spring 2017
The Hendrix College Magazine Spring 2017 Volume 29, Number 1 Executive Editor Helen Plotkin plotkin@hendrix.edu Editor Rob O’Connor ’95 Assistant Editor Maddison Stewart Graphic Designer Summer Lequernaqué Staff Photographers Maddison Stewart Jazmin Calixto ’19 Contributors Amy Meredith Forbus ’96 Lexi Adams ’17 Cody Usher Magazine Advisory Committee Rev. J. Wayne Clark ’84 Courtney Lee Corwin Hope Coulter Pamela Owen ’82 Alumnotes Editor David Brown ’19
Hendrix Magazine is published by Hendrix College, 1600 Washington Ave., Conway, Arkansas 72032-3080. This magazine is published for Hendrix College alumni, parents of students and friends. Permission is granted to reprint material from this magazine provided credit is given and a copy of the reprinted material is sent to the Editor. Postmaster, please send form 3579 to Office of Marketing Communications, Hendrix College, 1600 Washington Ave., Conway, AR 72032-3080 (501) 505-2932 Fax (501) 450-4553
President Bill Tsutsui visits with actor George Takei, who dropped by Hendrix in the fall to see the Henry Sugimoto painting on display in the Mills Center.
Printed on paper containing 10% post-consumer recycled content with inks containing agri-based oils. Please Recycle.
Photo by Maddison Stewart
on the cover Murphy Scholar Thomas Alexander ’18 researched organ improvisation through the Hendrix Odyssey program and founded the Chapel Choir, which performs a cappella services on Sunday evenings in Greene Chapel. He was an interim organist and choirmaster and interned as an “organ scholar” or assistant organist.
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Rally Cry
Hendrix community responds to Executive Order with student-organized event
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Laser Dunn
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Vital Organ-ist
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Moving Up
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Do Write Woman
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Smooth Operator
25
Party On
Physics prof’s ring laser research has potential to detect natural disasters early
Thomas Alexander ’18 follows passion for church music and religious texts as Murphy Scholar
Learn more about our progress on the new $110 million Be Hendrix campaign
Community connections take Joy Spence ’18 from internship with alumna to Oxford University
Daniel Ellis ’96 helps renowned artistic directors stage professional operas around the world
02 President’s Message
22 Alumni Events
03 Campus News
30 Marriages
10 Faculty News
31 New Children
12 Faculty to Retire
32 In Memoriam
Alumni Weekend 2017 brings classmates together and last lectures for retiring faculty
In the fall, actor George Takei was in town for an engagement at the University of Central Arkansas and stopped by Hendrix to see the Henry Sugimoto painting Arrival in Jerome on display in the Mills Center. Though he is likely more well known for Star Trek and his celebrity status on social media, George was also one of 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans who were imprisoned during World War II as a result of Executive Order 9066, which was signed 75 years ago this spring. Like Sugimoto, George and his family were among the approximately 17,000 prisoners in camps in Jerome and Rohwer in south Arkansas. Naturally, seeing the Sugimoto painting evoked a very personal reaction from him. While George reflected on the painting, I shared the story of how the Hendrix community opened its arms to Sugimoto and supported his art by hosting an exhibition of his work on campus. A few hours after George left, we announced the public phase of our new $110 million Be Hendrix campaign. Two weeks later, we had a new United States President. Since the election, I am asked about the mood on campus almost every day. I am proud to say, though I am certainly not surprised, that Hendrix faculty and staff have gone above and beyond to help students – whether they feel anxious or empowered after the election – look for ways to make an impact on what matters most to them. They’ve shown how Hendrix values every student, and they’ve helped to make sure every student feels welcome here. And just as the Hendrix community embraced a JapaneseAmerican artist during World War II, we will continue to celebrate our students from different cultures from all over the world because they enrich the experience of every person on this campus. Visiting students and families will soon have an even stronger first impression of Hendrix thanks to the new Mary Ann and David Dawkins Welcome Center, which is on schedule to open this year. And through our Be Hendrix campaign, we will continue to open our gates wider with more support for scholarships to keep Hendrix affordable and new programs that celebrate and support the growing diversity of our campus. You never know who will stop by. But one thing is for certain. Hendrix will impress and inspire every time. Thanks for everything you do to help us #BeHendrix.
Bill Tsutsui President and Professor of History Photo by Maddison Stewart
president’s message
From the President
Campus News Mellon Calling
Fulbright Factory
Hendrix College was awarded a $500,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, to be expended over approximately three years, to support the College’s diversity and inclusion efforts. The Mellon grant will provide new support to recruit and retain a more diverse faculty. The grant will also enhance academic support services for Hendrix Aspire Scholarship recipients. Aspire scholarships cover the full cost of attendance for Pell Grant-eligible students from partner institutions and organizations. With the grant’s support, a new Office of Community Partnerships will expand partnerships and internship opportunities for community-based learning in diverse and multicultural settings, including the Arkansas Delta. A new Minority Alumni Network will connect minority alumni to academic life on campus by inviting them to be guest speakers, lecturers, and performers, and inspiring them to provide internship, service learning, and research opportunities to current Hendrix students.
Hendrix College is one of the U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most Fulbright U.S. Students during the 2016-2017 academic year, according to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Four Hendrix students from the Class of 2016 won Fulbright awards: Megan Hull ’16, German and international relations double major, received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Germany; Justin Murdock ’16, a chemistry and Spanish major, received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Uruguay; Grace Oxley ’16, art and English double major, received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to India; and Rachel Zweig ’16, chemistry and mathematics double major, received a Fulbright U.S. Student Award to study at the Spanish National Research Council in Madrid, Spain. Top Fulbright U.S. Student-producing institutions are highlighted annually in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Hendrix also received “Top Producer” honors in 2011.
Fine Dining
Hoop Dreams Come True
Hendrix was listed #11 in the 2017 Best College Food ranking by Niche based on meal plan costs and student reviews. The ranking assesses 1,384 four-year colleges and universities. Top-ranked colleges offer outstanding on-campus dining where students can easily access healthy, quality food across a wide range of cuisines and dietary preferences. Hendrix Dining Services also received four awards in the 2016 National Association of College and University Food Services Loyal E. Horton Awards competition. The competition recognizes the best in college dining. Hendrix received three Gold Awards (Residential Dining Services; Residential Dining, Special Events; and Catering, Special Events) and a Silver Award (Retail Sales, Single Concept).
The Hendrix College women’s basketball team won the Southern Athletic Association Tournament as the third seed, recorded an 18-10 overall record and tied for second place in the conference with a 9-5 record. The nine-member squad’s season came to an end in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament against #7/#8 Trinity University. This is the fourth NCAA Tournament for the Warriors in program history. They also made it in 1996, 1997, and 2000.
The nine-member women’s basketball team won the Southern Athletic Association conference championship this spring.
Braggin’ Rights This year, Hendrix ranked #72 in the 2017 U.S News & World Report “Best National Liberal Arts Colleges” ranking, advancing 10 spots from last year, and was #4 on a list of the top 10 “Most Innovative” National Liberal Arts Colleges. Hendrix was also named a 2017 Best Value College by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance and appeared in Forbes’ 2016 America’s Best Value Colleges. Hendrix is among 300 colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain featured in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2017 based on “student body, academics, social life, financial aid, campus setting, housing, food, and extracurricular activities.”
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Three-peat
Touchdown!
The Hendrix volleyball team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament for the third consecutive season. The Warriors finished the season 25-8 under first-year head coach Angie Boldt. The team captured its third consecutive Southern Athletic Association regular season and tournament titles. Hendrix ended the year ranked 21st in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 Poll and had three All-American selections – Sara Dyslin ’18 (Third Team), MC Rogers ’17 (Honorable Mention) and Lauren Petrisin’18 (Honorable Mention).
Quarterback Seth Peters ’17 has signed with the Kuopio Steelers of the Finnish 1st Division of American Football. Peters, from Greenbrier, Arkansas, led the nation in completion percentage and was second in efficiency, fifth in total offense yards, 10th in passing yards per game and 33rd in passing touchdowns. He also ranked third in the Southern Athletic Association in yards per game and fourth in TDs. Peters was a four-time All-SAA First Team pick and a 2016 D3Football.com All-South Region Third Team selection. He was the 2014 SAA Offensive Player of the Year and was the offensive MVP of the Dream Bowl in January 2017.
Two Sporty
Kickin’ It
Sara Dyslin ’18 has been a dominant force in two Southern Athletic Association sports. From San Jose, California, Dyslin is the reigning SAA Player of the Year in both basketball and volleyball. She was named to the AVCA All-America Third Team in volleyball and was a Preseason All-America Honorable Mention according to D3hoops.com. Dyslin also proved strong in the classroom with a 3.94 cumulative grade point average while majoring in French and neuroscience. Her academic and athletic performances earned her Academic All-America Volleyball Second Team honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America.
The Hendrix women’s soccer team broke a program record with 11 wins in 2016. Under head coach Jeff Trimble, the Warriors broke the old mark of 10 victories set by the 2009 and 2015 squads. Hendrix had four All-Southern Athletic Association selections and sophomore Macie Stultz ’19 was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team.
Winn Win
Dayton Winn ’17 capped his Hendrix football career with numerous awards, including SAA Player of the Year and Gagliardi Trophy semifinalist.
Dayton Winn ’17 racked up numerous awards in 2016: SAA Offensive Player of the Year, All-SAA and D3Football.com All-South Region First Team pick, Gagliardi Trophy semifinalist, AFCA and D3Football.com First Team All-American selection, AP Little All-America Third Team pick, Dream Bowl and Little Rock Touchdown Club Team MVP selection. He ranked second in the nation in yards per carry, third in rushing TDs and scoring, fourth in all-purpose yards per game and 12th in rushing yards and yards per game. Winn, who holds every Warrior rushing and all-purpose record, also led the Southern Athletic Association in rushing yards, rushing yards per game, yards per carry, rushing touchdowns, all-purpose yards per game and scoring.
All-Time High Field hockey goalkeeper Gabryele Pochron ’17 finished her career in fourth place on the all-time NCAA Division III career saves list. Pochron, from Reading, Pennsylvania, recorded 1,031 saves and led the Southern Athletic Association all four seasons of her career. She was a fourtime All-Southern Athletic Association First Team selection and the 2013 SAA Newcomer of the Year. Pochron also made the National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-Great Lakes Region Second Team all four years.
Rollin’ Hendrix was recently recognized by the League of American Bicyclists with a bronze-level Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) award, joining more than 150 visionary colleges and universities from across the country. Hendrix is the first private college in Arkansas to receive the designation. According to a League of American Bicyclists announcement, Hendrix “joins a cutting-edge group of colleges and universities across the United States transforming their campuses and the communities around them.” The recognition is a result of the efforts of Emily Kleinfelter ’16, an avid cyclist from Nashville, Tennessee, who chaired the Hendrix Bicycle Advisory Committee. The application was part of Kleinfelter’s senior capstone project for her interdisciplinary urban studies major.
Float On A dozen Hendrix students spent a week examining the Buffalo National River on an interdisciplinary Odyssey experience that included oral history collection, creative reflection, hiking, and floating, along with more traditional academic work. The students, who received Odyssey credit in the Special Projects category, were accompanied by Hendrix faculty, including politics professor Dr. Jay Barth ’87, history professor Dr. Jonathan 4 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2017
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Hancock, and creative writing professor and HendrixMurphy Foundation Director Hope Coulter. The “Buffalo River Currents” experience was funded by the Bill and Connie Bowen Odyssey Professorship, held by Barth. Biology professor Dr. George Harper discussed the natural history of the Buffalo region with students. Among the many activities were a panel discussion with University of Arkansas film professor and documentary filmmaker Larry Foley, geologist Dr. Walt Manger, ornithologist Dr. Kim Smith, and Ouachita Baptist University chemist Dr. Joe Nix; a program on oral history methods at the David and Barbara Pryor Center; a hike at Lost Valley led by former State Geologist for Arkansas John David McFarland; a meeting with Ellen Compton, daughter of environmentalist Neil Compton, University of Arkansas Special Collections curator Janet Parsch, and Ozark Society member Tom Perry ’72; a meeting with Buffalo Outdoor Center proprietor and environmental advocate Mike Mills ’74; and a birding hike with nature/travel writer Mel White ’72.
At Your Service Ten Hendrix students spent part of winter break on a service learning trip to Eleuthera Island. The trip was sponsored by the Miller Center for Vocation, Ethics, and Calling at Hendrix. Student participants included: Ethny Ashcraft ’18, Katie Bell ’20, Graydon Carter ’19, Isabella Crang ’19, Miracline Ebijoyeldhas ’18, Andrew Fleming ’18, Mackenzie Gearin ’20, Amanda Jimerson ’19, Claire Nissen ’19, and Melissa Sorsby ’17. The students were accompanied by Rev. J. Wayne Clark ’84, Associate Vice President for Development and Dean of the Chapel, art professor Melissa Gill, and physics professor Dr. Todd Tinsley ’98. The group partnered with One Eleuthera Foundation and worked in a garden and recycling center, conducted breast cancer awareness surveys, taught in local schools, assisted with plumbing work, and conducted research to help start a junior college. Hendrix has worked with the foundation for more than 15 years and has sent five mission teams to Eleuthera.
Dynamic Duo Hendrix alumni Wayland Holyfield ’64 and Dr. Cathy Langston ’87 received the 2016 Hendrix Odyssey Medal, given to Hendrix alumni whose personal and professional achievements exemplify the values of engaged liberal arts education. An award-winning songwriter, Holyfield received the Odyssey Medal for Artistic Creativity. His work includes 40 Top 10 hits and 14 #1 songs. Artists who have recorded his songs include Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Barbara Mandrell, Reba McEntire, Ronnie Milsap, Anne Murray, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Oak Ridge Boys, Charley Pride, George Strait, Randy Travis, and Conway Twitty. Dr. Langston, a veterinary internist and nephrologist, received the Odyssey Medal for Research. A leading authority on small animal nephrology, she was instrumental in establishing a clinical dialysis program at the Animal Medical Center (AMC) in New York City, as well as providing guidance and support to other hospitals that have launched such programs. Her current clinical interests include treatment of chronic kidney disease, complications of hemodialysis, and treatment of anemia of chronic kidney disease. The author of more than 100 publications, she has been involved in clinical research covering a variety of kidney conditions, including a clinical trial investigating a new drug to treat anemia of chronic kidney disease. The 2017 Odyssey Medals will be presented in October and nominations for the 2018 awards are due by Dec. 31, 2017. For more details and to access a nomination form visit www.hendrix.edu/odysseymedal.
Award-winning songwriter Wayland Holyfield ’64 and Dr. Cathy Langston ’87, a veterinary internist and nephrologist, received the 2016 Hendrix Odyssey Medals.
On the Right Track Victoria Amadi ’17 became an All-American for the fourth time in her career after finishing eighth in the triple jump at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships this spring. Amadi broke her own school triple jump record on her final leap of the day and currently holds the best outdoor triple jump in the nation for the season. She was also an All-American in the indoor triple jump in 2014 and 2015 and an outdoor All-American in 2014.
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Victoria Amadi ’17 became a four-time All-American after finishing eighth in the triple jump at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships.
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campus news Hendrix College Minority Alumni met on the Hendrix campus on Feb. 18. Those attending included (from left) 1st Row: Dionne Jackson ’96, Vanessa Cleaver ’82, Stephany Fields ’81, Sharran Hood ’81, Winfred Stamps ’82; 2nd Row: Stephanie McCoy ’08, Marsha Scullark ’05, Shana Graves ’05, Shannon Ejiofo ’14, Harvell Howard ’03, Darrin Williams ’90, Kathryn Armstrong ’14, James Tyus ’07, Adrienne Dawson ’10, Vvdual Holloway ’15, Desirae Holmes ’13, Morgan Ealy ’06, Laundon Tucker ’12; 3rd Row: Whitnie Eason ’03, Kristy DavisAlexander ’08, Catherine Williams ’14, Wyvonne Hawkins ’11, Nathan Thomas ’10, Rhonna Wade ’11, Ashley Young ’10, Ateca Williams ’04; Not Pictured: Avery Garza ’16, Chassie Jones ’02, Dominique Kelleybrew ’11, Marvin McLennon ’13, and N.K. O’Keke ’16.
South by Southeast Asia
True Belizers
Five Hendrix College students spent part of last summer in Vietnam: Mara Campbell ’19, Christian Leus ’18, Nicholas Maynard ’18, Tina Nguyen ’18, and Joshua Knight ’17. The group spent a few days in Ho Chi Minh City and eight days in Phuong Thanh, a small village commune in the Mekong Delta in south Vietnam, where they painted a new kitchen constructed as part of a community library, and spent a couple of days teaching fun science to elementary school kids. After Phuong Thanh, the group spent a few days in Buon Ma Thout, a small city in the country’s central highlands. The Hendrix group was in Vietnam during the country’s national election, held every five years, and during U.S. President Barrack Obama’s visit, when he announced the lifting of the U.S. arms embargo on Vietnam. In addition to participating in the group’s activities, Dr. Peter Gess, Associate Provost for Engaged Learning and politics and environmental studies professor, was there to visit with universities in south Vietnam and discuss potential partnerships with leaders at three institutions, including Can Tho University, Hoa Sen University, and Tra Vinh University.
Eleven Hendrix students visited Belize last summer to experience firsthand the environments and organisms that they studied in Dr. Jenn Dearolf ’s Marine Biology (BIOL 335) course. In the course, students study rocky and soft bottom intertidal zones, estuaries, and the open and deep ocean. But, the focus is on mangroves and preparing the students for what they will see in Belize, which has one of the largest barrier reefs on the planet, second only to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Mangroves serve as a nursery for many of the organisms that live on and around the reef. This year, Hendrix students designed a study to investigate the environmental parameters that encourage and support elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) growth on the reef. Students investigated parameters such as water temperature, surface current, salinity, and calcium, nitrate, and phosphate concentrations and looked to see if any of these variables correlated with the growth (height and width) of elkhorn coral at three sites on the Belize Barrier Reef.
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campus news for Safety’s Sake
New Trustee
Michael S. LeBlanc, who became Chief of Public Safety at Hendrix on Aug. 1, 2016, is on a mission to make Public Safety Officers more visible on campus so that students, faculty, staff and visitors can quickly find an officer when they need help. When Public Safety needed a new vehicle, he wanted to be sure it could be easily identified as a Hendrix vehicle. Chief LeBlanc was Director of Campus Security and Safety at Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa, before joining the Hendrix staff. He has more than 20 years of experience in security and compliance management, program management and customer service, and is a former law enforcement officer and a United States Air Force Gulf War veteran.
Barry D. Blake ’91 is the newest member of the Hendrix Board of Trustees, attending his first meeting in February. Blake is a Senior Managing Director at Guggenheim Partners, a global investment and advisory firm headquartered in New York and Chicago. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business at Hendrix and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in 1997. He and his wife Lisa have three children and live in Westport, Connecticut, where they attend Noroton Presbyterian Church. He serves on the Board of Stamford Symphony Orchestra and enjoys marathon running, hiking and fishing.
Ms. Fulbright Leigh Lassiter-Counts ’01, Director of Career Discovery and Internships, recently received a 2016-17 Fulbright International Education Administrator Seminar Award from the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FFSB). The International Education Administrators (IEA) seminars program helps international education professionals and senior higher education officials from the United States connect with the societal, cultural and higher education systems of other countries. Activities during an intensive two-week seminar in Germany included campus visits with a cross-section of universities and colleges; briefings with faculty and administration, government officials, and leading educational experts at public and private institutions; and tours of historical and cultural sites.
Fifteen Hendrix College Choir members traveled to Eastern Europe in summer 2016 to rehearse and perform at the Prague Choral Festival with peer musicians from the United States. After the festival, a smaller group of Hendrix students continued their travels to Vienna, Austria, for four days of sightseeing that explored the city’s rich musical history, including visits to the homes of Beethoven, Mozart, and Haydn. www.hendrix.edu
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campus news 8 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2017 8
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campus news
Campus Reacts to Travel Ban hendrix students organize campus event following executive order
The following is an excerpt of a story from the March 3, 2017 issue of Arkansas United Methodist. Hendrix students also organized a peaceful campus rally and march following the November election. United Methodists of Arkansas were among those reacting to a Jan. 27 executive order signed by President Donald Trump. The order, which was stayed by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, placed a 90-day ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries entering the U.S. and stopped refugee resettlement already in progress, some for 120 days and indefinitely for refugees from Syria. It sparked protests at locations across the U.S., including international airports receiving such travelers, state capitols and college campuses. Hendrix College in Conway, a United Methodist-related institution, was among the schools where demonstrations were held. Students organized the Jan. 30 event via Facebook, and it included time for sharing personal stories and concerns related to the travel ban.
Whitney expressed her personal opposition to the executive order by saying Jesus commands us to open our homes, churches, schools and communities to the stranger among us. She said the executive order “does not honor who we are as Americans, and it does not follow the way of Jesus Christ.” Written by Amy Meredith Forbus ’96, editor of Arkansas United Methodist
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Photo by Lexi Adams ’17
“Stories came from students, faculty and community members from Conway,” said the Rev. J.J. Whitney ’96, chaplain of the college. “Students and faculty offered some helpful ways to get in touch with government officials to let voices be heard.”
Faculty News NSF Grant Biology professor Dr. Andrea Duina received a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation for his project titled “RUI: Uncovering Mechanisms of Spt16-gene Interactions.” The total award amount is $511,622. The project focuses on understanding some of the fundamental molecular processes that take place when genes are expressed in cells.
Debate in the Classroom Psychology professor Dr. Leslie Zorwick is the co-editor of Using Debate in the Classroom: Encouraging Critical Thinking, Communication, and Collaboration, a new classroom text recently published by Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. Zorwick, who joined the Hendrix faculty in 2007, co-wrote the book’s introduction and authored a chapter titled “Using Debate to Develop Perspective Taking and Social Skills.”
UK African Studies Book Prize History professor Dr. Allison Shutt’s book Manners Make a Nation: Racial Etiquette in Southern Rhodesia, 1910-1963 was a finalist for the inaugural Fage & Oliver Prize, awarded by the African Studies Association in the United Kingdom (ASAUK) biennially to the author of an outstanding original scholarly work published on Africa during the preceding two years. The announcement praised Shutt’s book as an “original and engaging study” that provided “a rare and innovative exploration of the everyday language of race.”
international Hemingway Event English professor Dr. Alex Vernon served as conference director and program coordinator for At Home in Hemingway’s World, the 17th biennial international Hemingway Society conference at Hemingway’s hometown of Oak Park, Illinois. The conference, hosted by the Hemingway Society, the Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park, and Dominican University, celebrated writer Ernest Hemingway’s 117th birthday. The program featured more than 60 panel discussions
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This small sample of achievement and awards, publications, grants and professional activities illustrates some of the ways that Hendrix faculty members expand their expertise and enrich their teaching for the benefit of Hendrix students.
and 170 presentations. The conference also offered continuing education credit for secondary school teachers, a story discussion group for veterans, and a one-day undergraduate symposium. Vernon is the author of Hemingway’s Second War: Bearing Witness to the Spanish Civil War. Vernon volunteered to run the conference and used part of his fall 2015 sabbatical to plan the program.
Distinguished Professor Philosophy professor Dr. Peg Falls-Corbitt was formally installed as the Virginia A. McCormick Pittman Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at a special ceremony this fall. Dr. Falls-Corbitt joined the Department of Philosophy in 1987. She was Hendrix’s 2001 recipient of the United Methodist Board of Education Excellence in Teaching Award and a nominee for the CASE/Carnegie U.S. Professor of the Year in 2007. In 2009, she began serving as the Associate Provost for Engaged Learning. The Virginia A. McCormick Pittman Distinguished Professorship was established in 1981 by Hendrix alumna Dr. Margaret Pittman ’23, a research scientist who was the first woman to head a major research lab at the National Institutes of Health and who helped develop the vaccines for typhoid, cholera and whooping cough.
Teaching Passion Biology professor Dr. Laura MacDonald ’09 was featured on the American Society for Microbiology’s blog. The article focuses on MacDonald’s passion for undergraduate teaching. The article also describes a collaboration between MacDonald and a colleague at another institution to implement an improvisational technique called “Yes, and…” in their classrooms. The technique is used to help students review the course material and make connections between the curricula in different courses. MacDonald and her colleague co-wrote an article about the method published in December in the Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education.
Big Woods in New Book Biology professor Dr. Matthew D. Moran’s new book Exploring the Big Woods: A Guide to the Last Great Forest of the Arkansas Delta was published by the University of Arkansas Press. Moran first visited the Big Woods area in Arkansas in 2004, after hearing about it from fellow nature enthusiasts. In 2013, Moran and his students partnered with the White River National Wildlife Refuge to complete
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a brochure for the three-mile H Lake Canoe trail that winds through the old river channels and oxbow lakes in the Big Woods area. The project was designed to help naturalists and outdoor enthusiasts make their way through one of the best birding sites on the Mississippi River flyway. In 2014, Moran published Guide to the Trails of Petit Jean State Park, the first comprehensive educational guidebook for the state park’s hiking trail system.
Fulbright Grant for Africa Outreach Project English Professor Dr. Carol West received an $89,270 U.S. Department of Education grant to lead a five-week Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad trip to Rwanda this summer. The project is titled “Understanding Rwanda: Culture, Education, Development.” Twelve K-12 teachers from the Mid-South (Arkansas, Texas, and Mississippi) and two Hendrix juniors who plan to certify to teach in social sciences or humanities fields will accompany West for five weeks of intensive educational travel, lectures, meetings, and site visits in Rwanda. In Rwanda, the project participants will collect information and materials to develop African Studies curriculum units for K-12 education on Rwandan history, geography, people, culture, and educational and economic issues, when they return. The Fulbright-Hays grant is the culmination of a multi-year “Teaching Rwanda” project featuring a series of K-12 teacher workshops. “Hendrix has sponsored K-12 teacher outreach and interdisciplinary African studies for decades,” said West, who is completing her final year of service as a board member for Africa Network, a national organization that promotes African Studies teaching in the liberal arts. West, who joined the Hendrix faculty in 1977, has developed and taught courses in African novel, African literature, and African film since the mid-1980s. In 1997, she received her first Fulbright grant for a Group Project Abroad to Ghana. Dr. West has been the grant writer for subsequent Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad in South Africa, Kenya, Cameroon, Gambia and Senegal.
USA Hockey Coach of the Month Biology professor Dr. Rick Murray was recently featured in a national publication … but this time it wasn’t for his research or teaching. Murray was named “Coach of the Month” in the December issue of USA Hockey magazine. The Canadian native and Conway resident is the associate coach-in-chief for the Southern Amateur Hockey Association (SAHA). Murray has spent 13 years in Arkansas (which only has two rinks in the state) teaching hockey to players and coaches. He began volunteering as a coach when his son Ryan, now a sophomore at Hendrix, started playing and has continued to instruct players and coaches through the SAHA. Murray and his son recently started a club team at Hendrix, which debuted in the fall.
New Book Religious studies professor Dr. John Sanders recently released a new book titled Theology in the Flesh: How Embodiment and Culture Shape the Way We Think about Morality, Truth, and God. Sanders www.hendrix.edu
is the author of The God Who Risks and No Other Name and coauthor of The Openness of God. Theology in the Flesh uses cognitive linguistics to explore the incredibly rich ways our conceptual tools, derived from embodied life and culture, shape the way we understand Christian teachings and practices.
New Butler Center Exhibit Photography professor Maxine Payne was one of three Arkansas artists featured in the Arkansas Committee Scholars Exhibit, sponsored by the Arkansas Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The exhibit showcased work by three recipients of its Polly Wood Crews Scholar Award, established in 1995. Payne is the 2013 Scholar Award recipient. Payne’s award stipend assisted her travel to complete the series shown in her exhibit, Rural Women and Globalization, a collaboration with Hendrix anthropology professor Dr. Anne Goldberg. The project melded oral history and documentary photography to investigate commonalities among rural women’s lives at five sites — San Luis, Costa Rica, in Central America; Bagamoyo, Tanzania, in Africa; Vihnh Linh, Vietnam, in Indochina; Agua Prieta, Sonora, in Mexico; and Douglas, Arizona.
Newly named Odyssey Professors >B iology professors Dr. Jenn Dearolf and Dr. Laura MacDonald ’09 received the Morris and Ann Henry Odyssey Professorship for their project “Improving Retention of Underrepresented Students in STEM Fields at Hendrix.” >P sychology professor Dr. Lindsay Kennedy received the Nancy and Craig Wood Odyssey Professorship for her project “The Hendrix Well-Being Initiative.” >B iology professor Dr. Maureen McClung ’01 received the Judy and Randy Wilbourn Odyssey Professorship for her project “Hendrix Conservation Connections: Promoting Nature Conservation through Field Experiences and Engaging Professionals.” >B iology professor Dr. Matt Moran received the Bill and Connie Bowen Odyssey Professorship for his project “Where the Buffalo Roam: A Flint Hills Odyssey.” >A nthropology professor Dr. Stacey Schwartzkopf received the Charles S. and Lucile Esmon Shively Odyssey Professorship for his project “Material Culture and Everyday Life.” >E nglish professor Dr. Alex Vernon and Spanish professor Dr. Gabby Vidal-Torriera received the Julia Mobley Odyssey Professorship for their project “Witness and Afterlife: The Spanish Civil War in History and the Arts.” Odyssey Professorships provide funding for faculty to expand hands-on learning opportunities for students to translate classroom lessons into action. Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2017 11
Faculty to Retire Five faculty and one senior fellow who, combined, have invested approximately 155 years of their professional lives in educating Hendrix students, will retire in 2017.
>D r. Tom Goodwin, Elbert L. Fausett Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, is retiring at the end of May. He joined the Hendrix faculty in 1978 and has spent almost four decades championing undergraduate research and mentoring future physicians and scientists. He is the CASE/Carnegie 2003 U.S. Professor of the Year for baccalaureate colleges. > Dr. Alice Hines, C. Louis and Charlotte Cabe Distinguished Professor of English, is retiring in December. Dr. Hines is the first African-American professor hired at Hendrix. For 36 years, she has challenged and inspired her students, led curricular development, and mentored new faculty members. > Dr. Randy Kopper, Professor of Chemistry, will retire in December. Since joining the faculty in 1983, Dr. Kopper has involved colleagues and students in cross-disciplinary study and research in areas as diverse as snake venom and peanut protein allergens. > Dr. Tom Stanley, Julia Mobley Odyssey Professor of Economics and Business, will retire in May 2017. Dr. Stanley, who joined the Hendrix faculty in 1986, has specialized in meta-analysis and developed statistical methods for meta-regression analysis. He convenes the Meta-Analysis of Economics Research Network (MAER-Net), an international network of scholars that is a clearinghouse for research in meta-analysis and economics. > Dr. Ann Willyard, Nancy and Craig Wood Odyssey Associate Professor of Biology, is retiring in May. Dr. Willyard joined the Hendrix faculty in 2009 and has involved future botanists and environmental scientists in her grantfunded research in phylogeography, studying the processes that shape the current geographic distribution of plant species. Drs. Goodwin, Hines and Willyard will be giving “Last Lectures” to alumni during Alumni Weekend 2017. For more details, turn to page 25 or visit www.hendrix.edu/alumni. In addition, former U.S. Ambassador Al Eastham ’73, will end his tenure at Hendrix as Senior Fellow in International Relations this spring. Eastham returned to Hendrix in 2010 after a 35-year career with the U.S. State Department, which included serving as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Malawi and to the Republic of Congo.
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Ring Laser Research Shows Potential for Early Detection of Natural Disaster Dr. Robert Dunn In the fall, the Journal of Applied Physics published “Detection of Atmospheric Infrasound with a Ring Laser Interferometer,” a paper by physics professor Dr. Robert Dunn. The peer-reviewed paper is the culmination of a four-year National Science Foundation Research in Undergraduate Institutions (NSF RUI) grantfunded project using the College’s ring laser interferometer, which can detect and analyze atmospheric infrasound sound waves with frequencies below the lower limit of human hearing and acoustic-gravity waves.
Dunn was assisted by Hendrix student Angela Lamb ’17 and former student researchers Elijah Kessler ’16 (now an engineering student at Washington University) and John Meredith ’11 (now with the Center for Earthquake Research and Information at the University of Memphis). Shortly after the paper’s publication, science publications such as Science World Report and Phys.Org picked up on the ring laser’s potential for early detection of natural disasters. Dunn was apprehensive about the early attention.
The study includes ring laser data from a 2014 EF4 tornado that struck central Arkansas to demonstrate the ring laser’s potential to supplement Doppler radar and satellites, particularly in areas of limited radar and satellite coverage, and serve as an early-warning system for natural disasters.
“Ring lasers haven’t lived up to scientists’ expectations. They’ve been overestimated, and I don’t want to continue that,” said Dunn, who joined the Hendrix Department of Physics in 1988 after retiring from the United States Air Force.
“We essentially verified many of the results from a long-term study by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) but we substituted a ring laser in place of microphones,” said Dunn.
Interferometers were introduced in 1881 by Albert Michelson, who in 1907 became the first American to receive a Nobel Prize in the sciences. In February 2016, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Observatory (LIGO) announced the detection of gravity waves from two colliding black holes. The LIGO design incorporated aspects of the Michelson Interferometer.
The group’s ring laser was able to “clearly show the frequency spectrum of the infrasound,” he said. Hendrix researchers detected infrasound from tornadoes 30 minutes before the tornado funnel was on the ground. “The detection of infrasound 30 minutes before a tornado is on the ground, in conjunction with Doppler radar, could prove very useful as an early warning system,” Dunn explained. “And the ability to detect the rotational components of earthquake-generated seismic waves may help reduce the damage from earthquakes … because building codes often neglect the effects of ground rotation.”
This fall’s publication is Dunn’s fifth published paper on the topic, which include ring laser interferometer readings from a typhoon in the Philippines, a volcanic eruption in eastern Russia, and four Gulf hurricanes. “The ring laser has also been used to observe activity related to natural gas fracking in northern Faulkner County,” Dunn said. At this point, all of their results “must be considered preliminary,” and the group’s goal is to “continue exploring how ring lasers can help reduce the impact of natural hazards,” Dunn stressed.
Beyond tornado early warning systems, ring lasers can also detect infrasound from hurricanes and volcanoes.
All of the research was conducted on campus during the summer with Hendrix students.
“Volcanic ash can destroy jet engines, so the ability of an array of ring lasers to detect volcanic eruptions in remote locations like the Aleutian Islands could help to ensure the safety of commercial aircraft that regularly fly over the region,” he added.
In addition to NSF funding, Dunn’s research has been supported by the NASA Space Grant Consortium, as well as the Hendrix Odyssey Program. “Our number one goal is teaching. For science, that teaching would be helped by doing research to reinforce what we do in the classroom,” said Dunn, adding that the College’s record of getting research students into graduate science programs is “quite impressive.”
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Photos by Maddison Stewart
Living Organ-ism murphy scholar makes church music and religious text research part of his hendrix odyssey
Thomas Alexander ’18 almost didn’t come to Hendrix despite (or perhaps due to) his family connections – his mother is Kris Maulden Alexander ’87 and his brother is Sean Alexander ’16.
His musical experiences prepared him for a four-month interim appointment as organist and choirmaster at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in North Little Rock
“I had vetoed Hendrix completely,” he said. “But my campus visit did it. [Former admission counselor] Brett Carr ’10 reshaped my visit to be completely Alexander connection-free. Even the professors I met with had no connection to Sean. It was a very thoughtful visit … I didn’t even see Sean all day.”
“It was pretty involved, but it was fun,” he said of the experience.
Alexander had narrowed down his choices based on liberal arts colleges with strong religious studies departments and the opportunity for close professor relationships like he enjoyed as a graduate of Little Rock’s eStem Public Charter School.
A member of Christ Episcopal Church in Little Rock, Alexander worked last summer as an “organ scholar” or assistant organist.
Since arriving at Hendrix, he’s worked with religious studies professor Dr. Jay McDaniel on a summer research project to study world religions and music. “That professor-student interaction is the reason I came to Hendrix,” said Alexander. Through the Hendrix Odyssey program, Alexander researched organ improvisation, interviewing church organists to learn how they fill extended periods of a service, such as communion, and weave in passages from other pieces or quote a phrase that references a theme from the sermon. His research concluded with an improvisational recital. He was also a member of the community chorus in a Hendrix Department of Music production of Carmina Burana. Alexander leads the Chapel Choir, a group of eight to 15 volunteer members, which he founded in August 2015. While the student Chapel Band performs at the weekly Monday evening services in Greene Chapel, the Chapel Choir performs a 15-minute all a cappella Compline service on Sunday evenings at 9 p.m. Compline is a more meditative prayer service in candlelit Greene Chapel. The group also performs at Ash Wednesday services and an end-of-semester Evensong service, as well as special events, such as the 65th anniversary of Greene Chapel.
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Alexander took up the organ during his junior year of high school, though he has played piano since the first or second grade and was taught by a United Methodist Church organist.
An English major, Alexander is part of the first cohort of the new Murphy Scholars in Literature and Language. “I don’t know if I would have applied had [Hendrix-Murphy Director] Hope Coulter not pitched the idea to me as a freshman,” Alexander said. “She and my advisor, [English professor] Dr. Marjorie Swann, encouraged me to apply.” As a Murphy Scholar, Alexander has worked as a tutor in the campus Writing Center. He also completed archive research with English professor Dr. Toni Jaudon at Chicago’s Newberry collection of some 100-plus prayer books as part of a class trip supported by Dr. Jaudon’s Odyssey Professorship. “I want to study religious texts as literature and use the same methods to learn about prayer books that other literary scholars use to study other forms,” he said. “It’s kind of a weird, nuanced way of doing English research, but Murphy was really open to that.” Alexander’s Murphy Scholar work will tie directly into his senior English thesis. He plans to propose using his Murphy Scholar travel study stipend to do archival research involving Anglican texts. “English is so core at Hendrix and touches so many students, and there are so many opportunities and resources, including people who care about random things,” he said. “Doing English at a liberal arts college is the best way to do it.”
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Campaign Progress
welcome center construction The new David and Mary Ann Dawkins Welcome Center is on schedule to be completed in the fall of 2017. Gifts and pledges of more than $7 million, including a $1 million challenge grant from the Mabee Foundation, made this project possible.
other campaign components Scholarships & Financial Aid Keeping a liberal arts education at Hendrix within reach for all students, as well as strengthening the Hendrix Arkansas Advantage and Hendrix Aspire scholarship programs. The Center for Career Services High-touch advising plus increased networking, shadowing, mentoring and internship programs through on-campus partnerships and a network of alumni, parents, Trustees, and employers.
The Center for Teaching and Learning Pedagogical research-focused programming; new hands-on learning opportunities for students; and new experiences with cutting-edge pedagogies and increased peer exchanges on effective teaching practices for faculty. The Center for Inclusive Community Programming, training, and support for all students to feel connected and experience success at Hendrix.
campaign committee Joe Goyne ’69, co-chair > Jan Hundley ’80, co-chair > Luke Duffield ’91 > Bo Frazier ’81 Kenny Gunderman ’93 > David Knight ’71 > Tim Lomax, parent ’12 > Barbara Moore ’63 > Hank Neely ’83 > Derrick Smith ’97
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fundraising
Total Goal
$110 million Funds Raised
$76.7 million as of march 1, 2017
Start of Year
$60.7 million as of may 31, 2016
joe goyne honored Members of the Board of Pegasus Bank in Dallas honored bank president, Hendrix Trustee, and campaign co-chair Joe Goyne ’69, with a gift of $110,000 toward the Creative Quad. A garden space in the Quad will recognize the gift and honor Joe.
creative quad The new Creative Quad will bring the creative energy of music and the visual arts to the very center of campus while providing new and renovated residence halls. Gifts of $5 million from the David B. Miller Family Foundation and $10 million from the Windgate Foundation ($6 million endowment, $4 million construction) launched the funding for this project, which has a budget of $16 million for construction and $8 million for endowment.
“To truly Be Hendrix and to invest in that which is most important, our students and our faculty, the largest component of this campaign will indeed be gifts for endowment – gifts that will provide an opportunity for alumni and friends to leave a true legacy for future generations – gifts that will provide a perpetual benefit for students and faculty.” W. Ellis Arnold III ’79, Senior Executive Vice President & General Counsel, Dean of Advancement Be Hendrix campaign announcement, October 28, 2016
learn more Visit www.hendrix.edu/behendrix to watch a short video about the campaign. For more information, contact Rev. J. Wayne Clark, at clark@hendrix.edu or 501-450-1223.
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From Internship to Oxford
junior finds joy in english and education
When Joy Spence ’18 came to Hendrix, she started crossing off subjects she didn’t think were for her. “Now they’re the ones I like,” she said, noting that her potential as a pre-med major declined precipitously when she discovered she didn’t like labs and preferred books to blood. An English major and education minor, Spence is completing her teacher certification and hopes to teach English at the secondary level for a few years before focusing on education policy or journalism. The Houston, Texas, native heard about Hendrix through Colleges That Change Lives. “Hendrix had great financial aid, and I liked the environment on campus, which is really friendly and cheerful,” she said. The Natural State’s natural beauty was a plus too, she added. As a sophomore, she applied and was accepted to be part of the first cohort of Murphy Scholars in Literature and Language.
She also worked as a summer intern for alumna Julie Johnson Holt ’84 at First Class Communications, a Little Rock-based marketing and public relations group. For eight weeks, Spence wrote blurbs, blog posts, and newsletters for clients ranging from a yoga studio and trucking company to a children’s museum. She helped create a social media plan for a new education nonprofit and conducted audience and market research for other clients. A veteran journalist and public relations professional, Holt was “extremely helpful and hands-on and very generous in sharing her time and experience,” Spence said. In the fall semester, Spence took part in the Hendrixin-Oxford program, where she experienced the historic university’s tutorial system firsthand. She met with one tutor for an hour a week to study Oscar Wilde and another tutor to study creative playwriting. She studied C.S. Lewis in a group tutorial, which met three times a week. During travel breaks, she visited France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland. “I’ve grown interested in education through the experiences I’ve had,” she said. “And I never would have had that internship opportunity or studied abroad without the close connections you can have with Hendrix professors and staff.” “The community at Hendrix is really impressive,” she said. “It’s really a close campus environment … and I really missed that when I was abroad.” Missing the arrival of a new class of Hendrix students, Spence was inspired to apply to be one of the co-coordinators for the New Student Orientation program this fall.
“I wanted to be more involved with literature and language at Hendrix,” she said. “And the Murphy Scholars Program gives you a lot of opportunity, on and off campus, to get involved.”
She went to Lake DeGray on her freshman Orientation trip. As an orientation and peer leader, she’s been fishing on the White River and canoeing on the Spring River. Now, along with co-coordinator Pete Wills ’18, she’ll be responsible for the Orientation experience of every freshman student this fall.
Spence was part of a Murphy Scholars group that visited Anne Watson Elementary School in the nearby community of Bigelow twice a month to hold writing workshops with third-grade students.
“I really love the education part of it,” she said. “You get to explain and teach Hendrix culture, what’s appropriate and what’s not, to the whole freshman community. When that goes well, it’s amazing.”
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“HENDRIX TAUGHT ME HOW TO DEBATE, AS OPPOSED TO ARGUE, HOW TO BE A CRITICAL THINKER, AND HOW EVERY OBSTACLE IS MERELY AN OPPORTUNITY TO STEP BACK AND DISCOVER ANOTHER SOLUTION IF YOU’RE WILLING TO LOOK FOR IT.”
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Opera-tor HENDRIX SETS THE STAGE FOR ALUMNUS’ OPERA DIRECTING CAREER BY ROB O’CONNOR ’95, EDITOR
When he graduated from Hendrix, Daniel Ellis ’96, a psychology major and the College’s first theatre minor, wasn’t sure what to do next. Maybe social psychology or social work? Theatre, perhaps? It’s safe to say he didn’t think that, two decades later, he’d be living out of a suitcase, helping professional opera’s most renowned artistic directors stage productions around the world. “Opera was a mid-life crisis to my theatre career,” said Ellis, a native of Vilonia, Arkansas, which did not have a high school theatre program. An All-State high school choir member, Ellis sang in the Hendrix Choir for four years on a participation scholarship. He got involved in theatre at Hendrix as a sophomore. Originally a pre-med major, Ellis thought he wanted to be an anesthesiologist, but he switched his major to psychology and, by his senior year, he was feeling the pull of the stage. “I really didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I put everything on hold,” he said, recalling the professional advice of Hendrix theatre professor Dr. Rosemary Henenberg, who encouraged him to take a year off to think about it. In the meantime, he acted in or directed 14 shows and began to look at graduate programs in theatre.
At 38, he accepted an assistant director position with the Minnesota Opera Resident Artist Program, a two-year residency during the opera’s 50th and 51st seasons. “It was an eye-opening experience to see how a professional opera company operates firsthand. Often there can be over 100 people onstage at once, so staging an opera can be extremely challenging,” said Ellis, who said he had a panic attack when 87 choristers rushed toward him on the first day of vocal rehearsals for Verdi’s Nabucco, Ellis’ first opera. During his two-year residency, he assisted on 10 operas (two fiveshow seasons). “The residency was intense. I had to learn a great deal of material quickly having little experience and knowledge at the time of the genre,” said Ellis, who also served as director for two productions with Project Opera, Minnesota Opera’s education program for kids 7 to 17. His production of Griffelkin won the 3rd Place award in the 2014 American Prize in Directing Competition. “The residency was a perfect opportunity to get my feet wet and learn my trade.” In his second season, he worked on Barrie Kosky and Suzanne Andrade’s production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute). The experience would lead to his European directing debut as the revival stage director for the production at the Komische Oper in Berlin, Germany. When he heard that the Lyric Opera of Chicago was hiring for its 20152016 season, he jumped at the opportunity to work at one of the country’s top companies and assist on the world première of Sir David McVicar’s production of Wozzeck. This spring, Ellis will be at the helm of Wozzeck’s European debut at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, in Geneva, Switzerland, as well as directing The Magic Flute for Cincinnati Opera and Opera Philadelphia. “As a revival stage director I remount a production in the same manner and style as it was originally created often working with a new cast of singers,” he said. “Professional opera companies like tried and true productions. Being a revival stage director for these types of productions is one way to make the switch from ‘a mid-career up and coming’ to ‘tried and true’ myself.”
“I discovered that I enjoyed the big-picture and creative process of directing more than acting,” he said. “My job allows me to take the words of the script and create a living 3-D representation of that on stage. It requires an understanding of many different art forms, critical and creative thinking, script analysis, and fastidious research while having the people and diplomacy skills to convince other creative people to get behind your ideas.”
Career-wise, there’s no real rule book in opera, he said.
That discovery led him to New York and The New School of Drama, formerly the Actor’s Studio Drama School, for a three-year MFA program. After 10 years in New York, a stage veteran advised him to get some experience outside of New York, so he left for Minneapolis, Minnesota’s thriving theatre scene and began a five-year stint as the stage and light director for nationally-acclaimed a cappella vocal quintet Five by Design. In Minnesota, another mentor suggested Ellis look at working in opera, where his music, production, and theatre backgrounds would be a huge advantage. Otherwise, his opera experience was limited to a semester of Dr. John Kreb’s Introduction to Opera course and his participation in the Hendrix Music Department’s Night of Opera Scenes once a year.
“I don’t have regrets about Hendrix, except that I should have taken more foreign language classes. I should have taken French and German,” said Ellis. “Hendrix gave me a lot of what I needed to know. Until I went to grad school, I didn’t realize how well Hendrix prepared me for a career in the arts.”
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“The nice thing about what I do is that there’s not necessarily a glass ceiling,” he said. “You kind of make it up as you go.” And a psychology degree and theatre minor from a liberal arts college in Arkansas is as fine a place to start as any, Ellis thinks.
“If anything, I learned there was more to life than just a textbook and what you learn on the page,” he said. “Hendrix taught me how to debate, as opposed to argue, how to be a critical thinker, and how every obstacle is merely an opportunity to step back and discover another solution if you’re willing to look for it.” Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2017 2017 21
Visit with friends,
hear Hendrix updates
and have fun!
We love seeing the happy, smiling faces of alumni, parents, and friends in all the photos from Hendrix events. Highlights from this year include Bill’s County-toCounty Barbecue Tour, the 2016 Odyssey Medal Presentation, and celebrations on and off campus. Check your mail, email, and www.hendrix.edu/alumnievents for upcoming Hendrix gatherings.
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Bill’s BBQ Tour, Texarkana June 12, 2016 A1 Rev. Bruce Bennett ’80 and Edie Garland Barentine ’63 A2 Leah Crenshaw ’20, Mary Kaye Taylor Crenshaw ’85, Lance Emerson, and Jessica Frazier-Emerson ’20
Hendrix in Hot Springs June 20, 2016 B1 Brooks Clem ’81, Todd Shiver ’82, Rynnet Ritter Clark ’83, Margaret Shiver, and Nan Carter Clem ’84
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B2 Billie Singleton Curry ’69, Diane Qualls White ’69, and Frank Warren ’69
Night at the Travs Aug. 4, 2016 C1 Walker Horn, Hannah Wilkin Horn ’09, and Brian Horn ’07 C2 Martha Fish Christie ’77, Wyatt Holden, Scott Christie ’79, Sarah Holden, and Dustin Holden ’08 C3 Kaleb Wolfe ’14, Chelsea Woods Wolfe ’14, and Anthony Nail ’14
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C4 Sarah Hyndman ’13, Marvin McLennon ’13, and Rev. Lauren DeLano ’13
Legacy Luncheon 2016 Sept. 28, 2016 D1 Suzanne Sims, Olivia Sims ’17, and Judge Barry Sims ’82 D2 Marilyn Larson, Dr. David Larson, Olivia Larson, Tammy Tucker ’85, Katie Larson ’17, and Liz Larson ’86 D3 David Miller ’85, Elaine Miller, Michael Miller, Melissa Miller ’19, and Sonya Miller ’82
Pep Band Dedication Oct. 2, 2016
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E1 Eric Merrell, Jimmy Irish, Rebecca Merrell, Sue Irish, David Miller, Carolyn Lacy Miller ’74, Jim Johnston, President Bill Tsutsui, and Sue Johnston
Odyssey Reception Oct. 27, 2016 F1 Nancy Holyfield and 2016 Odyssey Medal Recipient Wayland Holyfield ’64 F2 Jennie Gwinn Cole ’63, Ann Manasco Averitt ’66, Rev. Biff Averitt ’66, and Dr. Chuck Cole ’60 F3 Dr. John Krebs and Chester Lucas ’73 F4 Coach Cliff Garrison and T. J. Ticey ’80
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F5 Dr. Rex Amonette ’61 and Johnnie Dacus Amonette ’63 F6 Jeannine Lomax and Tim Lomax F7 Dr. Jon Wolfe ’66, Veronica Wolfe, and Donna Manley Wolfe ’66 F8 Cindy Gibbs, Dr. Bill Gibbs ’73, and Dr. Pat Osam ’70 F9 2016 Odyssey Medal Recipient Dr. Cathy Langston ’87, 2012 Odyssey Medal Recipient Dr. Bill Fiser Jr. ’75, and 2013 Odyssey Medal Recipient Liz Langston ’84
St. Louis Tailgate Nov. 5, 2016
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G1 Vice President Courtney Corwin, President Bill Tsutsui, Neelam Vyas ’14, and Matt Gaglio ’10
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Bill’s BBQ Tour, Morrilton Nov. 30, 2016 H1 Pat Henderson Donnel ’58, Hugh Donnell ’60, President Bill Tsutsui, and Dr. Marjorie Swann
Bill’s BBQ Tour, Fort Smith Dec. 15, 2016 I1 Mike Schulte ’74 and Susan Brockman Schulte ’75 I2 Dr. Marjorie Swann, President Bill Tsutsui, Dr. Daniel Mwanza ’01, and Maya Lomack Mwanza ’02
Dallas Meet & Greet
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Fort Worth Meet & Greet Jan. 8, 2017 K1 Alex Sandoval, Angela Sandoval, and Beverly Wheeler, Regional Director of Admission in Texas
Bill’s BBQ Tour, Jonesboro Feb. 26, 2017 L1 Sue Carvell and Rich Carvell ’66 L2 Rev. Hannah Hooker ’10 and Rev. J.J. Whitney ’96
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Cruise Iceland with National Geographic Join Hendrix College alumni, parents, and friends for a circumnavigation cruise of Iceland during July 7-17, 2018. The cruise will be led by Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic. Learn more at: www.hendrix.edu/iceland/
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Alumni
Weekend 2017 april 21-24, 2017
bid farewell > saturday, april 22 don’t miss your chance to say so long and thank you to retiring faculty at their last lectures to alumni!
dr. ann willyard Nancy and Craig Wood Odyssey Associate Professor of Biology
last lecture to alumni: 1 p.m. – Mills A, Mills Center for Social Sciences reception immediately following: Mills Library, Mills Center
dr. tom goodwin Elbert L. Fausett Distinguished Professor of Chemistry
last lecture to alumni: 2 p.m. – Mills A, Mills Center for Social Sciences reception immediately following: Mills Library, Mills Center
See the full schedule and register online at www.hendrix.edu/ AlumniWeekend
dr. alice hines C. Louis and Charlotte Cabe Distinguished Professor of English
last lecture to alumni: 3 p.m. – Mills A, Mills Center for Social Sciences reception immediately following: Mills Library, Mills Center
join us as we honor outstanding young alumna award gabrielle schonder ’07 Gabrielle Schonder is an Emmy Award–winning producer and reporter with PBS’s acclaimed investigative documentary series FRONTLINE. While at CBS’s 60 Minutes, Gabrielle’s work on the coverage of the Paris attacks received an Emmy award, a New York Press Club award, and the Congressional Radio and Television Correspondents Association’s Joan Shorenstein Barone Award.
james e. major service award dee dee allen For the last 17 years of her 39-year bookstore career, Dee Dee Allen has been the manager of the Hendrix bookstore. She has been a friend and supporter of countless students during her time on campus.
hendrix humanitarian award martha love faulkner ’49 From being a member of the Women’s Emergency Committee during the Little Rock School Desegregation Crisis to serving on multiple boards including Camp Aldersgate, Philander Smith College, and The Lydia Patterson Institute, Martha Faulkner embodies what it means to significantly improve the quality of life in the world through her service and dedication to humanity. *The 2017 Distinguished Alumna recipient is Joan Davis Wagnon ’62. Mrs. Wagnon will receive her award during Alumni Weekend 2018.
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Alumnotes
connecting with classmates 1953
1967
1954
1969
Red Sears was inducted into the Arkansas Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Tom Pryor released for Kindle publication a short story titled “The Incredible Substance of Being” and a non-fiction book titled The Mask: A Primer on the Myth of Reality.
1958
Pat Couch Laster released her third book, Hiding Myself into Safety: a collection of short stories & long poems with an occasional essay, and she is now working on her memoir, Edging Past Eighty.
1962
Judge Kay Hooker D’Opal of San Rafael, California, has retired after serving as the Marin Superior Court judge for the past 12 years.
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Rev. Bob Allen will serve as chair of the steering committee of the interfaith clinic in El Dorado, Arkansas, in 2017. Jim Rasco was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in March 2017. Gary Sebree was inducted into the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame in March 2017.
Phillip McMath wrote a play, Lincoln’s Dream, that was read at The Weekend Theater in Little Rock.
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Kathy Huff Smith, a senior English teacher at Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock, is the recipient of the 2016 Stephens Award recognizing outstanding teachers.
Dr. Jim Wiedower completed a Master of Biomedical Informatics this year to increase his knowledge as the Chief Medical Information Officer for Valley Health System located in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. He continues to practice as a bariatric surgeon with the Valley Health Metabolic and Bariatric Program.
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Dr. Gordon Bolar, the General Manager of WMUK radio, retired in June and lives in Michigan.
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Eric Jackson, general manager of Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas, was featured in AY Magazine’s 2016 Powerful Men issue. Judge Steven Peer has retired after serving as the Crawford County District Court judge since 1999. Beverly Couch Villines was named Executive Director of the Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church Foundation in February, where she is also the staff liaison for Older Adult Ministry. She retired in September 2013 from Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield after a 41-year career in Financial Management. Rev. Mackey Yokem joined the staff of the United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas as the grants administrator.
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Share your news with other alumni by visiting www.hendrix.edu/alumni and using the online form. Information received after Feb. 2 will appear in the next edition. Photos smaller than 1440 x 960 pixels cannot be accepted for publication.
Casper J. Knight Jr. Award from the Historic Naval Ships Association. The award is given to individuals or organizations that have contributed in a major way to the preservation and exhibition of historic naval ships and to the goals and work of the HNSA.
Institut Supérieur Agronomic et Vétérinaire in Faranah, Guinea. She set up a computer language lab with software, trained the English-language faculty and 300 students on its use, and helped to develop curriculum to incorporate consistent lab usage into the English courses.
Teresa Roebuck, MS, recently returned from a Winrock International volunteer posting at the
Rebekah Fourt Wiedower was certified as a Virginia Master Naturalist.
Tricia Papan Guinn, retired Managing Director of Risk and Financial Services and former member of the executive leadership team at Towers Watson, has joined the Board of Directors for Reinsurance Group of America, Inc.
1976 Ted Grimmett’s photography was featured at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Art Gallery during July 2016. The work represents his thesis exhibition for his Master of Arts degree from UALR.
Judy Baker Goss ’70, Dr. Beverly Whitaker Long Chapin ’57, Pat Goss ’70, and Dr. Elaine Emanuel Whitaker ’64 celebrated Beverly’s 80th birthday in North Carolina.
Karen Moore is directing Livin’ Fat at TheatreWorks in Memphis, Tennessee.
1978
Cliff Barnes accepted a new position as Senior Manager, Internal Audit with WilliamsSonoma, Inc. Steve Owen, president of Complete Care Inc. of North Little Rock, has received the
Classmates traveled to Asheville, North Carolina, together. Left to right: Jane Case Hawkins ’72, Deborah Sallings ’72, Regina Thomas Bethea ’72, Lanier Bayliss ’72, Beverly Cook Williams ’72, Linda Cranford Temple ’72, Ellen Turner ’72, Sherry Townsend Owen ’72, Kay Coleman Osborne ’72, Sarah Weir Frost ’72, and Pam Fair ’72.
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Jeanne Loveless Seewald has been elected to the board of directors of Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP. She lives in Naples, Florida.
1981
Chris Palmer was appointed by Governor Asa Hutchinson as an Employer Representative to the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission (AWCC). Lee Puckett retired after a 30-year career as an electrical engineer at Arkansas Nuclear One in Russellville.
1982
Jennifer Horne wrote an article, “Sara Mayfield: A Woman of Her Time,” based on a book that she is writing about Mayfield, that was published in the Winter 2016 issue of Alabama Heritage magazine. Her new book of poems, Little Wanderer, was published in March 2016. David Medford has joined 103.7 The Buzz as a host of a brand new radio show that began in August.
1983
Dr. Derek Lowe and his blog “In the Pipeline” were featured in a Forbes Magazine article.
1984
W. Brooks Gentry, M.D., is the first holder of the Carmelita S. Pablo, M.D., Endowed Chair in Anesthesiology in the College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Clay Martin was appointed as a judge for the Pearsall Immigration Court in Pearsall, Texas, by the Executive Office for Immigration Review.
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Sylvia McDaniel Hoke Roland was re-elected to the Sumter County Board of Education.
alumnotes
1980
1985
Holly Lodge Meyer of Heber Springs, Arkansas, was appointed to serve as prosecuting attorney for the sixteenth Judicial District. Scott Schallhorn was elected to a two-year term as president of the Downtown Little Rock Partnership. Dr. Scott Stanley accepted a new position as Associate Professor and Director of Psychiatric Medicine Residency at Unity Health in Searcy, Arkansas, a satellite program of Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences. Jo Williams is the Recipient of the 2016 NOAA Bronze Medal Award for improving the efficiency and accuracy of monitoring the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery. The bronze medal is the highest honor award granted by the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and recognizes superior performance by federal employees.
1986
Binky Martin-Tollette received the Liberty Bell Award from the Pulaski County Bar Association, which is given in recognition of outstanding service and dedication to the legal profession.
Ladies Lunch Group. Front row: Kathy Snell Tadlock ’62 and Judy Rorex Stoltz ’67, Back row: Marilyn Gibson ’70, Margaret Dale Wilkins ’62, Liz Norris Shannon ’63, Ginny McMurray, Vicki Scott ’68, Susan Hefley Weir ’65, and Dana Fowler Steward ’65. Kathy Tadlock is the organizer for a group of Hendrix friends who gather for lunch and conversation once a month.
1988
Joe Cordi has joined the Office of the General Counsel at the University of Arkansas.
1989
Melissa Parodi Hawkins is a pharmacist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Outpatient Pharmacy and is a bilingual Spanish pharmacist consultant for EDocAmerica. Greg Joslin received his Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) designation after completing advanced
coursework in financial and market analysis and demonstrating extensive experience in commercial real estate. He has also been awarded the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) designation held by fewer than 3,100 commercial real estate brokers internationally. Karen Kennedy Seifert opened a wedding and event venue, Valley Mist Events, at her farm in Ironton, Missouri. Ronda Edmondson Spivey began law school in August of 2015. She is a member of the Nashville School of Law, class of 2019.
1990
Eric Francis is a senior content creator for Scratch Media and Marketing in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Arkansas Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin has joined the Brunswick Group as senior counselor.
1991
Maj. Devon Cockrell, currently Operations Officer, 10th Psychological Operations Battalion, will attend the 2017 Class of Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in July.
1987
Dr. John Byrd won the American Association for Cancer Research Joseph H. Burchenal Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in clinical cancer research. Dr. Byrd delivered his award lecture titled “Targeting BTK in CLL: A New Treatment Paradigm” at the 2016 AACR Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Cliff Swoape ’89, Sarah Walker ’18, and Dr. Katherine Mangione ’91 representing Hendrix at Mission Guatemala.
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alumnotes
1992
John Krueger MD, MPH, is the George Kaiser Family Foundation Endowed Chair, Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs at the University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine and the Chief Medical Officer of the OU Physicians medical group in Tulsa.
1993
Wendy Anderson has joined RL Leaders as the Managing Director - West Coast. She will lead operations that connect the most creative minds from the entertainment industry and emerging technology experts to national security
2016-2017 academic year. Dr. Bridges was voted Vice President/President-Elect of Women in German, a professional organization for scholars in Gender and Sexuality Studies, 2016-2018.
Dr. Alan Tackett is the inaugural recipient of the Scharlau Family Endowed Chair in Cancer Research in the College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Michael Stevenson, M.D., M.P.H., joined the Oklahoma Blood Institute as its associate medical director.
1999
1996
Rob Young is Senior Manager at JPMS Cox PLLC.
1997
Susan Meyer Coleman accepted a position at Arkansas Heart Hospital as Benefits Administrator/ Legal Affairs.
Susan Todd Krafft is the Director of Institutional Advancement at TrinityByrnes Collegiate School in Darlington, South Carolina. Gina Byrne Miller was promoted to Vice President – Corporate Counsel at National Western Life Insurance Company. Betsy Young was appointed to Immigration Judge in San Francisco’s Immigration Court.
2000
Fred Baker is the Director of College Counseling at Catholic High School for Boys in Little Rock. Chris Hansen is the Director of User Experience and Web Development for TGI Fridays at the corporate office in Dallas, Texas. Bonnie Moser McIlroy ’84, Sylvia McDaniel Hoke Roland ’84, and Nan Carter Clem ’84 rode their bikes through Puglia, Italy.
professionals, to apply innovative solutions to our nation’s most pressing security challenges. Beth Green-Nagle has received her Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of Oklahoma. Mark Wilson is the Marketing Director at the Little Rock Rangers Soccer Club.
1995
Dr. Elizabeth Bridges was awarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor of German at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. She also received a research sabbatical for the
1998
John Ahlen joined the Arkansas State Bank Department as bank chief counsel. Erin Buford Puryear was selected to receive the 2016 United States Public Health Service Excellence in Public Health Pharmacy Award. She is a second-year pharmacy student at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Pharmacy. Rev. Danny Rhodes began a new position as Director of Donations and Acquisitions with Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee. (See children)
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2001
Rachel Burton is the development director at Life Styles Inc., in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Rev. Nathaniel Langford was appointed to Palestine United Methodist Church in the Tioga-Ball area of Central Louisiana. Leigh Lassiter-Counts received a 2016-17 Fulbright International Education Administrator Seminar Award from the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FFSB). Dr. Daniel Mwanza joined Surgical Associates of Fort Smith and Sparks Regional Medical Center as a general surgeon.
Laura Beth Corless York was listed in U.S. News and World Report as one of the top 100 Workers’ Compensation Attorneys in the country.
2002
Dr. Michael Chappell has joined Arkansas Oculoplastic Surgery, PLLC as a new associate. Andrea Lujan Cordova recently has been employed by the Left Hand Brewing Co. (See children)
Dr. GerShun Avilez is a tenured professor in the English and Comparative Literature department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Dr. Kevin Hayes of Texarkana Cardiology Associates is director of the electrophysiology lab at Christus St. Michael Health System.
Dr. Amanda Linz completed training in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology in 2015 and Pediatric Hospice and Palliative Medicine in 2016. She received a research award in the Physician Scientist Training Program at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital with a research focus on interdisciplinary collaboration for the care of pediatric oncology patients with poor prognosis and bereavement support for families and siblings.
Harvell Howard is the operations manager of ForwARd Arkansas, in Maumelle.
Vanessa Norton McKuin was included in AY Magazine’s 2016 Powerful Women feature. In June she joined KUAR 89.1, UALR’s public radio station, and its partners in a regional journalism collaboration, Natural State News team, as the project’s partner manager. (See children)
2003
Gina Curry Bergfeld accepted a tenure-track faculty position at Hendrix College as Assistant Professor of Economics and Business. Sarah Razer Carnahan was appointed as Member of the YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee by the American Library Association. She is one of the 15 people nationally selected to serve on this year-long committee and she will attend two national conferences, in Chicago and Denver, to speak about young adult literature.
Dixon Parnell is a licensed professional counselor in Texas. He is a primary therapist for intensive outpatient programming at Eating Recovery Center Austin. Dr. Don Porter, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, had two publications selected for prestigious Best Paper Awards, “Optimizing Every Operation in a Write-Optimized File System” and “A Study of Modern Linus API Usage and Compatibility: What to Support when You’re Supporting.” He also served as program committee co-chair for the 2016 ACM SIGPLAN/SIGOPS International Conference on Virtual Execution Environments (VEE). (See children) C.J. Sentell has joined the Hendrix College Office of Development as a Leadership Gifts Officer. (See children) Stephanie Smittle sang the role of Virginia Clinton in the Billy Blythe opera at Pulaski Technical College’s Center for Humanities and Arts in Little Rock. Paul Woody completed his Ph.D. in Public Affairs from the University of Nevada.
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Jon Alford is CFO at Denton Regional Medical Center. Ben Hollowell with Applied Technology Group, Inc., is a member of the 2016 Class of Arkansas Business 40 Under 40. Grant Morshedi, M.D., recently accepted a position as a glaucoma specialist at the Little Rock Eye Clinic and was appointed Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Mike Nance received the Humboldt Research Fellowship for political philosophy research at Goethe University, in Frankfurt, Germany. Ateca Foreman Wiliams was named Deputy Chief of Staff for Internal Operations for Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson. She was previously the Director of Constituent Services for Gov. Hutchinson. She also served as the Director of Special Projects for Gov. Hutchinson’s gubernatorial campaign.
2005
Shana Woodard Graves is the Civil Rights Coordinator/ Regulatory Compliance Analyst at Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield. Jamie Ball Williams is the new girls’ basketball and volleyball coach at Conway Christian School.
2006
Dr. Julie Gunderson accepted a tenure-track position at Hendrix College as Assistant Professor of Physics. J. Brad Moore was selected as a Rising Star by Super Lawyers magazine for the second year in a row. He is a managing partner at the Frederick S. Wetzel, III, P.A. law firm in Little Rock.
www.hendrix.edu
John Neis was appointed to the Hospital Foundation Board of Directors at Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home. Joni Podschun is the Executive Director of Growing Partners of Southwest Colorado, a nonprofit organization doing community organizing and coalition building across the food system.
2007
Dr. Gary Berner is an internal medicine and pediatric physician at the Community Clinic in Fayetteville. Adrienne Crowell received a Ph.D. in Psychology from Texas A&M University and accepted a visiting assistant professor of psychology position at Hendrix College. Adam Roush accepted a position as Head of Computer Science at Bradfield College in Bradfield, Reading, England. Gabrielle Schonder reported and produced the Hillary Clinton story for The Choice 2016, a FRONTLINE production. (See marriages)
2008
Dr. Sara Williams Shinn received a Ph.D. in Food Science from the University of Arkansas in May and accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Food Science at Fresno State University in Fresno, California. Lauren Wisner Wilmoth is teaching science at Oak Ridge High School in Tennessee.
2009
Claire Allison, the program coordinator for the U of A’s Campus Hunger Initiative in the Center for Community Engagement, was featured in the Arkansas Business “20 in Their 20s” edition.
David Foley is the Head Ladies Basketball Coach at Centenary College of Louisiana. Ashlyn Holeyfield was selected as a finalist for the Presidential Management Fellowship Class of 2016. Dr. Laura Broederdorf MacDonald accepted a tenure-track faculty position at Hendrix College as Assistant Professor of Biology. Natalie Telchi is Practice Group Coordinator of Financial Services at Dechert LLP.
2010
Ryan Hughes Berner is a nurse at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital clinic in Lowell. Tim Bryant completed his master’s degree in forestry at Northern Arizona State University in Flagstaff and has accepted a job in Portland, Oregon, as a scientist with the U.S. Forest Service. (See marriages) Ashley Cappiello graduated in December 2016 from Middle Tennessee State University with a Master of Education in Professional Counseling degree. Her emphasis is in School Counseling and she will begin her new role as the School Counselor at Antioch Elementary in the Charlotte area of North Carolina. Grace Yokem Depper is the business and community education specialist at South Arkansas Community College. Tiffany Donovan is an Administrative Specialist III in the communications unit of the Arkansas Department of Education. Sarah E. Dunaway is Assistant Law Librarian for Reference Services at the Public Law Library of King County, Washington.
Peter Griffin was promoted to Residential Program Manager for Entergy and CenterPoint energy efficiency programs at CLEAResult Consulting. Janson Hightower, the head coach of the Southwestern University men’s basketball program, was named to the Coaches 30-Under-30 Team. Leanne Mathurin received a poster award in the area of “electrochemistry” at the 229th Electro-chemical Society Meeting in San Diego, California. Natalie Ramm is a member of the incoming class at the Clinton School of Public Service. Courtney Taylor is the curator at the Louisiana State University Museum of Art.
2011
Gina Gordon is in graduate school at Indiana University studying psychology. Dominique Kelleybrew is the Coordinator of Multicultural Services and Assistant Director of Student Activities at Hendrix College. Austin Rhodes is working at The Advisory Board Company. (See marriages) Dr. Chris Weaver has joined the Department of Geography, Political Science and Sociology as an assistant professor at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.
2012
Allison Beard graduated December 2016 from LSUHSC School of Nursing with a BSN and will be working as an RN at a hospital in New Orleans. Dr. Kimberly Pollard was recently hired as a dentist by Arkansas Family Dental.
Knox Shelton was promoted to the role of executive director at Literacy Mid-South. Daniel Williams received his Master of Divinity degree from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
2013
Drew Ahlgrim of Houston, Texas, passed his exams to become a Certified Public Accountant. Rev. Lauren DeLano is the Associate Pastor at First United Methodist Church in Conway. Elana Harrison is the Assistant Director of Professional Education at the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, D.C. Celia Ketcham is a Rehabilitation Specialist at the Mental Health Association of Orange County. She will be assisting adults with chronic mental illness through case management, counseling, and art therapy. Megan Kurten is a member of the incoming class at the Clinton School of Public Service. Bekah Miller graduated with a master’s degree in accounting and is an accountant for the Department of Defense. Erin Murchison is the Office Administrator at the Collaboration for Early Childhood.
2014
Jeremiah Bill has joined the United States Air Force. He is attending Air Force Officer Training School and will be commissioned as a second lieutenant, Operations Research Analyst, doing math and statistics work for the Air Force.
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alumnotes
2004
alumnotes
Charlotte Huteson of San Angelo, Texas, was voted Team Member of the Quarter on the Global Data and Analytics Team at Whole Foods Market. Collin Radack has joined the Hendrix College baseball coaching staff. Amelia Robert was selected to join the 2016-2017 cohort of Albert Schweitzer Fellows. Albert Schweitzer Fellowship recipients develop and implement community-based public health initiatives serving vulnerable populations, while continuing their graduate studies. She is pursuing a master’s in Public Health at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. She has accepted the Ann Kolker Fellowship, offered by the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Alliance in Washington, D.C. As a Kolker Fellow, she will work on policy initiatives that seek to eliminate ovarian cancer. Jo Claire Robertson is a Marketing Consultant for Townsquare Media in Shreveport, Louisiana. Erin Shaw-Meadow is an English teacher at the Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla in Puebla, Mexico.
Emily Smith is a member of the incoming class of the Clinton School of Public Service. Neelam Vyas is pursuing an MBA at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
2015
Hanna French is an event and marketing coordinator at Camp Aldersgate in Little Rock. Vvdaul Holloway is the area apartment coordinator at Hendrix College. Shelby Massey, along with economics professor Dr. Tom Stanley, recently published a paper titled, “Evidence of nicotine replacement’s effectiveness dissolves when metaregression accommodates multiple sources of bias,” in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, a medical research journal. Becca Morgan is enrolled in the Master of Athletic Training degree program in the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas. She is the 2016 recipient of the Bill Ferrell Endowed Scholarship in Athletic Training and she recently won the Dean Weber Endowed Scholarship in Athletic Training presented to the top student in the athletic training education program.
Brittany Castille-Webb was selected to attend the first White House Summit on the United State of Women. Held in Washington, D.C., in June, the summit brought together a diverse group of leaders, academics, activists, elected officials and others to focus on six key areas that impact women and girls: Educational Opportunity, Health and Wellness, Economic Empowerment, Violence Against Women, Leadership and Civic Engagement, and Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
2016
Jordan Barrett launched a new business venture called Boxxyy, a monthly subscription company featuring pet treats, toys, and supplies, all tailored for your pet’s breed. Zachary Chastain began a 10-month term of service in the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), an AmeriCorps program. Kathleen Conley began a 10-month term of service in the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), an AmeriCorps program.
Marriages Bill Holman ’88 to Kelly Aaron ’92, Aug. 8, 2016. Hunter Gibbs ’07 to Kelly Allison, May 7, 2016. Gabby Schonder ’07 to Vijay Iyer, May 7, 2016. Sam Kauffman ’08 to Kathryn Tull, May 7, 2016. Ryan Strickland ’09 to Sabrina Bowles ’11, March 26, 2016.
Kent Dunson ’12 to Maggie DesPain ’13, June 18, 2016.
Tim Bryant ’10 to Mary Allen, May 21, 2016. Rosie Valdez ’10 to John Block, Aug. 6, 2016. Gina Gordon ’11 to Austin Rhodes ’11, Sept. 17, 2016. Colin Bagby ’12 to Landon McGarry ’13, Oct. 25, 2015. Conerd Frederickson ’12 to Annie Greenaway ’12, May 21, 2016. Caroline Craig ’13 to Johnathan English ’13, Sept. 17, 2016. Luke Castille ’14 to Brittany Webb ’15, Oct. 14, 2016.
Thatcher Crawford ’10 to Hannah Bakker-Arkema ’11, May 21, 2016.
Dom Smith ’16 to Courtney Ulrich, June 11, 2016.
Nicholas Heiner won a Pi Mu Epsilon Student Speaker Award for “A Modified Amazing Array,” his presentation at this year’s MathFest in Columbus, Ohio. Dylan Rogers co-authored an article, “Long-Lived Intermediates in a Cooperative Two-State Folding Transition,” with Faizan Khan ’17 that was recently published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry. Bernice McMillan ’11 to Michael Merlini, July 15, 2016. (Left to Right) Front Row: Forrest Adams ’81, Megan Childress ’13, Adam Grippo ’13, Lauren Sparks Adams ’82, Bernice McMillan Merlini ’11, Rose Adams ’10, and Lydia Nash ’11. Second Row: Alex Graddy-Reed ’09, Aaron Crawford ’10, Cache Carter ’10, Taylor Adams ’10, and T.C. Elliott ’09.
Lee Blankenship ’15, Emily Canon ’13, Laura Hutchison ’08, and Timothy Martin ’08 found themselves together at a party in June in midtown Memphis.
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Lindsey Steiner ’13 to Mark Woodard ’15, May 16, 2016. (Left to Right) Meredith Morrison ’15, Elizabeth Alumbaugh, Hayley Hervey ’15, Sydnee Davis ’15, Katie Thompson ’16, Lindsey Steiner-Woodard ’13, Mark Woodard ’15, Stephen Waters, Andrew LeMay ’15, Reed Brewer ’15, Johnny Ring ’15.
Campbell Tate, first daughter, third child, to Brett Worlow ’97 and Julie, Feb. 2, 2016.
Silas Henry, first son, first child, to Vanessa Norton McKuin ’02 and Tim McKuin ’04, Sept. 13, 2016.
Jemma Katherine, first daughter, second child to Amelia Brakefield James ’98, and Jason, Dec. 20, 2016.
Valeska Amalia, first daughter, first child to Andrea Lujan Cordova ’03 and Orlando, Sept. 18, 2015.
Wiley Daniel, first son, first child, to Danny Rhodes ’98, April 20, 2016.
Madeleine Muse, first daughter, second child to Don Porter ’03 and Lindsay Baldwin Porter ’05.
Charley, second daughter, second child to Matt Black ’01 and Lindsey, April 6, 2015.
Harper Wren, first daughter, second child, to C.J. Sentell ’03 and Jessica, March 2, 2016. Eleanor Elizabeth, first daughter, first child to James Gordon ’04 and Molly Housh Gordon ’06, Feb. 16, 2016. Cameron Rose, second daughter, second child to Sidney Veach Keisner ’04 and David, Nov. 1, 2016.
Paul Richards ’12 to Karyn Kuan ’13, April 23, 2016. (Left to Right) Front Row: Lance Riley ’13, Rebecca Cox ’13, Anna Lennartson ’13, Paul Richards-Kuan ’12, Karyn Richards-Kuan ’13, Daniel Williams ’12. Second Row: Alexandria Saunders ’13, Vicki Davis, JJ Whitney ’96. Third Row: Hanna French ’15, Landon Bagby ’13, Colin Bagby ’12, Tom Holt ’12, Rynnett Ritter Clark ’83, Wayne Clark ’84.
Courtney Hall ’97 to Ela Deneku, May 28, 2016. (Left to Right) First row: Courtney L. Hall ’97, William Polk, Max Polk, Mary Spears Polk ’98. Second row: Dr. Craig R. McClain ’97, Becky Ramsey ’95, Elizabeth Purvis ’98, Brian Buskirk ’97, Scot Polk ’97, Daryl Parat. Third row: Michelle Gaither McClain ’99, Ela Deneku
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Emma Jean, second daughter, third child to Sarah Blount Long ’04 and Justin Long ’04, April 11, 2016. Adeline Louise, second daughter, second child, to Paul Parnell ’04 and Nikki Russell Parnell ’06, April 24, 2016.
Evangeline Brandeis, first daughter, first child, to Brooke Augusta Owen Ware ’01 and Pittman Ware ’03, June 6, 2016.
Meredith Susan, second child, second daughter, to Jeffrey Herrold ’06 and Kate Brannon Herrold ’10, Dec. 8, 2015. Evelyn Ann, second daughter, second child to Raydodd Hester ’06 and Emily Wells Hester ’06, April 22, 2016. Owen Frederik, first son, first child, to Scott Large ’06 and Lauren, April 2, 2015. Charles Kent, second son, second child to Katie Kleitsch Thompson ’06 and Kent Thompson ’07, Jan. 6, 2017. Eileen Alvera, first daughter, second child, to Sarah Kopp Kopper ’07 and Neil Kopper ’08, Oct. 9, 2014. River Alexandra, first daughter, first child, to Lauren Wisner Wilmoth ’08 and Wade, May 7, 2016. Norah Elizabeth, first daughter, first child, to Mac Barnes ’11 and Amelia Wildenborg Barnes ’11, May 29, 2016. Parker Leigh, first child, first daughter, to Lexy Byrne Forgerson ’11 and Jeff Forgerson ’11, March 14, 2016.
Poppy Vontrice, first daughter, first child, to Thomas Henry ’07 and Merry Miller ’08, March 6, 2016.
Hendrix Magazine 2017 33 31 Magazine | | Spring 2017
alumnotes
New Children
alumnotes
In Memoriam Henrietta Wells Mason ’35 Harriett Harton Wright ’37 Lona Collier Runyan ’39 Jane Hamberg Gragson ’40 Mabel Martin Harris-Webb ’40 Ada Stevenson Allen ’41 Helen Trotter Midkiff Capra ’41 Blanche Pittman Tatum ’41 Virginia Harrison Holmes ’42 Jean Elizabeth Martin Olvey ’42 Billie C. Womack ’42 Mildred Carter Latimer ’44 Jonathan P. Shermer ’44 Rebecca O’Quinn Davidson ’45 Marjorie Jo VanDalsem Spence ’45 Jim Moore Sr. ’45 Chester Crow Jr. ’46 Margaret Jane Bulloch Daniels ’46 Leslie T. McIntyre ’46 Eleanor Seymour ’46 Leonard B. Simmons ’46 Grace Pfeiffer Swim ’46 Emogene Holland Carter ’47 John Edward Chiles ’47 Beverly Stewart Clemmons ’47 Elard Lee Haden Jr. ’47 Harry E. Maclay ’47 Betty Sullenberger Whaley Jagoditsh ’47 Mary Ellen See Joslyn ’47 Dorothy Moose Smyer ’47 Betty Jane Claude Warren ’47 Johnarline Moseley Hudson ’48 Martha Davidson Aclin McKnight ’48 Margaret Ann Woods Millar ’48 Katherine Harrel Block ’49 Kathryn McKennon Brockmann ’49 Robert W. McCuistion ’49 Charles Guthrie Ray ’49 Juanita Ann McKinney Wade ’49 Charles G. Ashcraft ’50 Byron Wesley House Jr. ’50 Wynell Jones Martin ’50 Laurence L. Patterson ’50 William Palmer Crawford ’51 Cynthia Brown Dwyer ’51 Carlton Lee Garrett ’51 Bettye Moore Green ’51 Bettie Whitman Maddox ’51 Patton L. Condren ’52 Kathryn Murphy Miller ’52 Eddie Lee Grady ’53 Max White Harris ’53 Ted M. Blair ’54 Thomas L. Bullock Jr. ’54 Charles R. Haynie ’54 Patricia Couch Ledbetter ’54 John Dillard McCracken ’54
32 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2017 34 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2017
Freda Lou Wilson Mobley ’54, Faculty/Staff Robert Frank Ott ’54 Betsy Benson Browne ’56 Beth Bridgers Jones ’56 Carolyn Moran Brown ’57 Martha Choate Jenkins ’57 J.D. Rankin ’57 Ted E. Ashcraft ’58 James Cooper Bass ’58 Richard D. Byrd ’58 George Edward Gillian ’58 Cecil S. Harrison ’58 Charles E. Hughes ’58 Joseph Donaghey Hutson Jr. ’59 George Samuel Jones ’59 Robert Norman Ward ’59 Peggy Hoover Reyher ’60 Wenda Sue Johnson Thomas ’60 Henry Ford Trotter Jr. ’60 Noel Walter Lawson ’61 John Gatewood Mathews ’61 Edward L. Wright Jr. ’61 Anne Gates Lorance ’62 Bruce Andrew Molholt ’62 John Robert Purdy Jr. ’63 H. Gates Williams Jr. ’63 Larry W. Chandler ’64 Frances Counts Rogers ’65 Powell Gladstone Williams ’65 Lyn Mashburn Hampton Granderson ’66 David Paul Keeton ’66 Ernest Harding Salkeld Jr. ’66 Dianne Johnson Pegg ’67 Wesley Martin Shaver ’67 Gini Lile Roland ’68, Faculty/Staff Patricia McCoy Ross ’68 Donald Ray Willis ’68 Katherine Walton Harpole ’69 Albert Peter Thompson Jr. ’71 Robert Wayne McWilliams ’73 John Martin Compton ’74 Don Becker Dodson ’74 Don Alan Lamb ’74 Dennis T. Officer ’74 Margaret Chafin Langley ’75 Susan Gordon Gunter ’76 Thomas Carter Smith ’77 Cathy Hoelzeman-Bond ’78 Carla Louise Magness ’79 Stephen Edward Gately ’80 Sharyn Kaye Sisson ’80 Richard Scott Buchanan ’81 Jill Bayles Long ’82 Jerry D. Macon ’83 Melissa Griffith Stanley ’84 John Stroud III ’84 Lisa Jane Bishop ’85 Shirley E. Coker ’85 Karen Johnston Nicks ’86
P. Luevonda Ross ’86 Sandra Gorins Nelson ’87 Raymond Chad Pifer ’93 Robert Beck Green ’97 Christen Cazort Franke ’02 Matthew Archer Presley ’06 Megan Margaret Ruth Browning ’15 Gregory Curtis Michel ’19
Faculty, StaFF Mary Jean Bishop - Faculty/ Staff Jonathan Bryce Dalke - Faculty/ Staff Hank Wayne Hallum - Faculty/ Staff Elizabeth Mary Nicholson - Faculty/ Staff Marie Sims Smith - Faculty/ Staff Robert L. Sturgeon - Faculty/ Staff Evelyn Maxwell Western - Faculty/Staff
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Albert Raymond, Professor of Biology, Emeritus, and Associate Dean of the College (1952-1996) When ’57 Chevy’s were all the rage, you couldn’t own a car at Hendrix — but you (and everyone else) could count on seeing your grades posted outside Dean Raymond’s door. And he was always there to support you. If you cherish your memories of Hendrix, you can provide the same kind of memories for generations to come. A designated or planned gift provides life-changing experiences for students and it creates a legacy that will endure. Although the names and faces change over time, the memories remain. Share the gift of Hendrix memories. Support the Altus Bell Society.
Center for Trusts and Estates FOR MORE INFORMATION, contact Lori F. Jones ’81 CFP® Director of the Center for Trusts and Estates 501-450-1476 or email jonesl@hendrix.edu www.hendrixaltusbell.org
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Kevin Young, Murphy Visiting Poet, 2016
Hendrix-Murphy Turns 40! In 2017-2018 the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation will celebrate its 40th birthday with a banner year of exemplary student-focused programming in literature and language. Watch www.hendrix.edu/hendrixmurphy/ and follow www.facebook.com/hendrixmurphyfoundation/ or @HendrixMurphy for the latest developments.