The Alumnae of Northwestern University Awards Five 2020-2021 Academic Enrichment Grants
EVANSTON, Ill. --- The Alumnae of Northwestern University has awarded funding for five programs that will bring guest artists and distinguished scholars and speakers to campus to enhance the undergraduate experience.
These intriguing programs also will be of interest to faculty, graduate students, other Northwestern community members, and, in some cases, the general public.
To read about the five recipients click HERE.
Eighteen Northwestern Students Granted 2019 Summer Internships by The Alumnae of Northwestern University
EVANSTON, Ill. --- The Alumnae of Northwestern University has selected 18 students to receive grants to fund 2019 summer internships. The Summer Internship Grant Program (SIGP) provides undergraduate students a $3,000 stipend for completing an unpaid summer internship, while simultaneously participating in a professional development program offered by Northwestern Career Advancement (NCA). The Alumnae has been a staunch supporter of the SIGP program since 2010.
Henri Lauzière, Teaching Professorship Recipient
Alumnae Teaching Professorship Recipient, 2020
Henri Lauzière is Associate Professor of modern Middle Eastern history at Northwestern University. He received his PhD from Georgetown University and prior to coming to Chicago he was a postdoctoral fellow in the study of the Middle East since the First World War at the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. His main area of research focuses on Islamic intellectual history in 20th-century Middle East and North Africa, with a particular interest in the ways in which historians process and produce knowledge about ideas. He is the author of The Making of Salafism: Islamic Reform in the Twentieth Century, which came out with Columbia University Press in 2016 and has been translated into Arabic in 2018. He has also written various articles on modern Islamic thought and activism in both the Maghreb and the Arab East.
The Alumnae Gives Sr. Woman's Volunteer Service Award to Sophia Ruark
Evanston, Ill. --- Sophia Ruark is the recipient of the 2020 Senior Woman’s Service Award given by The Alumnae of Northwestern University. The award, established by The Alumnae in 2002, honors a senior woman for volunteer service during her undergraduate years at Northwestern University.
Sophia, from Grand Ledge, Michigan, a senior in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences (WCAS) and at the Illinois Institute of Technology, is graduating this spring with a major in psychology and a legal studies minor.
Sophia Ruark, Sr. Woman's Volunteer Service Awardee
Senior Woman's Award for Volunteer Service Recipient, 2020
Evanston, Ill. --- Sophia Ruark is the recipient of the 2020 Senior Woman’s Service Award given by The Alumnae of Northwestern University. The award, established by The Alumnae in 2002, honors a senior woman for volunteer service during her undergraduate years at Northwestern University. Sophia, from Grand Ledge, Michigan, a senior in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences (WCAS) and at the Illinois Institute of Technology, is graduating this spring with a major in psychology and a legal studies minor.
Throughout her time at Northwestern, Sophia has participated in Air Force ROTC, which has the core value of “Service Before Self.” This involvement has provided her with leadership skills, purpose, and the opportunity to earn a commission as an Air Force officer. She will be headed to Cannon Air Force in New Mexico to be a Remotely Piloted Aircraft Officer, becoming the first woman in her detachment in at least five years to do so.
Sophia became involved with a new Northwestern Prison Education Program (NPEP) in October 2018, beginning as an administrative assistant. The program has a special place in her heart since her father was incarcerated at different times in her life. Her tutoring at Statesville (Illinois) Correctional Center allowed her to speak directly with prisoners about their needs. She expanded her tutoring program by founding the Undergraduate Prison Education Partnership (UPEP) in 2018 and serves as its Presid. entGroups of students work to provide prisoners with reentry programming, academic support and enrichment, awareness initiatives, and more. They recently secured a $1 million sponsorship from the Mellon Foundation to expand and continue their programs.
Click HERE for the complete News Release.
Olivia Putnam, Alumnae Scholar
Alumnae Scholarship Recipient, 2020
Olivia Putnam has an interest in neuroscience-psychology research and has worked in a clinical psychology neuroimaging laboratory conducting her own research project. She was accepted into the Brady Scholars program, studying moral philosophy and has begun designing an Evanston-centered service project. She is also the incoming president of the Undergraduate Prison Education Partnership, which supports Northwestern's Prison Education Program's mission to bring a Northwestern education to incarcerated students in Illinois.
This is a three year award with the recipient selected by Northwestern University.
The Alumnae Awards Four Graduate Fellowships for 2019-20
Click HERE to read about the four recipients.
Note: Amy Jiang replaced Ibtesaam Moosa, who did not enroll in graduate school at Northwestern University.
Amy Jiang, Graduate Fellow
Graduate Fellowship Recipient, 2019
Amy Jiang received her B.A. in economics and global health studies in June 2019. In the fall she began her Masters of Science in Management Studies (MSMS) at the Kellogg School of Management with a goal of developing business skills and strategies that can be applied to nonprofit operations. Her dream of starting her own international NGO post-graduation grew from her internship at a healthcare clinic in Uganda, her experience as a Posner Research Fellow, her study of the Chinese healthcare system at Peking University, and working as an analyst at a healthcare consulting firm.
Julia Shenkman, Graduate Fellow
Graduate Fellowship Recipient, 2019
Julia Shenkman will receive her B.A. in anthropology and global health studies in June and will pursue a M.S. in public health. She has received several grants and was one of five recipients of the Mellon Mayes Fellowship. Its director wrote that “she has never seen a scholar with more impressive leadership and academic potential.” Julia studied global health in South Africa and created a research project on medical tourism in El Paso, Texas. Her goal is to gain the skills and knowledge to develop public health programs that effectively address community needs. She was also chief of staff for the NU Associated Student Government and is a research intern in Illinois senator Dick Durbin’s office.
Jodi Salata, Graduate Fellow
Graduate Fellowship Recipient, 2019
Jodi Salata, widowed in 2009, with two young boys, started a support group for other widows, which led her to get a certificate as a Life Coach. To better pursue her passion to help others heal and grow, she later enrolled in Northwestern’s School of Professional Studies and received a B.S. in psychology in 2018, graduating cum laude. This fall she will begin the Master’s program in marriage and family therapy at the Family Institue to further her professional credentials as a therapist. Jodi hopes to be able to make a difference in people struggling with clinical depression.