Laurels and Accolades Kimberly Blaeser’s (English and American Indian Studies) poem, “Wellspring: Words from Water” is featured in an audio poetry installation at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana. A project of Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation and Tippet Rise, the installation features a stickwork sculpture, “Daydreams,” and eleven poems, including Blaeser’s. In conjunction with the installation, a clip of her poem was also included in Yellowstone Public Radio’s, “Resounds: Arts and Culture on the High Plains.” Graduate student Jana Gedymin (Geography) was selected to receive a scholarship from the Wisconsin Land Information Association Foundation and Damon Anderson Memorial Scholarship Fund. The $1,000 prize also includes a free registration and accommodations for the 2022 WLIA annual conference in February 2022. John Berges and Erica Young (Biological Sciences) will lead UWM’s involvement in 27-institution alliance, headed by Auburn University, that received a $10 million award from the National Science Foundation. The five-year research effort is aimed at increasing the number of disabled students entering college and completing a degree in a STEM-related field. Timothy O’Brien (Sociology) and his co-author, Shiri Noy, were named the winners of the Distinguished Sociology of Religion Journal Article Award for their article, “Political Identity and Confidence in Science and Religion in the United States,” which was published in 2020 in Vol. 81 of the journal Sociology of Religion. The award, conferred by the Association for the Sociology of Religion, was presented at the ASR annual meeting in August. Cary Costello (Sociology) was nominated by UWM for the 2021 University of Wisconsin System’s Dr. P. B. Poorman Award for Outstanding Achievement on Behalf of LGBTQ+ People. The award recognizes LGBTQ+ people and their allies for advocacy leadership in advancing the inclusion, rights, and opportunities of LGBTQ+ people on campus and within the community.The award will be presented at a reception at UW-Madison in November. Kelly Kohlmetz (Mathematical Sciences) is a recipient of the Carnegie Math Pathways Hero Award. The award highlighted how her “dedication has made a difference to the success of the Carnegie Math Pathways, and most importantly to the success of tens of thousands of students, who are benefitting from a more empowering and equitable math learning experience.
Alumni Accomplishments Su Cho (‘21, PhD English) was named one of the winners of the National Poetry Series, a literary awards program that sponsors the publication of five books of poetry each year solicited from entries throughout the country. Cho’s work, Symmetry of Fish, will be published by Penguin Books. Richelle Martin (‘06, BA Art History, Political Science, and Psychology) is the director Su Cho of the venture capital fund Winnow Fund and made the Fund’s first investment in July. Winnow Fund invests in Wisconsin-based seedstage companies and invested in KaPloint, Inc., an entertainment and marketing company developing a mobile player platform that gamifies slot machine data from partner casinos. Trevor Jung (‘17, BA Urban Studies) was named the City of Racine, Wisconsin’s Transit Manager and took over his new position at the end of August. Jung will step down fom his seat on the Racine Common Council, where he served as chair of the Common Council’s Transit Committee. Trevor Jung He has also served on several transportation-related committees and boards. Alex Heaton (‘19, PhD Mathematical Sciences) was named a tenure-track assistant professor of mathematics at Lawrence University. He recently finished work as a postdoctoral fellow at the Fields Institute for Research in mathematical Sciences in Toronto. Ae Hee Lee (‘21, PhD English) published her collection of poetry, entitled, “Dear Bear,” in England earlier this year. Her collection has received glowing praise.
Fred Helmstetter (Psychology) was recognized as a “Daily Expert” by Expertscape, which highlights the world’s top experts in clinical and research medicine. Helmstetter was featured on Aug. 21 in honor of Interntiaonal Day of Rememberance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism. College of Letters & Science • UW–Milwaukee • 15
