2005 Wheaton Scholars
Wheaton produced 20 national scholars in 2005, representing a range of disciplines and aspiring to study myriad topics--from the use of electronic drums in world musics to the fate of aging dairy farmers in Europe who decline to modernize their businesses.
The scholars are:
- Carolyn Wills, Rhodes Scholar
- Cathy Brown, Rotary World Peace Scholar
- Caitlin Deighan, French Government Teaching Assistantship
- Alex Dewar, Truman Scholar
- Henry Gerlits, Fulbright Scholar
- Heather Harshbarger, Fulbright Scholar
- John Heywood, Fulbright Scholar
- Sarah Malloy, French Government Teaching Assistantship
- Fred Marcks, Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar
- Myles Matteson, Truman Scholar
- Tyler Matteson, Watson Scholar
- Julia Naegele, French Government Teaching Assistantship
- Tamar Palandjian, Fulbright Scholar
- Richelle Pinette, French Government Teaching Assistantship
- Chad Prashad, Boren Graduate Fellow
- Karin Seeber, Fulbright Scholar
- Liza Semler, Watson Scholar
- Megan Shea, Fulbright Scholar
- Janet Turkovich, French Government Teaching Assistantship
- Joy Williams, Fulbright Scholar
Carolyn Wills '05
2005 Rhodes Scholar
Salt Lake City, Utah
A philosophy major and chemistry minor, Wills plans to pursue a career in medicine and hopes to bridge the gap between science and philosophy in the field of medical ethics. A national merit scholar, Wills has earned a near-perfect 3.98 grade-point average at Wheaton, where she was named a Balfour and Presidential Scholar, prizes the college awards to students with the highest academic rankings. In addition to her scholarly accomplishments, Wills also is a member of the college's nationally-ranked women's soccer team. She plans on studying ethics at Oxford before continuing on to earn a degree in medicine.
Cathy Brown '97
2005 Rotary World Peace Scholar
San Franciso, Calif.
Brown, who majored in Italian Studies and Political Science, seeks to study international environmental dispute resolution. While at Wheaton, she coordinated a campus environmental audit, establishing benchmarks to reduce the environmental footprint of the campus. She currently works as a regional liaison for the American Arbitration Association. Brown plans to study at International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan, where she lived and worked previously.
Caitlin Deighan '05
2005 French Government Teaching Assistantship
Slingerlands, N.Y.
Deighan, a double major in French and International Relations, plans to teach English next year in the Orleans-Tours region of France. During her college career, she served as an intern for Amnesty International and the New York State Bureau of Refugee and Immigration Affairs. She also spent her junior year studying in France. Deighan plans to pursue graduate study in international relations, and intends to focus on immigration issues.
Alex Dewar '06
2005 Truman Scholar
Portland, Ore.
Junior political science major Alex Dewar, resident of Portland, Ore., and president of the Wheaton College Student Government Association (SGA), has built a long and distinguished record in leadership and public service. A Balfour Scholar, 2004 Udall Scholar, Eunice Caldwell Leadership Award winner and Eagle Scout, Dewar says his work in Oregon politics and land conservation best illustrate his passion for public service. He is interested in developing public policy to combat the social ills--pollution, abuse of natural resources and decline in urban growth--associated with urban sprawl. Dewar hopes to pursue a law degree at New York University while simultaneously earning a master's in public policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
(Note: The Rhodes Foundation selected Alex Dewar as one of the nation's 32 Rhodes Scholars for 2006 -Ed.)
Henry Gerlits '05
2005 Fulbright Scholar
Franklin, Mass.
A double major in philosophy and religion, Gerlits will teach English in South Korea as the winner of a Fulbright Scholarship. A recipient of the J. Arthur Prize in Religion and a Balfour and Presidential Scholar, Gerlits plans to use his Fulbright experience to gain first-hand experience in Asian culture in preparation for a career as a professor of Asian religions. To that end, he will study Buddhism in addition to teaching English in South Korea. Last summer he won a Wheaton Fellowship to research nature-based religions in the United States, and his honors thesis examines the Buddhist doctrine of sunyata and Buddhist environmental policies.
Heather Harshbarger '05
2005 Fulbright Scholar
Stratford, Conn.
A double major in psychology and Hispanic studies, Harshbarger will teach Spanish in Spain as a Fulbright Scholar. In summer 2005 she worked in community service as one of Wheaton's first Nancy Lyon Porter '43 Community Service Fellows. She also is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Psi Chi honor societies, a Balfour Scholar and a Rotary Scholar. In 2004 she studied abroad in Wheaton's PRESCHO program at the University of Cordoba in Spain. She hopes to earn a Ph.D. in social work and focus professionally on women's issues across cultures.
John Heywood '05
2005 Fulbright Scholar
Oakland, Calif.
An independent major in science, technology and society, Heywood will conduct research in Estonia next year. He looks to Estonia as a potential model for other countries considering the adoption of wireless Internet, particularly in terms of the way wireless communications can transcend traditional obstacles to building community. At Wheaton Heywood is active in many areas, including the President's Coordinating Council, the College Hearing Board and as a saxophone player in the Jazz band and Speakeasy, a student-run funk band. He is a Community scholar and a Dean's List student and has served as a panelist or adviser for the Office of Admission and the Center for Global Education. After he returns from Estonia in a year, Heywood plans to pursue a master's degree and doctorate in science, technology and society.
Sarah Malloy '05
2005 French Government Teaching Assistantship
Providence, R.I.
Malloy, a double major in French studies and English, came to Wheaton as a Balfour Scholar and played three years on the college's softball team. During her junior year abroad in France, Malloy volunteered two days each week, teaching English to 10 and 11-year-old French schoolchildren. The teaching assistantship, administered by the Fulbright Foundation, will allow Malloy to return to France to teach English and American studies for a year. Upon her return to the U.S., Malloy intends to pursue graduates studies in education or the law.
Fred Marcks '02
2005 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship
Chelmsford, Mass.
Marcks, a former Wheaton Student Government Association president, Christine Todd Whitman '68 Fellow and winner of a 2001 Truman Scholarship, served as an assistant director in the Admission Office. He left the college in August 2005 to study and serve as an ambassador for a one-year period. The purpose of the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarships program is to further international understanding and friendly relations among people of different countries. Academic-Year Ambassadorial Scholarships provide funding for one academic year of study in another country.
Myles Matteson '06
2005 Truman Scholar
Epsom, N.H.
A jack-of-all-trades--professional bagpiper, Junior Olympic fencer, sailor, debater and Wheaton Presidential and Balfour scholar--the Wheaton junior and political science major discovered an interest in rural and agricultural development literally in his own backyard: his parents' flower farming business. Matteson has proposed legislation to address imbalances in farm subsidy distribution that would help small farmers. He also has a strong interest in law, having interned with the United Nations Chief of Prosecutions in The Hague. Matteson hopes to attend the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Tyler Matteson '05
2005 Watson Fellow
Epsom, N.H.
As a Watson Fellow, Matteson plans to travel in the Dominican Republic, England, Brazil, India, France, Morocco and Sweden to look inside a few traditional music styles that are particularly fertile with change and adaptation in an effort to uncover how musicians are responding to the introduction of the drum machine, and to explore the creative and social tension that exists between the traditionalists and the innovators.
Julia Naegele '05
2005 French Government Teaching Assistantship
La Mesa, Calif.
Naegele, a major in French studies and minors in political science and English, has been active in community service and social justice causes while studying at Wheaton. She has been an active member of several progressive political advocacy groups on campus. Naegele spent her junior year abroad in Paris. With the assistantship award, she will go to Guadeloupe to teach English as a second language; she may pursue a career in teaching upon return to the U.S.
Tamar Palandjian '05
2005 Fulbright Scholar
Warwick, R.I.
Palandjian, a senior political science major, has been awarded a research Fulbright to Armenia. She will spend her year studying the role of youth in the democratization process in Armenia and the contributions they can make to the development of civil society there.
Richelle Pinette '05
2005 French Government Teaching Assistantship
East Hartford, Conn.
Pinette, who majored in French studies and minored in secondary education, will teach English and American culture at a high school in Nantes, France. She taught those subjects there during a semester abroad during her junior year. Pinette has volunteered as a reading tutor in America Reads, a literacy program in which Wheaton participates, and has held teaching assistantships in several school districts near the Norton campus.
Karin Seeber '05
2005 Fulbright Scholar
Groton, Mass.
A double major in English and German, Seeber will teach English and American studies in Germany next year as the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship. The editor of the Wire, Wheaton's student newspaper, Seeber won one of the Padagogischer Austauschdienst Teaching Assistantships/Fulbright Grants. She hopes to share her interest in contemporary media and culture with German high school students to offer them "a more personal view of our culture and its values." A Dean's List student, a Community Scholar, a preceptor in the German Department and a member of the German and film clubs, she also has written for her hometown newspaper and Wheaton's college magazine and Web site. She plans to pursue a graduate degree in journalism.
Liza Semler '05
2005 Watson Fellow
Middlesex, Vt.
As an anthropology major and an experienced world traveler who has worked and studied in Sweden, Belize and South Africa, Semler will focus her Watson project specifically on the rhythms of life for elderly dairy farmers in rural communities in Switzerland, Ireland, Sweden, New Zealand and Canada whose farms have ceased to operate for a variety of reasons. Semler plans to use oral histories and documentary photography "to discover the ebb and flow of life for older farmers who were born in an era where dairy farming traditions were a responsibility of inheritance, an influence of rural culture, and a product of community necessity."
Megan Shea '04
2005 Fulbright Scholar
An anthropology major, Shea has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to the Czech Republic. This is the inaugural year for Czech university teaching assistantships; only two were awarded nationwide.
Janet Turkovich
2005 French Government Teaching Assistantship
Westford, Mass.
Turkovich, a double major in French studies and German, came to Wheaton as a Balfour Scholar and has been active as a foreign language tutor and college admission ambassador. She also worked at the college's Elizabeth Amen Nursery school. Turkovich spent her junior year abroad, studying one semester each in Nantes, France and Regensburg, Germany. She will teach English as a second language and plans on pursuing a career in teaching upon her return to the U.S. She is particularly interested in teaching foreign languages at the kindergarten and elementary school level.
Joy Williams '03
2005 Fulbright Scholar
Chapel Hill, N.C.
A major in Hispanic studies, Williams will study Afro-Colombian identity through dance in Colombia.