Society of Self Fellows Fall 2020 Newsletter

Society of Self Fellows 2020 Fall Newsletter As we kick-off a new academic year, much in our world has changed since March 2020.The Self Graduate Fellowship staff are working remotely and proceeding forward, funding doctoral students, programming virtually, and continuing to support our alumni network.

MADISON & LILA SELF GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP The University of Kansas

@ku_selfgraduate

This newsletter is a chance for Self Graduate Fellowship alumni to provide feedback about opportunities for the Society, learn about the current readings and speakers for the Fellow Development Program, and see an overview of the current Fellows and updated alumni profile.

@ku_selfgraduatefellowship

/selfgraduate

/company/self-graduate-fellowship-ku/

SSF Board of Governors Current Board of Governors for the Society of Self Fellows: (Elections for the Board of Governors takes place every November.)

Mark Bailey, Ph.D. Board: 2017-2020 President

Kyle Wetzel, Ph.D. Board: 2019-2022

Mary Krause, Ph.D. Board: 2018-2021

Angela Pierce, Ph.D. Board: 2020-2023

Heather York, Ph.D. Board: 2016-2019 Past President

Letter from Jennifer Roberts, Ph.D. My first six months as Vice Provost for Graduate Studies and Managing Trustee of the Self Graduate Fellowship have coincided with a national and institutional time of profound change and tragedy, combined with displays of incredible resilience, cooperation, and care. Our graduate students have been significantly influenced by the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and civil unrest that have impacted all of our lives. Graduate students are an essential part of KU’s community, and the University has developed task forces and implemented changes to better support them through these difficult times. The students themselves have also risen to the challenges of our moment, exhibiting incredible innovation, adaptability, and determination in the face of trauma.

The Self Graduate Fellowship and Self Memorial Scholarship continue to promote KU’s core institutional priorities for graduate education in the midst COVID-19. The values Madison and Lila Self set for leadership training and professional development were prescient; these skills, in combination with rigorous discipline-specific training, are what all of our graduate students require to stand out in a shifting professional landscape and increasingly competitive academic market. The Self Graduate programs model values that we are endeavoring to implement in graduate training across KU. As members of the Society of Self Fellows, all of you have experienced and benefited from the training and experiences afforded to you by the vision and generosity of Madison and Lila Self. If you are in a position to return that generosity to KU, I urge you to donate to the Vice Provost’s Graduate Retention Fund.

This fund helps retain students through their degrees by providing emergency support for unexpected expenses, as well as funding for research or development experiences, conference attendance, and workshop participation. Our students are facing unprecedented financial and emotional stress, and we are drawing on this fund now more than ever. Every donation, no matter the amount, will help us meet the needs of our graduate Jennifer Roberts, Ph.D. students.

Vice Provost for Graduate Studies SGF Managing Trustee We appreciate your continued engagement with KU and the Self Graduate Fellowship, and I hope to be able to meet many of you in person in the near future. I wish all of you health, safety, and as much stability as possible in these troubled times.

Click here help graduate students with unexpected financial circumstances by donating to the Vice Provost Graduate Retention Fund (10549).

SOCIETY OF SELF FELLOWS

Give Us Your Feedback As we think about the priorities for the Society of Self Fellows, we would like your feedback. The following survey allows you an opportunity to tell us what you would find most engaging and beneficial.

Additionally, we are reengaging the mentorship program for the 2020-2021 academic year. This effort will connect current Self Graduate Fellows (mentees) and members of the Society of Self Fellows (mentors), enhance student-to-career transitions, and strengthen alumni engagement.

Mentoring can include long-term and regular interactions or be short-term and sporadic interactions. Although we will plan a couple of events between both groups to provide logical check points, there is not a minimum or maximum number of required interactions. Further, there is no expectation or implied obligation that mentors will arrange or be responsible for employment. If you would be willing to offer your time and knowledge to a current Fellow, please let us know in the survey.

Lastly, if you have any personal updates, the survey has a field for you to include.

Thank you for your feedback and thoughts!

Complete the survey by October 21: https://bit.ly/33o3VO3

Society Current Employment by Industry Health Care & Social Assistance Unknown Other Private Professional , Scientific, & Technical All Other Private Sector Industries Still Enrolled in School Management of Companies & Enterprises Federal/State/Local Government (excl. Education) Private Scientific Research & Development Education 0

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For more information on the work of Society members and "where they are now," take a look at the Society of Self Fellows profile page.

SOCIETY OF SELF FELLOWS

Personal Updates Heather Amthauer, Ph.D. (2003-2007) is Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University in St. Joseph, Minnesota.

Robin Aupperle, Ph.D. (2002-2006) is doing research focused on using neuroscientific methods, primarily functional MRI, to understand mechanisms and predictors of behavioral therapy response in anxiety and depression and use that information to inform novel treatments.

As of July 2020, she received her first R01 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health focusing on neural and behavioral responses during decision-making and how such responses may relate to which psychological interventions work best for which individuals.

Mark Bailey, Ph.D. (2006-2010) is now the Department Chair for the Cyber Intelligence and Data Science Department at the National Intelligence University. He is still a Medical Support Officer in the Army Reserve.

Sarah Borland, Ph.D. (2011-2015) recently transitioned to a new job and is now working at AbbVie as a Senior Scientist II in Analytical Research and Development.

Lisa Castle, Ph.D. (2000-2004) was recently promoted to Professor at Southwestern Oklahoma State University.

Michael Cooper, Ph.D. (2014-2018) is the Medical Science Liaison at Myriad Genetics in St. Louis, Missouri.

Mackenzie Cremeans, Ph.D. (2013-2017) was recently elected to the Geology Alumni Advisory Board for KU’s Geology Department and also got a couple of papers out this year.

Maria Feeney, Ph.D. (2005-2009) recently co-authored an extensive review entitled "Human Fetal Tissue from Elective Abortions in Research and Medicine: Science, Ethics, and the Law," which was published in the Spring 2020 edition of Issues in Law & Medicine. The authors of record are: Tara Sander Lee, Ph.D., Maria B. Feeney, Ph.D., Kathleen M. Schmainda, Ph.D., James L. Sherley, M.D., Ph.D., and David A. Prentice, Ph.D. Maria currently serves as an Associate Scholar with the Charlotte Lozier Institute. She has engaged in public policy and advocacy through speaking and writing engagements, as well as testimony before multiple state legislative bodies.

Ted Harris, Ph.D. (2013-2017) is still a Assistant Research Professor at the Kansas Biological Survey and is now on steering committee for GLEON. GLEON is a global society focused on understanding lake processes.

Jeffrey Hirst, Ph.D. (2012-2016) started at Caris Life Sciences in April working as a Molecular Science Liaison providing physician education and support for clinical biomarker testing as well as clinical research development. He and his wife Sarah welcomed a little girl, Hadley Sloane Hirst, to the family this August.

Katrina Legursky-Glenn, Ph.D. (2008-2012) is currently living in Connecticut and was just promoted to Senior Scientist at Applied Physical Sciences Corp. She had a baby boy this year, their fifth child. She and her husband, Brian, spent the summer sailing with the whole family (even the baby) in their little wood sailboat and she works hard in the garden.

Alexandra Machen, Ph.D. (2015-2019) successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation (virtually) in June and officially graduated in August. She will continue to work in the Freudenthal Laboratory of Genome Maintenance and Structural Biology at KUMC for the next year as a post-doctoral research assistant. She is also excited to announce that she and her husband Chris are expecting their first child in February.

Erin Mannen, Ph.D. (2010-2014) recently accepted a new tenure-track position at Boise State University, where she is continuing baby biomechanics research. Her research focuses on infant musculoskeletal development and safety of commercial baby gear by using biomechanics. The lab was recently (October 2019) involved in the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission's decision to recall a major infant product class, the inclined sleeper.

Dave Minnick, Ph.D. (2012-2016) was married on September 5, 2020 to Lawren Kavulich. They currently live in Marietta, OH and he continues to work for DuPont at the Washington Works site in Parkersburg, WV. Tim Nelson, Ph.D. (2002-2006) in July received a new 5-year R01 award from NIH/NIDDK entitled "Modifiable Predictors of Neural Vulnerabilities for Obesity."

Brian Platt, Ph.D. (2005-2009) received tenure and has been promoted to Associate Professor in the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering at the University of Mississippi.

Diana Sperger, Ph.D. (2005-2009) is a Director in the Formulation and Process Development Department at Gilead Sciences. She and her husband Tim welcomed daughter Brynn in October 2015 and son Ryan in July 2018.

Emily Stamey, Ph.D. (2002-2006) is still enjoying her work as curator at the Weatherspoon Art Museum at UNC Greensboro. She recently channeled her love of Jayhawk basketball into the exhibition To the Hoop: Basketball and Contemporary Art. Funded in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, the show features 25 artists who use the game as a lens through which to explore a breadth of social issues—from race and gender, to power and equity, to wellness and spirituality. You can check out a virtual version of the show at: https://weatherspoonart.org/exhibition-to-the-hoop/ She and her husband are busy working on their “new” 1918 home in one of Greensboro’s historic neighborhoods—stripping wallpaper, learning to deal with plaster walls, and remembering that if their house made it through the Spanish Flu, it can surely get through Covid-19.

Alycia Stigall, Ph.D. (2001-2005) began a term as Chair of Geological Sciences at Ohio University, which she says is an interesting role in these times. She is continuing to explore the role of species invasions on speciation processes using (mainly) the shallow marine fossil record. This past year she published a theoretical paper on a concept she’s been developing since her time as a Self Graduate Fellow, so that was particularly exciting on the professional front to see that come to fruition. (Stigall, A.L. (2019). The invasion hierarchy: ecological and evolutionary consequences of invasions in the fossil record. Annual Review of Ecology and Evolutionary Systematics, 50:355-380.) She continues to serve as a co-leader of an international project to bring together geoscientists focused on paleontology and Earth System of the Ordovician Period, which includes one of the greatest intervals of biotic diversification in life history, and recently had the novel experience of co-leading a virtual conference for the group. They had over 200 scientists from 29 countries. She highly recommends organizing virtual conferences for your own groups rather than skipping networking and conference opportunities. The meeting was different than usual in some ways, but it had the advantage of being inclusive of more colleagues globally, which was a huge benefit.

Chris Taylor, Ph.D. (2004-2008) is Principal Modeler for American National Property and Casualty.

Kyle Wetzel, Ph.D. (1994-1998) is a member of the SSF Board of Governors, married Lindsay Currier Carranza in May, and has relocated to the Houston area, where he and Lindsay are enjoying their life together with 16-year-old Hailey and 8-year-old Nova and a menagerie of small animals. He continues to work as a consulting engineer in the wind energy industry through his company, Wetzel Wind Energy Services, which he has also relocated to Houston. Kyle was elected as the new Chairman of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (USTAG) for the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Technical Committee (TC) 88, which is responsible for drafting IEC standards governing the wind energy industry. He assumed the new position June 1.

Ian Wiedling, Ph.D. (2015-2019) started at AbbVie as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at AbbVie on May 4 within the Alzhemier’s drug discovery Program. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

FALL SGF UPDATES

Staff Changes Since January 2020, several staff changes occurred. Stefani Buchwitz transitioned from Program Manager to Director. The staff grew from three to four full-time staff members with the addition of a Program Coordinator position, filled by Michelle Compton-MuĂąoz. Additionally, Daniel Rivera joined the staff as the newest Recruitment Coordinator. Tammie Zordel continues as the department Senior Administrative Associate. Over the last five fiscal years, the Self Graduate Fellowship department has been intentionally and productively growing. This is most clearly evidenced through the following: growth in the number of fellows; increased recruitment efforts both on-campus and off-campus; additional recruitment collaborations with SGF-eligible departments; enhanced Fellow Development Programs and an increase in the number of fellows participating; the creation and high usage of the SGF Professional Development Award; and the addition of the staff now administering the Self Memorial Scholarship. This has all been supported and approved by the Board of Trustees and with the ongoing donor-Endowed funds. To learn more about the staff and their responsibilities, please visit the SGF staff web page.

Jennifer Roberts, Ph.D. Vice Provost for Graduate Studies, SGF Managing Trustee

Stefani Buchwitz, Ed.D. Director

Tammie Zordel

Senior Administrative Associate

Daniel Rivera, MSE Recruitment Coordinator

Michelle Compton-MuĂąoz MSE Program Coordinator

Virtual Fall Skill Session Fall 2020 was our first-ever virtual Fall Skill Session. Due to COVID-19, we used Microsoft Teams and Zoom to allow for our sessions. Fellows missed the breakfast, coffee breaks, and lunches, but we still had great conversation and were able to use breakout rooms for new Fellows to meet the full group.

CURRENT FELLOW PROFILE

The 43 current Self Graduate Fellows hold undergraduate and graduate degrees from 45 colleges and universities in two countries and 20 U.S. states.

Bethel College Bucknell University California State University Los Angeles Case Western Reserve University College of Charleston Cornell University Emporia State University Grand Valley State University Humboldt State University Hunter College Iowa State University Jordan University of Science and Technology Kansas State University Lehigh University Massachusetts Institute of Technology New Mexico State University Northern Arizona University Northern Illinois University Occidental University Ohio University Oregon State University Rice University

NE

Robert Morris University Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology State University of NY at Oneonta Southwest Baptist University St. Mary’s College of California Truman State University U.S. Military Academy at West Point University of Arizona University of Chicago University of Cincinnati University of Delaware University of Kansas University of Memphis University of New Mexico-Albuquerque University of Puget Sound University of Texas at Austin University of Texas at Permian Basin University of Texas at Tyler Wartburg College Washburn University Wichita State University Yale University

CURRENT FELLOW PROFILE

This year 43 fellows are pursuing 20 Ph.D.s in five schools at the University of Kansas.

19

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

14

School of Engineering

7

School of Medicine

2

School of Pharmacy

1

School of Business

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (19) Chemistry (5) Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (6) Economics (1) Geology (3) Mathematics (1) Molecular Biosciences (1) Physics and Astronomy (2) School of Engineering (14) Aerospace Engineering (1) Bioengineering (7) Chemical and Petroleum Engineering (1) Civil, Environmental, and Architectural (1) Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (2) Mechanical Engineering (2)

School of Medicine (7) (KU Medical Center) Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (1) Cancer Biology (1) Molecular and Integrative Physiology (2) Neuroscience (2) Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (1)

School of Pharmacy (2) Medicinal Chemistry (2)

School of Business (1) Organizational Behavior (1)

FALL SKILL SESSION

FSS: 3-Year Letter During the Fall Skill Session, the Fellows spent two days with Chad Carden and Adam Caroll of The Carden Group (https://thecardengroup.com/) who presented a lively and engaging two day workshop titled “Increasing Your EQ.” One of the activities the Fellows did with Chad and Adam was to write a 3-year letter to themselves. They stated, “Research shows most people overestimate how much can be accomplished in 1 year, but truly UNDERESTIMATE what they can achieve in 3 years.”

Instructions: The purpose of crafting your 3-year letter is to create clarity around what your future vision is and what you want to accomplish 3 years from today. There are no right answers, only the answers that serve your future purpose. You can write your 3-year letter from a personal standpoint, a business standpoint, or a combination of both. This 3-year letter will be your “north star” moving forward and allow you to gain clarity around the direction of your future. You can also use this letter for a decision-making process. If something helps move you toward your end goal(s), then say yes. If it doesn’t move you toward your goal(s), now it becomes a lot easier to say no and justify why.

Once written the Fellows assessed tailwinds that will help obtain goals, headwinds standing in the way, and outlined next action steps.

What would you include in your 3-year letter?

If you participate in the SGF Society Mentor Program this year, ask your Fellow about their letter. Have they made any progress towards the goals they outlined? Has it helped influence their decision making process?

Fall Books Read what the fellows are currently reading within the Fellow Development Program.

https://amzn.to/32Wzlup

https://amzn.to/2QUyWDp

https://amzn.to/2Gxjnzt

https://amzn.to/31XapDY

Public Policy When the Fellows were polled last spring as to what topics they would like to learn more about this year, they overwhelmingly mentioned COVID-19 and topics of crisis management. As such this year’s topic is Crisis Policy. Despite our virtual format, these presentations continue as Luncheons as they still fall over the lunch hours and to maintain the tradition.

September 1 Luncheon Speaker: Eileen Hawley Eileen spent 15 years immersed in media relations and communications at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, serving as News Chief, Public Affairs Director and ultimately Director of External Relations. https://www.griffincg.com/meet-the-team/eileen-hawley/ Advance reading: “Risk communication, the West Nile virus epidemic, and bioterrorism: responding to the communication challenges posed by the intentional or unintentional release of a pathogen in an urban setting” by Vincent T. Covello, et al., https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3456369/

September 22 Luncheon Speaker: Dan Partridge Dan Partridge has worked in local public health since 1991. In 2007, he was named Director of the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department. https://ldchealth.org/directory.aspx?EID=2 Advance reading: “Risk communication, the West Nile virus epidemic, and bioterrorism: responding to the communication challenges posed by the intentional or unintentional release of a pathogen in an urban setting” by Vincent T. Covello, et al., https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3456369/

In addition to our usual speakers, we have added ways for the Fellows to engage with the Crisis Policy.

Freakonimcs Radio: “Remembrance of Economic Crises Past (Ep. 425)”

Christina Romer is a former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama administration.

Romer worked with economist Jared Bernstein to co-author the administration's plan for recovery from the 2008 recession.

The Crisis Ahead Podcast: “Volkswagen’s Bungled Response to Emissions Scandal” This episode features an interview with KU’s own Matt Tidwell. Tidwell is the Assistant Dean for Graduate and Professional Studies Faculty Lecturer in the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications.