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Alumni and Friends Class Notes
Benjamin Adams (’23, Political Science and International Relations) was admitted to the University of South Carolina’s Rice School of Law.
Jeffrey Allen (’19, International Relations/Philosophy) is working in Nashville in information technology and is now married to Basak, a native of Turkey.
Tori Bascou (’24, Forensic Science/ Dance) was accepted to Texas Tech University for the Forensic Investigation master’s program following her May graduation.
An Honors Buchanan Transfer Fellow, Rachel Booher (’23, Foreign Languages) is now pursuing a master’s in English and became the University’s first Phi Kappa Phi Marcus L. Urann Fellow. She was one of only six students awarded the $20,000 scholarship in 2024 to use toward her graduate education.
Dani Bryson (’09, Political Science) had a book review published in The Gospel Coalition in December 2023 titled “How to Seek Biblical Justice in an Imperfect World,” which reviewed Reforming Criminal Justice by Matthew T. Martens.
Rebecca Clippard (’18, Foreign Languages) was awarded the exclusive MEXT Research Scholarship by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology to complete a postgraduate degree at a Japanese institution.
After graduating in May, Emilie Conners (’24, Marketing) secured a position working at Grammarly after serving as Pearson Campus Ambassador and social media student worker for the Jones College of Business Advising Center.
Yaseen Ginnab (’23, Biology/Psychology), a Goldwater recipient and Buchanan Fellow, will attend St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia to earn a master’s degree in Evolution and Ecology. He earned a tuition waiver and a stipend. Ginnab also was an honorable mention for the 2024 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program.
Addison Hadley (’20, Political Science) works as a professional mental health counselor while also engaging in community service. She is also the winner of Miss United States 2023 and is currently pursuing multiple service initiatives to improve the lives of children around the country.
Andrew Heim (’18, Psychology) completed his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology at the University of Tennessee in spring 2024.
Goldwater recipient Elizabeth Kowalczyk (’23, Forensic Science) is working at the University of North Texas Health Science Center with the Center for Human Identification while completing her Ph.D.
Kacie Leonard (’23, Animal Science) completed an internship with Timmerman Feedlot Management and is now working as a cattle foreman at the Roberts Cattle Co. Feedlot in Nebraska.
Vincent B. Lillegard (’09, Anthropology) joined the Barnes & Thornburg firm’s Corporate Department as a partner in 2023. He received his J.D. from the New York University School of Law and previously was a partner with Bass, Berry & Sims PLC.
Cody Malone (’13, Aerospace), a former Buchanan Fellow, was promoted to major in the U.S. Air Force in April. He is currently an instructor pilot for the F-16 fighter aircraft.
James Morton (’18, History/Political Science) earned his law degree at Baylor University in August after originally planning to pursue a Ph.D. in Church and State.
Former Buchanan Fellow Dylan Phillips (’13, Recording Industry), aka “nobigdyl,” won a Grammy Award in 2024 for his contributions to fellow MTSU alum Lecrae Moore’s Grammy-winning album.
Buchanan Fellow alumna Dara Zwemer (’22, Psychology) was awarded the 2024 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program at the University of Utah.
In Memoriam
Jennifer Jean Jordan-Henley (’84, ’85), an Honors graduate who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English, died Aug. 20 following a short illness. She and husband Terry met at MTSU and married in 1985. Upon graduation, the couple moved to Knoxville, where Jordan-Henley became the Writing Center director at the Oak Ridge campus of Roane State Community College. She received the Tennessee Board of Regents’ Distance Education and Innovation Award for Outstanding Service for creating and publishing methods of online tutoring in the early 90s before it became common. She later created an online writing lab, which won national awards, and she developed one of the first online courses in Tennessee.
