Feature: MSU's Academic Olympians

            In a year when MSU honors its Olympians, it seems appropriate to also honor the winners of major academic honors.

            Although not many people might know it, Michigan State University leads the Big Ten in the number of Rhodes Scholars since 1970.  MSU is also the only Big Ten university to boast five Marshall Scholars in the past five years.    

            Indeed, in a year when Olympians will be celebrated as Grand Marshals of this fall’s Homecoming Parade, the timing is right to also honor the success of MSU’s Honors College in producing students that may be labeled “academic Olympians.”

            The Honors College has served as a selection and fostering station for major scholarships and fellowships since its founding in 1957.  An excerpt from the Council of Deans meeting in January 1963 reads, “President Hannah, who has served on the Michigan committee on the selection of Rhodes Scholars, stated that no nominations for these scholarships had been made from this institution during his period of service…It was suggested that we ought to identify prospective candidates in their freshman year and follow through with them…[and] that this activity might be centered in the Honors College.”

            And indeed, Honors College members have had phenomenal success in major national and international scholarship recognition programs, a legacy which includes 24 Goldwater Scholars, 16 Rhodes Scholars, 16 Churchill Scholars, 15 Truman Scholars, 13 Marshall Scholars, 7 Udall Scholars, and 2 Gates Cambridge Scholars.  

            What follows are a few profiles of award-winners who typify MSU’s legacy of academic excellence on the international stage.

            Rebecca (Ellis) Dutch, 1986 Churchill Scholar, received an M.Phil. degree from Cambridge and went on to complete a Ph.D. in Biochemistry at Stanford University, with postdoctoral research in Molecular Virology at Northwestern. 

            Currently serving as an associate professor of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky, her research focuses on the attachment and entry of viruses into host cells, with an emphasis on new emerging pathogens.  Working with eleven Ph.D. students and multiple undergraduates and recently named a finalist for the 2008 Provost’s Outstanding Teacher Award, her laboratory has also produced some of the first studies of the function of surface proteins from human metapneumovirus, a major respiratory pathogen in children. 

            Her work on the highly pathogenic Hendra and Nipah viruses has identified a cellular protein, cathepsin L, as a novel antiviral target. Receiving funding from the NIH and the NIAID Biodefense program, the March of Dimes, and the American Heart Association, Dutch is co-Principal Investigator on an NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates grant targeted at underrepresented minorities and students from the Appalachian Mountain region.

            Becky and her husband Ken Dutch, a fellow Honors College graduate and Ph.D. in mathematics from Stanford, have three children – Alec, Bram, and Nathan. 

            Richard Cordray, 1981 Marshall Scholar, was elected in 2006 as the Ohio State Treasurer.   He manages all banking functions for the state and is responsible for an investment portfolio averaging $18 billion.   

            Nominated as the 2008 Financial Services Champion of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration, and named “County Leader of the Year” by American City & County Magazine, Cordray’s main goals are safeguarding state funds to restore the public trust, promoting financial security for Ohioans, and cultivating economic growth in the State of Ohio.

            The U.S. Small Business Administration, Region V, named Cordray its 2008 Financial Services Champion of the Year in recognition of his efforts to expand GrowNOW and provide financial education to Ohioans.  GrowNOW provides a reduced interest rate on loans to small businesses throughout the state to grow and create jobs.

            An undefeated five-time champion on the “Jeopardy” television show, Cordray is an attorney by profession and argued six cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and taught for 15 years at the Ohio State University College of Law.  He served as Franklin County Treasurer, as a State Representative, and as Ohio’s first State Solicitor. 

            Katherine Leitch, 2006 Goldwater Scholar & 2007 Churchill Scholar, is a senior zoology major in the College of Natural Science and member of the Honors College.

            “I have enthusiasm for scientific research thanks to two Zoology faculty, Heather Eisthen and Susan Hill, who shared their labs and their time with me,” Leitch said.  “These opportunities have paved the way toward some of my most important accomplishments to date: I received a Goldwater Scholarship, was admitted to a graduate-level summer course at The University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Laboratories, and now, have received a Churchill Scholarship.”

            In her graduate study at The University of Cambridge, Leitch plans to focus on the maternal-fetal interactions during the first trimester of human pregnancy.  I will do this in the laboratory of Graham Burton, in the Department of Physiology, Development, and Neuroscience.  Her research will likely focus on the function and regulation of the endometrial glands, and the effects of maternal nutrition on these dynamics.

            “After this graduate study, I will study the role nutrition plays in human pregnancy, but will also be thrilled to examine the evolutionary history of glandular nutrition across mammals,” states Leitch.  “I am also very excited by the processes of transcriptional regulation in development, and would love to focus on this in my studies of endometrial glands.”    

            Roy Pea, 1974 Rhodes Scholar, received his doctorate in developmental psychology from Oxford.  Pea is currently a Stanford University professor of the learning sciences and director of the Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning.  Having published over 140 chapters and articles on such topics as distributed cognition, learning and education fostered by advanced technologies including scientific visualization, on-line communities, digital video collaboratories, and wireless handheld computers, Pea was co-author of the 2000 National Academies Press volume How People Learn.

            Roy also serves as a director for Teachscape, a company he co-founded in 1999 that provides comprehensive K-12 teacher professional development services incorporating web-based video case studies of standards-based teaching and communities of learners.

            As Co-PI of the LIFE Center, funded by the National Science Foundation, Pea is developing a new paradigm for everyday networked video interactions for learning and communications, and for how informal and formal learning can be better understood and connected.

            In 2005-2006, Dr. Pea served as President of the International Society for the Learning Sciences, and was an IBM Faculty Fellow in 2006.  He is also a Fellow of the National Academy of Education, American Psychological Society, and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.

            Rujuta (Bhatt) Srivastava, 1992 Truman Scholar and 1993 Rhodes Scholar, graduated from Michigan State in 1993 with a BA in International Relations (JMC) and a BS in Biochemistry (CNS). 

            “I chose those majors because they best combined my interests in international politics and science, while also preparing me for a potential career in medicine,” Srivastava explains.

            After graduating from MSU, she went on to earn a Masters degree in International Relations at Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship.  Srivastava’s thesis  traced the evolution of the international response to HIV/AIDS over the first fifteen years of the pandemic. Earning an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, she decided to make a significant career shift—instead of pursuing a residency, she joined a fast-growing biotechnology company. 

            Over the past nine years, Srivastava has worked in the corporate development group at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a premier biotechnology company focused in oncology and inflammatory diseases.  Her group is responsible for mergers and acquisitions, product in-licensing, and other types of strategic partnerships. 

            “Although I have chosen a different path than I anticipated as an undergraduate, I have found a career I enjoy and that I feel makes a meaningful contribution to patients – the driving factor behind many of my educational choices,” says Srivastava.  “I would also add that the knowledge and experiences I gained at MSU paved the way for my subsequent academic and career choices, and have brought much professional and personal fulfillment. “

            Strivastava lives in Brookline, MA, with her husband and their two children.

MSU’S ACADEMIC OLYMPIANS

Churchill Scholars (Study of science or mathematics at University of Cambridge)

• 1964 Thomas Stoeckley
• 1969 Larry Benninger
• 1978 Thomas Murphy
• 1980 Stephen Scherr
• 1982 Christopher Bishop
• 1983 Ronald Ellis
• 1985 Frank Sottile
• 1986 Rebecca (Dutch) Ellis
• 1988 Lisa (Gloss) Lessman
• 1989 Eric Hooper
• 1990 Donald Bott
• 1991 Richard Cohn
• 2000 Jason Fuller
• 2002 Camillia (Smith) Barnes
• 2006 Timothy Howes
• 2008 Katherine Leitch

Rhodes Scholars (Study at University of Oxford)

• 1919 Calvin Overmyer
• 1926 Douglas Steere
• 1953 John Wilson
• 1972 Alan VerPlanck
• 1974 Roy Pea
• 1975 Paul Hunt
• 1976 Steven Holtzman
• 1977 Mary (Norton) McConnell
• 1982 Molly Brennan
• 1983 Claudena Skran
• 1984 Judith Stoddart
• 1985 Robert Leland & Ronald Tenpas
• 1993 Rujuta (Bhatt) Srivastava
• 1996 Dayne Walling
• 1997 Stephanie Palmer

Marshall Scholars (Graduate study at universities in the UK)

• 1975 Katharine (Clarke) Hunt
• 1978 Ian Redmount
• 1978 Stuart Rosenthal
• 1979 Robert Koons
• 1981 Richard Cordray
• 1985 Sandra Pinnavaia
• 1999 Jennifer (Sykes) McLaughlin
• 2004 Jared English
• 2004 Greta Stahl
• 2005 Bhooma Aravamuthan
• 2007 Shanti Zaid
• 2008 Monica Mukerjee

Mitchell Scholar (Study at Irish universities)

• 2001 Kathleen (Romig) Krepps

Gates Cambridge Scholars (Study at University of Cambridge)

• 2002 Robin Stein
• 2007 Victoria Moeller

Goldwater Scholars (Planning research careers in science and engineering)

• 1993 Michael Potter
• 1994 Roberto Bello
• 1995 Jennifer Loconto
• 1997 Michael Young
• 1998 Andrew Mienaltowski
• 1998 Daniel Thornhill
• 1999 Jason Fuller
• 2000 Brian Ngo
• 2002 Michael Davis
• 2002 Sarah Lansing
• 2003 Megan Dennis
• 2004 Bhooma Aravamuthan
• 2004 Nathan Lord
• 2005 Katie Barott
• 2005 Timothy Howes
• 2005 Janelle Shane
• 2005 Matthew Stasiewicz
• 2006 Stuart Kaltz
• 2006 Katherine Leitch
• 2006 Anjali Rohatgi
• 2007 Robert Friederichs
• 2007 Kurtis Geerlings
• 2007 Edwin Chen

Truman Scholars (Planning careers in public service)

• 1979 Steven Kautz
• 1980 Donna (Pickrell) Harrison
• 1981 Linda Ewing
• 1983 Thomas Young
• 1985 Lori Brown
• 1986 Connel Fullenkamp
• 1988 Benjamin Dennis
• 1990 Wendy (Fritzen) Hensel
• 1992 Rujuta (Bhatt) Srivastava
• 1995 Dayne Walling
• 1998 Jennifer (Sykes) McLaughlin
• 1999 Adam Wright
• 2003 Jared English
• 2006 Jacob Phelps
• 2007 Monica Mukerjee

Udall Scholars (Planning careers in environmental policy or tribal health)

• 1997 Waseya Cornell
• 1998 Meegan (Dorn) Mahan
• 2004 Jerilyn Church
• 2005 Jacob Phelps
• 2006 Jacob Phelps
• 2007 Kristen Pratt
•  
• Hollings Scholars
• (Planning careers related to atmospheric
• or oceanic policy)
• 2005 Anna Cajiga
• 2005 Nicholas Gebauer
• 2006 Allison Campbell
• 2007 Cassandra Stieler

NSF Scholars (National Science Foundation)                                                                

• 2007    Janelle Shane                        
• 2007    Kathryn Shaw          
• 2007    Katharine Northcutt                                        
• 2007    Christine Kalcic                                             
• 2007    Andrew Flies                                
• 2007    Bess Walker         
• 2007    Katy Califf            
• 2007    Raffica LaRosa 
• 2007    Katie Barott