The University’s honored five of its alumni on April 30听 ,听 the school鈥檚 signature alumni recognition event. Held at the 性视界 University Washington, D.C., Center, the evening brought together members of the Maxwell community鈥攁lumni, faculty, advisory board members and friends of the school鈥攆or a lively, standing-room only celebration of careers that have spanned climate finance, diplomacy, food security, public administration and the law.

Dean David M. Van Slyke welcomed guests and set the tone for the evening with remarks that acknowledged both the weight of the current moment and the enduring relevance of Maxwell鈥檚 mission.

鈥淲e are gathering tonight at a moment when the ideals that animate this school鈥攆ree inquiry, rigorous evidence, the willingness to engage across differences鈥攔emain under considerable pressure,鈥� Van Slyke said. 鈥淭aken together, these five careers span climate, diplomacy, food security, equity and the law, but they share something more fundamental: a willingness to engage the hardest problems of our time with rigor, integrity and a genuine sense of public responsibility. That is what Maxwell prepares people to do, and these honorees have done it at the highest levels.鈥�

Emily Fredenberg | Compass Award

The evening鈥檚 first honoree was Emily Fredenberg G鈥�16, recipient of the Maxwell Compass Award, which recognizes an early-career alumna for professional accomplishments and impact. As senior officer of programs and advocacy at the Global Child Nutrition Foundation, Fredenberg has spent the decade since earning her M.P.A. degree and a master鈥檚 degree in international relations at Maxwell working to ensure that the world鈥檚 most vulnerable children have access to school meals鈥攕erving with the World Food Programme in Lebanon and Rwanda before moving to her current global role.

Reflecting on her time at Maxwell, Fredenberg credited not only her education but the community it gave her. She also offered a personal note: her husband, Sean Mills, a 性视界 University College of Law graduate, was at home in Alaska caring for their five-month-old son, Rhys.

鈥淏ecoming a new mom, this past year has made my work feel even more urgent,鈥� Fredenberg said. 鈥淗olding my infant son, I feel the weight鈥攁nd the hope鈥攐f the world he will grow up in which continues to motivate me. Maxwell helped shape my compass. It鈥檚 the place that taught me that service is not just a career path. It’s a lifelong journey.鈥�

Susan T. Gooden | Charles V. Willie Advocate Award

Susan T. Gooden 听G鈥�95, G鈥�96, who received a master’s degree and Ph.D. in political science from the Maxwell School, was awarded the Charles V. Willie Advocate Award, named for the late Maxwell scholar and community activist. The award honors individuals whose contributions reflect Maxwell鈥檚 commitment to an environment that is welcoming to all and oriented toward engaged citizenship. Gooden is dean of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University, a founding editor of the Journal of Social Equity and Public Administration, and a past president of the American Society for Public Administration.

Accepting the award, Gooden reflected on what the honor meant in the context of its namesake鈥檚 legacy鈥攁nd of what citizenship demands.

鈥淢axwell instilled in me the belief that scholarship must engage the world it seeks to improve, and that it must inform policy, strengthen institutions and expand opportunity,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 accept this award with gratitude and with a continued commitment to advancing a public service that is thoughtful, engaged, grounded in equity and worthy of the communities it serves.鈥�

Jeff Eckel | Bridge Award

Jeff Eckel G鈥�82, founder and longtime CEO of HASI, received the Maxwell Bridge Award, which honors outstanding, transformative leadership in business with a commitment to advancing the public good. Eckel, who earned an M.P.A. from Maxwell, pioneered the use of finance as a tool for accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy, including overseeing HASI鈥檚 2013 public offering as the first dedicated climate solutions investor and developing CarbonCount, a tool for measuring how efficiently capital investments reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In his remarks, Eckel drew a direct line from his Maxwell education to the investment philosophy that has guided his career.

鈥淭he Maxwell School instilled in me the idea that the public and private sectors do not have to be opposing forces,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ur investment thesis is that in a world increasingly defined by climate change, we will make superior returns investing in climate solutions鈥攖hat you can do well by doing good, and that capital can be a powerful tool in the transition to a low-carbon economy.鈥�

New research in the journal听听by Maxwell postdoctoral scholar Dustin Hill, Professor of Public Health Dave Larsen and a team of researchers has found a strong connection between the prevalence of genetic variations of the COVID-19 virus and higher community transmission.

Testing wastewater to detect viruses in a community is a well-established scientific practice. But knowing the prevalence of a disease has always presented challenges, with science relying on sheer volume and concentration of virus load found to make inexact assumptions.

The team, which included colleagues from SUNY Upstate Medical University, SUNY College of听Environmental Science and Forestry and the New York State Department of Health, looked closely at existing data and genomes from wastewater surveillance collected during the COVID-19 emergency, measuring genetic variation through small, insignificant changes in the virus genome, and comparing that to transmission levels.

To put it simply: they found that the more variation in the viral material in wastewater, the more people were infected.

鈥淣ot only do infections rise when diversity of the virus increases, infections decline as diversity declines,鈥� says Hill, the study鈥檚 lead author. 鈥淲e tested three different ways to measure diversity of the virus genome in wastewater, and all three measures predicted infections with extremely high statistical power.鈥�

While the study analyzed COVID-19, this connection could change how wastewater surveillance is used not just to detect, but to measure disease transmission with implications for monitoring other diseases, including influenza, measles, polio and future viruses that may arise.

鈥�These findings open up new areas of exploration in genetic epidemiology,鈥� says Larsen. 鈥淲e will now be able to estimate transmission from sequencing data, something that has previously not been possible.

Key Takeaways From the Study

• Genetic diversity measured in wastewater is highly predictive of community infection numbers, and superior to current methods that use concentration
• Wastewater genetic data can tell us more than just what variants or subtypes are circulating in each community
• Methods can be applied to any pathogen found in wastewater that can have genetic material sequenced

鈥淭his is exactly the kind of research Maxwell exists to support鈥攔igorous, evidence-based and consequential well beyond the laboratory,鈥� says Maxwell Dean David M. Van Slyke. 鈥淭he collaboration between Professor Larsen, Dr. Hill and their partners at the New York State Department of Health is a model for how transformative research unfolds: without a roadmap, assembling the right collaborators, working through what didn’t work and ultimately arriving at findings that can make communities healthier and safer. The ability to move from detection to prediction changes what policymakers can do, and when they can do it. That’s not just scientific progress鈥攖hat’s the public good.”

The research project grew from a partnership between 性视界 University, the New York State Department of Health, SUNY Upstate and SUNY ESF that began in March of 2020, in the earliest days of the COVID-19 outbreak.

As the virus first spread in New York and elsewhere, Larsen proposed using wastewater to detect and monitor the virus at 性视界 University. He assembled a team of researchers from 性视界 and nearby universities to begin developing the wastewater surveillance technology that would eventually become critical to New York State鈥檚 response to the disease and developed into the听.

鈥淭he wastewater program was further developed in 2022 by the addition of sequencing of the detected virus, work that was undertaken by the 5-site sequencing consortium set up by the Wadsworth Center in 2021,鈥� says Kirsten St. George, director of the Virology Laboratory at the Wadsworth Center and co-author of the study. 鈥淭he sequence data generated by the consortium provided the information needed for the genetic variation analysis and transmission correlations reported in this study. Initiated to monitor circulating and emerging variants of the virus, the sequence data generated by the consortium has now proven to be a powerful tool for additional applications.鈥�

In 2024, the New York State Wastewater Surveillance Network was designated as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Northeast Region Center of Excellence.

鈥淭he valuable partnerships the department and our world-renowned Wadsworth Center have developed with 性视界 University, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and SUNY Upstate Medical University are leading to important new discoveries that are advancing our understanding of not only how to detect COVID in wastewater, but also how to analyze those samples to better predict community transmission,鈥� says New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald. 鈥淭he researchers involved in this study remain on the cutting edge of scientific discovery that could change how we look at other pathogens in wastewater, including polio, influenza and measles and establishing wastewater sampling as a reliable public health early warning system for public health threats.鈥�

This latest research, in the article titled 鈥�,鈥� appears in the May 14 issue of听Science, a leading outlet for scientific news and research.

Katherine McDonald, professor of public health in the and associate vice president for research for 性视界 University, with a from the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD)鈥攔ecognition of nearly two decades of scholarship advocating for the inclusion of people with disabilities in research.

The AAIDD is the nation鈥檚 oldest and largest organization of professionals in the field and promotes evidence-based policies, research and universal human rights for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Sesqui Award for Research recognizes members for outstanding contributions and will be presented at the organization鈥檚 150th annual meeting in June in Chicago.

McDonald was nominated by peers and selected by the AAIDD board of directors for her work. Her professional journey is deeply personal: as a young person, she lived with people with intellectual disability in L鈥橝rche communities in 性视界, and outside of Geneva, Switzerland. She developed lifelong relationships and came to understand the pressing need to advance disability rights and belonging. Using socioecological theory and community-engaged research, her work focuses on the ethical, legal and social implications of research involving adults with developmental disabilities, as well as strategies to promote the responsible inclusion of people with disabilities in scientific study.

With collaborator Ariel Schwartz from the University of New Hampshire, McDonald created Research Ethics for All, an accessible research ethics education program designed specifically for community research partners with developmental disabilities. They also created the Equipped to Engage Toolkit which provides resources to support the engagement of people with intellectual disabilities as research partners.

McDonald鈥檚 research has been supported by grant funding from the National Institutes of Health; the U.S. Department of Education; the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research; and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, among others. She is published in leading journals including the Disability and Health Journal, American Journal of Bioethics and the American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

McDonald is a faculty affiliate at the Aging Studies Institute, the Burton Blatt Institute, the Consortium for Culture and Medicine and in the disability studies program, and is a research affiliate at the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and Population Health. As associate vice president for research, she supports faculty scholarship, strengthens mentoring and identifies strategic opportunities to advance the University鈥檚 research enterprise.

鈥淜atie鈥檚 research sits at the intersection of science and social justice, and this recognition from AAIDD reflects the significance of the real public health impact she has had over nearly two decades,鈥� says David Larsen, professor and chair of public health. 鈥淗er commitment to ensuring that people with disabilities are not just subjects of research but active participants has set a global standard.鈥�

This marks McDonald鈥檚 third major honor from AAIDD; she received the Early Career Award in 2012 and the Research Award in 2023. She is also a fellow of the AAIDD and serves on the editorial board of Autism in Adulthood. Her work has also been recognized with a Chancellor鈥檚 Citation for Faculty Excellence and Scholarly Distinction from 性视界 University in 2024.

鈥擲tory by Mikayla Melo

When Chie Sakakibara first traveled to an I帽upiaq community in Arctic Alaska as a graduate student, an elder gave her advice that would define her career.

鈥淣ever disappear,鈥� she told her.

For generations, researchers had come to Indigenous lands, documented stories and environmental knowledge, and left鈥攐ften without returning results or sustaining relationships. Community members asked Sakakibara to do something different: to document climate change from their perspective and to show that they were not simply victims of environmental disruption, but creative and resilient people adapting to change.

鈥淚 was honored, and I stayed,鈥� Sakakibara says. 鈥淧lacing yourself in a community means reciprocating and emphasizing their priorities, not just your own interests.鈥�

More than two decades later, she is still returning.

Now an associate professor of geography and the environment in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Sakakibara has built her scholarship around long-term collaboration and Indigenous research sovereignty鈥攖he idea that communities themselves should guide how their knowledge is used, represented and shared. Another focus of her work: the interconnected survival of people, animals and environments in a rapidly changing Arctic.

鈥淐hie鈥檚 work is a model of what engaged scholarship looks like at Maxwell,鈥� says Shana Kushner Gadarian, associate dean for research and professor of political science. 鈥淏y centering Indigenous voices and building lasting partnerships across the globe, she demonstrates that rigorous research and genuine community responsibility are not competing values鈥攖hey are inseparable ones.鈥�

Connecting Communities

Sakakibara鈥檚 current initiative, 鈥淚ndigenous Northern Landscapes: Visual Repatriation and Climate Knowledge Exchange,鈥� connects the I帽upiaq people of Arctic Alaska with the Ainu community of northern Japan to explore environmental memory, cultural preservation and climate adaptation.

Both communities have endured land dispossession and the suppression of traditional language and faith. Both have retained and revitalized Indigenous ways of being鈥攖he I帽upiat through their relationship with the bowhead whale, sea ice and tundra; the Ainu through kinship with the brown bear, salmon, rivers and forests of Hokkaido.

鈥淭heir voices are only getting stronger through connecting and building relationships with other Indigenous communities and their allies within and beyond academia,鈥� says Sakakibara, a research affiliate for the East Asia Program in Maxwell’s Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs and a member of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Program and Center for Global Indigenous Cultures and Environmental Justice in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Her project employs repeat photography alongside community-led ethnography, fieldwork, oral history, archival research and collaborative museum curation. It emphasizes Indigenous knowledge and collaboration and juxtaposes early 20th-century and contemporary images, revealing sea ice loss, coastal erosion and shifting subsistence patterns due to environmental transformation.

Working with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the National Snow and Ice Data Center, the project collaboratively produces environmental knowledge by interpreting these historical photographs with the Indigenous descendants of the communities where they originated.

Future work will involve storymapping, participatory digital storytelling and traveling museum curation bridging 性视界, Arctic Alaska and Japan.

Challenging the Myth

A persistent misconception frames Indigenous cultures as unchanging and separate from the modern world. Sakakibara sees that stereotype as an obstacle to effective climate policy.

鈥淲hen policymakers or scientists assume that Indigenous peoples are merely relics of the past, they fail to recognize that communities like the I帽upiat and Ainu actively observe, interpret and respond to environmental change,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat blocks opportunities to incorporate Indigenous expertise into climate solutions.鈥�

I帽upiat hunters continuously adjust whaling routes in response to sea ice change. Ainu communities combine historical ecological knowledge with contemporary observations to protect salmon runs. These are dynamic systems of environmental monitoring refined over generations, not static traditions.

Rather than separating Western science from Indigenous knowledge systems, Sakakibara argues the two must be in conversation, especially as policymakers confront accelerating climate disruption. Climate change, she notes, is not solely a scientific challenge but a cultural and political one.

鈥淐limate disruption is among the most consequential challenges of our time, with implications that span policy, governance, culture and human well-being,鈥� says Maxwell Dean David M. Van Slyke. 鈥淥ur students benefit from the wide-ranging expertise and experiences that Professor Sakakibara and colleagues provide.鈥�

Students as Research Partners

Sakakibara brings her knowledge back to 性视界鈥攊nto classrooms, workshops and partnerships that give students direct exposure to the communities and questions at the center of her work.

In July 2024, Sakakibara partnered with public history experts from

StoryCollab to facilitate a on campus with Ainu collaborators. That same year, Sakakibara brought two Haudenosaunee undergraduate students to Japan to participate in workshops with Ainu community members, contributing to mapping projects and oral history initiatives conducted across English, Japanese and Ainu.

One of those students, Katsitsatekanoniahkwa Destiny Lazore 鈥�26, is a member of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe and a 2025 Udall Scholar in Tribal Public Policy. Hearing the stories of 听Ainu community members resonated in a personal way.

鈥淚t reminded me of what my own ancestors experienced, the struggle to protect culture, revitalize language and reclaim sovereignty,鈥� says Lazore. 鈥淭here was something powerful in recognizing that shared desire: the simple but profound wish to safeguard your people, your traditions and your future for the next generations to come.鈥�

Rooted in Relationships

Sakakibara鈥檚 听project has cultivated partnerships with major institutions including the Penn Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the Yale Peabody Museum, the National Museum of Ethnology in Japan and the Center for Ainu and Indigenous Studies at Hokkaido University.

鈥淭he core goals鈥攃entering Indigenous knowledge, documenting environmental change and supporting cultural sovereignty鈥攔emain active and impactful,鈥� Sakakibara says, adding that the elder鈥檚 advice鈥攏ever disappear鈥攔emains central to her approach. 鈥淩esearch is about relationships. And relationships require responsibility.鈥�

Story by Catherine Scott

In the mid-1990s, a 性视界 radio reporter broadcasting from a helicopter described a line of students stretching from Steele Hall across the Quad to College Place and beyond鈥攁ll waiting to register for classes. Ann Marie McGinnis was listening on her way to work听as the University鈥檚 associate registrar for registration and scheduling.

“As the person who managed the process, I knew it would be a challenging day ahead,” McGinnis recalled years later. “Administrators vowed to never let it happen again.”

It was McGinnis who made sure of that.

McGinnis joined the University in 1977 as a student receptionist in the Registrar’s Office. Over the decades, she rose through eight roles鈥攆rom data coordinator to manager to director鈥攂efore landing in her current position, a data analyst in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) | Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs’ .

Her response to that infamous registration logjam became one of her most enduring contributions. McGinnis developed AutoReg, an automated system that built course schedules for incoming first-year students before they arrived on campus. The University has since moved to commercial scheduling tools, but AutoReg established the model still in use today.

She followed that with ePort, a degree-tracking check sheet she built, updated with every curriculum change and emailed to every A&S student before each registration period鈥攕omething no other office at the University did. A transfer credit database she developed became the foundation for a system later adopted university-wide by the Registrar’s Office. The First Term Enrollment System she built was eventually adapted into the University’s current Qualtrics process.

In her current role, McGinnis designs and maintains Tableau dashboards that give advisors real-time visibility into student enrollment status, holds, credit levels, flags and progress toward degree completion. The tool enables staff to intervene early rather than react too late.

Her degree certification dashboard cut the time required to process approximately 1,000 degrees each spring from six weeks to three. A separate retention tracking system monitors every incoming cohort from first semester through graduation, providing what Stephen LeBeau, director of operations for the Office of Student Success, calls the “gold standard” for understanding and improving student outcomes.

“At 48 years of service, Ann Marie remains on the front line of student success because of the unique way she adapts, modifies and evolves,鈥� says Steve Schaffling, assistant dean for student success. 鈥淲ithout her, our nationally recognized Office of Student Success would not be what it is.”

McGinnis has been recognized with the听Chancellor’s Citation for Excellence in the category of Outstanding Contributions to the Student Experience and University Initiatives鈥攐ne of the University’s highest staff honors. The award caps a 48-year career that has shaped how A&S registers, tracks, advises and graduates its students.

“There isn’t a student or advisor who walks this campus today that hasn’t benefited from Ann Marie’s dedication,” Cindy Zazzara, an assistant director in the Office of Student Success, wrote in a nomination letter.

University Registrar Kelly Campbell, one of several colleagues who submitted letters of support, noted that McGinnis recognized early that effective advising requires both human expertise and the right tools. She spent her career building those tools before the rest of higher education caught up.

“Long before ‘analytics’ and ‘student success dashboards’ were common in higher education, she was designing proprietary tools and early appointment-tracking systems to streamline workflows and improve transparency,” wrote Francesco Riverso, the Falk College of Sport鈥檚 director of corporate partnerships and external advancement.

The Chancellor’s Citation for Excellence is presented annually at the听One University Awards Ceremony, recognizing individuals whose work has enhanced the student experience or advanced the University’s mission.

has called Super Bowls, NBA Finals, the Olympics and the Kentucky Derby from broadcast booths around the world. On Sunday, he returned to where it all started to send 性视界 University鈥檚 Class of 2026 off with a challenge: keep chasing your dreams, and 鈥渄on’t leave your childlike wonder behind.鈥�

鈥淎ll of you have a 性视界 story,鈥� Tirico told the approximately 6,679 graduating students inside the JMA Wireless Dome. 鈥淗ere, you formed a foundation of resiliency. You learned to deal with the curves that the road ahead provides. I hope in years to come, when you tell your 性视界 story, it involves your dreams and it’s eventually going to include how you kept chasing them.鈥�

Tirico, who serves as vice chair of the , is the of 鈥淪unday Night Football鈥� and 鈥淣BA on NBC,鈥� and serves as the primetime host for NBCUniversal鈥檚 coverage of the Olympics. He has interviewed such elite athletes as Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, four-time NBA champion LeBron James, and Olympic gold medalists Michael Phelps, Simone Biles and Lindsey Vonn.

Tirico compared the graduates to those world-class athletes, encouraging them to draw on the same traits that carried them through 性视界 to achieve professional success.

鈥淭hey thrived because of their minds, their strength and their ability to out-plan, to outthink and to withstand the scrutiny,鈥� said Tirico, a member of the . 鈥淭hey share a commonality [with you]. They loved what they did and love what they do. Go out and find what you love. Go find what makes you happy and let that fuel you to your future.鈥�

With his mother, Maria, and his wife, Deborah Gibaratz Tirico 鈥�89, in attendance, Tirico took a moment to celebrate the moms who were cheering on their graduating students. Tirico asked the Class of 2026 to get out of their seats and give the moms a round of applause and a big wave while wishing them a happy Mother鈥檚 Day.

Tirico recalled growing up in a single-parent household, crediting the support he received from 鈥渁 village of amazing family members鈥� with helping him become a first-generation college student. Tirico earned dual bachelor鈥檚 degrees in political science from the听听and the听,听and in broadcast journalism from the听.

He emphasized maintaining the strong relationships the Class of 2026 formed with their friends and professors while on campus.

鈥淢any of you are surrounded right now by your closest friends and you鈥檙e sitting with your crew. Forty years after starting the journey, for me, my life is still filled with my day ones from 性视界. The people I met in that very first class at Newhouse. The people who I called games with on ,鈥� Tirico said. 鈥淢any of those people are going to be your people for the rest of your life.鈥�

Tirico closed by welcoming the newest members of the 性视界 University alumni network, consisting of more than 250,000 alumni worldwide.

鈥淪ince I live in the space of sports, today is one of the best game days of the year because we get a few thousand new teammates,鈥� Tirico said. 鈥淵ou are now part of the 性视界 alumni team, and it’s the best team in the world.鈥�

Ethan Coffel has built his research around one of the most consequential questions of our time: as the climate changes, what happens to the systems human society depends on?

For that work鈥攁nd for the teaching and service that have made him one of the 鈥檚 most distinctive junior faculty members鈥擟offel has been named this year鈥檚 recipient of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Award for Teaching and Research, the school鈥檚 highest honor for untenured faculty.

Coffel accepted the award and spoke at the Maxwell School’s Graduate Convocation today in Hendricks Chapel.

The Moynihan Award has been presented annually since 1985, when it was established by then-U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, himself a former member of Maxwell’s junior faculty from 1959 to 1961.

Coffel, assistant professor of geography and the environment, joined Maxwell in fall 2020 following a Neukom Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship at Dartmouth College and holds a Ph.D. in earth and environmental sciences from Columbia University.

His research centers on a simple but urgent idea: human society depends on a stable climate, and as that stability erodes, the consequences reach into food systems, water supplies, energy grids and more. He uses global Earth system models alongside geospatial and socioeconomic data to understand how climate extremes will reshape the world, and what that means for the people living in it.

His current NSF-funded project, detailed in a recent 性视界 University News feature, examines not just how climate affects crops, but how crops affect the climate around them. Corn and soybean fields across the Midwest may be moderating local temperatures, buffering the very heat waves that threaten them, and Coffel is working to quantify how much, and whether that effect will hold as the world warms.

Since joining Maxwell, Coffel has published 14 peer-reviewed journal articles, including five as lead author, in some of the field鈥檚 most prestigious outlets, including Nature Climate Change and Nature Food. His research has been covered by The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Guardian and the BBC. He has received two National Science Foundation grants, awarded in 2021 and 2023, totaling $942,713.

Peng Gao, professor and chair of the department, nominated Coffel for the award.

鈥淚n his five years at 性视界 University, Dr. Coffel has distinguished himself as an exceptional and reflective educator,鈥� Gao wrote. 鈥淗e approaches course design and instruction with careful deliberation, continuously refining his methods and introducing innovative approaches to enhance the curriculum and foster student engagement.鈥�

That reputation carries into the classroom. Coffel teaches two large-enrollment core courses, GEO 155: The Natural Environment and GEO 215: Global Environmental Change, and has developed three new courses expanding the department鈥檚 physical geography curriculum, including GEO 371: Climate Extremes and GEO 700: Seminar in Climate Science, a graduate-level course that draws students from earth science, geography and environmental engineering backgrounds alike.

Dean David M. Van Slyke praised Coffel鈥檚 contributions across all three pillars the award recognizes.

鈥淓than exemplifies what the Moynihan Award was created to honor鈥攁 scholar whose research pushes the field forward, whose students leave his classroom genuinely changed and whose commitment to this department goes well beyond what鈥檚 asked of someone at his stage,鈥� Van Slyke said. 鈥淭his is exactly the kind of recognition Ethan has earned, and we are proud to celebrate it with him.鈥�

Story by Catherine Scott

For Eva Quackenbush ’26, an interest in maternal and fetal health that began with personal curiosity has grown into a rigorous public health research project with direct implications for how clinicians monitor and make decisions about the most vulnerable newborns.

Quackenbush, a public health major with a concentration in healthcare management in the , worked under the mentorship of , associate professor of public health, on a study examining whether patterns detected in fetal heart tracing鈥攖he monitoring of a baby鈥檚 heart rate during labor鈥攃an predict short-term outcomes for infants born between 23 and 26 weeks of gestation. These babies occupy a narrow clinical window clinicians call “periviable,” a zone where survival has improved in recent decades but where the tools guiding clinical decisions remain poorly understood.

An Understudied Population

Fetal heart tracing is a well-established tool used to signal when medical intervention may be needed in full-term pregnancies. But its predictive value in periviable births has been largely unexplored. That is the gap Quackenbush and Kmush set out to close.

Their study drew on a retrospective cohort of 90 periviable deliveries at a regional referral hospital in upstate New York between January 2017 and August 2022. In their project, two independent maternal-fetal medicine specialists reviewed four key fetal heart tracing indicators鈥攂aseline heart rate, variability, accelerations and decelerations鈥攁nd compared them against an overall composite score. They analyzed those patterns against neonatal outcomes, including lung disease, eye defects, brain hemorrhage and mortality.

The findings were consistent across every model tested: none of the fetal heart tracing patterns were statistically associated with adverse birth outcomes, meaning that the patterns could not reliably predict which babies would fare worse.

“Our research concluded that the heart tracing patterns in this population of periviable infants have no predictive value,” Quackenbush says. That may sound like a null result, but it is a meaningful one, because establishing what does not predict outcomes in this population is itself a critical step toward better clinical understanding, she says.

Building New Skills

Undertaking this clinical research project required Quackenbush to build an entirely new technical skill set. She had no prior experience with coding, but with guidance from Kmush she learned R, the statistical coding language, and applied it to complex regression analyses and data modeling.

“Dr. Kmush has been an incredible mentor for the statistical analysis work that I have been conducting,” Quackenbush says. “She has been guiding my familiarization with R, as well as the process of preparing research for presentation at all levels.”

Quackenbush鈥檚 听work in the lab was made possible in part by the 性视界 Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Engagement (SOURCE), which helped fund her project and teamed her with Kmush as a faculty mentor. Quackenbush also broadened her clinical health background through involvement with the University鈥檚 and an internship with the . And beyond coding, she built competencies in scientific writing and research communication, skills she says she will carry into her next career phase.

This spring, she and Kmush presented their findings at the conference in Baltimore, an unusual distinction for an undergraduate researcher. Quackenbush says they hope their study will serve as a foundation for expanded research in the periviable population, including studies with larger sample sizes to further validate the results.

From Data to Policy

This fall, Quackenbush will begin legal studies at the in New York. Her goal is to work in health policy, focusing on improving health outcomes through policy determinations, compliance issues and interdisciplinary collaboration.

While her future path moves her out of the lab, an experience she says has been as much about personal growth as scientific discovery, Quackenbush sees her time there as central to the work ahead. “While my career won’t be directly related to clinical public health activity, I anticipate including many concepts from the public health field into my work in health policy,” she says.

Whether it鈥檚 analyzing data or shaping health policy, Quackenbush says her goal remains to work toward better outcomes for patients. She leaves the lab having contributed one more piece of a puzzle that clinicians, families and policymakers are still working to 听solve.

, professor of political science in the , has been named a Distinguished Professor. One of 性视界 University鈥檚 highest honors, the designation is granted by the Board of Trustees to faculty who have achieved exceptionally distinguished stature in their academic specialties.

鈥淎udie Klotz is a preeminent scholar whose field-defining research, distinguished teaching and international leadership make her an听 exemplary recipient of a Distinguished Professorship,鈥� says Vice Chancellor, Provost and Chief Academic Officer .

Klotz, who specializes in global migration and human rights, has built a broadly influential body of scholarship in the field of international relations. She is currently serving as president of the (ISA), the premier professional association in her field.

Klotz鈥檚 first book, 鈥�,鈥� recently updated in a second edition, 听helped establish the constructivist paradigm, now recognized as one of the three leading theories in international relations. Her co-authored book, 鈥�,鈥� was translated into Korean. Another book, 鈥�,鈥� earned an honorable mention from the ISA.

At the Maxwell School since 2003, Klotz has served as primary advisor for 14 doctoral students and has taught two core courses in the political science graduate curriculum for two decades.

Recipient of the Wasserstrom Award in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School鈥檚 Excellence in Graduate Education Faculty Recognition Award, Klotz pioneered a Ph.D. writing workshop model that has since been adopted by other political science faculty. In addition, her dedication to professional mentoring has been recognized with the ISA鈥檚 J. Ann Tickner Award for innovative scholarship and exceptional mentoring, along with Distinguished Scholar Awards from two ISA sections.

Earlier this year, Klotz was named the inaugural Heighberger Family Faculty Fellow of Public Service in recognition of her influential scholarship that has influenced both academic debate and real-world policy.

As bipartisan legislation to allow Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to purchase hot rotisserie chickens moves through Congress, 性视界 University food insecurity expert is available to discuss how the proposal addresses real barriers faced by seniors, people with disabilities and time-constrained families.

Background: The , introduced this spring by a group of bipartisan lawmakers, would update SNAP rules to allow recipients to purchase hot rotisserie chickens. Currently, SNAP recipients can only buy rotisserie chickens after they’ve been cooled, as existing regulations restrict benefits to “staple foods” intended for home preparation. The bill would not increase SNAP funding or expand eligibility.

Expert: Colleen Heflin is a professor of public administration and international affairs at 性视界 University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and a nationally recognized expert on food insecurity and SNAP policy. She has testified before Congress, published more than 70 research articles on food assistance programs, and recently co-authored “” with Madonna Harrington Meyer. Her research is regularly funded by the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Professor Heflin is available for interviews on this legislation as well as any SNAP policy story you may be working on.

Comments from Professor Heflin (quotes may be used directly):

“SNAP benefits were designed to be used to cover food items prepared at home at a time when most families cooked from scratch daily. Today, however, those with physical limitations (such as older adults and those with disabilities) that make it difficult to shop, carry, stand and clean-up, those who are time constrained (such as households with children), and those without access to or knowledge of how to use kitchenware (items used in food preparation), may find that SNAP does not cover the food that they usually eat.

“In my recent book, ‘Food for Thought: Understanding Older Adult Food Insecurity,’ with Madonna Harrington Meyer, we heard how older adults’ mobility limitations and stamina reduced their food preparation and pushed them towards consuming less nutritious foods. Older adults mentioned the desire to be able to purchase rotisserie chickens specifically in our interviews.

“New provisions that make SNAP more accessible for these groups by allowing participants to use their benefits to cover hot rotisserie chickens is a step in the right direction. USDA has already allowed states to opt into the Restaurant Meal Program, which allows SNAP benefits for older adults, those with disabilities, and the homeless to use their benefits at participating restaurants, which vary by state.”

As hantavirus cases linked to a cruise ship continue to draw national attention, 性视界 University public health expert听听is available to offer insight on transmission risks, outbreak response, and what this unusual case reveals about infectious disease preparedness.

Larsen is a professor and chair of public health in 性视界 University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, whose work includes wastewater-based epidemiology. He notes that hantavirus cases in a cruise ship setting are highly uncommon鈥攁nd raise immediate questions about the vessel’s environment.

“Hantavirus is transmitted by rodents, so I would first wonder about rodents on the cruise ship,” Larsen says. “Person-to-person transmission is incredibly rare and would not be the primary suspect.”

With three deaths already reported, Larsen says identifying the source of infection is the most urgent priority for public health responders. “Knowing how the infections occurred is a primary concern. If there are rodents on the ship with hantavirus鈥攁s I would suspect鈥攖hen removing them would be the next step.”

Larsen also points to wastewater testing as a potentially valuable tool in confirming whether the threat has passed. “Wastewater testing could be useful here to confirm that hantavirus is no longer present on the cruise ship, as could other types of environmental testing,” he says.

On the broader takeaway, Larsen is direct:听“We are always at risk of infectious diseases, and sometimes in unexpected ways. We need to continue to invest in public health and outbreak response so that we can control outbreaks when they do happen.”

Professor Larsen’s comments in this article can be directly quoted. To connect with him for additional questions or an interview, please contact:

Daryl Lovell, Media Relations
dalovell@syr.edu

senior Abbey Fitzpatrick spent last summer doing archival research in Hollywood. This spring, she brought those findings to a lectern in the University鈥檚 at the 5th Annual CHRONOS Undergraduate History Conference.

Fitzpatrick鈥檚 research took her to Los Angeles, where history department funding supported archival work at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Warner Bros. archives. Her faculty advisor, professor of history Andrew Cohen, had encouraged her to find a topic with personal resonance and pointed her toward California history.

鈥淚t really complemented what I learned in CHRONOS in a real-world way,鈥� Fitzpatrick says.

Hers was one of eight student presentations at the April 3 conference, which drew five 性视界 undergraduates alongside students from New York University, Columbia University and Rochester Institute of Technology鈥攁 reflection of the journal鈥檚 expanding reputation beyond 性视界.

鈥淐HRONOS had been thinking of opening our conference to students from other universities for a while,鈥� says Junko Takeda, professor and chair of history and CHRONOS faculty advisor. 鈥淏ut this year, they were able to plan ahead of schedule, reach out to undergraduate directors at multiple universities across the eastern seaboard, send out calls for papers and select a number of external speakers.鈥�

Now in its 21st year of publication, CHRONOS is one of just a few active student-run, undergraduate historical research journals in the country, and one of the only to host a conference. In addition to widening participation beyond 性视界 students, CHRONOS leaders also started to develop a new podcast series.

Fitzpatrick, a history and political science major from Pacific Grove, California, joined CHRONOS as a first-year student and remained deeply engaged for all four years.

That support is a hallmark of CHRONOS鈥檚 close ties to Maxwell鈥檚 history department.

鈥淚t鈥檚 so ingrained in the history department, and it allows us to connect with professors in a way that a lot of other clubs don鈥檛 have,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a really awesome opportunity to be able to publish your research and get feedback from other students and professors.鈥�

Fitzpatrick says her CHRONOS experience made her a stronger reader, writer and researcher.

At the conference, she moderated a panel discussion exploring the theme 鈥淚ntersections: Gender, Sexuality and the Discipline of History,鈥� featuring Albrecht Diem, Carol Faulkner, graduate student Victoria Vidler and undergraduate students Gillian Reed and Ella Burke. Diem is a professor of history who specializes in medieval history, while Faulkner, a professor who specializes in 19th-century American history, gender, women and social movements, is also senior associate dean for academic affairs at Maxwell.

The Range of Research Presented

Student research presented at the conference ranged from a deep dive into the life of Mary Queen of Scots to the politics of abortion in late Cold War Brazil. Several presentations reflected a similar focus on primary-source and archival research鈥攚ork that students credited in large part to their access to Maxwell faculty with deep experience in those areas.

Jorge A. Morales, a senior studying history and anthropology and a CHRONOS editorial board member, presented findings drawn from slave registries and municipal documents from Caguas, Puerto Rico, in the years before the island abolished slavery in 1873. Morales shared that his family ties to Puerto Rico have made his work deeply personal.

鈥淕rowing up in the continental U.S. but still spending a good amount of time visiting family on the island, has made me increasingly interested in understanding how Puerto Rico鈥檚 national and cultural identity formed,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he roles of slavery and enslaved individuals have often been overlooked.鈥�

Morales says interior regions like Caguas have received less scholarly attention than other parts of Puerto Rico. His research aims to help fill that gap.

Like Fitzpatrick, Morales says CHRONOS provided research and editorial experience as well as a strong network of peers.

鈥淚 found a community of people who were just as passionate and curious as I was, and I felt like I finally belonged somewhere on campus,鈥� he says, adding, 鈥淓very CHRONOS publication is special because it represents not just the work of authors and editors, but of peers and colleagues who come together to learn and to connect that knowledge with the public in a way that fosters curiosity.鈥�

Andrew Cole, a senior studying history and philosophy, presented his research on a foundational monastic text. His work analyzed John Cassian鈥檚 “Institutes” through a lens closer to literary criticism鈥攁n approach he developed after taking a class with Diem.

Cole was among the students who helped revive CHRONOS after the pandemic.

鈥淎t the time, CHRONOS had been in hibernation since before COVID; it was a lot of work to get it up and running but well worth the effort,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he editorial board is a close-knit community. CHRONOS is unique in that it offers an excellent learning opportunity for both editors and writers鈥攚e are dedicated to turning good research papers into excellent, approachable essays.鈥�

The conference presentations included PowerPoint demonstrations and lively question-and-answer sessions in which students praised one another for their research and asked in-depth questions about their research findings. History faculty watched on, clearly gratified.

Takeda provided closing remarks, reflecting on what the students had accomplished.

鈥淚 can say without a doubt that my weekly interactions with the CHRONOS board have shown how much our students have developed important critical leadership skills,鈥� she says. 鈥淎s writers, researchers and presenters, you have told difficult stories. 鈥ou鈥檝e explained complexity.鈥�

The conference was held at a moment of transition for CHRONOS. Several members of the current editorial board are graduating seniors鈥攁mong them Fitzpatrick, Morales and Cole鈥攅ach preparing to carry the habits of mind CHRONOS instilled into whatever comes next.

Morales says his time with the journal has shaped what he hopes to build in the future.

鈥淢y work on CHRONOS has definitely shown me the value of intellectual community,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t has made me committed to trying to build up a similar sense of academic community between undergraduate and graduate students and faculty at the institutions that I end up studying and hopefully working at in the future.鈥�

Story by Mikayla Melo

For many students, the path from a degree to a career can feel uncertain. Over spring break, 16 A&S | Maxwell undergraduates traded that uncertainty for firsthand experience in seeing exactly how their liberal arts education gives them an edge.

This spring, a cohort of students from the and the traveled to New York City for the 18th Winston Fisher Seminar, one of the A&S | Maxwell Office of Student Success’s signature听.

This year’s group visited top firms in finance, law, sports, media, publishing and the arts, such as Fisher Brothers, Latham & Watkins, the National Basketball Association, AlphaSights, BBDO, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, WeWork, Teach For America, Penguin Random House, Morgan Stanley and Bloomberg. These experiences allowed students to gain exposure to the many different directions their degree can take them.

The weeklong experience gives undergraduate students from across all majors the opportunity to explore how a liberal arts education translates into real-world career success in the business world. Students spend their time developing and presenting business plans, meeting with industry leaders and building critical networking skills alongside 性视界 University alumni.

Founded in 2006 by Fisher Brothers partner, AREA15 CEO, Dean’s Advisory Board member and Life Trustee Winston Fisher 鈥�96, the seminar has for nearly two decades connected students with a wide range of professional environments, helping them see the breadth of opportunities available to them after graduation.

“The Winston Fisher Seminar proves that a 性视界 liberal arts education opens doors,” says, director of employer and alumni engagement. “Students gain direct access to accomplished alumni and top employers in the world’s most competitive city. It builds connections that launch careers and a mindset that helps students thrive. For 18 years, Winston has delivered something no classroom can replicate鈥攑roof that a liberal arts education is a professional advantage.”

Take a peek at scenes from the 2026 Winston Fisher Seminar below.

性视界 University Libraries recognized its student employees with an awards celebration on April 20. The Libraries typically employs about 150 undergraduate and graduate students each year to contribute to the safety of Libraries鈥� spaces, the quality and repair of collections, and service support to patrons and student entrepreneurs.

Supervisors nominate student employees who have demonstrated dedicated service over time and significant contributions that have made a lasting impact on the Libraries.

The Libraries recognize these students through the generous support of Kathy and Stanley Walters, the family of Patricia Kutner Strait and the many donors to the Libraries Dean鈥檚 Fund.

In addition, this year the Libraries acknowledges Carole and Glenn Johnston for their gift in honor of their daughter, Beth Ann Johnson, who was killed in the Dec. 21, 1988, bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

鈥淲e are incredibly fortunate to work alongside our library student employees, whose energy, commitment and talent strengthen our community every day. In my role, I see firsthand the meaningful impact they have across our organization. Many of these students stay with us throughout their time at 性视界 University, growing into trusted and valued members of the SU Libraries community,鈥� says David Seaman, dean of the Libraries and University Librarian.

2026 student award recipients and their respective Libraries departments are:

Kathy and Stanley Walters Student Employee Scholarship Awards

• Souleymane Bah 鈥�26 (College of Arts and Sciences and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs), floor monitor, Libraries Facilities and Security
• Niah Edwards 鈥�26 (S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications), public services student, Special Collections Research Center
• Grace Hoffman G鈥�26 (College of Law), graduate assistant, Access and Resource Sharing
• Ava Lubkemann 鈥�27 (College of Engineering and Computer Science), Orange Innovation Scholar, Strategic Initiatives
• Duyen Thum Pham 鈥�26 (College of Visual and Performing Arts), student assistant, Access and Resource Sharing
• Katie Ryder 鈥�26 (College of Visual and Performing Arts), preservation assistant, Access and Resource Sharing
• Alexander Schulz G鈥�26 (School of Information Studies), Information Literacy Scholar, Information Literacy

Patricia Kutner Strait Student Scholarship Awards

• Mason Burley 鈥�27 (School of Education), preservation assistant, Access and Resource Sharing
• Alani Henderson 鈥�26 (College of Arts and Sciences and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs), floor monitor, Libraries Facilities and Security
• Anna Shuff G鈥�26 (School of Information Studies), graduate student archivist, Special Collections Research Center
• Anthony Thomas 鈥�26 (School of Information Studies), innovation mentor/marketing team lead, LaunchPad
• Sreynoch 鈥楯ess鈥� Van 鈥�26 (S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications), photographer/videographer, Marketing and Communications

Dean鈥檚 Commendations Awards (in memory of Pan Am 103 victim Beth Ann Johnson)

• Hadja Fatoumata Barry 鈥�26 (School of Information Studies), floor monitor, Libraries Facilities and Security
• Joel Carpenter G鈥�26 (School of Information Studies), Information Literacy Scholar, Information Literacy
• James Harman 鈥�26 (School of Information Studies), student worker, Access and Resource Sharing
• Iman Jamison G鈥�26 (School of Information Studies), graduate instruction assistant, Special Collections Research Center
• Calvin Silver 鈥�26 (School of Information Studies), public services reference, Special Collections Research Center
• Grace Suhadolnik 鈥�26 (School of Information Studies), student worker, Learning and Academic Engagement
• Camren Wych鈥�26 (College of Visual and Performing Arts), floor monitor, Libraries Facilities and Security

Honorable Recognitions:

• Khadija Kante 鈥�26 (Arts and Sciences), floor monitor, Libraries Facilities and Security
• Philomena Kern鈥�26 (School of Information Studies), student archival processing assistant, Special Collections Research Center
• Hannah Marosi G鈥�26 (School of Information Studies), collections team graduate student worker, Department of Research and Scholarship
• Alexus Rowe 鈥�26 (Arts and Sciences), floor monitor, Libraries Facilities and Security
• Mera Singh 鈥�26 (School of Information Studies), floor monitor, Libraries Facilities and Security
• Fatumata 鈥楴ima鈥� Sow 鈥�26 (School of Information Studies), floor monitor, Libraries Facilities and Security
• Haven Travis G鈥�26 (School of Information Studies), graduate student assistant, Access and Resource Sharing
• Jiaying Wang 鈥�26 (Arts and Sciences), public services student employee, Special Collections Research Center

Three 性视界 University students have been awarded prestigious graduate research fellowships through the , and one student has been recognized with an honorable mention.

The fellowship recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing research-based master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees in STEM, social sciences and STEM education in the U.S. The five-year fellowship includes three years of financial support, with an annual stipend of $37,000 and a $16,000 educational allowance. Students can apply as rising seniors, recent graduates or first-year graduate students.

The 2026 recipients of the NSF GRFP are the following:

• Julia Fancher 鈥�26, a physics major and applied mathematics major in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) and member of the Ren茅e Crown University Honors Program;
• Daniel Hettrick, a first-year Ph.D. student in anthropology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and
• Gabe Suarez, a first-year Ph.D. student in theoretical physics in A&S.

Eadin Block 鈥�26, a physics major and Spanish language, literature and culture major in A&S, received an Honorable Mention in this year鈥檚 competition.

Julia Fancher

Fancher, a University Scholar, Goldwater Scholar and two-time Astronaut Scholar, was gifted a copy of 鈥淩ise of the Rocket Girls,鈥� a book about the women 鈥渉uman computers鈥� who worked at NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, when she was in middle school.

鈥淚 was instantly captivated by the stories of these women who discovered new insights into our universe through math and physics, and I knew that I wanted to do the same,鈥� she says. To kickstart that path, she actively pursued the STEM resources her school district and community had available.

During her first year at 性视界, she joined Professor Eric Coughlin鈥檚 high-energy astrophysics lab, where she researches tidal disruption events, in which a star is destroyed by the tidal field of a supermassive black hole. Her research has been published internationally and earned several awards.

Her second research project was a collaboration between Coughlin鈥檚 lab and local high school students through the 性视界 University Research in Physics summer program. She has also mentored students internationally.

Fancher plans to pursue a Ph.D. in astrophysics and become a professor conducting research in theoretical high-energy astrophysics.

鈥淭he NSF GRFP will provide me with the resources necessary to continue pushing the forefront of astrophysics research while nurturing the next generation of scientists,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 want to ensure that students from all backgrounds have the opportunity to explore their interests and are encouraged to pursue careers in STEM just as I was.鈥�

Daniel Hettrick

Hettrick’s research centers on the cultural resilience of the Kootznoowoo Tlingit, a Native Alaskan nation in Southeastern Alaska, during the period following the United States’ purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867.

Hettrick’s dissertation focuses on the former Tlingit summer village of Killisnoo, Alaska, occupied from 1867 to 1928. Using a holistic historical anthropology approach, he combines archaeological excavation, artifact analysis, ethnohistory, oral histories and Indigenous community collaboration to investigate how the Kootznoowoo Tlingit selectively adopted, adapted and rejected Russian and American cultural, religious and economic institutions鈥攁ll while preserving a distinct Tlingit identity.

His commitment to preservation was deepened through firsthand experience. He visited historic Orthodox churches in Sitka and spoke directly with Tlingit Orthodox Christians while conducting research as an undergraduate. Those conversations also complicated his assumptions: learning that community members held a genuine sense of pride in inhabiting both Indigenous and Orthodox identities pushed him to think more carefully about how people navigate multiple, seemingly contradictory cultural frameworks.

Hettrick is committed to building reciprocal relationships with the Angoon Tlingit before and throughout his research. He recognizes that access to a community’s history, particularly one that has faced exploitation by both the state and academia, must be earned through demonstrated respect, humility and a genuine exchange of value. His long-term goal is to make collaborative, community-centered archaeology the standard rather than the exception.

Gabe Suarez

Suarez works with Professor Alexander Maloney on three-dimensional quantum gravity. His path to theoretical physics was unconventional: raised in rural Danville, Kentucky, he began working as an apprentice electrician at 14, not because the work fascinated him, but because it sharpened a way of thinking he would carry into physics.

“If a system is logical, and you’re honest with yourself about what you do and don’t understand, you can reason your way to the answer,鈥� he says. That principle guided him through self-studying general relativity as a sophomore, completing five graduate courses as an undergraduate and being named Physics Senior of the Year at the University of Kentucky.

His senior thesis furthered a systematic categorical framework for Ward’s conjecture, a 1985 proposal that all integrable systems descend from a single universal gauge theory structure. He is quick to note that the conjecture’s value lies in its proof techniques, not its statement: the algebraic geometry and category theory required to settle it are precisely the tools modern fundamental physics increasingly demands. The tools connect directly to his Ph.D. work on how semiclassical Einstein gravity emerges from ensembles of conformal field theories.

Beyond research, tutoring his brother helped him learn that a teacher鈥檚 real job is showing someone they can learn, then stepping back. He has since carried that philosophy into recitation teaching, K-12 outreach and a return visit to his own rural high school, where he spoke to students who, like his younger self, may not yet see theoretical physics as a path available to them.

In addition to their faculty mentors, Fancher, Hettrick, Suarez and Block all worked with the University鈥檚 (CFSA) to prepare their applications.

Students interested in learning more about or applying for the next NSF GRFP award cycle or any other nationally competitive scholarships and fellowships should visit the听听or email听cfsa@syr.edu听for more information.