There’s nothing fishy about URI students reeling in highly competitive scholarships, once considered the purview of the Ivies. In fact, very few big ones get away. This past spring alone, students won two Fulbrights, a Goldwater, a Udall, a Madison, two Metcalfs, and two National Science Foundation research internships.
It’s not a coincidence; it’s a tradition. The story behind the success rests in the Honors Program’s Office of National Scholarships, which opened in 1996 to help select and guide candidates for these major scholarships. Here’s a snapshot of some of the recent winners:
Designing Anti-HIV Compounds Studying Endangered Elephants in MalaysiaHelping Street Children in India Economics Here and AbroadKeeping History in the PresentHonors Program Gets A+ Director Honors Program: What’s It All About?Honors Students Reel in the Big Ones
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A Blooming Environmentalist
A full-time horticulture student, Hushion is one of 80 students in the U.S. to be awarded the Morris K. Udall Scholarship, the nation’s most prestigious award for students intending to pursue environmental careers.
The 40-year-old already has a good start on a professional gardening career. In 2004 the award-winning gardener launched a small business called Get Up & Grow that specializes in the design and maintenance of residential perennial gardens.
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Designing Anti-HIV Compounds
He works closely with Keykavous Parang, assistant professor of pharmacy, developing compounds for possible use in a topical microbicide ointment that women can use to help prevent HIV transmission. Hanley has designed eight anti-HIV compounds that show great potential for further development as an over-the-counter ointment.
The Goldwater Scholarship, named after the late Arizona senator, is awarded to undergraduate students interested in pursuing science and math. Hanley’s career goal is to obtain his doctorate in medicinal chemistry and work in an academic or a research setting.
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Studying Endangered Elephants in Malaysia
“More than 600 elephants have been moved since 1974,” she says. “But no one knows what happens to them after they are released in the park. What little research has been done suggests the animals move around the wide area. I want to see if males and females react to the process differently, and if they leave the boundaries of the park and raid crops and cause more conflicts with humans.
“I feel compelled to do this,” Jamieson said. “This is something that’s urgently needed if elephants are to remain viable.”
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Helping Street Children in India
She was so committed to the project that if she hadn’t won the scholarship, she would have funded the trip with a personal loan.
“I‘m fascinated by how my life is only the way it is because of where I was born, who I was born to, and what has been provided for me. I am certainly eager to take advantage of my position by aiding those who were not given the same things as me,” explains the 21-year-old.
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Economics Here and Abroad
Skira used the internship to expand her interest in international policy by spending seven weeks this summer at the Andrew Young School at Georgia State University where she assisted a professor studying policies relating to economic growth in South Africa.
Ryan was offered two internships. In the summer of 2005, he interned at the University of Nebraska with a team of math students who developed a model on peregrine falcon populations.
This summer, instead of taking another NSF internship, Ryan interned at the Federal Reserve Bank in Boston working on a behavioral economics project exploring why people don’t have bank accounts.
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Keeping History in the Present
“I would like to inspire adolescents to stay in school and reach beyond their comfort zones,” she says. “I have seen what a difference a passionate teacher can make on a young adult’s life.”
History is alive and well and connected to the present and the future, according to Owens. “I think that far too many students go through the educational system without ever wondering why such information is useful to them,” says the advocate of applied learning, which takes information out of textbooks and into the real world.
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Honors Program Gets A+ Director
“Professor McIntyre is a brilliant teacher and scholar who is forward thinking,” said M. Beverly Swan, provost and vice president of academic affairs, who made the appointment. “He challenges everyone to think in new ways. I cannot think of a better person to provide leadership for our honors program at this time. He serves the students—and the University—well.”
McIntyre joined the faculty in 1987, teaching international and labor economics courses and earning the University’s Teaching Excellence Award in the process. His book, Class and Convention: Political Economy and Labor’s Rights, will be published next year by the University of Michigan Press.
He enjoys encouraging and motivating students. “The last three years have been the best,” he says of his work with honors students.
McIntyre succeeds Galen Johnson as director and knows that filling Johnson’s footsteps will require big shoes. “Under Galen there has been an explosion in the numbers of students taking honors courses, completing the program ,and applying for and winning national and international scholarships. Replacing Galen isn’t easy, but I’m excited to both build on past successes and take the program in new directions,” McIntyre says.
He plans to network across the campus to achieve the following goals he has set for the program:
• To internationalize the honors curriculum and enhance the honors experience through study abroad.
• To increase the diversity of the honors student body.
• To make use of Web-based technology to enhance the colloquium, but not distract from it.
• To support Walter Von Reinhart, associate professor of German and new coordinator of the Office of National Scholarships, by strengthening membership in the selection committees.
• To work with the Making a Difference capital campaign to fund the colloquium and the directorship.
Profiles by Jan Wenzel ’87; Dave Lavallee ’79, M.P.A. ’87;and Todd McLeish
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Honors Program: What’s It All About?
1) Honors courses, limited to 15 to 20 students, take on interdisciplinary subjects designed to broaden understanding.
2) An annual colloquium, offered since 1963, explores current, recurrent, or emerging issues. Internationally recognized speakers, often combined with surrounding events, provide the public with an understanding of the topic. About 75 honors students enrolled in a complementary honors course read related materials and discuss the topic, often with the visiting experts.
3) The Office of National Scholarships helps select and mentor students for participation in all major national scholarship competitions.
To qualify, for the program, entering freshmen must have graduated in the top 10 percent of their class. Upperclassmen must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or better.
While Honors Programs across the country are traditionally rooted in the liberal arts, URI continues to expand its interdisciplinary offerings, attracting nursing, pharmacy, business, and environmental sciences students.
Last spring, 55 graduating seniors wore an honors medallion, signifying the completion of 15 honors credits including an independently designed research project, joining 350 alumni from the program.
