LU Lights

CELEBRATING THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE LAWRENCE COMMUNITY

FROM TOP, LEFT TO RIGHT: Ingrid Albrecht, Matthew Arau, Chloe Armstrong, Stephanie Burdick-Shepherd, Horacio Contreras, John Holiday, Danielle Joyner, Victoria Kononova, Nora Lewis, Brigid Vance.

Ten faculty members earned tenure this year. It’s a testament to the strength and talent of our faculty, as well as Lawrence’s investment in developing our academic programs: Ingrid Albrecht (Philosophy), Matthew Arau (Music Education), Chloe Armstrong (Philosophy), Stephanie Burdick-Shepherd (Education), Horacio Contreras (Music—Cello), John Holiday (Music—Voice), Danielle Joyner (Art History), Victoria Kononova (Russian), Nora Lewis (Music—Oboe), Brigid Vance (History). All will be promoted to the title of associate professor.

Travis Dillon ’21 has received a prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) award that will assist the mathematics major as he heads to graduate school and pursues a doctorate.The NSF’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) award provides three years of financial support. It comes a year after Dillon was named a Goldwater Scholar, also a highly competitive honor. It also marks the second consecutive year that a Lawrence senior has received an NSF GRFP award, after Willa Dworschak ’20 earned the honor last year.

Photo: Danny Damiani

In recognition of their vital role in keeping the campus community safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Director of Health Services Jillian Drier and Director of Campus Services Jon Meyer were honored with the annual President’s Award of Excellence.

Despite surges in the surrounding community, COVID-19 infection rates on campus remained below 1% for nearly the entire year, due in large part to testing administration by students and staff and a university-wide commitment to Honoring the Pledge

Lawrence’s COVID-19 Dashboard, which provides data about COVID-19 on campus, was given an “A” by We Rate Covid Dashboards. USA Today also praised Lawrence for how the website set the tone for keeping the spread of COVID-19 in check.

Led by Sarah Navy ’22 and Malcolm Davis ’23, the Black Student Union and the Diversity and Intercultural Center collaborated to organize a series of events throughout the month of February to shine a new light on Black history and culture.

Thanks to the ingenuity of this year’s trivia masters, the Great Midwest Trivia Contest thrived in its first all-digital edition, drawing in an impressive total of 551 virtual players.

Kiese Laymon, author of the renowned Heavy: an American Memoir, shared his insights on the importance of revision and reflection with the campus community as the Winter Term Convocation speaker. Three Lawrence University professors, Beth De Stasio, Raymond H. Herzog Professor of Science and professor of biology, and Gustavo Fares and Rosa Tapia, both professors of Spanish, were featured in AP Daily, the College Board’s new video lecture series for high school AP students.

Assistant Professor of English Austin Segrest was awarded the Vassar Miller Prize for his soon-to-be published poetry collection, Door to Remain.

Ongoing sustainability efforts on campus landed Lawrence University a spot on The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges: 2021 Edition.

Adona Lauriano ’21 took home third place in The Pitch, an annual competition for Wisconsin college students to gain funding for a business start-up idea—marking the fourth consecutive year Lawrence students have finished in the money.

Lawrence has once again been named a Best Value School by The Princeton Review. The book features just 200 schools and “recommend[s] the colleges we consider the nation’s best for academics, affordability, and career prospects.”