Universal Times 2019 Annual Report / Vol. 61
INSIDE New Community Members..2 2019 by the Numbers.........3 Program Reports..............4-7
Twenty Years of an Independent SSP
by Richard Bowdon ’74, Executive Director Summer 1999 was the last SSP at Thacher School. We alumni knew it to be a uniquely valuable educational experience, worth saving. So we decided to try to continue it elsewhere. That meant incorporating as independent nonprofit. Twenty years ago this fall, five of us filed the paperwork and got to work. We didn’t know how to run a summer program ... we didn’t even know exactly what about SSP made it so transformative (what we called the “secret sauce”). So we changed as little as possible.
2019 Supporters...............10 College Destinations.........11 Letter from the Chair.........12
LINKS Moved? Update your contact information: ssp.org/alumni Donate securely to the 2020 Annual Fund: ssp.org/support Join us on Social Media on facebook.com/groups/ sspalum or Instagram @summerscience Program blogs:
SSP2019NMT.wordpress.com SSP2019Pur.wordpress.com SSP2019CUB.wordpress.com SSP2019UCSD.wordpress.com
Visit us at summerscience.org
Fast forward to 2019. By now we’ve fully deconstructed the recipe. We know what can be altered: the location, the field of science … and what can’t: the collaboration, the values and traditions, the honor code, the integrated academic and residential faculty roles. These are essential ingredients in SSP’s design that create its life-changing impact on young people.
Pros and Cons of Independence Most academic summer programs are operated by the host campus, and taught by its faculty. Only a handful of independent programs exist. The Summer Science Program is not only independent, it’s ultimately controlled by its “members”: alumni, former faculty, and other supporters. We are masters of our own fate. We need no one’s permission to maintain SSP’s values and unique traditions. We can make admissions decisions with absolute integrity, with no preference for children of donors, Trustees, or other insiders. By now SSP has existed on seven campuses and in two fields of science: 82 programs over 61 years. In every one, dedicated faculty have done their best to ensure that all 2,761 participants receive every benefit of the authentic SSP experience. Continued on pg. 2
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Our independence has made, and still makes, that possible. But independence has its challenges. Here are three:
• We operate without a financial safety net. SSP survived after Thacher only
because individual alumni, parents, and other friends came to its rescue. That support still keeps us going. If it ever ended, so would SSP.
• Most colleges run their “conference services” as a commercial, for-profit sideline, charging outsiders what the market will bear.
• We have to find faculty willing to leave their homes, families, and routines for six weeks.
“In-house” programs don’t face those challenges. Maybe you can help. Are you, or someone you know, potentially willing and able to teach at SSP in a future summer, whether in astrophysics, biochemistry, or some field new to us? Can you suggest a potential future experiment or host campus partner? Email me at execdir@ssp.org. And of course, we always welcome your financial support, and your time volunteering for a committee or special project. Thank you!
New Community Members Named SSP’s members are alumni, former faculty, and others recognized by the Board of Trustees as having contributed to the program’s success over multiple summers. At its Planning Meeting on Oct. 6, the Board welcomed these individuals to our extended family: Gillian Andersen David Essayan Woody Halsey Tyrone Hayes Michelle Kirchoff Nina Lanza Jon Swift Lea Ybarra
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The spouse of longtime faculty member Bill Andersen, Gillian leads a workshop on technical writing for SSPers at New Mexico Tech each summer. David helps us evaluate new project proposals, and since the Biochemistry program opened, co-leads a workshop on drug clinical trials with his spouse Susan Jerian ‘79. As the son of SSP’s first Director, the late MacDonald Halsey, Woody literally grew up with SSP as part of his life and has stayed in touch as an adult. A longtime and popular guest speaker, Tyrone gives an unforgettable talk on the environmental effects of the herbicide atrazine. A Research Scientist at Southwest Research Institute, Michelle organizes and leads a workshop on nonlinear orbit dynamics, a natural extension of analytical orbit determination. Nina is a Los Alamos National Lab scientist, and longtime and popular guest speaker. The resident astronomer at Thacher School, Jon spearheaded the renovation of its venerable observatory. In August he led a tour of the observatory for an SSP ‘84 reunion. Lea is former CEO of the Center for Talented Youth at Johns Hopkins. She serves on the Nominating Committee and as an advisor for strategic planning.
2019 By the Numbers How do teens first hear about SSP?
Some find us online, others are told by a parent, teacher or peer, or by one of our academic partners. A multi-channel recruiting effort keeps the applicant pool diverse.
How many apply each year?
Applications hit another record of 1,321, for an overall admission rate of about 11%. That puts a strain on the Admissions Committee but allows maximum flexibility.
Is there any difference between the applicant pools for Astro and Bio?
Each had almost exactly the same number of applicants: just over 650 for 72 spots. Interestingly, more females applied to Bio (55/45), and more males to Astro (64/36). By design we maintained 50/50 gender balance at every program.
How much does SSP cost?
SSP is relatively long, therefore relatively expensive: $7,150 this year. Like colleges, we determine financial need from parents’ tax returns. Unlike colleges, we guarantee to meet all demonstrated need with grants. Total aid has grown with SSP’s expansion, exceeding $400,000 this year.
Where do the students come from?
Short answer: everywhere. We continue to enroll over a quarter from California, and half a dozen at each program from outside the U.S., always including China and India.
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SSP in Astrophysics at New Mexico Institute of Technology by Dr. Adam Rengstorf, Academic Director
After 18 problem sets, 85 observing shifts, 3 dozen Method of Gauss Python programs with convergent solutions, and a dozen team submissions to the Minor Planet Center and Orbit Determination final reports, we have 36 wonderful new alumni. Each summer, participants quickly make the program their own, setting the tone and creating the community. This summer in particular, I noticed how compassionate these teens were, working to build each other up and help each other. They instantly embodied the spirit of SSP, both academically and personally, and made the summer smooth and fun. This was my 6th summer as NMT Academic Director, working with Assistant AD William Andersen, and my 4th with SD Barb Martinez. An all-alumni TA corps of Cyndia Cao ‘12, Anthony Flores ‘14, Descartes Holland ‘12, and Emma Louden ’15 rounded out the team. Among us, we had the combined experience of 40 SSPs! Dr. Andersen taught all the calculus, physics, and orbital
The intensity of every aspect of SSP is different from anything else I have ever experienced. Every part of SSP has felt like a heightened sense of reality. I have never worked so hard in my life and yet feel so refreshed. - Jonah Henry ‘19 04 02 Universal Times
dynamics. I taught astronomy, observational technique, data reduction, astrometry, photometry, and the Method of Gauss. Ms. Martinez took care of everything outside of the classroom with her usual expertise and kindness. Returning “visiting faculty members” Aaron Bauer ‘06 and Gillian Andersen taught Python and led a workshop on scientific writing. We kept the participants busy with 18 problem sets, observing notebooks, weekly team research reports, QoDs, and evening tutorials as needed. A problem set or code was due every night at midnight, except Sundays, field trips, and other special events. Suitable near-Earth asteroids were scarce this summer – I had to fill in with a couple of Mars-crossers – but we did have two “potentially hazardous” asteroids. All the teams did very well, especially considering how difficult some of the asteroids were to image, and more clouds than last summer. The telescopes at Etscorn Observatory were in prime condition thanks to its late Director Dan Klinglesmith, who died of cancer soon after SSP ended. “Dr. Dan the Astroman,” who helped with all 17 SSPs at NM Tech, will be sorely missed. Field trips included White Sands National Monument, the Very Large Array, Magdalena Ridge Observatory, and the very cool Astronomical Lyceum run by John Briggs ‘76. We also visited EMRTC and Santa Fe and did some local hiking. Another successful SSP program at New Mexico Tech is in the books!
SSP in Astrophysics at the University of Colorado at Boulder by Dr. Agnès Kim, Academic Director
On July 31st, I reluctantly returned 36 changed teenagers to their families and “normal life.” Through rain or shine (metaphorically and literally), they had just worked their way through six weeks of relentlessly collecting and reducing data, to determine the orbit of their asteroid and submit their observations to the Minor Planet Center. This was my second year serving as AD at Boulder, reuniting with Mike Dubson ’73. We also welcomed back TA Bradley Emi ’13. Three new TAs, Helen Cai ’15, Julia Wei ’14, and Jerry Xuan ’14, hit the ground running. Our TAs bonded with each other and with the participants, each bringing their personalities into the relationships. They challenged participants to work up to potential and offered loads of advice on life in college and beyond. It was an honor to work with them. We welcomed a new Site Director, Richard Witt, an aerospace engineer now teaching physics at Ladue Horton Watkins High School in Missouri. Rich could do anything from optimizing roommate assignments to navigating the Byzantine CU parking bureaucracy. He brought a fresh perspective, using his experience as a teacher to anticipate participants’ needs. We got off campus sometimes, to hike the beautiful foothills nearby, and to visit the pedestrian mall in downtown Boulder for shopping and swing dancing.
On the way back from Lockheed Martin Space Systems, headquarters of the Juno mission to Jupiter, the bus overheated, continuing the SSP tradition of being temporarily stranded. Our terrific guest speakers included two alumni/ Trustees, Mike Teorodescu ’06 and Doug Duncan ’68. Eric Cornell spoke for the fourth time, giving an accessible, riveting lecture on ultracold atoms. Not many high school students get the chance to chat with a Nobel Laureate! This summer we asked the Southwest Research Institute scientists to lead their workshop on nonlinear orbital dynamics a few days earlier, so participants could include the results in their final reports. We required Monte Carlo simulations from every team. Participants again used Overleaf (LaTeX) to format their reports. Teaching at SSP is thrilling. We get to create an environment where everyone can fit in, do real science, make lifelong friends, and go home with new confidence. While their academic preparation varied widely, in the end, all completed the program successfully. The talent show on the last night climaxed with a TA-led sing-along and an emotional group hug.
What was initially a daunting experience has now become perhaps the most defining 6 weeks of my life. In SSP I experienced my first taste of being an independent researcher, made friends, and learnt more about science and myself than I would have thought possible. - Avantika Garg ‘19 05 FALL 2 0 1 9
SSP in Biochemistry at Purdue University by Dr. Mark Hall, Academic Director
In 2019 I was happy to welcome back Associate AD Stefan Paula and his computational modeling expertise. New Site Director Debra Arvin did a wonderful job organizing guest speakers and field trips, and ensuring participants’ safety, health, and happiness. She drew from her years of experience as a high school teacher and basketball coach, including the “break on 3!” routine to end dinners. A wonderful TA team held everything together, providing constant guidance, mentoring, and support. John Whitney anchored the team, in his third summer, training the other TAs in the fine art of protein biochemistry and everything else. Kelsey Bullens, a recent graduate from Purdue’s biochemistry program, knew the campus inside (the lab) and out. Julianne Yang fit in right from day 1, putting her biochemistry undergraduate degree from “the fine institution” of U Illinois to good use. She ran the daily QOD contests, the program blog site and Instagram account, and took most of the photos. Bernardo da Silva ’12, a Princeton molecular biology major, brought his understanding of SSP culture and traditions. A huge addition this year was Lab Assistant Gabrielle Buck, another Pur-
SSP is a journey of discovery, exploration, collaboration, and reflection. SSP has shaped my perspective, my goals, my aspirations, and my very self. - Alex Dong ‘19 06 Universal Times
due biochem major. Gabby unfailingly set up the labs every day, preparing reagents, testing equipment and procedures, and helping participants. We welcomed guest speakers Warren Rogers ’76, Minosca Alcantara, and three Purdue professors: Christina Li ‘03, Pete Pazcuzzi, and Phillip Low. For the third year, Susan Jerian ‘79 and David Essayan put on a two-day workshop on clinical trials in drug development. Field trips to Argonne National Lab, Eli Lilly, Corteva Agriscience, Indiana Dunes, Turkey Run State Park, and Tropicanoe Cove Water Park rounded out the program. The expression “work hard, play hard” fits every SSP. The project isn’t easy. This summer mistakes were made: assays had to be repeated; enzymes became inactive; mystifying kinetic curves were occasionally produced. However, by departure day, all twelve teams had identified at least one rational design for potential fungicidal compounds to protect crops from devastating pathogens. As I have come to realize, the SSP experience is much more than the experimental project. The overall design, the close community of bright young minds figuring out science together, makes for a truly unique and memorable summer, emphasized by the abundance of tears shed as we all said goodbye.
SSP in Biochemistry at UC San Diego
by Dr. Betsy Komives and Dr. Martha Oakley, Academic Directors
Together, we did it! Cloning Mark Hall’s research project in enzyme modeling and inhibition wasn’t easy, even with his lab protocols, lecture slides, and even three veterans of SSP ’18 at Purdue. We shared the Academic Director duties, assisted in the teaching by Barry Grant, an expert in bioinformatics and molecular modeling. Everyone benefitted from the resourcefulness of Site Director Laura Corley, who, in spite of the challenges of a new campus, handled the logistics of field trips, guest speakers, and all the participants’ nonacademic needs. Four recent college graduates served as our outstanding TAs: Emily Overway, Joe Forzano, Tyler Natof, and Rachel Blake. They worked tirelessly as lab instructors, tutors, and mentors. We never could have gotten through the project without Emily, who took a leadership role for both the academic and residential aspects. Joe’s unflagging energy and ability to catch on quickly amazed us. Tyler’s interactions with participants showed quiet perception and maturity. Rachel navigated the local landscape and made everything more fun. The challenge of this project - the need to teach a month’s worth of lab skills each week - contributed to faculty workdays of 12-15 hours, including weekends. Twelve teams of three participants purified a novel fungal pathogenic enzyme, assayed its activity towards 24 substrates and 11 inhibitors, and then predicted its
structure and compound binding in silico. Several teams were able to identify an irreversible inhibitor binding site, using proteomics mass spectrometry. Following the Purdue tradition, after departure we printed a 3-D model of each participant’s enzyme and mailed it to them. Field trips to Eli Lilly and Vertex opened participants’ eyes to the newest technologies in drug discovery. Drs. Susan Jerian ’79 and David Essayan presented the gripping story of how a drug makes it to market. UCSD Executive Vice Chancellor Elizabeth Simmons ‘80 and her spouse, physicist R. Sekhar Chivukula ’78, joined us for dinner one evening. We resumed the old tradition of Wednesday afternoon beach trips. Our last trip was to the famed San Diego Zoo. The hugs and tears on Departure Day, and the follow-up thank-you notes and emails, told us that despite some bumps in the road, we managed to give the authentic SSP experience to these 36 budding young scientists.
I come from a low-income family in an area with few opportunities. This program has reinvigorated my interest in a biochemical career and has allowed me to make friendships that I will never break. In essence, SSP truly is the educational experience of a lifetime. -Harry Heiberger ‘19 07 FALL 2 0 1 9
THANK YOU to all alumni, parents, faculty, and friends who continue to provide mission-critical support to SSP. During fiscal 2019 (October-September), SSP received donations from the 434 generous donors listed. We’re especially proud to see 75 young alumni donors from the past ten summers, many of whom are still in college. Thank you for paying it forward. We awarded a record $401,862 in financial aid to 66 participants, 28 of whom attended free. EXTRAORDINARY GIFTS $60,200 $50,000 $30,200 $25,000 $25,000 $21,650 $20,000 $20,000 $20,000 $12,500 $10,000 $10,000 $7,100 $7,010 $6,500 $5,000 $5,000 $5,000 $5,000
Reagan Moore ‘62§ ‡ Blaise Aguera y Arcas‘92 § Henry Roe ‘91 ‡ Franklin Antonio ‘69 § ‡ Indiana Space Consortium Anonymous Anonymous ‘70 § ‡ Henry Lichstein ‘60 § ‡ Duowei Xu § Josh Dillon ‘04 D.E.Shaw & Co Adam Fried ‘81 James Wilkinson ‘12 Wei Zhang & Bin Fan § ‡ Gregory and Michelle Emi § ‡ Mitchell Kapor ‘66 § ‡ Roger Linfield ‘71 Nint Foundation Jeffrey Saye ‘80
$1,000 - $4,999 1959 1962 1964 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1973 1974
Kenneth Hannsgen ‡ William Rosenberg § Patrick Rourke § Edward Kelm § ‡ George Sharman § Andrew Van Horn § ‡ Charles Gelatt ‡ Matthew Jaffe Julian Krolik § ‡ Duncan Agnew § Doug Duncan § Ronald Irving § ‡ William Hawes § Seth Stein ‡ James Durkee § David Latham ‡ Richard Bowdon § ‡ Michael Weiss §
1975 Edmund Bertschinger § Scott Pace § ‡ 1976 Eric Korevaar § ‡ Philip Nolan § Janine Scancarelli § ‡ 1978 Mike McKay § ‡ Russell Quong ‡ Jennine Townsend 1979 Susan Jerian § ‡ 1980 Sarah McCabe ‡ 1983 Eugene Thomas § 1984 Brian Hayes ‡ Scott Michael § 1985 Shubber Ali § 1991 Adam Thodey ‡ 1994 Chris Wyman § 1997 Michael Wyman § 2004 Dilaver Velioglu § 2006 Christopher Su § 2009 Yoonjeong Cha § 2013 Bradley Emi 2018 Ashley Zhuang § Faculty Donald Davis & Diane Wheeler David Pierce § ‡ Stuart Stephens Parents Dorothy & R. William Bowdon § ‡ Allison Carroll & Daniel Dreilinger Sandra Cassnova-Dhome & Laurent Dhome William & Mac DeLoache Susanne & Andy Esquivel § Shuhua Ge & Xueying Li § Jennifer & Edward Khouri § Danya Greider David and Susan Heckerman ‡ Jennifer & Edward Khouri § ‡ Caroline Krass &
MATCHING GIFTS Amazon Smile, Applied Materials Foundation, Autodesk, Avago Technologies, Bank of America Fndn, Bristol-Myers, Broadcom, Cadence Design Systems, Inc, CDK Global, LLC, Dell Inc, Draper Laboratory, ExxonMobil Foundation, Goldman Sachs Matching Gift Program, Google (Matching), Google Corporate & Anonymous Donations, Hartford Fire Insurance Company, Intel, Microsoft Matching, Nvidia, QUALCOMM, Sony Playstation Cares, UnitedHealth Group, VMware, Wells Fargo AMAZON SMILE: Shop at smile.amazon.com and designate SSP to receive 0.5% of every purchase, at no cost to you.
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William Passmore § Richard Mintz & Helaine Greenfield Richard & Tamar Weerts Foundation Lucky Seven Foundation Friends Angelina Routly
$500-$999 1959 Ronald Florence James Hanson David Holtz 1960 Steve Cotler ‡ David Price ‡ Eric Smith ‡ 1961 Jay Dratler § ‡ 1963 Mark Green Barry Lieberman § Van Snyder ‡ Michael Turner ‡ 1964 Robert Stellingwerf ‡ Anonymous 1965 Kim Bruce ‡ Peter Szolovits ‡ 1966 Jeffrey Lagarias 1967 Edward Belove Stephen Blumenkranz § ‡ Laurence Gillick 1969 Richard Kubelka 1970 Norris Preyer ‡ 1971 Terry Johnson ‡ David Ungar 1975 Michael Krippendorf § ‡ 1976 Lauren Blum § ‡ Harold Schloss § Katherine Staton § ‡ 1977 Barrie Trinkle § ‡ 1979 Tracy Furutani 1980 Robert Berman 1981 Jeanine Hoffmann Deborah Paul 1985 Lara Salamacha 1988 Ike Ikizyan Michael Pullen 1995 Jason Meltzer 1997 Wing Ho 1998 Zach Cotler 1999 Adrian Mettler 2000 Orges Beqiri 2004 Erik Kuefler ‡ Lisa Wang 2006 Michelle Chang 2018 Faculty
Mike Teodorescu Riley Stanford-Hill
LEGEND ‡ Consistant Donor, ten consecutive years § President’s Council: pledges $1,000 or more annually; and/or Legacy Society: honors SSP with a bequest. Please inform us of any errors or omissions. Leslie Clark Parents Ronald and Michelle Burch ‡ Anonymous Douglas & Grace Chin § Christina & Jon Finkelstein Daniel & Manyee Gee Donna Gresh & Jeff Kephart ‡ Mary & Mike Holmes Michael Mintzer & Alla Mintzer Zaprudsky Long Peng & Xiaoxia Zhang Adam & Marcia Schor Foundations Battelle Friends Patrick Collins Peter and Janet Dong
$250-$499 1960 1961 1966 1967 1968 1970 1971 1972 1974 1975 1976 1978 1979
Dwight Baum Steven Hall James Perry Stanley Sokolow Douglas Richstone Stephen Smith Bryan Andrews ‡ Robert Eccles Jan Vrtilek Lewis Hashimoto Jeffrey Marsh ‡ Peter Shull ‡ David Blum Jennifer Blackenhorn ‡ Susan Groshong ‡ David Ting Julia Alexander ‡ Ronald David ‡ David Johnson Robert O’Rourke Stuart Schaffer Craig & Tina Javid Jonathan Selinger ‡ Frank Fujimoto ‡
Michael Kutner ‡
1980 1981 1982 1989 1992 1993 1994 2001 2003 2005 2009 2016
Laura Kang Ward David Cohen Gautham Reddy Janice Bishop ‡ Steven Pier ‡ Helen Shin Herrick Wun ‡ Chen Tan Jane Gargett Keyang Shi Razavan Ungureanu Jason Hernandez David Schultz Miruna Oprescu Francesco Insulla
$250-$499 CONT. 1979 Anna Toy-Palmer
Faculty Tom Steiman-Cameron Parents Jennifer & Tim Devine Beth Gailliot Joseph Khoury & Laura Brooks Lisa & Eric Mann Lorena Norris ‡ Mark Otness & Karin Wentz Josephin & Sebastian SebaRaj Ken & Dana Stokes ‡ Yi and Christine Tso Mark Walker & Janel Govek ‡ Bin Xu & Bo Zhang Foundations Bright Funds Foundation Friends Williams Holliday Kathleen Lewis Paula Routly
$100-$249 1959 1961 1962 1963
Steven Hillyard Edward Fiala ‡ Ed Krupp ‡ Joel Kvitky Dennis Rothhaar Alan Gross ‡ Robert Cooper Denis Elliott ‡
1965 1966 1967 1970 1971 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1985 1986 1987 1989 1990 1991 1992 1994
JMark Becker James Byleckie Richard Crawford John Dickinson ‡ Jerry Gechter ‡ Jeffrey Levine Jeffrey Sue ‡ Temple Ingram Arthur Levine Stephen Haber ‡ Jonathan Press Steven Kronheim Marshall Long Alan Stolzenberg ‡ Jon Todd Hoeksema ‡ Marjorie Johnson Philip Witman ‡ Ricky Balthrop Solomon Friedberg Hank Rappaport Richard Schumacher Paul Belmont Samuel Francis Eliot Glaser Diana Jendrzey Michael Loewenstein Jeffrey Katz John Bechhoefer ‡ Robert Graff Andrew Berkin Barbara Biagas R. Sekhar Chivukula Mark Cornell ‡ Lynne Haber ‡ Matthew Ragen Steven Trainoff ‡ Creigton Asato ‡ Bruce Dunham Greg Janee Amy Reibman Elizabeth Simmons Joel Sipress Lisa Uyematsu Shalom Flank Steven Desch Anonymous Kevin Iga Jamie Chen Bonnie Valant- Spaight Christopher Vinnard Cyrus Hirjibehedin Olgun Guvench Amy Barr Mlinar
Ways to Give
1995 Megan Eckart 1997 Cynthia Cano Dana Ionita 2000 Alanna Meredith Hughes ‡ Ryan Kabir 2002 Ravi Gupta 2003 Christina Li Russell Spitzer 2004 Mary Bush 2005 John Wang 2006 Peck Yang 2007 Magnus Haw Rebecca Rapf ‡ Frank Wang 2009 Dillion Liu Duriye Damla Sevgi 2010 Nicholas Induni ‡ 2011 Aneesa Sonawalla Alanna Tempest 2012 Margaret Panetta 2013 Lizhou Sha 2014 Claire Burch 2016 Victor Qin Yuchen Tang 2017 Helen Burch Carolyn Ge 2018 Yingyi Gao Faculty Harland Epps ‡ Mark Hall Adam Rengstorf ‡ Edward Schmidt Parents Paul Bleicher & Julia Greenstein Kai & Regina Chang Jennie Crowley Amy & Bill Dahn ‡ Fikerte Degaga & Beharu Ahmed Carol Diamond & Sullivan McConnell Jolanda Ferguson & Robert Wojtowicz Jeffrey and Beth Gelles Xiaoqiang Gong & Jiangrong Li Brian and Pamela Induni ‡ Dana Jian & Alan Hong Peter and Judith LaRocca Ding-Hwa & Mei-Hsung Lei
When you give, your donation combines with others to open doors of opportunity for SSP. That’s why every gift matters. That’s why we provide so many ways to give. • • • • •
Philip & Peggy Li Neinyi Li & Yuehtzwu Hwang ‡ Craig Prater & Yvonne DeGraw Steven & Claudia Prochter Peter and Helen Qin Russell & Darlene Sampson ‡ Ying Shi & Jinjie Yu Michael and Kim Smerekanych Bruce & Debbie Spitzer Nalin and Shre Srivastava Sanford Stark & Miriam Herman Robert Steinbrook Scott and Melissa Sunbury Janet & Peter Tempest Howard Tracer & Julia Korenman Tracy & Henry Wang Xiaoqin & Guibo Wang Camilla and Brent Warren Linda & Stephen Wilson Yong & Yuan Zhang Liming Zheng Friends Mindy & Gary Chanan David & Patricia Clevenson ‡ Woodruff Halsey John & Jody Jacobs ‡ Michael Rafferty ‡ Martin Riedel Michelle Wolf ‡
UP TO $99 1961 1964 1966 1967 1968 1970 1971 1972 1972 1977 1978 1979 1981
Richard Egan Marvin Sirbu Scott Jennings Stephen Dashiell Robert Nado Tad Reynales Lee Aurich Charles Bryant ‡ David Marcus Roger Burk Richard Nolthenius Robert Betz ‡ Thomas Hourigan Kathy Roggenkamp ‡ Roy Wiener Anthony Davis Deborah Blumberg Hopkins Laurie Tanenbaum Renee Rusler Dara Staal
SPONSORS
Make a one-time gift online or set up a monthly donation Mail a gift using a reply envelope or print out a form from the website Call SSP to arrange for a donation of appreciated securities Ask your employer to match your gift (Many do! Ask your HR dept.) Give when you shop using Amazon Smile or eBay for Charity
Learn more at SSP.org/support. 09 FALL 2 0 1 9
At SSP the students are challenged to truly learn the practice of research. They arrive as students...and leave as inspired research scientists. SSP is the ideal learning environment for those genuinely passionate about leading research and discovery into the future. - Bo Burick, parent of Sophia Burick ‘19
UP TO $99 CONT. 1981 Charles Zender 1982 David Wilner 1983 Samuel Osofsky 1984 Allan Labrador 1986 David Gutman 1987 Michael Bagalman 1990 Carrie Perlman ‡ 1995 Gregory Maskel 1998 Elana Fertig 1999 Sam Arons 2000 Lisa Moore 2001 Edwin Kitw JB Tarter 2002 Rachel Paterno-Mahler 2006 Aaron Bauer Jenna Caldwell ‡ Hannah Clevenson Yipeng Huang 2006 Benjamin Knudsen Maxwell Murialdo 2007 Jayson Lynch Ilona Phipps-Morgan 2008 Avanti Shrikumar 2009 Kristin Barclay Michelle Chen
2009 2011 2012 2013
Jane Hae Soo Shin Leah Weiss Marisa Millenson Tianshu Zhu Tanay Bhandarkar Bernardo Da Silva Rasmi Elasmar ‡ Amelia Hankla Descartes Holland Matthew Induni ‡ Sushmitha Krishnamoorthy ‡ Joule Voelz Dahlia Baker Katie Dunn Sachi Kamiya
2014 2015 2016
Yuankun Wang Jessica Ambrosio Mark Berger Andy Chen Abhishek Anand Sunayana Rane Phuoc Tran Gayatri Balasubramanian Abigail Mintz Keshav Raghavan Nestor Santiago-Perez
2017 Ayush Pandit 2017 Jesse Pattinson Stephanie Zhang Xinyi Zhang 2018 Thomas Casanova-Dhome Zeeshaan Chunawala Flynn Dreilinger Dahlia Dry Benjamin Kan Shalini Kurinchi-Vendhan Jessie Lee Asher Noel Alyssa Questell Edith Siyanbade Eva Smerekanych Margaret Sui Kevin Tan Amanda Wilson Ian Wojtowicz 2018 Eric Yuan Maggie Zhang Tai Zheng Jay Zou Faculty Robin Hastings Phil Oakley
Parents Robin & Alan Aronson ‡ Naomi & Robert Atkins Rachel Avigad Noel Sabiha & Shakil Chunawala Xuejun and Connie Dong Norma Feshbach GangfengHuang & Lifang Zhang Robert & LeAnne Lynch Neal & Miriam Matsunobu ‡ Melanie Phipps Mark Rapf & Anne Gunn ‡ Anita & Mehul Shah Vicky Steele Richard C. & Inger Staggs Yancey ‡ Robert Yankowitz Li Zhang & Xuebiao Gao Friends Laura Butler Molly Dillon Paula Kaler Molly Leach Christopher Miller Eliott Morra Maria Phipps ‡ Lawrence Sverdrup
President’s Circle
Just as the Annual Fund is critical to the success of SSP, its most consistent and generous donors are keys to the Annual Fund’s success. The President’s Circle recognizes them. Members pledge an annual unrestricted gift of $1,000 or more, including employer matches. Learn more at ssp.org/circle PLATINUM Alumni Anonymous Reagan Moore ’62 Friends Duowei Xu GOLD Alumni Henry Lichstein ’60 Mitch Kapor ’66 Henry Roe ’91
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Parents Gregory & Michelle Emi MEMBERS Alumni William Rosenberg ’59 Patrick Rourke ’59 Shannon Clyne ’60 Jay Dratler ’61 Edward Kelm ’62 George Sharman ’62 Andrew Van Horn ’62 Barry Lieberman ’63 Julian Krolik ’66 Duncan Agnew ’67 Stephen Blumenkranz ’67
Doug Duncan ’68 Ron Irving ’68 William Hawes ’69 Chris Cole ’71 Roger Linfield ’71 James Durkee ’73 Richard Bowdon ’74 Michael Weiss ’74 Edmund Bertschinger ’75 Michael Krippendorf ’75 Scott Pace ’75 Lauren Blum ’76 Eric Korevaar ’76 Philip Nolan ’76 Harold Schloss ‘76 Janine Scancarelli ’76
Katherine Staton ’76 Barrie Trinkle, ’77 Michael McKay ’78 Steve Dickman ’79, Susan Jerian ’79 Eugene Thomas ’83 Scott Michael ’84 Alli Shubber ’85 Chris Wyman ’94 Michael Wyman ’97 Dilaver Velioglu ’04 Christopher Su ’06 YJ Cha ’09 Ashley Zhuang ’18
Faculty Donald Davis Dave Pierce Parents Anonymous Dot & Bill Bowdon Douglas & Grace Chin Susanne & Andy Esquivel Shuhua Ge & Xueying Le Helanie Greenfield & Richard Mintz Jennifer & Edward Khouri Caroline Krass & William Passmore Wei Zhang & Bin Fan
College Destinations for the SSP‘18 Barnard Kayla Docher Baylor University Jordan Bautista-Lazo Brown University Nicholas Liu Caltech Martin Holmes, Shalini Kurinchi-Vendhan, Margaret Sui Carleton College Ian Wojtowicz Carnegie-Mellon University Brad Zhang Columbia University Jorge Casas, Zachary Kellner Cornell Yingyi Gao, Amanda Wilson, Sean Yu CU Boulder Peter Lande, William Ryan Dartmouth College Antonina Zakorchemna Duke University Della Nathania Emory University Benjamin Thomas Georgia Tech Lasya Akshara Harvard University Monica Chang, Joaquín Cortacáns, Brendan Devine, Sergio Diaz, Jennifer Hong, Benjamin Kan, Ian Kimbell, Jessie Lee, Emily Nguyen, Asher Noel, Kavya Shah, Edith Siyanbade, Kevin Tan, Ecem Uluegeci, Lara Zeng, Ashley Zhuang Harvey Mudd College Shaheen Cullen-Baratloo, Michelle Lum, Mavis Stone Johns Hopkins University Zeeshaan Chunawala MIT Jan Philip Adlawan, Xi Chen, Dahlia Dry, Stephan Ducrepin, Emily Fang, Benjamin Gao, Matthew Guo, Aidan Henopp, May Huang ‘17, Hyowon Kang, Claire Kim, Skylar Larsen, Mary Lau, Zachary Lee, Pearl Li, Jianna Liu, Joseph Rowell, Eva Smerekanych, Gabriella Ulloa, Christopher Vargas, Maggie Zhang, Tai Zheng Northwestern University Si Yang Zou Olin College of Engineering Jacqueline Zeng Oxford University Zaman Keinath-Esmail Univ. of Pennsylvania Haoyang Fan, Kidist Wosenyeleh Princeton University Riti Bhandarkar, Thomas Casanova-Dhome Purdue University Danny Kim, James Yin Rice University Kaitlyn Crowley Stanford University Flynn Dreilinger, Christopher Hughes, Blen Kedir, Joel Kiernan, Alec Lessing ‘17, Emma Passmore, Gautam Pradeep ‘17, Rishi Sreekanth, Riley Stanford-Hill UC Berkeley Smruthi Balasubramaniam, Yubin Hu, Maniratnam Iyer, Jae Won Kim, Milena Mathew, Ethan Silver ‘17 UC San Diego Laurissa Chan UC Santa Barbara Beatriz Barrera-Cisneros, Logan Keifling UCLA Cameron Uy Univ. of Chicago Eric Yuan Univ. of Illinois Flora Zheng Univ. of Michigan Alan Tondryk Univ. of Toronto Sydney Tsuyuki Univ. of Virginia Veronica Gutierrez
SSP is a place of potential. It is the place where my eyes were opened to the intricacies of research. It is the place where we learn to take failure in stride and learn from it. It is the place where we learn to take pride in accomplishments- no matter how small.
Vanderbilt University Alyssa Questell
-parent of ’19 Purdue participant
Washington University Christopher Wang Yale University Ruqaiyah Damrah, Philos Kim, Kaela McConnell
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Business Office: 108 Whiteberry Dr Cary, NC 27519 Address Service Requested
Letter from the Chair by Dr. Michael Weiss ’74, Board Chair
What a year in astrophysics! The 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, the Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of exoplanets, and an image of a black hole attest to the continuing vibrancy of the first science. This year’s SSP participants shared in this excitement—honoring a legacy begun in 1959. The Biochemistry project launched at Purdue three summers ago, and “cloned” at UC San Diego this past summer, showed that our “special sauce” isn’t limited to astrophysics. What’s next? Chief Academic Officer Dr. Amy Barr Mlinar ’94 is now evaluating project proposals in the emerging field of metagenomics. Exploiting the genomics revolution and big data, metagenomics promises to be as foundational to 21st-century biology as Newton’s laws are to physics. In the lifetimes of SSP ’19 alumni, I predict evidence will be found for extraterrestrial life. Elements of each of these fields – Astronomy, Biochemistry, Genomics – will be central to this profound milestone in humankind’s relationship to the universe! SSP’s future is bright. Thank you for being part of it.
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