Society of Self Fellows 2024 Spring Newsletter

Society of Self Fellows 2024 Spring Newsletter

SSF BOARD OF GOVERNORS

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

Angela Pierce, Ph.D. Board: 2020-2024

President

Nikki Johnson, Ph.D. Board: 2021-2025

Ted Harris, Ph.D. Board: 2022-2026

Molly McVey, Ph,D., P.Eng Board: 2023-2027

IN THIS ISSUE

SSF Personal Updates ............. Page 2

Election Update ....................... Page 3

SGF Symposium ..................... Pages 4-5

Book Club Conversation .......... Page 6

International Seminar .............. Page 7

CELEBRATING 35 YEARS

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Self Graduate Fellowship, a milestone to celebrate as we reflect on the immense impact of this program. Madison and Lila Self sought lifelong learners and put in place a vast amount of support, allowing past, current, and future fellows to make a real difference in the world.

We hope you can join us April 18-19, 2024 in Lawrence for the annual Self Graduate Fellowship Symposium as we celebrate 35 years of history. Pages 4-5 of this newsletter provide more in-depth details about the symposium.

SOCIETY PERSONAL UPDATES

If at any time you have personal or professional news you would like included in the newsletter, please submit your updates to SGF@ku.edu. News does not have to be about significant changes. The Society would enjoy hearing regular updates, including employment milestones, continuing research on an ongoing project, etc.

Karl Brooks, Ph.D., (1996-2000 Fellow), is now about done with his second year back on the KU faculty in the School of Public Affairs and Administration as a Professor of the Practice. Returning to KU and Lawrence from New Mexico, Austin, and Washington, D.C. has been wonderful. He and his wife live just down the hill from campus and Karl walks 15 minutes to work in Wescoe. His office looks over Jayhawk Boulevard into Strong Hall, right at the SGF offices. He spent a couple hours over Winter Break with the undergraduate Self Engineering Leadership Fellows program and was amazed with their competence, dedication, and humor. He gets the same feeling when attending the SGF Holiday Luncheon and Poster Session. Karl feels like the Fellowship has come a really long way since "back in my day," when Fellows included the KU carilloneur, a poet, and an environmental historian (himself). He finds it really fun to imagine where all the new and future Fellows will carry the University and our society.

Christine Chan, Ph.D., (2018-2022 Fellow) ,started a postdoc position at Lawrence Livermore

Jennifer Cooper, Ph.D., (2017-2021 Fellow), recently competed in the Masters World Swimming Championships held in Doha, Qatar. She placed 8th in the 50 meter butterfly and 9th and 50 meter backstroke. She is continuing to train for both US Nationals and the PanAm Masters Championships this summer, which is held for competitors from North and South America.

Sarah Smiley, Ph.D., (2001-2005 Fellow), started a new position on March 1 as Interim Department Chair (for the Geography Department) at Kent State University.

Elizabeth Smith, Ph.D., (1995-1999 Fellow), 19 years after completing her Ph.D. in Entomology, she is delighted to report that she has landed a job with "entomologist" in the job title. Her career to date has been focused on water resources: stream biota and health, water chemistry, harmful algal blooms, and the like. She is remaining with the State of Kansas but has moved from the Environment side to the Health side; She is now a Public Health Entomologist for the Bureau of Epidemiology. Her new job will focus on ticks, mosquitoes, and the diseases they carry. Elizabeth will be working with epidemiologists and veterinarians to improve our understanding of vectors and vectorborne pathogens with the goal of protecting human health.

Photos

Fall Skill Session.

from 2023

SOCIETY UPDATES

ELECTION UPDATE

Meet the newest member of the Board of Governors: Cassidy Krause (2015-2019 Self Graduate Fellow, mathematics, Lawrence, Kansas)

Cassidy Krause recently relocated back to Kansas to serve as the Director of Business Intelligence at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas (BCBSKS). This is a new department within BCBSKS, and she loves the challenge of building a new team while delivering actionable data science insights to enterprise stakeholders.

Prior to this position, Cassidy was an Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at Millikin University in Decatur, IL, where she helped develop their data science program and was a faculty advisor for their undergraduate robotics team. In her personal life, Cassidy and her ancé Alex are avid cyclists, and they also enjoy working on projects for their new home.

CALL FOR PHOTOS AND STORIES

HELP CELEBRATE 35 YEARS

Do you have photos from your time in the Fellowship? Any stories, particularly about Madison and Lila? Please share them!

Email any photos or stories to SGF@ku.edu. A timeline of the last 35 years will be shared at the symposium.

2024 SGF SYMPOSIUM

35th Anniversary – Established 1989

Thursday, April 18

Networking Reception and Alumni Career Panel

Fourth Year Fellow and Society of Self Fellows Welcome Dinner

Friday, April 19

Networking Reception and Alumni Career Panel – Enjoy a networking opportunity for Society of Self Fellows and Self Graduate Fellows over drinks and appetizers followed by a panel featuring several Society of Self Fellows who will discuss their careers and current topics within this year’s public policy theme, international policy.

VIP Meet and Greet - A private event for the Society of Self Fellows and Self Graduate Fellows to meet keynote speaker, Elliott Harris.

35 Years of Making a Real Difference - Members of the Society of Self Fellows and current Self Graduate Fellows are invited to present about their work in a passive research display. Learn more at the RSVP link below.

Reception and Dinner – Enjoy a cocktail hour and plated dinner celebrating the Self Graduate Fellowship, outgoing 2020-2024 Fellows, and current SSF Board of Governors.

ELLIOT T HARRIS

Grow th, Globalization, and Geopolitics: How Ef fective Can National Economic Policy Be?

Friday, April 19 3:30p.m.

Woodruff Auditorium

The Self Graduate Fellowship Symposium Lecture welcomes Elliott Harris to present "Growth, Globalization, and Geopolitics: How Effective Can National Economic Policy Be?" Harris previously served as the United Nations’ assistant secretary-general for Economic Development and Chief Economist. As a top economic leader in the world, Harris has been a driving force behind macroeconomic policy shifts aimed at reducing poverty and creating resilient and sustained economic development for all.

Few people have had the influence that Elliott Harris has had in shaping economic development and policy across the globe through the course of his distinguished 34-year career in international economics. Harris is the former United Nations assistant secretary-general for economic development and chief economist who has been closely involved in the design of the global Sustainable Development Agenda and the policies aimed at reducing poverty, generating more equitable social outcomes and environmental sustainability, and creating resilient and sustainable development. He brings this unparalleled expertise into the analysis of what’s happening now and what’s ahead in the global economic landscape.

In 2018, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Harris as assistant secretary-general

for economic development and chief economist for the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. As the UN’s economic leader, he combined his extensive knowledge of the organization’s multilateral and inter-agency coordination systems and his insight into macroeconomic linkages with global social and environmental policies to put forth sensible strategies and programs for comprehensive economic advancement across the globe — especially as it relates to environmental sustainability. Prior to the appointment, he served in various roles in the UN Environmental Program, including Assistant Secretary-General and head of the UNEP New York Office, and Head of the UN Environment Group secretariat. Harris began his career at the International Monetary Fund and held several leadership roles in the organization, including as Assistant Director of the Strategy, Policy, and Review Department, as well as IMF Special Representative to the UN.

Born in the Bahamas and raised in Trinidad and Tobago, Harris holds a Bachelor of Science degree in German and political science, as well as advanced degrees in economics. He was awarded an Advanced Studies Certificate in international economics and policy research from the Institute of World Economics in Kiel, Germany.

SOCIETY PROGRAMS

Book Club Conversation with Author Jennifer Raff

Wednesday, April 3, the Society of Self Fellows hosted a virtual conversation with Origin: Genetic History of the Americas author and KU Associate Professor, Jennifer Raff.

Dr. Jennifer Raff is an American geneticist and an associate professor of Anthropology at the University of Kansas. She specializes in anthropological genetics relating to the initial peopling of the Americas and subsequent prehistory of Indigenous populations throughout North America. She is the President of the American Association of Anthropological Genetics.

Origin is the story of who the first peoples in the Americas were, how and why they made the crossing, how they dispersed south, and how they lived based on a new and powerful kind of evidence: their complete genomes. Origin provides an overview of these new histories throughout North and South America, and a glimpse into how the tools of genetics reveal details about human history and evolution.

Thank you to all of the Society of Self Fellows who participated in the program and were able to engage with current Self Graduate Fellows during the virtual conversation.

If you have ideas for next year’s book, please email us at SGF@ku.edu.

Reminder: The SSF Board of Governors launched a LinkedIn Group to facilitate networking for the Society. Through this group you can stay up-to-date with the Self Graduate Fellowship, share your research and personal updates, explore the public policy topic, and network with other Society members.

Join now: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14090154/

May 14- 23, 2024

This May, the second, third, and fourth year Fellows will travel to Europe for the inaugural Self Graduate Fellowship International Seminar.

As part of the Fellow Development Program, the Fellows will travel across Frankfurt, Germany; Darmstadt, Germany; Brussels, Belgium; and Paris, France. The program will

include speakers, tours, visits to universities and institutions, and conversations with the European Union and European Commission. International experiences will support continued learning in the donor guideline areas of policy, communication, management, innovation, and leadership, in an international and cross-cultural context. The Fellows will be joined by Senior Vice Provost of Academic A airs and Graduate Studies, Jennifer Roberts, Senior Internationalization O cer, Charlie Bankart, Self Graduate Programs Director, Stefani Buchwitz, and Self Graduate Programs Assistant Director, Michelle Compton-Munoz.

On Tuesday, May 21 the Self Graduate Fellows will host a poster session and University of Kansas networking reception at Sorbonne University, Campus des Cordeliers (Paris, France). In partnership with the KU Alumni Association, mingle with fellow Jayhawks, current students and alumni, and get an exclusive glimpse into the exciting world of KU research.

Learn more about the poster session (and RSVP if you will be abroad): https://kualumni.org/events/self-graduate-fellows-presentation-reception/

Self Graduate Programs Staff

Jennifer Roberts, Ph.D. Senior Vice Provost of Academic A airs and Graduate Studies, SGF Managing Trustee

Stefani Buchwitz, Ed.D. Director

Daniel Rivera Recruitment Coordinator

Michelle Compton-Munoz Assistant Director