner/discussion
program that provides free
health care for migrant workers in
Walhalla, S.C.
Katherine Chisholm and
Elizabeth Ward will attend the
LeaderShape Institute at the University
of Indiana. LeaderShape is the most
prestigious leadership development
program for college students.
@
clemson SPRING DINNER/DISCUSSION: Exploring the Final Frontier
The future of NASA, the history of space exploration and the policy of government-
NS events in purple sponsored research were the topics at the Spring 2003 Dinner/Discussion on April
10. Bioengineering professor Ted Bateman, History professor Pamela Mack (below
APRIL with Scholars Casey Hancock and Joseph Godsey) and Dr. Tom Potts (left), a
22 High Tea for 2002 Scholars
with Pres. and Mrs. Barker
director at the Strom Thurmond Institute of Government and Public Affairs, shared
President’s House their experience and expertise on all things
5 - 6:30 pm aeronautical. The National Scholars Program
25 Year-End Cook-Out coordinates a Dinner/Discussion each Fall and
Harris Terrace Spring, and the topics that are examined by campus and community experts
Madren Center
5 - 7 pm come from the suggestions of the National Scholars themselves. Past topics
have included civil liberties in a post-9/11 America and the Enron collapse.
MAY
13 Yellowstone Trip Planning for 2004 study abroad ence will provide an opportunity ond-year Scholar Will Spink will
to Yellowstone National Park already underway to explore Ireland. have thrown the first pitch at the
19 Before the 2002 Scholars depart """ April 16 Clemson baseball game
for their study and travel in the National Scholars Program settles versus Coastal Carolina. Check
United Kingdom, plans are al- into new office the web site for photos and to
JUNE ready underway to take the 2003 By the end of the Spring 2003 find out how Spink did.
28 2002 Scholars depart for Scholars to one of the pivotal semester, the National Scholars
study at University of
sites of World War II: Normandy. Program will have new office This “Day at the Diamond” is the
Sussex at Brighton
space to call home in 320 second time the National Schol-
After the students complete four Brackett Hall. The office cur- ars have been hosted at a
AUGUST weeks of study at the University rently features a conference room Clemson baseball game. Special
15 Early move-in for of Sussex in Brighton, they will that includes a sitting area and thanks to Caryne Mesquita in the
returning National Scholars
then spend a week exploring meeting space for up to 10 people Office of Financial Aid for work-
16 Residence Halls open for Normandy and Brittany. In addi- and offices for the Director and ing with the Athletics Depart-
new students tion to visiting the site of the Assistant Director. ment to make it happen.
17 National Scholars Retreat 1944 D-Day invasion, the stu- """
CU Outdoors Lab dents will explore the roos of The current Scholars met to de- Learning to Lead
English history in such historic sign the open space in the main Two of Clemson’s top professors
18 Calhoun Honors College cities as Caen and Bayeux. office, with an eye toward mak- are collaborating on a course for
Meeting for Freshmen ing it a space where they feel National Scholars that will focus
Brackett Hall Auditorium
This visit to Normandy contin- comfortable studying, working, on developing and using the lead-
9 - 10 am
ues the NS tradition of explor- meeting or just hanging out. ership skills needed to be suc-
NS Schedule Swap ing Europe after the Sussex """ cessful during and after
12 - 1 pm study. The 2002 study abroad Scholars spend ‘Day at the Clemson.
experience included a tour of Diamond’
Scotland, and the 2003 experi- By the time you read this, sec- Economics professors Dan Ben-
jamin and Bobby McCormick
DONOR PROFILE: Richard and Mary McMahan have taken the lead on a National
Scholar-specific section of ELE
Without the generosity of Richard “Dick” and Mary “Dinky” McMahan, the National Schol-
301, Executive Leadership and
ars Program might never have existed. In 1998, the McMahans made a $1 million endowment
Entrepreneurship, a course that
gift to launch the new program. explores the theory and practice
Mr. McMahan, a 1954 Clemson architecture graduate, is the retired president and CEO of of leadership in business, social,
RAM Group Inc., a land development and investment company based in Florida. He also political and other settings.
served in the Florida House of Representatives and was named a State Legislator of the Year.
“There’s no better use of money than to help provide an educaiton During the three-credit course,
for young people,” Mr. McMahan said at the time of their 1998 gift. “I the students will work on a se-
hope that our commitment to education will encourage others to do the mester-long group project, meet
same.” Clemson alumni and community
The McMahans’ son Michael is a 1977 alumnus in civil engineering, leaders who have been success-
and Mr. McMahan’s father and brother both graduated from Clemson. ful in their fields, and read sev-
eral books from a “Great Books”
For information on how you can support the Clemson National Scholars Program, contact Betty
McClellan in the Clemson Department of Development at 864 656-5892 or bettym@clemson.edu. list.