Honors Magazine, 2024

University of Georgia Morehead Honors College

2024

HONORS Magazine

50 YEARS OF THE UGA FOUNDATION FELLOWSHIP

Stephanie Schupska

Honors students Haruki Takeuchi, standing, and Zach Leggio investigate the files stored in the vault deep below the Richard B. Russell Special Collections Libraries. Haruki and Zach attended a lunchtime field trip offered by the Morehead Honors College in partnership with various departments on campus.

Read more about this new opportunity for Honors students on pages 32-33.

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36

24

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INSIDE Departments

2 FROM THE DEAN 3 HONORS IN BRIEF 12 CRANE SCHOLARS 24 MAJOR SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

Awardees include Rhodes, Schwarzman, Goldwater, and Voyager, among others

36 CURO SYMPOSIUM 38 ALUMNI GIVING

Kevin Patrick (BA ’05) and Bob Miller (AB ’64) give back through scholarships

Features

8 ARCH POLICY INSTITUTE

Student-run think tank focuses on nonpartisan public policy

10 FINDING INSPIRATION

Wyn Thomas brings life to the stage as a playwright, composer, and actor

16 DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN HTA

Parker Taylor takes us inside an Introduction to Honors class

18 COVER STORY

UGA’s Foundation Fellowship celebrates 50 years

32 LUNCH & FIELD TRIPS

New Honors offering takes students behind the scenes on campus

34 Q&A WITH NICOLE MORENO

Fashion Scholarship Fund recipient discusses winning case study

FROM THE DEAN This May, we will mark three years as the named Jere W. Morehead Honors College. It has been my great pleasure to lead the college for the past two years, first as interim dean and then as dean starting in August 2022.

As we enter 2024, our 2,800 Honors students are thriving, and you will read many of their stories on the following pages. We have an entire section dedicated to our recent scholarship recipients (pages 24-31), including our Rhodes, Schwarzman, LAF Ignite, and Voyager scholars as well as our two Goldwater Scholars and two Marshall Scholars. We are incredibly proud of these bright, young minds, and we look forward to seeing how they take the education they have earned at the University of Georgia and apply it throughout their lives.

Dean

Margaret A. “Meg” Amstutz Assistant Dean & Major Scholarships Coordinator

Jessica Hunt Assistant Dean & Director of Student Engagement & Programming

Maria de Rocher Director of Development

Debbie Daniel

The Foundation Fellowship is currently in its 50th anniversary year, and we are proud to highlight individuals who have made—and continue to make—a significant impact on this incredible program. Without the support of the University of Georgia Foundation and its dedicated trustees, key donors, committed faculty and staff, and supportive alumni, we would not be where we are today. We invite to you learn more about the Foundation Fellowship on pages 18-23.

Senior Communications Coordinator

In November, we launched an updated website for the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities. We will gather for our 25th CURO Symposium on April 8-9 of this year. This annual symposium (pages 36-37) allows us to shine a spotlight on excellence in undergraduate research and highlight a key experiential learning opportunity provided by the university. CURO grew from a seed of an idea within Honors; today, CURO is one of the wonderful ways that the Honors College serves the entire undergraduate student body at the University of Georgia.

Editor/Designer

I hope you’ll look to pages 38-40 to read the profiles of two of our loyal supporters.

These are just a few of the many individuals who make our work in the Morehead Honors College possible. Through their generosity, the Honors College has been able to strengthen experiential learning for UGA’s students. In 2023, for example, we were able to provide support for 155 Honors International Scholars and domestic experiential learning students because of our generous donors. These students studied abroad and across the U.S., gaining valuable academic, research, internship, and life experience as they explored new cultures.

UGA’s Honors students can always be found at the forefront of the institution’s best efforts. Our students lead the Student Government Association, play with the Georgia Redcoat Marching Band, prepare for space through the SmallSat Lab, conduct research in labs and in the field, learn critical languages through the Flagship Programs, develop leadership skills through Corsair, and compete on both Division I and intramural sports teams. We are very proud to share in their educational experiences.

As we move further into 2024, the Honors staff and I would like to thank you. Thank you so much to our incredible students, dedicated faculty and friends, and supportive administration. Together, we are building a community of thought, respect, and gratitude for the gift of higher education. We continue to advance with your help.

Meg Amstutz, Dean

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ADMINISTRATION

Morehead Honors College Magazine // 2024

Stephanie Schupska Recruitment & Enrollment Coordinator

Jason Payton

MAGAZINE Stephanie Schupska Writers

Rachael Andrews, Anvika Menon, Stephanie Schupska, Parker Taylor, Erica Techo Photographers

Wingate Downs, Peter Frey, Chris Hildreth, Dorothy Kozlowski, Anvika Menon, Dan McClure, Walker Montgomery, Dot Paul, Stephanie Schupska, Andrea Silletti, Chamberlain Smith, Andrew Davis Tucker, Cassie Wright, Morgan Wynn Editorial assistance

Anvika Menon, Parker Taylor The Honors Magazine is published for students, alumni, friends, and supporters of the University of Georgia Morehead Honors College. For reprint permissions, address changes, or additional copies, email schupska@uga.edu.

Copyright © 2024 by the University of Georgia. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any way without permission from the editor. The University of Georgia is committed to principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action.

Postmaster | Send address changes to: UGA Honors Magazine 208 Moore Hall, 108 Herty Drive Athens, GA 30602-6116 Find us online at honors.uga.edu.

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HONORS in Brief

The future of travel

Hypersonic internship Denzel Cunningham spent a semester living and working in Atlanta as an additive manufacturing engineering intern for Hermeus, a startup focused on radically accelerating air travel with hypersonic aircraft. He aided in the development of ground support equipment and gained personal growth in design and analysis skills. “You will get extreme ownership of a project and work with—and even possibly purchase—very expensive equipment,” he said of the internship. A Foundation Fellow from Albany, Denzel graduated in May 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He is now working in Merritt Island, Florida, for Blue Origin, an aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos.

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HONORS BY THE

HONORS in Brief

NUMBERS

550

First-year students for Fall 2023

251

CORDS & HAIRY DAWG

Fall graduation celebration

Students admitted in Spring 2024 through First-Semester Entry

On Dec. 14, Honors seniors gathered for a celebration in their honor in Moore Hall. It was an opportunity to recognize their accomplishments and treat them to breakfast and a visit from Hairy Dawg. With majors ranging from accounting to environmental engineering to middle grades education, 40 students received the distinction Graduation with Honors, High Honors, or Highest Honors from UGA at the end of the fall semester.

2,800

CAMPUS GOVERNMENT

Total Honors students

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$

million

In scholarship support for 110 Foundation Fellows & Ramsey Scholars and 605 CURO students in 2022-2023

Student body president With a term that started in April 2023, George Moore serves as president of the Student Government Association at UGA. An Honors senior from Toccoa, he is studying international affairs and political science and working toward certificates in applied politics and personal and organizational leadership. In summer 2022, he was a legal intern for Dentons through the Honors in Washington internship program. He is also a legislative intern for the Georgia General Assembly House Of Representatives. After graduation in May, George will stay at UGA for a second degree, a J.D. from the School of Law. He hopes to practice law in the government and public policy sphere.

SAEEDA PEERMAHOMED AWARD

710,000

$

In travel and internship support for 155 Honors International Scholars & domestic experiential learning students and 19 Honors in Washington, New York, & Savannah internship participants in 2022-2023

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Special recognition Eniola Olubunmi was selected for the 2023 Saeeda Peermahomed Award, given annually by International Student Life at UGA to recognize outstanding international students. A Foundation Fellow from Nigeria, she is a senior majoring in accounting with a certificate in legal studies. Eniola has been an international student all of her life. She attended primary school in the U.K., secondary school in Nigeria, and now college in the U.S. Eniola is an Honors Ambassador, Terry Ambassador, Honors Teaching Assistant, Deer Run Fellow, EY Terry Diversity Fellow, Palladia Women’s Honor Society member, and a Blue Key Honor Society member. She has been a member of the International Student Advisory Board since April 2021.

A BOOKISH DINNER

Back porch discussion Amy Rosemond, Distinguished Research Professor of Ecology, continued a great Honors tradition by leading an off-campus Honors book discussion at her house. She welcomed 11 Honors students to her home on Nov. 6, and they talked about Dan Egan’s book, The Devil’s Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance. The story of phosphorus has played a critical role in some of the most lethal substances on earth: firebombs, rat poison, nerve gas. But it’s also the key component of one of the most vital: fertilizer, which has sustained life for billions of people.

COLORADO CLASSROOM

Geology deep dive

NEWS INTERNSHIP

Madelyn Hurd participated in the UGA Geology Field School based out of Cañon City, Colorado, in summer 2023 with funding from the Honors domestic experiential learning scholarship. A senior studying geology, she learned about geologic mapping and honed other geology-related skills.

Madelyn spent June completing stratigraphy and mapping projects and traveling around Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico studying the geology of specific areas. The “program gave so much meaning to my studies because I experienced both academic and professional applications of geology in areas beyond Athens,” she said.

Windy City work Christian Conte participated in the inaugural Grady Chicago Field Study and Internship Program in summer 2023 with funding from the Honors domestic experiential learning scholarship. A third-year journalism major, he interned at NewsNation, a national cable news network, and worked on the three-hour morning show NewsNation Live with Marni Hughes. “The producers were impressed with my ability to quickly adapt to a style of writing for television news and allowed me to write some segments for air every day. That involved research, writing the script, sourcing video and photos, and compiling everything into our software used to run the show. I was fortunate to have several blocks I worked on go to air this summer.” After graduation, Christian plans to move to a metropolitan area to work in the news industry.

TROPHY TIME

Championship photo op The UGA Athletic Association brought the College Football National Championship trophy to Moore Hall in November 2022, just weeks before UGA secured its backto-back championship win in January 2023. Honors students—and several families on college tours—took the opportunity to pose for photos with the trophy.

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HONORS Around The Globe

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As a whole, my exchange at the University of Sydney was greater than I could have ever imagined, and as I carry memories of this semester back to the University of Georgia’s campus, I hope to empower others to chase the dream they think is too big.

Taking those first couple of steps is the most difficult part, but now I see that great things come to those who have the courage to pursue them.

Leah Ehrhardt Leah conducts one last gear check before scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef. She spent spring semester 2023 in Australia through the UGA Exchange—University of Sydney program thanks to funding from the Honors International Scholars Program. With graduation slated for this May, she is majoring in management with an emphasis in operations and supply chain management and a minor in law, jurisprudence, and the state. She is also working toward certificates in legal studies, entrepreneurship, and personal and organizational leadership.

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HONORS on Campus

Student-run think tank focuses on nonpartisan public policy as the

Arch Policy Institute

By Anvika Menon | Photos by Stephanie Schupska

The Arch Policy Institute (API), formerly known as the Roosevelt Institute, is a student-run, nonpartisan, public policy think tank at the University of Georgia.

Funded by the Morehead Honors College, members take part in lively weekly discussions surrounding current events and the policy process and engage in hands-on work in the Athens community.

At the heart of API lies its policy teams. These are groups of four to six students, led by a team lead, that delve into addressing problems facing the local community. Policy teams are broken up into four phases: education, outreach, service, and implementation. Students are expected to conduct thorough research related to a problem within their issue area, craft a well-written policy proposal, engage in community service, and work to implement the policy they spent the year developing.

This year, API is proud to feature five teams: education, criminal justice, sustainability, housing insecurity, and healthcare. Applications to join these teams are competitive, but the experience is worthwhile. In the past, students have attended town halls, met with community leaders, talked to stakeholders, and even lobbied to pass bipartisan legislation that would help Athens’ burgeoning homeless population. API also frequently hosts guest speakers, including Athens Mayor Kelly Girtz, Athens-Clarke County commissioners, and local leaders that allow policy teams to educate the rest of the Arch Policy Institute about their research.

In spring 2023, the Education Policy Team worked to implement a scaffolded reading program in pilot classrooms that connects students with texts in meaningful ways.

“It’s been a really rewarding project to work on because so many community

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Through the Arch Policy Institute, I developed hard skills in research, writing, and policy analysis along with the ability to engage with stakeholders in a meaningful way.

Austin Myhre members have been willing to go above and beyond to help connect us with the education community here,” said Bridget Goodman, the Education Policy Team lead.

She is a sophomore studying journalism and comparative literature.

At the end of each year, students’ policy proposals are published in the Arch Policy Journal after being reviewed by a panel of UGA faculty and topic experts. Last year’s journal featured 10 articles, ranging from hostile architecture and big tech data misuse to aquatic biodiversity in Georgia and the opioid overdose epidemic.

“Writing for the Arch Policy Journal helped me develop policy writing skills and learn how to break down a policy idea

and consider unintended consequences,” said Saanvikha Saravanan, API’s current executive director. She is a junior studying biochemistry and molecular biology.

“Personally, proposals I published in the journal helped me greatly in my health policy graduate courses, and I have used them as writing samples.”

Saanvikha’s experience is not unique: The journal caters to humanities and STEM majors alike.

Another highlight of the Arch Policy Institute is its annual trip to the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta. Last year was the inaugural year of this visit, and students were able to meet Reps. Spencer Frye and Houston Gaines and sit in on both a general legislative session and a small committee session.

“I think what was most eye-opening was the level of bipartisanship at the state level,” said Alysha Bold, a current senior advisor with API who is a senior studying political science and economics.

“This cross-party communication and non-partisan dialogue is what we try to achieve through API, so it was neat to see it in a government body.”

Her experience sheds light on the ways in which trips such as this enable students to envision a less polarized and more informed future.

This year, API will also be hosting a policy hackathon where students will be given problems and asked to create policy solutions while addressing surprise scenarios. The hope is that policy hackathons will be added to the list of API’s annual traditions.

API alumni have achieved success in the public policy realm after leaving UGA. Former executive director Austin Myhre, who graduated in May 2023, currently works as a Senate staffer in the office of U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.

“Through the Arch Policy Institute, I developed hard skills in research, writing, and policy analysis along with the ability to engage with stakeholders in a meaningful way,” Austin said. “The work I did in API is very similar to what [Capitol] Hill staffers do every day, so I truly believe API was critical in my path to the Hill.”

Austin’s employment in Washington, D.C., is emblematic of the opportunities open to members of the Arch Policy Institute. Its students look forward to seeing how the organization progresses in the future.

Anvika Menon is a junior from Milton and is majoring in history, international affairs, and religion. She is a student worker with the Morehead Honors College and currently serves as policy team coordinator for the Arch Policy Institute.

Clockwise from right: 1) During their annual visit in 2023, Arch Policy Institute members gather in front of the Georgia State Capitol along with Tim Samples, API’s faculty advisor, and Meg Amstutz, dean of the Morehead Honors College. 2) UGA President Jere W. Morehead meets with API students on the marble staircase under the rotunda. 3) Priyanka Parikh, Chuhan Huang, Tyler Cox, and Tim Samples wait to go into a general legislative session. 4) UGA undergraduates meet with Georgia Reps. Spencer Frye and Houston Gaines.

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HONORS on Campus

Finding inspiration everywhere

By Erica Techo | Photo by Chamberlain Smith

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Wyn Thomas brings life to the stage as playwright, composer, and actor Wyn Thomas looks at the world as a source of inspiration.

As someone who is surrounded by art and theater, she knows life can transform into something bigger than a onetime experience.

“I get inspiration from my own life and from my friends,” said Wyn, a Foundation Fellow and theater major. “It’s an opportunity to take a real thing and go, ‘What if this actually happened? What if that changed?’ You develop the idea, and by the end, the characters have evolved so much that it’s not even the same people or place I started with.”

And as a sophomore, Wyn is already making her name known.

She has written several plays, including Write Their Wrongs, a short play that discusses the aftermath of a high school shooting. It was performed around the country as part of #ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence and then published by Playscripts, a New York-based imprint of the Broadway Licensing company.

“That play was inspired after I saw a show about gun violence, and I didn’t really like how it handled the issue,” Wyn said. “I had a conversation with my friends after, and we talked about how we would handle it differently.”

That brainstorming is how Wyn has approached many projects. Seeing other plays and listening to musicals provides a chance to workshop new ideas, she said. She observes new approaches and then views her work more critically.

“Through high school, one of my favorite things to do was see every play in my area,” she said. “Even if it was a high school production with no one I knew, I would go see it.

I just love seeing theater and walking away understanding how to improve my writing, how to solve my problems.”

NEW OPPORTUNITIES AT UGA Wyn grew up in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, but family ties to the Southeastern United States and the university’s prestigious Foundation Fellowship, housed in the Morehead Honors College, drew her to UGA. As the university’s top academic scholarship, recipients receive academic funding and stipends for travel, research, and conferences.

For Wyn, this support means she can move to New York or Los Angeles to pursue her chosen career while still being able to support herself. The funding also opens doors to travel, including a study abroad program in Oxford.

“Growing up, our family didn’t really travel,” she said.

“We would mainly travel places to see family, and then my

only time out of the country was to the Canada side of Niagara Falls. It’s awesome to get to go these places where I’d never thought I’d go on my own.”

While at Oxford, Wyn did “the European tour,” she said, and saw Paris, Amsterdam, Florence, Rome, Venice, and Dublin on short trips. These cities opened new insights that will continue to inspire future works.

“In high school, most of my writing centered on being a writer or being an actor,” she said. “Coming to UGA, I wanted the chance to go somewhere to gain a bigger perspective, to do non-theater things. I thought, ‘Oh, this is great, while traveling, I’ll take a break.’ But I didn’t take a break—I’d have my notebook out on the train, just taking a song and reordering it, moving things around.”

One of those songs is in Wyn’s upcoming musical, First Semester, which centers on a college freshman’s journey through that pivotal time. She goes from being a straight-A, overachieving high school student to someone who struggles in their intended degree path and encounters hardships with friends and dating.

“My goal throughout this has been to write something I needed to hear during my first semester,” Wyn said. “It’s about the importance of having a community of people around you, who can be there while you figure things out.

Because you don’t have to know everything all at once.”

SPOTLIGHT ON NEW WORK With support of the New Georgia Group Grant, UGA Theatre is highlighting a student-written, student-produced work each year through the New Work Spotlight.

The first production of this slot is Wyn’s First Semester: A Musical, which follows Alicia, a chronic overachiever with an undiagnosed anxiety disorder. Her fervor for her first semester is thwarted when she falls for an older guy who breaks her heart. Between her plummeting grades and her long-time friend taking collegiate excess to its extremes, Alicia must find a way to navigate her uncertain new reality.

The musical is an exploration of identity, dating, friendship, girlhood, and mental health at one of the most vulnerable stages in one’s life.

First Semester: A Musical will open Thursday, March 21, and run through Sunday, March 24, at the UGA Theatre.

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HONORS Crane Scholars

2023

Crane Leadership Scholars

I

n 2023, 14 Honors students were recognized for their exemplary leadership efforts as recipients of the William Moore Crane Leadership Scholarship. The $1,000 scholarship, awarded to third-year students in the Morehead Honors College, recognizes leadership in extracurricular activities and/or involvement with civic or community organizations. Our students’ leadership experiences range from the Institute of Leadership Advancement, UGA Quiz Bowl, and Campus Kitchen to MATHCOUNTS Outreach, The Backpack Program of Athens, Honors Ambassador, and University Union. Administered by the Morehead Honors College and the Engagement, Leadership, and Service office within the UGA Division of Student Affairs, the scholarship is named in honor of a 1921 UGA graduate who was influential in the founding of the UGA Alumni Society.

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Hansika Behl

Samantha Dilley

Hansika is vice president of Alpha Epsilon Delta Pre-Health Honor Society, a leadership fellow in the Institute of Leadership Advancement, and outreach director for the Women’s Studies Student Organization.

She is a chemistry teaching assistant and an Honors Teaching Assistant.

Hansika volunteers at Piedmont Athens Regional.

She is on the Justice Reform Committee with the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement.

Last summer, Hansika studied abroad in Cortona as an Honors International Scholar. She then started in Jessica Kissinger’s lab, where she works on the annotation and analysis of the genome sequence of an apicomplexan parasite with the ability to infect and produce infectious tissue cysts.

Hansika is interested in pursuing further research within sex-sensitive genomics and plans to attend medical school.

As a CURO research assistant, Samantha developed a model to predict how social hierarchies and the resulting inequities affect farmer cooperation within farmermanaged irrigation systems in the Global South. She is involved with organizations such as UGArden Club and Campus Kitchen and is president of the Sustainable Business Society, an Ambassador for the Odum School of Ecology, and a Leonard Leadership Scholar in the Institute for Leadership Advancement.

She was a sustainability and business innovation intern with an Ecuadorian chocolate company. She was an environmental intern with Jacobs, supporting national EPA documentation for transportation projects.

Samantha intends to contribute to a more equitable, sustainable future by earning a master’s degree in environmental management and working in corporate sustainability.

Hometown: Roswell, GA Major: Genetics Minor/Certificates: Women’s Studies, Personal & Organizational Leadership

Hometown: Milton, GA Majors: Economics, Ecology Certificates: Sustainability, Personal & Organizational Leadership

Aaron Dino

Autumn Hampton

Margaret Hart

Miral Lakhani

As an aspiring physicianepidemiologist, Aaron conducts measles mathematical modeling research. He was an epidemiology intern at the Coastal Health District.

Aaron volunteers at Athens Free Clinic and Mercy Health Center, led an IMPACT service-learning trip, is a Campus Kitchen shift leader, and is the UGA Quiz Bowl Club vice president.

He is a member of the Dean William Tate Honor Society and Blue Key Honor Society and is a leadership fellow in the Institute for Leadership Advancement. With the Office of Service-Learning, he is helping develop a youth sports and literacy program in Athens-Clarke County.

In 2023, Aaron was a community health intern at Project Horseshoe Farm and conducted community nutrition screenings and hospital observations in the Ghana Service-Learning Program as an Honors International Scholar.

As a CURO Honors Scholar and with support from the CURO Summer Research Fellowship, Autumn conducts research with Kosuke Funato and Hitomi N. Royston, focusing on identifying the origin of pediatric glioblastomas using human embryonic stem cells.

Autumn is president of the University Union Student Programming Board, operations coordinator for Kesem at UGA, and director of events for the Biomedical Physiology Society. She is a research scholar with the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) and a recipient of the Dr. Katie Boardman Scholarship. Autumn is also a resident assistant at a local assisted living facility in Athens.

Autumn plans to work as a certified medical assistant and travel before attending medical school to become an OBGYN, specializing in oncology. She wants to be an advocate for underrepresented rural areas within the healthcare field.

As a Presidential Leadership Scholarship recipient, Margaret is heavily involved with Engagement, Leadership, and Service on campus, mentoring students as an ELS peer leader and informing leadership development as a former Leadership UGA peer facilitator. She is active in the UGA Dairy Science Club as the public relations and show team chair.

She worked in Washington, D.C., as a Senate page and interned in Sen. Raphael Warnock’s Georgia office. She connects her education in politics with her passion for agriculture, presenting her original research under Charles Bullock on agribusiness and development in the South at the 2023 CURO Symposium.

She interned with the Georgia Farm Bureau.

Margaret plans to pursue a career in agricultural policy, supporting producers in Georgia’s largest industry.

She aims to focus on rural development.

An Engagement, Leadership, and Service peer leader, Miral strives to foster an inclusive campus environment.

She conducts one-on-one engagement coaching sessions with students.

She serves as a fundraising and event coordinator for The Backpack Project of Athens, conducting events to raise money for the needs exhibited by the homeless community in Athens.

Miral is an advocate for women’s financial literacy.

She organized 12 sessions last summer to teach household helpers in India about budgeting, emergency savings, and managing their disposable income.

She studied globalization and environmental economics at Oxford University to gain a broader understanding of the world’s interconnectivity and finances. This summer, she will be a management consultant intern at Credera.

Miral is committed to a career that positively impacts those in need.

Hometown: Saint Marys, GA Major: Health Promotion Minor/Certificates: Biology, Personal & Organizational Leadership

Hometown: Moultrie, GA Majors: Biomedical Physiology, Sociology

Hometown: Alpharetta, GA Majors: Political Science, International Affairs Master’s: Public Administration

Hometown: Nikol, Ahmedabad, India Majors: Finance, Management Information Systems

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HONORS Crane Scholars

Olivia Lee

Hometown: Alpharetta, GA Majors: Biology, Psychology As a Leadership UGA alum and peer facilitator, Olivia aims to bring leadership based on collaboration, interculturalism, and awareness through her roles as a mentor within the Asian American Student Association (AASA), resident assistant with University Housing, and Prepared Dawgs Ambassador for the Office of Emergency Preparedness.

Olivia is an intern with the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Services Eastern Laboratory in the chemistry department as a part of her interest in preventative care.

She advocates for students’ emergency preparedness on campus. She is passionate about providing care to those who need it most and is a member of UGA Doctors Without Borders, with hopes of serving the larger organization in the future.

After graduation, Olivia plans to earn an MBA and attend medical school. She hopes to serve patients in a clinical setting as well as lead hospital administration toward inclusive and equitable care.

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Kelly Luo

Sean Manning

Katelyn Matthews

Kelly conducts undergraduate research in epigenetics with Robert Schmitz. Her work focuses on the effects of cis-regulatory variation on chromatin accessibility and gene expression within the maize genome. She is a leadership fellow in the Institute of Leadership Advancement and an organic chemistry teaching assistant.

Kelly is co-tournament director for Science Olympiad Outreach at UGA, president of Hearts for the Homeless Athens, and editor of publications for Stethoscope Magazine. She serves as a campus ambassador for Gift of Life Marrow Registry.

Kelly also works as cochair for Equal Education for Athens, where she helps provide free online tutoring and educational services to students of Athens-Clarke County.

After graduation, Kelly plans to attend medical school with the goal of becoming a psychiatrist.

SGA’s executive director of external affairs, Sean oversees SGA campus initiatives including the Professional Clothing Closet and Fresh Express. He coordinates SGA external communication.

Through CURO, Sean has researched energy security and education. As an undergraduate summer fellow at the Middlebury Institute’s James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Sean studied export controls and dual use goods to promote nuclear nonproliferation. He is a Security Leadership Program Fellow.

Sean is treasurer of RISE (Rural Students Igniting Success in Education).

He created its “fresh-rep” program, which selects rural freshmen to join RISE’s executive board. He competes on UGA’s Model United Nations team.

Sean wants to earn a PhD in economics before entering academia or the Department of Commerce’s branch of the Foreign Service.

Katelyn is the education outreach chair for MEDLIFE at UGA, volunteer coordinator for the Athens Area Homeless Shelter, co-outreach chair for Athens Prison Tutorial, volunteer medical assistant and night clinic manager for Mercy Health Center, class facilitator for Sparrow’s Nest, and a leadership fellow in the Institute for Leadership Advancement. Her passion is to serve marginalized communities in Athens.

She received the 2023 CURO Summer Fellowship and has conducted research on family communication patterns and their impact on conflict resolution styles in intimate relationships.

She is a research assistant in Richard Slatcher’s Close Relationships Laboratory.

Katelyn plans to attend medical school. She hopes to treat patients with a holistic perspective that recognizes the role of socioeconomic factors in their physical and mental health.

Hometown: Johns Creek, GA Majors: Genetics, Psychology Minor/Certificates: Japanese Language and Literature, Personal and Organizational Leadership

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Hometown: Valdosta, GA Majors: International Affairs, Economics Minor: Arabic

Hometown: Buford, GA Major: Sociology Minor/Certificates: Biomedical Physiology, English, Personal and Organizational Leadership

Manu Pareek

Hometown: Braselton, GA Majors: Finance, Psychology Certificate: Entrepreneurship As a co-managing partner of the Georgia Kickstart Fund, Manu manages the distribution of $100,000 annually to student-led startups at UGA. He is a corporate relations chair for UGA HEROs and helped found a Scholars of Finance chapter on campus. As a council member with the Terry Student Diversity Advocacy Council, he was part of an initiative to increase the diversity of thought and facilitate discussions to promote greater understanding and personal accountability among students.

Manu has developed his interests in finance through work in investment banking and venture capital with organizations such as Truist Securities and Atlanta Hawks Ventures. He is looking to further innovation in biotechnology research through Nucleate.

Manu intends to pursue further education in computer science and work with startups focusing on cognitive science research.

Joshua Sandler

Hometown: Cornwall, NY Major: Economics Master’s: Business Analytics Josh is director of campus outreach for Shop with a Bulldawg (SWAB); he partners with other campus organizations for SWAB’s holiday shopping event.

Josh is the co-head of management consulting’s branch of the Corsair Society and a member of the Blue Key National Honor Society.

He is a tour leader for the UGA Visitors Center.

As an inaugural SGA senator for the Morehead Honors College, Josh was head of the Educational Affairs Committee, working to guarantee graduate seating at commencement ceremonies while promoting and developing financial hardship funds and more.

He served as a 2023 PSO Student Scholar and interned with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government. He was a member of Atlas Business Society and participated in UGA’s Mock Trial team, placing fifth at the 2022 National Championship.

Josh intends to work in management consulting before pursuing an MBA.

Dawson Templin

Saanvikha Saravanan

Hometown: Suwanee, GA Major: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Minor: Spanish As a CURO research assistant, Saanvikha works with Rick Tarleton’s research group to investigate Trypanosoma cruzi parasites.

She is executive director of the Arch Policy Institute and has published five proposals in the Arch Policy Journal. Saanvikha is copresident of Global Health Union under UGA’s Global Health Institute, where her team won first place in 2023 for best case solution.

She is a member of the Honors Student Council and a leadership fellow in the Institute for Leadership Advancement. She is a member of the Dean William Tate Honor Society, Blue Key Honor Society, and Omicron Delta Kappa. She volunteers with the Thomas Lay AfterSchool Program and Bigger Vision of Athens and is director of operations for The Backpack Project of Athens.

Saanvikha plans to work in Georgia health think tanks to increase rural healthcare access.

Hometown: Kennesaw, GA Majors: Economics, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Dawson is the SGA’s director of programming and serves on the University Council.

He is vice president for the Native American Student Association, resident assistant for University Housing, and member of the Corsair Society. He plays alto saxophone with UGA Bands.

He is an Honors Teaching Assistant and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Dean William Tate Honor Society, Blue Key Honor Society, and Omicron Delta Kappa. A leadership fellow in the Institute for Leadership Advancement, he was awarded the Male Leader Among Leaders Award.

Dawson researches the effects of hospital administrators on hospitals and hospital systems with Tim Quigley.

Dawson volunteers at Piedmont Athens Regional and Compassus Hospice. He studied abroad at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He intends to obtain a MD-MBA and become a physician hospital administrator.

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HONORS in the Classroom

FIRST PERSON WITH PARKER TAYLOR

Day in the life of an HTA Being an Honors Teaching Assistant means leading students who are new to the Morehead Honors College and are most likely new to UGA. When I came to UGA, I didn’t know where to start.

Thankfully, I had the HONS 1000H: Introduction to Honors seminar and many mentors to help guide me toward the amazing opportunities for involvement and enrichment that the Honors College has to offer.

As an Honors Teaching Assistant (we call them HTAs for short), I can reflect on my experiences and the joy I found freshmen year and pour out my knowledge and joy into others who are starting their journeys at UGA. Whether I am planning my lessons before class, teaching, collaborating with other HTAs during HONS 4000H practicum seminar, or involving myself in a campus organization, I always remember my responsibility to be a positive influence on bright, young minds at UGA. Lesson planning is a key part of being an HTA, but most of my lesson planning is focused not on material but on activities. My goal is to get students engaged with and to reflect

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on classroom material, so any time an idea for engagement or a question for reflection crosses my mind, I make a note of it. These various ideas may not make it into my lessons, but I take time and care when making lessons that I believe will help students absorb and apply the information that matters most. Right before class, there may be slight changes I make to the lesson plan because it can always be better.

Although I try my best with lesson planning, teaching HONS 1000H never goes exactly how I plan. I have to be able to adapt to a variety of situations, such as technical issues, a lack of engagement with an activity, or an inappropriate allocation of time to certain activities.

No matter how class unravels, I find it best to stay focused on my goal of creating an environment that’s engaging and inclusive. If my students are not responding well to an activity, then I know how to find a different activity that engages them in a different way.

Leading a class requires adaptation, and I have been able to improve my ability to confidently adapt under pressure, which benefits me and the students.

Like my students reflecting on their activities during class, I get an opportunity to reflect on my experiences as an HTA during HONS 4000H, a weekly meeting with all the HTAs and program coordinator Emily Ramsey. The other HTAs are friendly, intelligent people, so spending that hour sharing experiences with them is a highlight of my week.

We also get to hear from Dean Amstutz and subject matter experts from the Morehead Honors College, who speak on topics ranging from undergraduate research to studying abroad to resume formatting.

Outside of lesson planning, teaching, and reflecting with others, I find time for other involvement at UGA. This particular day, I attended a Lunchbox Lecture with the Honors College where I got to hear a UGA professor speak about communicating with confidence and joy, a perfect topic to learn about before presenting at another HONS 1000H class.

In the evening, I practiced trumpet as a member of the Georgia Redcoat Marching Band, giving me an opportunity to unwind with friends and music at the end of my day. I’m so thankful that being an

Staff spotlight:

Emily Ramsey

Facing page: Parker Taylor leads first-year Honors students in a discussion in Moore Hall during his Monday class time (photo by Anvika Menon). Above, top: Parker goes over the semester’s coursework during an advising appointment (photo by Stephanie Schupska). Above, bottom: Parker plays trumpet with the Redcoat Marching Band during their “Women of Soul” halftime show (photo by Morgan Wynn).

HTA leaves me enough time to be a member of the marching band.

Some days I may be too tired to prepare an ice-breaker activity, but I am always happy when I think about the opportunity to build trust and community with younger UGA students. I want the best for everyone I meet, and I am excited to see how my students continue to grow throughout the semester and throughout their time at UGA. Parker Taylor is a sophomore from Ringgold and is majoring in accounting in the Terry College of Business. In addition to being in his second semester as an Honors Teaching Assistant, he is vice president of public relations for Actuaries at UGA, rank leader for the Redcoat Marching Band, an Honors Ambassador, and an Honors student worker. As a freshman, he played trumpet during UGA’s 2023 National Championship win against the TCU Horned Frogs.

Emily Ramsey works with Dean Meg Amstutz to carefully craft the first-semester experience of all incoming Honors students. They do so through the Introduction to Honors course, led by Dean Amstutz, and the accompanying Honors Teaching Assistant (HTA) program.

Having worked with the program for over six years, Emily has helped Introduction to Honors grow into a course focused on professional development. She also added structure and improvement to the Honors Teaching Assistant seminar, Honors Peer Advising, which instructs HTAs on how to serve as peer mentors for first-year Honors students.

“The relationship between HTAs and Honors students builds connections and builds community in a way that is, for me, absolutely unparalleled,” said Emily, who is a program coordinator in the Morehead Honors College.

Recently, Introduction to Honors has shifted to focus on reflection and engagement through active learning. Charged by Dean Amstutz this past summer, Emily and several Honors Teaching Assistants worked with the UGA Office of Active Learning, led by Leah Carmichael.

Together, they prepared recommendations about how best to incorporate active learning into the Introduction to Honors course.

They collaborated on ideas that would further engage students in the classroom and include them as active participants. Their goal was to give students course material that would both build knowledge and allow them to reflect on the learning process.

“We want to focus on getting students to slow down,” Emily said, “to become more present in the moment. There is so much information constantly thrown at them in this phase of their lives.”

Emily is a student herself, working toward a PhD in anthropology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences in addition to her job within Honors. She holds a master’s degree in theological studies from Vanderbilt University and a certificate in teaching English as a second language. She taught business English in Poland and was an adjunct lecturer in cultural anthropology at Hunter College, where she earned her master’s degree. Before coming to UGA in 2016, she was an office coordinator for the internationally recognized investment bank Miller Buckfire.

With reflection as a focal point, Emily works with HTAs, who are responsible for a variety of tasks. These include leading weekly seminar classes; creating active, engaging lesson plans for class; providing prompt feedback on student assignments; attending HONS 4000H practicum sessions to prepare for their classes; answering student questions; and serving as a source of support for their students.

The number varies, but 44 HTAs worked with 570 first-year Honors students during the fall 2023 semester, and 12 HTAs engaged with 213 first-year Honors students in spring 2023.

Emily’s work has been motivated by her joy in watching the Honors students and HTAs thrive throughout the semester and throughout their college careers, she said.

“I love to watch students take advantage of every opportunity,” she said.

—Parker Taylor

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Khushi Mehta, left, and Sophia Milazzo celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Foundation Fellowship in the Pittard Foundation Fellows Library.

50 years

A celebration of scholarship

By Chuck Toney, with additional reporting by Stephanie Schupska

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of the

UGA

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1) Cori Bargmann conducts research in a genetics laboratory in 1980; 2) Former President Gerald Ford talks to Fellows and faculty coordinator Emory Thomas in 1985; and 3) Alex Patterson, left, meets with Foundation Fellows Sara Voyles, Frank Hanna, and Mark Faucette in 1982.

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ob Edge had an idea. Bernie Ramsey secured its future.

Robert G. “Bob” Edge’s idea, inspired and informed by his experience as a 1960 Rhodes Scholar after his graduation from the University of Georgia, was to create a program to support UGA students who had the academic credentials to be courted by prestigious out-of-state institutions. Bernard B. “Bernie” Ramsey’s goal, supported by his successful career in banking and investment, was that the university could attract some of the best students in America and, in doing so, make the world a better place.

The Foundation Fellows program was initialized 50 years ago by Edge and his colleagues on the UGA Foundation. The idea grew further in 1996 when UGA alumnus Ramsey left more than $31 million from his estate to create the Bernard B. Ramsey Foundation Fellowship, elevating the Fellows program to the ranks of America’s best.

program—the Malon C. Courts Scholarship Fund, the Malon C. Courts Scholarship Trust, and the Carlyle Fraser Scholarship.

The first two Foundation Fellows were selected in the spring of 1973; by the mid-1980s, the annual total grew to the low 30s. Today, there are about 100 Foundation Fellows, a number made possible by the generosity of Bernie Ramsey, additional donor funds, and, since 2011, a partnership with the Stamps Scholars Program.

“The university owes so much to the vision and dedication of individuals like Bob Edge, Bernard Ramsey, and many others who dedicated their time and resources into building the Foundation Fellows program,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead, who directed the Honors Program and the Foundation Fellowship from 1999-2004. “The program has had a tremendous impact on the quality of the undergraduate experience at UGA, and I am confident that success will be sustained for many years to come.”

PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES

FACULTY IMPACT

Edge wanted other outstanding Georgia students to have the same opportunities he had at the University of Oxford. What the university needed was a scholarship program to attract and support high-achieving students, or, as faculty coordinator Emory Thomas put it in the 1985 Foundation Fellows Annual Report, those “Renaissance” students who possess outstanding skills, “a capacity for leadership,” and “a broad range of interests and talents to complement their intellect.”

“At that time, UGA didn’t have any prestigious scholarships,” Edge recalled. “I knew of a very prominent Atlantan who went to UNC Chapel Hill because the Morehead-Cain (the nation’s first merit scholarship program) was offered, and I thought, ‘Good gracious, we should have a couple of prestigious fellowships to hold them at Georgia to keep them from going off to other universities.’”

In 1973, the University of Georgia was a good regional university, in the early stages of expanding its research base and improving the quality of the student body. As Edge noted, and a 1982 issue of the Georgia Alumni Record described, the best high school graduates in Georgia were being recruited by the top public and private universities nationwide. Keeping those students in Georgia—and at UGA—was a priority.

The UGA Foundation established three scholarship endowments to provide funding for the new Fellowship

It was a combination of present and future impact that the founders of the Fellowship had in mind. A critical component of that impact continues to be the involvement and enthusiasm of UGA’s faculty. From its inception, the Foundation Fellows program has been led by faculty from across UGA’s colleges and schools, all drawn to the opportunity to interact with the university’s brightest students.

The first faculty coordinator was George Parthemos, a professor of political science who also served as UGA’s vice president for instruction. He and Alex Patterson, an attorney, UGA alumnus, and Foundation trustee, developed the initial programming: grants for academic conferences, travel to Atlanta for special events, and dinners with faculty. Patterson’s involvement began his 26-year stint as the primary liaison between the Foundation trustees and the Fellows program.

Parthemos served from 1976-1979 and was followed by historian Emory Thomas, who focused on the social element of the program. He and Patterson worked together to develop a “community of scholars” and foster friendships among the Fellows. “This initiative has worked and has resulted in one of the unique advantages of the Foundation Fellowship that is not often found in top undergraduate scholarship programs at other universities,” Patterson reported.

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1) Bernard Ramsey poses for a photo for Georgia Magazine in 1993; 2) Fellows visit Delphi, Greece, in 1998; 3) Former President Jimmy Carter talks with Foundation Fellows after receiving the inaugural Delta Prize in 1999; 4) Jere W. Morehead, now UGA’s 22nd president, leads the Fellows retreat at Amicalola Falls in 2000 as director of the Honors Program; 5) Class of 2003 Fellows, left to right, Chris Gibson, Jennifer Gibson, Marshall Chalmers, Jennifer Srygley, Robbie Quinn, and Melanie Venable; and 6) Fellows travel to South Korea in 2005.

A COMMUNITY OF FELLOWS

For many alumni, the element that defines the Foundation Fellowship goes beyond the programming, the funding, and the travel opportunities. It comes down to friendships and community among the students, with alumni, with their faculty mentors, and alongside the staff who support them.

Maggie Crowder Lawrence, Class of 1985, describes her experience in the Foundation Fellowship as opening doors to “lifelong friendships and to a life lived where learning remains a joy.”

Now a writer-editor with the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Lawrence says she “will never forget standing on Nanny Goat Beach huddled around Dr. Eugene Odum as he held a branch of marsh grass with several tiny fiddler crabs clinging to it and talked about the web of life that the salt marshes of Sapelo Island anchored. Only as a Foundation Fellow would

someone like me, a non-science major, have the chance to talk with the man now known as the father of modern ecology.”

Nanny Goat Beach is located on the southeastern edge of Sapelo, a state-managed barrier island that played a main role in providing travel opportunities for Fellows in the early days of the program. UGA faculty—including Odum and Jim Porter, now an emeritus professor of ecology—would guide students onto the ferry to Sapelo, through the marsh grass, and into the thick of the land.

Emory Thomas was followed in his faculty coordinator role by ecology professors Jim and Karen Porter (sciences) along with German professor Peter Jorgensen (humanities) and wife Else, who became the Honors scholarships coordinator.

TRANSFORMATIVE LEGACY

“But even with all the advances being made, the Foundation Fellowship was still operating at a relatively modest level into the 1990s,” said David S. Williams, longtime director of

1) Doug Jackson runs data in a chemistry lab in 2007; 2) Amy Mulkey McGowan crowns Paula Langston in honor of her retirement in 2008; 3) the Class of 2012 visits Stonehenge in 2009 during their Maymester at the University of Oxford; 4) Judith Ortiz Cofer, UGA professor of English and creative writing, hosts a book discussion at a downtown Athens bookstore in 2011; 5) Victoria Akin, Matt Sellers, and Jessica Hunt watch the sunset at Monsoon Palace on a hilltop overlooking Udaipur during a spring break trip in India in 2011; and 6) David S. Williams talks with Osama Hashmi, Mariana Satterly, and Chenée Tracey in front of Moore Hall in 2013.

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the Honors Program and founding dean of the Morehead Honors College. “It was not yet positioned to have a major impact on the future of the state or to extend far beyond it.”

It was at this moment that the Bernie Ramsey bequest transformed the Fellowship and, in many ways, the University of Georgia. Having provided gifts to UGA totaling almost $45 million, Ramsey’s designation to the Fellowship of $31 million of that sum provided a level of financial resources that stabilized the program and enhanced the opportunities available to its students. Ramsey’s gift, and his vision for UGA, brought Edge’s idea and Patterson’s passion fully to life.

“I want a better student… so we can build a better university,” Ramsey said. “I want a better University of Georgia so we can build a better world.”

Ramsey’s gift also directly impacted how the Foundation Fellowship was managed. In 1997, with the approval of the UGA Foundation trustees, it shifted from indirect administrative oversight—Patterson in Atlanta, faculty coordinators on the UGA campus, and administrative assistant Paula Langston (who supported more than 500 Fellows and Ramseys from 1985 to 2008 during her time with the program)—and moved under the responsibility of the director of the Honors Program. The directors who oversaw its growth were Alex Rosenberg, now a professor at Duke University; Jere W. Morehead, now UGA’s 22nd president; and David S. Williams, who oversaw the transition of the Honors Program to the Morehead Honors College. The Foundation Fellowship continues to be housed in the Morehead Honors College today under the leadership of its dean, Meg Amstutz.

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“A half-century into its existence, the Foundation Fellowship is firmly established as UGA’s premier academic scholarship and is nationally recognized for its longstanding excellence,” Amstutz said. “It truly is a community of better students building a better university that is, in turn, building a better world. Community is the heart that makes the Fellowship so special.”

On the second floor of Moore Hall, Jessica Hunt, assistant dean in the Morehead Honors College and director of scholarships, brings her personal experience to the role of coordinating the Foundation Fellows and Ramsey Scholars programs. A Foundation Fellow, Class of 1984, she also works with all UGA undergraduates and alumni—Honors and non-Honors— seeking external scholarships such as the Rhodes, Marshall, Schwarzman, Knight-Hennessy, Udall, Truman, and Goldwater.

“The Foundation Fellowship was created to recruit outstanding students,” she said. “From the first program directors until now, so many of the most influential people in the program’s history knew that the best way to support these outstanding students was to build community and to create spaces for conversation, friendship, inspiration, and mentorship from faculty and peers.”

Hunt has counseled hundreds of UGA students over the past 16 years through her work with the Fellowship and major scholarships.

“There is nothing better than connecting with students and alumni who are making a positive impact in the world.

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1) UGA Rugby Club players Cameron Zahedi and Davis Parker face off in Myers Quad in 2014; 2) Caroline Coleman and Rand Pope take a break en route to Lake Khövsgöl in Mongolia in 2015; and 3) the Class of 2021 visits Glastonbury in 2018.

Every day I am inspired by their work, their stories, their engagement, and their insight,” Hunt said.

FOUNDATIONAL FRIENDSHIPS

Foundation Fellows alumni—who are now working to build a better world—recall specific memories from their time at UGA: having a dinner conversation with Dean Rusk, secretary of state in the Kennedy administration; meeting with former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford and celebrated writer Judith Ortiz Cofer; enjoying meals in the homes of UGA faculty and in the Pittard Foundation Fellows Library in Moore Hall; and experiencing cultures around the world.

No matter what decade they attended UGA or which countries they visited during their time with the program, the words that keep popping up in each of their reflections are remarkably similar: “support system of people”; “some of my most precious, affirming friendships”; “the strongest support group”; “camaraderie”; “the Fellows community”; “the relationships that began in Athens”; “fantastic individuals”; and “layers of innovation, love, and lasting support.”

“At UGA, I loved learning alongside classmates with interests ranging from religious studies to computer science to ecology,” said Smitha Ganeshan, Class of 2014, now an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. “The program instilled in me a deep commitment to public service, an intellectual curiosity about the world, and empathy for the lived experiences of others. The many experiences I had paved the path toward becoming a physician and helped me become the global citizen I strive to be.”

Samia McEachin, Class of 2018, a senior emergency management specialist with NYU Langone Health, puts it this way: “To have the opportunity to develop as an individual, to explore freely and without limitations, and to do it all alongside friends that became

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family, is truly priceless. …The Fellowship showed me just how big the world can be, thrust me out into it with full confidence, and challenged me to reconsider what I thought to be possible for myself.”

Kameko Nichols, Class of 2002, an independent consultant in Atlanta focused on global health and local food systems, shares: “The friends that I have made, and the experiences that the Fellowship brought, will stay with me for the rest of my life. It fed and nurtured my love of travel, and coupled with my degree in biology, eventually brought me to a career in global health. The Fellows experience is incredibly unique to have at such a young age—or really anytime in life—and I continue to be humbled and awed by it as time goes by.”

Logan Campbell, Class of 2018, now a JD candidate at Harvard Law School, notes: “I have met some truly incredible people since college, but there is no community like the one I found through the Foundation Fellowship.”

From his graduation as UGA’s valedictorian in 1960 to his time now as an emeriti trustee, Bob Edge has stayed deeply connected to his alma mater, receiving in 2023 one of the highest honors UGA can bestow—the President’s Medal. In his recent interview, he noted that when he applied to the University of Georgia, he was offered a $50 scholarship (at the time, UGA was on the quarter system, and tuition was $61 a quarter). His plan had always been to attend UGA, but he knew more funding—and more opportunities—would keep more Georgians in state.

“You look back on your life and on the things you are most proud of, and the Foundation Fellowship is something I’m most proud of,” he said.

Bob Edge had an idea, and Bernie Ramsey secured its future. Hundreds of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and donors have transformed it over the course of 50 years into the vibrant community it is today.

CHEERS TO 50 YEARS! On Sept. 1, the Morehead Honors College hosted a celebration at the Delta Innovation Hub in recognition of the Foundation Fellowship’s 50th year, following an open house in Moore Hall. Current students, alumni, UGA Foundation trustees, UGA administrators, and faculty and staff attended, with President Jere W. Morehead, UGA Foundation Chair Allison Ausband, Dean Meg Amstutz, and senior Ashni Patel speaking.

— Photos by Wingate Downs & Stephanie Schupska

Morehead Honors College Magazine // 2024

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HONORS Scholarships

Photos of Mariah Cady in Kazakhstan include a portrait in Almaty, where she is attending Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, and, below, left to right, a horseback ride through the Central Asian countryside; a photo with her host family; and a stop at Kolsay (Көлсай) Lakes National Park, located in the Tian Shan Mountains in southeast Kazakhstan.

Mariah Cady

RHODES Mariah Cady was one of 32 students nationwide named a 2024 Rhodes Scholar. UGA is the only school in the SEC and one of only five public universities in the U.S., in addition to the nation’s service academies, to have a Rhodes recipient in 2023. Mariah joins recipients from 64 countries around the world.

The Rhodes Scholarship is the oldest and most celebrated international fellowship award in the world. The 2024 Rhodes Scholars will begin their various courses of study as graduate students at the University of Oxford in October.

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Mariah is a Morehead Honors College student, a Foundation Fellow, and a Security Leadership Program Fellow in UGA’s School of Public and International Affairs. A senior in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and School of Public and International Affairs, she is majoring in Russian and international affairs with minors in geography, German, and teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL). A student in the UGA Russian Flagship Program, Mariah is currently studying in Kazakhstan at the AlFarabi Kazakh National University as a Boren Scholar. From April

SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS The University of Georgia’s major scholarships office, housed in the Morehead Honors College, works closely with all students across campus— Honors and non-Honors—as they apply for national, high-level scholarships. Below, we’ve included scholarship recipients from late December 2022 through early December 2023.

One LAF Ignite Scholar Payne Fellow Phi Kappa Phi Fellow Quad Fellow Rhodes Scholar Schwarzman Scholar Voyager Scholar

Two Goldwater Scholars Marshall Scholars

Three Pickering Fellows

Five Boren Scholars

Eleven Fulbright offers

2023 RHODES SCHOLAR Natalie Navarrete didn’t know Russian when she came to the University of Georgia. Now, she has studied it around the globe.

Natalie graduated in spring 2023 with several new stamps in her passport, as well as bachelor’s degrees in international affairs, Russian, and Spanish, and a minor in Latin American and Caribbean studies. In November 2022, she capped off her academic career at UGA as a Rhodes Scholar, receiving the oldest and most celebrated international fellowship in the world.

“Coming to UGA and learning Russian without knowing a single letter in the alphabet was incredibly difficult, but also very rewarding,” said Natalie, who studied in the university’s Russian Flagship Program, a federally funded languages initiative.

Natalie received the Foundation Fellowship, the university’s top academic scholarship which has supported students for the last 50 years.

She was also a Stamps Scholar.

“I can’t say enough good things about the Foundation Fellowship and the support that UGA provides its students in general,” Natalie said.

“I’ve learned so much by being around amazing, curious, and passionate people all the time.”

Natalie is now attending the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.

—Erica Techo

to September 2023, she studied at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany on an international student exchange.

Mariah has researched the balance of regional, national, and supraregional identities in southern Germany; the culinary tradition of the Russian diaspora; preventative recommendations on border violence for refugees in Europe; press coverage of the Syrian refugee crisis across European states as well as in the U.K. and Germany; community resource mapping in Germany; and Supreme Court Justice ideology in cases involving indigenous tribes.

At the University of Oxford, Mariah plans to pursue two master’s degrees: the first in linguistics, philology, and phonetics; and the second in refugee and forced migration studies. She would like to specialize in Indo-European languages and deepen her studies in Arabic, Turkish, and Greek. She plans to engage in critical reflection on the ways in which governments can enhance refugee resettlement policies. As she prepares for a career in diplomacy, she said, undergraduate degrees in Russian and international affairs and studies of eight languages— German, Russian, Lakota, Serbo-Croatian, Arabic, Greek, Turkish, and Kazakh—have provided her with a dual foundation in cross-linguistic communication and human security studies.

At UGA, she has been involved with the Native American Students Association, serving as president; Russian Club; Georgia Debate Union; and Paper Airplanes, providing free tutoring for refugees and individuals impacted by conflict. She received funding from UGA’s Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities to support her research and has presented at the annual CURO Symposium. ­—Stephanie Schupska

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Ashni Patel

SCHWARZMAN Ashni Patel will join students from around the world this fall as a Schwarzman Scholar, pursuing a one-year master’s degree in global affairs at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.

Schwarzman Scholars are taught by leading international faculty and study a core curriculum focused on leadership, global affairs, and China, learning to navigate the complexities of an evolving global landscape. Ashni plans to continue her undergraduate focus on connecting people, strengthening communities, and protecting the vulnerable through advocacy, diplomacy, and policymaking.

The 150 scholars in the incoming Schwarzman Class of 2025 were selected from a pool of more than 4,000 applicants. They represent 43 countries and 114 universities. Nine classes of Schwarzman Scholars have been named since the highly competitive program opened to applicants in 2015, and Ashni is UGA’s eighth Schwarzman Scholar.

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Ashni, a senior from Douglas and a Foundation Fellow in the Morehead Honors College, is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in international affairs from the School of Public and International Affairs and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Terry College of Business.

She also will earn a minor in Chinese language and literature from the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

As a Schwarzman Scholar, Ashni will examine China’s approach to diplomacy and development in the Indo-Pacific and Africa. She wants to understand how the United States and China can work as partners in conflict mediation and stabilization. She then plans to pursue a career as a U.S. Foreign Service officer with the U.S. Department of State.

At the University of Georgia, Ashni is a Security Leadership Program Fellow with the Center for International Trade and Security, a tour leader with the UGA Visitors Center, a tutor for incarcerated

Dorothy Kozlowski

HONORS Scholarships

students through the Athens Prison Tutorial, and a teaching assistant and peer mentor for first-year Honors students.

She was vice president of the Honors Student Council and a competitor with the Undergraduate Moot Court and UGA Model United Nations.

Through UGA’s Washington Semester Program, Ashni interned with the Bureau of Counterterrorism at the U.S. Department of State. She received funding as a Senator Chambliss Leadership Fellow.

“I have seen the diplomatic and law enforcement perspectives of countering terrorism on the domestic and international scale, and both experiences have underscored how my academic experiences have prepared me for a future career in international affairs,” Ashni said. “As a Schwarzman Scholar, I hope to learn more about Chinese diplomatic and development efforts around the globe.” ­—Stephanie Schupska

Left: Natalie Moss, right, examines ancient bone fragments with Suzanne Pilaar Birch. Right: Lauren Wilkes, left, discusses computer models with Abhyuday Mandal.

MARSHALL

Natalie Moss & Lauren Wilkes A record-breaking two University of Georgia students were selected as Marshall Scholars in late 2022. Honors alumni Natalie Moss of Norcross and Lauren Wilkes of New Orleans, Louisiana, are now continuing their studies in the U.K. at the University of Cambridge through the award, which is among the most selective graduate scholarships for Americans. UGA is the only public institution of higher learning to have multiple recipients in 2022, along with private Ivy League institutions Harvard, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania.

The Marshall Scholarship—designed to strengthen the enduring relationship between the British and American peoples, their governments, and their institutions—funds graduate study in the United Kingdom at any institution and in any field of study. Annually, 40 students are named Marshall Scholars.

Natalie majored in anthropology and geology with a minor in biology, and Lauren, a Foundation Fellow, majored in data science with a minor in Chinese language and literature, both in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and the Morehead Honors College. They both received funding through UGA’s Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities.

Natalie’s goal is to study the human skeleton in depth to increase her understanding of biological anthropology in prehistory and the modern world. Lauren’s goal is to build machine learning systems that advance positive social impact.

With the addition of Natalie and Lauren, UGA has had nine Marshall Scholars since the scholarship’s inaugural class in 1954.

Natalie picks up a centuries-old tooth, places it on a tiny mound of clay and takes photos to catalog it. She then drills a sample of the enamel and collects the tooth root for stable isotope analysis. Examining teeth and bones from ancient mass burial sites is one of the many steps Natalie is taking toward her future as an anthropologist. At UGA, her research was conducted

with Suzanne Pilaar Birch, associate professor of anthropology and geography and director of both the Quaternary Isotope Paleoecology Lab and the Center for Archaeological Sciences.

“Anthropologists are uniquely positioned to introduce humanitarian perspectives to the applied sciences and to apply science to humanitarian problems,” Natalie said. “Through the analysis of human remains, I seek to identify and alleviate violence on global and local levels.”

Ultimately, Natalie wants to work both as a professor at a research institution and as a consultant identifying missing persons across the globe.

Lauren lives in the world of code, studying machine learning with the goal of building intelligent computer defense systems secure enough for real-world use. It’s a pressing need, she said, explaining that in 2022, the average firewall reported up to 1,000 attacks per day. After graduation from the University of Cambridge, she hopes to implement education technologies that use artificial intelligence to support personalized student learning.

“I plan to continue developing ethical and deployable machine learning systems worldwide, both through model research and policy. The use of machine learning systems is expected to quadruple by 2025, but the security, robustness, and ethical implications of widespread machine learning are largely ignored,” Lauren said.

At UGA, she worked with professor Abhyuday Mandal and assistant professor Qian Xiao on design and analysis of complex computer models in the Department of Statistics.

Rapid growth in computer power has made it possible to study complex physical phenomena that might otherwise be too time consuming or expensive to observe, she said. ­—Stephanie Schupska

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HONORS Scholarships

Top-performing institution for Boren Scholarships For the third year in a row, the Boren Awards named the University of Georgia a top-performing institution for Boren Scholarships. With five UGA undergraduates selected as Boren Scholars in spring 2023, UGA is ranked in the top five of institutions nationwide.

The UGA students named as Boren Scholars for 2023 are studying three different languages— Arabic, Swahili, and Russian—in three distinct regions of the world. UGA has had 94 Boren Scholarship and Fellowship offers to date, and 57 in the last 10 years. The university was also named a top-performing institution for Boren Scholarships in 2021 and 2022.

“Our students are excelling at critical language studies, and we are proud to be among the top institutions for Boren Scholarships,” said Meg Amstutz, dean of the Morehead Honors College.

“I am grateful for the support of their faculty and the Office of Global Engagement. The university continues to develop global citizens through its strong commitment to the study of critical languages.”

In 2023, 210 undergraduates across the country received Boren Scholarships, and 108 graduate students received Boren Fellowships.

Zakiya McPherson of Des Moines, Iowa, was awarded a Boren Scholarship to study Arabic in Jordan for 8 weeks this past summer. She is majoring in computer science. Catherine Grizzard of Harris County was awarded a Boren Scholarship to study Swahili in Tanzania through Boren’s African Flagship Languages Initiative. She is majoring in international affairs.

The following recipients—who are all in UGA’s Russian Flagship Program—were awarded a Boren Scholarship for a capstone year program to study Russian and complete an internship in Kazakhstan.

Siminette Kolodka of Suwanee is a fourthyear student majoring in international affairs, minoring in Russian and pursuing a certificate in global studies. Caroline Solomon of Marietta is a fourth-year Honors student majoring in Russian and environmental economics and management.

Mariah Cady of Columbus is a fourth-year Honors student and Foundation Fellow majoring in Russian and international affairs and minoring in German, geography, and teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL).

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Morehead Honors College Magazine // 2024

GOLDWATER Audrey Conner & Emilio Ferrara

Audrey Conner and Emilio Ferrara, as 2023 Barry Goldwater Scholars, earned the highest undergraduate award of its type for the fields of mathematics, engineering, and natural sciences.

Both are Foundation Fellows and Stamps Scholars in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and the Morehead Honors College. Audrey, from Tifton, is majoring in chemistry; Emilio, from Atlanta, is majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology. Both presented their research at UGA’s annual undergraduate research symposium—the CURO Symposium—in April 2023.

Since 1995, 66 UGA students have received the Goldwater Scholarship, which recognizes exceptional sophomores and juniors across the United States.

The 413 Goldwater Scholars selected in 2023 included 48 mathematics and computer science majors, 57 engineering majors, and 308 natural sciences majors. The recipients were selected from a field of more than 5,000 college sophomores and juniors who were nominated by 427 academic institutions nationwide.

Audrey plans to pursue a doctorate in organic chemistry.

She wants to explore the intersection of computational and experimental organic chemistry by using quantum chemistry methods to guide experimentalists during key stages of synthesis and explain phenomena seen in the laboratory.

She explains that, “from the asphalt we drive on to the emotions we feel, chemistry plays a key role in helping us understand our universe. I plan to pursue a Ph.D. in chemistry and a research career as a faculty member at a research-focused institution, exploring how infinitesimally small particles and their infinitesimally small relations govern the world around us, and how these properties are in turn governed by mathematics that can be exploited to predict properties of molecules that do not yet exist.”

Top producer of Fulbright U.S. students

Audrey Conner, left, works under a fume hood in Christopher Newton’s lab in the new I-STEM 1 Building. Emilio Ferrara, above, prepares samples for a CRISPR-Cas project in Michael Terns’ lab.

Audrey’s research experience at UGA started in 2019 as a high school student studying peanut genetics in Tifton through UGA’s Young Scholars Internship Program. Her college research career began as a freshman, conducting computational chemistry research with Steven Wheeler, a professor of chemistry, to develop a predictive model for the strength of pi stacking interactions that will allow medicinal chemists to use stacking in drug design.

In summer 2022, she began research with Christopher Newton, an assistant professor of chemistry, working on the experimental development of a novel reaction sequence to access biaryl systems, a common motif found in organic molecules. Currently, Audrey works with both Wheeler and Newton, integrating her computational and experimental backgrounds.

Emilio plans to pursue a doctorate in biomedical sciences and research the next generation of curative genetic medicines for rare diseases. His goal is to move these discoveries from the lab into FDA-approved drugs, ultimately starting his own biotechnology company.

He believes the effective delivery of genetic medicines is the key to treating many rare diseases.

“I want to address critical unmet needs for patients and develop curative genetic medicines,” Emilio said. “Genetic medicines deliver nucleic acids to fix, replace, or fine tune the expression of certain genes. By supplying patients with new functional copies of genes or fixing mutated genes, programmable genetic medicines provide the biological ‘source code’ to treat and cure rare genetic diseases.”

Emilio’s research journey, like Audrey’s, also began in 2019. He studied enzyme kinetics at Georgia State University. As a firstyear student at UGA, he worked with Fikri Avci, now an associate professor at the Emory Vaccine Center. Emilio studied new vaccine targets for Streptococcus pneumoniae, received multiple CURO Research Awards, presented twice at the annual CURO Symposium, and wrote an Honors research thesis. He is now conducting research on CRISPR-Cas systems with Michael Terns, a Regents’ Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Genetics. ­—Stephanie Schupska

For the fifth time in 11 years, the University of Georgia has been named a top producer of Fulbright U.S. students, a recognition given by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to U.S. institutions that received the highest number of Fulbright offers.

Eleven UGA students and alumni were offered Fulbright awards for 2022-2023, with 10 able to accept.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers research, study, and teaching opportunities in more than 140 countries to recent college graduates and graduate students. As the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, it is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the U.S. and countries worldwide.

The Morehead Honors College offers assistance to all UGA students and recent graduates interested in participating in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

The seven UGA students and recent alumni who received Fulbright offers for 2022-2023 as English teaching assistants are listed below by name, major, and country.

• Benjamin Barrett; history, philosophy; France • Rosa Brown; international affairs, English; Bulgaria • Kelsey Dabrowski; romance languages, Chinese language and literature; Kazakhstan • Isabel Flanagan; bachelor’s degree in elementary education, master’s degree in educational theory and practice; Greece • Ashley Kalinda; international affairs; Kenya • Sydney Phillips; political science, public relations; Brazil • Emma Traynor; international affairs, applied mathematics; Spain Four UGA students and recent alumni received Fulbright offers for 2022-2023 to do research.

• Oisakhose Aghomo; international affairs, romance languages; Mozambique • Elyssa Schroeder; earning a doctorate in social work; Sierra Leone • Stephanie Stewart; economics, international affairs, women’s studies; Jordan • Hannah Warren; earning a doctorate in English and creative writing; Germany

Morehead Honors College Magazine // 2024

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HONORS Scholarships

Ezra Lewis

LAF IGNITE

Ezra Lewis of Atlanta was one of four students selected for the inaugural cohort of the Landscape Architecture Foundation’s Ignite program in spring 2023. A thirdyear Honors undergraduate at the University of Georgia, she joins students from the Rhode Island School of Design, University of Washington, and University of Pennsylvania.

A multi-year, nationwide program for landscape architecture students who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color, LAF Ignite provides an annual scholarship of $10,000, paid summer internships, and ongoing mentorship.

The scholarship is the Landscape Architecture Foundation’s focused effort “to make the discipline of landscape

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architecture as diverse as the communities in which landscape architects work.”

A CURO Honors Scholar in the Morehead Honors College, Ezra is majoring in landscape architecture in the College of Environment and Design with a minor in horticulture from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Ezra plans to use the built environment to promote sustainable and reciprocal relationships between communities and the environment. She wants to design spaces that could be used for horticulture education and food production for local communities to address food deserts, while spurring community investment and emphasizing historical preservation.

With Alfred Vick, Georgia Power

Professor in Environmental Ethics in the College of Environment and Design, Ezra conducts research in biophilic design, which centers on human connectivity to the natural environment. Ezra’s research focuses on ranking and recording biophilic spaces on UGA’s campus and recording the effects that being in these spaces have on students’ mental health.

“By designing spaces that uplift the community and contribute to the health and safety of a population and their environment, I believe that I can help spur generational change that will last long after I am gone,” Ezra said. “After completing my degree, I am excited to put this hypothesis into practice when I enter the workforce.”

Payne Fellowship

Phi Kappa Phi Fellow

Alexis Nash, from Fayetteville, graduated in May 2023 with bachelor’s degrees in international affairs and psychology. At UGA, she was a Security Leadership Program Fellow, and she conducted research through the Center for the Study of Global Issues. Her interest in international development was sparked when she studied abroad as an Honors International Scholar in South Africa.

Audrey Safir, from Marietta, graduated in May 2023 with bachelor’s degrees in microbiology and anthropology. She is now a master’s student at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

At UGA, she conducted research on tuberculosis in Frederick Quinn’s laboratory. As an Honors International Scholar, she analyzed village drinking water quality in Madagascar. She was president of the Honors Medicine in Literature Book Discussion.

Morehead Honors College Magazine // 2024

Julianna Russ

VOYAGER

Julianna Russ of Fort Thomas, Kentucky, was one of 100 college students from across the nation to be selected for the second cohort of the Voyager Scholarship, the ObamaChesky Scholarship for Public Service.

Established in 2021 by the Obama Foundation and Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky, the Voyager Scholarship is a two-year program for students in their junior and senior years who are committed to pursuing careers that serve the public and their communities.

The second cohort of 100 Voyager recipients represents 33 states and territories and 74 colleges and universities.

Julianna is UGA’s second Voyager Scholarship recipient.

An Honors junior and Foundation Fellow in the Morehead Honors College, Julianna is majoring in journalism in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, international affairs in the School of Public and International Affairs, and comparative literature and intercultural studies in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. She is minoring in African languages and literature and working toward a certificate in sports media.

“I’m concerned about media freedom and its struggle to endure,” Julianna explained in her Voyager summary. “I’d like to conduct an independent research project assessing media censorship and its relationship to state violence, demonstrating a need for stronger press protections globally.”

Julianna’s work during her time at UGA spans roles from beat reporter to video producer. She is currently a control room technical director for athletic events through the UGA Athletic Association. She was a documentary unit intern for CNN, where she supported the production of weekly episodes of “The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper.”

After graduation, Julianna hopes to work as a freelance journalist before moving on to graduate school to study international affairs. She would like to investigate strategies used to suppress media freedom, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa.

Schwarzman, 2022

Voyager, 2022

Elise Karinshak was named a Schwarzman Scholar in 2022.

A Foundation Fellow from Lawrenceville, she graduated in May 2023 with bachelor’s degrees in marketing and data science.

A 2022 Goldwater Scholar, she studied with Yan Jin how messages are shared and altered on social media and participated in the Grady College’s Crisis Communication Coalition Research Group.

Leah Whitmoyer of Tucker, an Honors senior, Foundation Fellow, and Stamps Scholar, was in the inaugural cohort of Voyager Scholars in 2022. She is a biological science major. A 2022 Boren Scholar, she studied Arabic at the University of Jordan in Amman and pursued a directed research course to analyze sustainable water management methods in fall 2022.

Leah began her time at UGA as a CURO Honors Scholar.

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Clockwise from top: 1) Shreya Sawant, Liliana Guilfoyle, Caryline Porter, and Suhani Patel pose with the T-shirts they’ve printed in Barrow Hall’s creative spaces. 2) Liliana Guilfoyle, left, listens carefully as Laura McAndrews, assistant professor of textiles, merchandising, and interiors, guides her through the screen-printing process. 3) Zach Leggio holds up the peanut dress designed by Frankie Welch and worn by Rosalyn Carter during Jimmy Carter’s run for Georgia governor in 1973. 4) Jan Levinson Hebbard, exhibition coordinator for the Richard B. Russell Special Collections Libraries, guides students on a tour of the exhibit Freemasonry in Georgia: Ideals, Imagery, and Impact, which was presented by the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library and was on display February-July 2023.

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HONORS on Campus

Lunch & field trips

New Honors offering takes students behind the scenes across campus Story by Stephanie Schupska | Photos by Stephanie Schupska & Andrea Silletti

Zach Leggio walks down the long vault aisle, the ceiling soaring stories above him to make room for thousands upon thousands of artifacts stacked neatly on industrial-strength shelving. In front and behind him, with the permission and oversight of staff, Honors students gently touch clothing from as early as the 1700s and as late as last year.

Zach examines a peanut-print dress worn in the 1970s by Rosalynn Carter. The peanut pattern was crafted by scarf designer Frankie Welch, a design that debuted for Jimmy Carter’s 1973 gubernatorial run.

Zach is deep below the Richard B. Russell Special Collections Libraries, in the vault of the Hargrett Library.

Liliana Guilfoyle pauses before gently pulling the ink-backed paper from the T-shirt she has just printed. She listens carefully as Laura McAndrews, assistant professor of textiles, merchandising, and interiors, explains the process of screen printing.

Liliana and other Honors students have just gone behind the scenes on South Campus, learning about the College of Family and Consumer Sciences’ creative facilities—Product Development and Design Lab, Digital Design Lab, and Maker’s Space.

Liliana is inside the walls of Barrow Hall.

Honors students are used to learning over lunch in Moore Hall through donor-funded Lunchbox Lectures that feature various UGA faculty. In 2022, Kora Burton and Maria de Rocher started brainstorming ways to both feed students and take them to littlevisited parts of campus.

Kora is a student affairs professional, and Maria is assistant dean and director of student engagement and programming in the Morehead Honors College.

Lunch and learn field trips are the newest offering on a menu of extracurricular learning options available to Honors students.

Honors College staff served up five on-campus trips in 2023.

“It all started in fall 2022 when we asked UGA’s Virtual Environment Room and Gaming Experience (VERGE) lab to come give a Lunchbox Lecture, and they asked ‘Why not come to us instead?’” Kora said. “After that amazing field trip experience, we decided we wanted to continue asking this question as we planned for future lectures. UGA houses so many phenomenal spaces and research initiatives, covering so many disciplines. We knew we needed to help our students branch out and experience more of them during their limited time here.”

Lunch is typically a burrito—chicken, steak, veggie, or vegan— tortilla chips, salsa, a cookie, and a drink. The learn part ranges from the Maker’s Space in Barrow Hall to the Sanders Boardroom in Dean Rusk Hall—part of the School of Law—to the collection space behind secure doors at the Georgia Museum of Art. In 2023, the lunch and learn field trip offerings were: • UGA Libraries. On Nov. 2, Honors students received a personalized look at the inner workings of and the opportunities available through the UGA Libraries system. During the

information session and tour of the Main Library on North Campus, they were joined by Chandler Christoffel, interim head of research and instruction; Susan Morris, head of interlibrary loans; Kelly Holt, head of cataloging; Andrew Johnson, emerging technologies librarian; and Callie Holmes, digital archivist and digitization unit head of the Brown Media Archives.

• School of Law. On Oct. 18, Honors students met with Shannon Hinson, associate director of admissions, and Logan Sawyer, J. Alton Hosch Professor of Law and director of undergraduate studies, as they discussed law school and the law minor, as well as the unique admissions programs and scholarship opportunities for Honors students.

• Georgia Museum of Art. On Sept. 27, Callan Steinmann, curator of education, gave a presentation over lunch about the museum and its resources. Students took a tour of the galleries, followed by a behind-the-scenes visit to the vaults, led by Tricia Miller, head registrar. Both an academic museum and the official art museum of the state of Georgia since 1982, the Georgia Museum of Art provides a wide range of campus and community programming.

• Barrow Hall’s creative spaces. On Sept. 14, students were introduced to creative spaces that work seamlessly for students in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences to engage in various fashion design research, including historic design inquiry, user-centered design, digital printing fabric testing, and more.

• Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. During the visit on Feb. 8, Kathryn Manis, instruction and community engagement librarian, and Jan Levinson Hebbard, exhibition coordinator, guided students on a tour of the vault and galleries.

They were joined in the vault by Paul Van Wicklen, vault manager.

Opened in 2012, the Special Collections Libraries’ mission is to acquire, organize, preserve, and provide access to unique and rare materials related to the history and culture of Georgia.

“One of our students who went on the Special Collections tour, Gabrielle Gruszynski, is now working there as a docent because of that experience,” Kora said. “It’s just wonderful to hear that this new menu of programming has had that effect.”

Morehead Honors College Magazine // 2024

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HONORS Recognition

HONORS Q&A

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Story & photos by Stephanie Schupska

questions for Nicole Moreno

Nicole Moreno competed for a scholarship from the Fashion Scholarship Fund, a prestigious case study competition with four disciplines: fashion merchandising, product development and design, business strategy, and marketing. A third-year Honors student from Milton (originally from Seville, Spain), Nicole is majoring in fashion merchandising with an emphasis in product development and design in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, with a minor in studio art.

In December, Nicole found out that she had received the award. We caught up with her just after the announcement to learn more about the program.

Q: The Fashion Scholarship Fund sounds very exciting.

What is involved in this competition?

Above: Nicole Moreno puts the finishing touches on the dress she designed A: The scholarship topic ranges each year but requires for her 21st birthday in December. Below: Nicole’s case study includes students to select a fashion brand and create an in-depth drawings of purses she created for her final For New York, by New York proposal to a real-world challenge being faced in the collection. Facing page, top: Nicole’s hand-drawn fabric swatches; center: fashion industry. The case study this year surrounded Nicole stands inside a multipurpose studio in Barrow Hall with her dress, environmental, social, and governance concerns in the left, and a sheer overlay dress she crafted to fulfill an Honors Option refashion industry and required me to address emerging quirement for a non-Honors course; and center left: The cover of Nicole’s sustainable product trends (like innovative sustainable winning case study, For New York, by New York. or digital textiles and materials) and emerging consumer trends (advancing their well-being and fostering a brand partnership with the non-profit Sanitation Foundation as well as connection). My case study was for the product development the use of revolutionary mycelium leather. Mycelium leather is a and design discipline, so I had to consider these factors and textile produced using the root-like system of mushrooms. design a new product category or line of an existing category for my selected brand.

Q: Tell us more about For New York, by New York. What does the collection involve?

Q: What did you design for your case study?

A: In my case study, I sum it up like this: Bright, youthful colors A: For my case study, titled For New York, by New York, I like “Fuchsia Rose” and “Blazing Orange” dance across organic, designed a recycled polyester and mycelium leather New Yorkfree-flowing shapes and textures, adorned with quirky and inspired handbag collection for the brand Coach. This proposal authentic prints like “New York Time” and “Orange Garden.” emphasizes environmental and social sustainability through a

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New York icons like taxicabs and street signs call home to Coachtopians across the world, inspiring and connecting our communities. In simpler words, the collection is made For New York, by New York. I developed three hand-drawn original prints (shown above) for For New York, by New York to celebrate humanity in a digitally dominated world.

Q: What is something special about this collection?

A: The handbags would be crafted utilizing recycled plastic collected during community cleanups throughout the state of New York, which would help foster community, pride, and care for the environment within the Coach customer. The line would also include a few handbags made using mycelium leather as a soft introduction to mycelium leather for the Coach brand, leading to more products being crafted with this textile.

Q: What was involved in bringing your case study and recycled leather handbag idea to life?

A: I worked over the summer in the Retail Case Studies class (TXMI 5260E) with Jewon Lyu, assistant professor of textiles, merchandising, and interiors, to draft and design my 23-page proposal. I revised and edited it up until the submission date on Oct. 16.

Q: What do you receive as a recipient of the Fashion Scholarship Fund?

The award carries a $7,500 scholarship, an invitation to the Fashion Scholarship Fund Awards Gala in New York—with industry leaders such as Anna

Wintour, representatives from Nordstrom, etc.—a mentorship with FSF alum in the fashion industry, and exclusive internship and job opportunities. FSF partners with 60 colleges across the United States, and out of 521 applicants, I was one of 250 selected.

Q: Any final thoughts about the award?

A: I am really excited about this opportunity.

It’s a really prestigious award and is going to be very helpful in helping get my foot in the door in the fashion industry!

Morehead Honors College Magazine // 2024

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HONORS Undergraduate Research

2023 CURO Symposium The CURO Symposium, hosted by the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities, is an annual two-day event highlighting undergraduate research at the University of Georgia. We will mark the Symposium’s 25th anniversary this year on April 8-9, 2024, at the Classic Center in downtown Athens. In 2023, the CURO Symposium, shown on these pages, featured 498 undergraduates communicating their research accomplishments. The presenters were pursuing 92 different majors from 15 schools and colleges and conducting research with 245 faculty members from 69 departments in 17 colleges, schools, and divisions.

Clockwise from top left: Milan Nayak stands with his mentor, K. Chad Clay, after presenting on “Minimum Wage and Human Voter Rights: What’s the Relationship?”; Marisa Pagnattaro, UGA’s vice president for instruction, gives the keynote address; Ireland Hayes shares her research on “Black Holes of Information: The State of Local News in

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Photos by Stephanie Schupska & Peter Frey

Southeast Georgia”; Symposium participants stand next to their posters, ready to share their research; this photo of Sherifa Akinniyi, taken by UGA photographer Peter Frey, was featured as one of his favorites for 2023: “This was for a Georgia Magazine story on CURO students, and I just like the way the perspective on this worked out for the photo,” he said; Rohini Bose with her mentor, Jeremy Davis, presents on the “Ethics of AI in Legal Discovery”; Caitlyn Miller speaks on “Communicating Uncertain Science to the Public”; Benjamin Brown with his mentor, Rebecca Atkins, presents on “Analyzing the Gaze Points and Strategies of SightSingers with an Eyetracker”; and Dana Theoc talks with an attendee about “The Implications of Stereotype Threat on the Academic Performance of Black College Students.”

NEW CURO WEBSITE: At the far right is a peek at the updated website for the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities.

Launched in November, curo.uga.edu is designed to be a resource for anyone interested in undergraduate research at UGA.

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HONORS Alumni Giving

Gift honors CURO mentor A conversation with Kevin Patrick and his mentor, James C. Anderson, Jr.

By Stephanie Schupska

In 2004, Kevin Patrick (BA ’05) conducted a CURO summer research project in the Classics that was life changing, and he gives all the credit to James C. Anderson, Jr., Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Classics. Now, 19 years after completing his time at UGA, he is giving back to the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities— and the University of Georgia—in appreciation and in honor of his faculty mentor.

In 2023, Kevin named a CURO scholarship on behalf of Dr. Anderson as “a way to express my sincerest gratitude for him and the university. I also hope that it will allow current students to gain an even greater appreciation for the study of the Classics.”

Dr. Anderson is now a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus.

As an undergraduate, Kevin majored in classical culture, history, and Latin. He was named a CURO Scholar with Distinction by the Honors Program and was the recipient of the Warlick-Mannion Scholarship from the Department of the Classics. After graduating magna cum laude with high honors in 2005, he went to law school and is now the principal and founder of Kevin Patrick Law. He is an AV-Preeminent (the highest rating for professional excellence

by Martindale-Hubbell) Georgia trial attorney. In December, his business was listed among the 2024 Bulldog 100, which celebrates the top 100 fastest-growing organizations owned or led by UGA alumni.

Kevin shares more about why he gave to UGA on behalf of CURO below.

Kevin Patrick: (quoting Marcus Tullius Cicero) But deep in every noble heart dwells a power which plies night and day the goad

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Morehead Honors College Magazine // 2024

of glory, and bids us to see to Kevin Patrick stands with his mentor, James C. it that the remembrance of our Anderson, after presenting his research at the 2004 names should not pass away CURO Symposium on “Marcus Tullius Cicero’s Pro Archia with life, but should endure Poeta: The Poetics of Law in the Roman Republic.” He coeval with all the ages of the continued his research with Dr. Anderson, presenting future. The words of Marcus on “Marcus Tullius Cicero: The Foundations of a Legal Tullius Cicero in Pro Archia Education during the Roman Republic” in 2005.

Poeta still ring true today, and Dr. James C. Anderson, Jr. truly epitomizes those words Anderson for what he has done for me and noblest ideals of the University of (and really all his students) over the Georgia and the Morehead Honors College. years, but I know this scholarship will Dr. Anderson was my Classics professor be a wonderful way to give back to UGA and CURO mentor. He truly made such and honor him. I’m thrilled to be able to a difference in my life, and I am forever support UGA, Honors, and CURO and to grateful. honor Dr. Anderson’s legacy.

Dr. Anderson: I am thrilled, stunned, and truly delighted that Kevin wants to name this Honors CURO Scholarship fund after me. Kevin was a great student—both on campus and on the Classics Study Abroad Program in Rome in summer 2005, as well as during his Honors CURO research and thesis—always positive and good humored, and a very hard worker.

Kevin Patrick: That quote was one that I encountered during my 2004 CURO summer research project with Dr. Anderson. It’s amazing how things have a way of coming full circle, and I could never have imagined then that almost 20 or so years later, I would still remember it and now be able to share it in the context of this scholarship for Dr. Anderson.

Dr. Anderson: I am touched and humbled

by Kevin’s kind and thoughtful gesture, In May 2023, we held our first as well as by his wish to benefit future CURO Giving Week, and this year, students in Classics. Such thoughtfulness we’ll be working to raise support is totally typical of Kevin. I am honored for CURO over several months. to be associated with this generous way Our goal last year was 50 gifts, to assist future Classics students who are and generous donors provided part of that outstanding program. $2,950, enough for almost three Kevin Patrick: I can never repay Dr. scholarships for semester-long research, three conference grants, or posters printed for the CURO Symposium (plus coffee to fuel the oral presentations).

A gift-giving tradition Bob Miller’s gifts in memory of his father-in-law and in honor of his wife provide opportunities for Honors undergraduates and students in need

By Rachael Andrews

When brainstorming the perfect gift for a loved one, not many people may think of naming a scholarship in that person’s honor. Bob Miller (AB ’64), however, has made a tradition of commemorating life’s big moments by giving back.

HONORING THE PAST AND PRESENT

When his wife’s father passed, Bob decided to give to the University of Georgia to begin that legacy.

“Mary Helen was the apple of her father’s eye, so I wanted to make sure she could remember him in a way that was meaningful to us both,” Bob explained.

It was this reasoning that led Bob to establish the Charles M. Hicks Scholarship Fund–named after Mary Helen’s beloved father–during the holiday season of 1981 as a gift to her. The Charles M. Hicks Scholarship Fund supports students in the Morehead Honors College, a program that had a profound impact on Bob during his own time at UGA. Established in 1960, the Honors College–known as the Honors Program before 2021–counted Bob Miller as a student in its very first cohort. The experience was transformational for him; by participating in smaller classes and fostering deeper connections among students and faculty, the Honors College ignited a lifelong love of learning in Bob. “It just blew my mind,” Bob said. “I couldn’t get over how much more I enjoyed going to

“

The Honors Program made me a student; I wouldn’t have created a scholarship today if it weren’t for my experience in the Honors Program.

Above: Bob Miller takes a break while hiking in Dartmoor, England. Left: This photo of Bob was taken during his college days as a student in the very first cohort of the Honors Program, now the Morehead Honors College.

class after joining the program. It was a fascinating learning experience.

“The Honors Program made me a student; I wouldn’t have created a scholarship today if it weren’t for my experience in the Honors Program.”

Bob Miller Morehead Honors College Magazine // 2024

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HONORS Alumni Giving Bob’s university experience was one he wanted to share with future generations of students, regardless of their circumstances. Establishing several need-based scholarships in Mary Helen’s name was the logical next step in Bob’s giving journey with the university. “I loved the idea of not letting a good student fall between the cracks because they lack the financial means to attend or didn’t want to borrow and be stuck in debt,” Bob explained.

“We shouldn’t fail to fulfill the potential of students who would eventually become an asset to this state,” he said.

“It’s important for us to try to keep the very best of human capital in Georgia by offering as many students as we can the opportunity to attend the state’s flagship university.”

BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE

The Charles M. Hicks Scholarship Fund has helped many students make the most of their time at UGA by supporting scholarships through the Morehead Honors College. Still, Bob would like to see more growth in the fund as well as in two need-based Georgia Commitment Scholarships Bob created and named after his wife, Mary Helen, in August 2023 to celebrate the couple’s 60th anniversary.

“In my lifetime, I want to see the Hicks scholarship valued at $1 million and for there to be four Mary Helen Miller scholarships–one for each year she was at the university,” Bob explained.

Supporting these scholarships has become a point of pride for Bob, an appropriate way for him to celebrate the past but also allow future generations of students to have the same transformative experiences at the university that he did.

One of the recipients of the Charles M. Hicks Scholarship was Nicole Moreno, right, (read more about her on page 34), a third-year Honors student studying fashion merchandising.

She reflected on her own life-changing immersive learning experience that she was only able to embark on with the assistance of the scholarship.

“When I first started looking into a year abroad, I was almost discouraged by the cost of it all,” said Nicole, who spent fall 2022 studying fashion merchandising with UGA Cortona in Italy, and spring 2023 studying in Florence, Italy, at the Santa Reparata International School of Art. “My experience studying abroad is one I will never forget, and I am so eternally grateful to the Honors College and its donors for putting their faith in me to venture out, grow, explore, and change the world.”

From the Bob Millers to the Nicole Morenos, the Morehead Honors College at UGA offers many students learning opportunities that can help shape their futures and ignite their passions. When students like Bob and Nicole become alumni, those experiences can inspire them to give back so that current and future students are able to access similar opportunities, continuing a cycle of cascading impact for generations to come.

If you have an alumni giving story you would like to share with us, please contact Debbie Daniel at dadaniel@uga.edu.

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Morehead Honors College Magazine // 2024

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I am so eternally grateful to the Honors College and its donors for putting their faith in me to venture out, grow, explore, and change the world.

Nicole Moreno

+ADDING OPPORTUNITIES

FOR OUR STUDENTS, ONE GIFT AT A TIME Your gift provides support for undergraduates in the Morehead Honors College—both now and in the future!

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Donate today in any amount at give.uga.edu/honors Morehead Honors College Magazine // Fall 2021

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Nonprofit Org. U. S. Postage

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Moore Hall, 108 Herty Drive University of Georgia Athens, GA 30602-6116

Game boards & conversation

Athens, GA Permit No. 165

In October, first- and second-year CURO Honors Scholars, along with Dean Meg Amstutz and program coordinator Andrea Silletti, gathered for snacks and strategy at the Rook & Pawn, a board game cafe in downtown Athens. As UGA’s top undergraduate research scholarship, the CURO Honors Scholarship offers support for incoming UGA students interested in research.