Amy Jiang

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 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 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.

Juliet Freudman

Graduate Fellowship Recipient, 2019

Juliet Freudman will receive a B.S. in biomedical engineering in June and will pursue a M.S. in material science and engineering. Her interests are in diagnostics, biotechnology, and global health. She has had experience working on a healthcare technical study in South Africa, and working with doctors and engineers in a Motion Analysis laboratory in New York. In addition, Juliet was awarded the Simpson-Querrey Fellowship to work at the Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics, where she has been a co-author of two published articles. She is also the director of Camp Kesem at Northwestern, which organizes summer camp for 220 children whose lives are affected by a parent’s cancer.

Jennifer Lackey

Curriculum Innovation Award Recipient, 2020

From The Office of the Provost

"Jennifer Lackey, Professor of Philosophy, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences

“Inspiring students to examine the crisis of mass incarceration in the U.S. through a philosophical lens”

Lackey will design a course that brings together Northwestern undergraduates and incarcerated students enrolled in the Northwestern Prison Education Program (NPEP) to study the philosophy of punishment and incarceration.

The course will enable students to examine, through a philosophical lens, the causes and consequences of the incarceration crisis in the United States, which is home to 5% of the world’s population, but 25% of its prisoners. Students will investigate the racial and socioeconomic roots of the punitive approach the U.S. has taken to criminal justice, imposing lengthy prison sentences and harsh conditions of confinement, and providing very few educational, vocational or recreational programs. Evanston-based students will travel weekly to Stateville Correctional Center to attend class with NPEP students. Together the students will study and analyze competing theories of punishment, explore connections among incarceration, race, and poverty, and collaborate to develop theoretical and practical approaches to these issues. Because the course will explore issues that NPEP students face every day, they will be able to provide a valuable firsthand perspective and contribute to a meaningful learning experience for their Evanston-based classmates.

Lackey is the founder and director of NPEP, the only degree-granting program in the state to provide a liberal arts curriculum to incarcerated students. NPEP is a collaboration between Northwestern’s School of Professional Studies and Oakton Community College."

Jennifer Lackey, Sepehr Vakil, and Sarah Van Wart have been named the 2020 recipients of The Alumnae of Northwestern University’s Award for Curriculum Innovation for helping create courses for undergraduate students. 

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Sarah Van Wart

Curriculum Innovation Award Recipient, 2020

Sarah Van Wart, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, McCormick School of Engineering

“Encouraging students to critically engage with contemporary ethical challenges in computing”

Sepehr Vakil and Van Wart will develop an ethics course for undergraduate Computer Science majors. This course will provide students with the opportunity to consider the social implications of computing technologies, and the far-reaching, unintended consequences these systems might have.

The goal of this course will be to provoke and inspire students to critically engage with contemporary ethical challenges in computing. Students will analyze case studies of current and enduring socio-technical dilemmas such as bias in algorithms, surveillance technologies, applications of facial recognition technologies, privacy breaches, etc. In addition, students will use real-world datasets to examine various social values within algorithms, computational techniques, and design decisions. Through these experiences, students will learn to recognize the ethics built into the various technologies they use and understand the responsibility of software engineers to act in the interest of all those affected by their products. 

Van Wart has experience working as a software developer and designer, with a focus on collaborative urban and regional planning systems research. Her research explores approaches to broadening participation in computing that involve creative production and working with real-world data sets.

Sarah's research partner, Sepehr Vakil is in the School of Education and Social Policy.  Click on this link to read the announcement of the award from SESP's news.  SESP'S announcement of The Alumnae's award.

Jennifer Lackey, Sepehr Vakil, and Sarah Van Wart have been named the 2020 recipients of The Alumnae of Northwestern University’s Award for Curriculum Innovation for helping create courses for undergraduate students.

Eileen Chen

STEM Scholarship Recipient, 2017

Eileen Chen, WCAS '19, neuroscience, is from Willoughby, Ohio, and is interested in neuroscience and how the functioning of the brain impacts mental health.  She has done medical research for the past 5 years at Case Western Reserve University and has a passion for her STEM studies and looks forward to a career improving the lives of others. She has strong interpersonal and communication skills and a commitment to mentoring others.

Braden Cronin

STEM Scholarship Recipient, 2019

Braden Cronin (WCAS) ’21, from Naperville, Ill., is studying global health and neuroscience. She began Northwestern on a Posner Fellowship and was accepted to present at a biomedical conference for minority students. She was awarded the Weinberg Travel Grant, the Central Florida Marine Corps Scholarship, as well as the Greer Scholarship. Her goal is to go into international health, specifically global healthcare. She is committed to understanding both the historical aspect of public health as well as the science behind the medicine. Because of her experience as a biracial student, she deeply values diversity and inclusion. She is active with MakerGirl to combat stereotypes against woman and minorities.