News

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13 May 2022

Fostering Leadership

Rylee Wienhold ’25 shares how the Class of 2025 explored leadership in North Carolina’s foster care system during Learning Lab I.

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06 May 2022

A Perfect Circle

Loujain Al Samara ’22 pursued a broad range of experiences during her four years at NC State, and she graduates this May with a new understanding of what she has learned, how she has grown and what comes next — thanks to private support.

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18 Mar 2022

Double Parked

Receiving NC State’s Park Scholarship and UNC’s Park Fellowship is a rare distinction achieved by both Kelly Marks ’00 and Jada Hester ’20.

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18 Jan 2022

Park Scholarships Welcomes Stephanie Bunn

Park Scholarships is pleased to welcome Stephanie Bunn as the program’s liaison with University Development and Central Major Gifts. Bunn will build and support relationships with Park Scholarships alumni, parents, and friends to strengthen the program.

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21 Dec 2021

Park Scholarships Names Class of 2026 Semifinalists

The Park Scholarships program at North Carolina State University selected 500 Semifinalists for the Class of 2026. Candidates were selected from an exceptionally talented pool of 2,260 applicants based on outstanding accomplishments and potential in scholarship, leadership, service, and character.

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13 Dec 2021

Focused on the Future

Georgia Burgess '21 has accomplished many things at NC State. The driving force behind her success is her commitment to showing up for others.”

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08 Dec 2021

December Graduates Spotlight

In December 2021, five Park Scholars earned undergraduate degrees. Find out what experiences had the biggest impact during their time at NC State and where they are headed next.

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17 Nov 2021

One of Our Own: The Life and Legacy of Dick Robb

Dick Robb never attended NC State. But the honorary alum proved his commitment to the Wolfpack in word and deed, touching the lives of countless NC State students through his work with the Park Scholarships program and his service on the Board of Trustees.

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11 Nov 2021

Park Scholars Student Profile: Reagan Bustabad

NC State University Park Scholar Reagan Bustabad ’24 had the opportunity to research livestock and forestry on a farm this past summer. Bustabad talks with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences about the work she did and shares some advice with future students who are thinking about studying Animal Science at NC State.

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28 Oct 2021

Q&A: Ana Sofia Uzsoy

Ana Sofia Uzsoy '21, the third-ever Churchill Scholar selected from NC State, was recently interviewed in the College of Engineering magazine.

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13 Oct 2021

Lessons in Leadership

Together, the Classes of 2023 and 2024 explored leadership in K-12 education equity and access during Learning Lab II.

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04 Aug 2021

4 Questions for NC State’s 4 Churchill Scholars

This spring, Park Scholars Nikhil Milind ’21 and Ana Sofia Uzsoy ’21 were named NC State’s third and fourth Churchill Scholars, following in the footsteps of Park alumni Mia de los Reyes ’16 and Chris Cooper ’17. The Churchill Scholarship was established to facilitate scientific exchange between the U.S. and the U.K. It sponsors graduate-level study at the University of Cambridge for 15-17 students, including full tuition, a stipend, travel costs, and the chance to apply for a special research grant. The Park Scholarships program talked with all four alumni about the impact of their time at NC State and their experiences as Park Scholars and Churchill Scholars.

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19 Jul 2021

An Enriched Experience

Zack Jenio '22 has received 10 Park Enrichment Grants for experiences including study abroad, linguistics training, wellness coach certification, and osteoarthritis research, and he plans to apply for more during his final year at NC State.

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10 May 2021

Class of 2021 Highlights

Throughout their four years at NC State, the Class of 2021 has embodied the program’s pillars of scholarship, leadership, service, and character.”

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05 Mar 2021

On the Road to Success

NC State’s co-op program helped Elizabeth Dogbe ’21 fine-tune her civil engineering passion and positioned her to excel in a career focused on making public transportation systems more efficient, accessible, and equitable.

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25 Feb 2021

A Winning Solution to Reducing Food Waste

David Horne ’23 and Joshua Mason ’24 created an app that reduces food waste by connecting grocery stores with food-based charities. The project won the grand prize in the NC State Make-A-Thon sustainability innovation competition.

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24 Feb 2021

Spring 2021 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Update

Diversity is critical to the mission of NC State and the Park Scholarships program. As Park staff and faculty engage in the active, sustained efforts required to counter racial injustice and systemic oppression, Park Scholarships will share periodic updates about the progress on its work to build a stronger and more diverse, equitable, and inclusive program.

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09 Feb 2021

Alum Tomás Carbonell Joins the EPA Leadership Team

NC State Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering alum Tomás E. Carbonell ’02 is the newly-appointed Deputy Assistant Administrator for Stationary Sources in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Air and Radiation. According to the EPA news release, “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced key members of the agency’s incoming leadership team who will advance the Biden-Harris administration’s agenda to tackle the climate crisis, advance environmental justice and create clean energy jobs.”

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25 Jan 2021

Park Scholarships Names Class of 2025 Finalists

The Park Scholarships Selection Committee, comprising more than 300 NC State alumni and friends, conducted interviews with 495 Semifinalists in early January. The Semifinalists were selected from 2,203 applicants. Of that group, 112 candidates have been selected as Finalists for the Class of 2025.

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21 Jan 2021

A Running Start

As a first-year senator in Student Government, Timothy Reid ’24 is working to support his peers during a challenging time and advance policies to improve student well-being.

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12 Jan 2021

A Brave Young Coder in a Brave New World

Park Scholar Anna Owens ‘21 discovered her passion for cybersecurity while studying at NC State. Now, this atypical computer programmer is preparing to apply her skills at one of the world’s biggest tech companies.

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04 Jan 2021

A Reason to Run

Tatum Kellum ‘22 explains how the Krispy Kreme Challenge has gone all-virtual for 2021.

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21 Dec 2020

Park Scholarships Names Class of 2025 Semifinalists

The Park Scholarships program at North Carolina State University selected 495 Semifinalists for the Class of 2025. Candidates were selected from an exceptionally talented pool of 2,203 applicants based on outstanding accomplishments and potential in scholarship, leadership, service, and character.

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30 Nov 2020

Coffee and Statistics To Go

Michael Evans ‘21 is about graduate with his bachelor’s degree in Statistics. His next step is focusing on the nonprofit 321 Coffee.

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30 Nov 2020

Design Meets Biomechanics

Biomechanics and design might seem like separate fields. But Alyssa Cox ‘20 is mixing those two passions to find a career in athletic apparel and footwear innovation.

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19 Nov 2020

Fall 2020 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Update

As Park staff and faculty engage in the active, sustained efforts required to counter racial injustice and systemic oppression, Park Scholarships will share periodic updates about the progress on its work to build a stronger and more diverse, equitable, and inclusive program.

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09 Sep 2020

Snapshots of Summer

Undeterred by this summer’s unique challenges, Park Scholars sought out opportunities to support their communities and stay on track with their professional goals. Seven students share how they made the most of this summer.

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19 Aug 2020

A Strawless Step Forward

Almost 500 million single-use plastic straws are used every day in America. Park Scholars Shannon Dolan ‘22 and Annalise Hafner ‘22 set out on a mission to reduce that number.

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19 Aug 2020

Meet the Newest Members of the Pack

Though this year’s first-year and transfer students are facing a new kind of fall, they’re ready to work hard, have fun and make the most of every opportunity.

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14 Aug 2020

Melanie Conklin ’00 Writes Her Own Story

The Park Scholarships program has invited Park Scholars from the Class of 2024 to interview Park alumni. This is the first of a series of interviews that will be published throughout the year. Addison Hughes ’24 was inspired by Melanie Conklin’s ability to pursue a career outside of her major field of study. She reached out to see how Park Scholarships had contributed to Conklin’s adaptability and leadership skills.

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10 Aug 2020

Ben Darnell ’02 Creates the Seventh Co-named Park Scholarship

Park Scholarships alumnus Ben Darnell ’02 has created a $350,000 endowment that will be matched by Park Foundation funds and support one Park Scholarship in perpetuity. Darnell’s gift marks the Park Scholarships program’s seventh Co-named Park Scholarship and the second donated by a Park Scholarships alumnus.

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10 Aug 2020

Looking Beyond Medicine to Promote Public Health

Naila Segule ’20 spent the summer interning with the NC Department of Public Health (NC DPH) Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch (OEEB). Her responsibilities expanded from disaster epidemiology to include working with the North Carolina Courts to safely resume jury trials, tracking carbon monoxide reporting, workplace epidemiology, and environmental justice report writing. She shared reflections on her experience.

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13 Jul 2020

Park Scholarships Program Affirms Commitment to Anti-Racism

As a program created to develop the potential of scholars in the areas of scholarship, leadership, service, and character, it is the mission of Park Scholarships to prepare scholars with the skills and training necessary to create meaningful change in communities around the world. A foundational understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion is essential to this work. 

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17 Jun 2020

Guiding Young Businesses to Success

With experiential learning programs and funding opportunities, NC State Entrepreneurship has helped Shraddha Rathod ‘18 and Ritika Shamdasani ‘23 turn their ideas into reality.

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21 May 2020

Taking Care of Business

Across the country, Park Scholars have channeled the entrepreneurial spirit of program namesake Roy Park ‘31 to keep their companies running and their employees paid. Read how Daniel Malechuck ‘03, Chasta Hamilton ‘07, Luke Perkins ‘14, Emily Neville ‘20, Lindsay Wrege ‘21, Michael Evans ‘21, and Liam Dao ‘22 are staying in business.

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28 Apr 2020

Handling Any Challenge

Whether forging a path to NC State or handling cobras, zoology major Carley-Martin MacFarlane ’21 doesn’t back down. Thanks to the Park Scholarships program, she has found the academic and financial support needed to pursue her passion for snakes and other reptiles.

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28 Feb 2020

Kelly Cox ’13: Water Warrior

Kelly Cox ’13 is a fierce advocate for South Florida’s watershed as general counsel for Miami Waterkeeper – a nonprofit organization dedicated to defending everyone’s right to use and enjoy clean water.

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02 Jan 2020

Oliver Brooks '07 on Building Foundations for Success

Oliver Brooks '07 developed a fascination for business in high school when a neighbor and mentor first explained the stock market to him. “I was intrigued by how business touches everything in our lives, from the big brands we all recognize to lesser-known companies that manufacture everything from plumbing products to playground equipment.”

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20 Dec 2019

Park Scholarships Names Class of 2024 Semifinalists

The Park Scholarships program at North Carolina State University selected 445 Semifinalists for the Class of 2024 – the 25th class of Park Scholars. Candidates were selected from an exceptionally talented pool of 2,136 applicants based on outstanding accomplishments and potential in scholarship, leadership, service, and character.

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19 Dec 2019

Getting Ready for the Real World

Jasmine Wang '20 is graduating from NC State this week and will be right back on campus in January. The Wilmington native receives her degree, a Bachelor of Science in computer science, but is enrolled in the accelerated bachelor’s/master’s degree program, which allows undergraduate students at NC State to complete the requirements for both degrees at an accelerated pace. She expects to receive a master’s in December 2020. Read full article.

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17 Dec 2019

From Student to CEO

While many of her classmates have focused on finding a job postgraduation this December, Emily Neville '20 has been looking forward to turning her full attention to the job she already has: CEO. Read full article.

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22 Nov 2019

Rosalyn Eagleton Celebrates 20 Years with Park Scholarships

Rosalyn Eagleton has been a vital member of the Park Scholarships team since December 1999, serving as building liaison and managing human resources, office operations, accounting, technology, and other tasks as needed. Over the years, those other tasks have proved interesting.

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18 Nov 2019

Claire Lucas '13 Finds Her Passion at a Data Startup

NC State made a huge impact on Claire Lucas ‘13 and her career path. From undertaking problem-solving challenges in engineering classes at NC State to exploring the world of software, Lucas’s experiences guided her to her current role. She now works as an engagement manager for Elastic, a startup similar to Red Hat that allows people to explore and analyze their data using the power of search.

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10 Oct 2019

Freshman and Senior Retreats: Strengthening Connections

Retreats are integral components of the Park Scholarships experience. At the start of each of the freshman and senior years, they afford scholars the perspective to reflect on where they’ve been and make preparations for the next steps. Location plays a key role: the natural beauty of each retreat’s setting creates a space for contemplation and relationship-building without the distractions of everyday campus life.

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09 Sep 2019

Class of 2020 will present William C. Friday Award to Maggie Kane

North Carolina State University’s Park Scholarships Class of 2020 will present the 21st annual William C. Friday Award to Maggie Kane on Monday, October 21 at 5:30 p.m. in the Coastal Ballroom of Talley Student Union. Maggie Kane is the founder and executive director of A Place at the Table, a pay-what-you-can cafe that provides community as well as healthy meal options. To reserve a seat, interested guests may RSVP here.

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25 Jul 2019

Jada Hester ’20 looks at the wage gap as a WomenNC Scholar

Jada Hester ‘21 was named one of ten WomenNC Scholars from across the state. WomenNC is a local non-profit committed to finding solutions to advance women’s human rights and gender equality. As part of the program, Hester’s research focused on the wage gap among women in Durham, North Carolina — specifically, the disparity between pay for white and non-white women. She was also afforded the opportunity to participate in the Juanita M. Bryant United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) Leadership Training Program and present her research at the WomenNC’s Annual Local-to-Global Forum, the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, and the NC State Gender and Equity Research Symposium.

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25 Jul 2019

Class of 2022 Learning Lab II Preparation – Mass Incarceration

Class of 2022 Mission/Focus During Learning Lab II, the Class of 2022 will focus on the leadership demonstrated in many different aspects of reform in relation to mass incarceration. They will analyze the proposed reforms to the policies that created mass incarceration as well as efforts to mitigate the harsh impacts throughout many communities, especially the disproportionate impacts on poor and racial minority communities. They hope to learn the variety of steps national leaders are taking to reform our criminal justice system and alleviate the impacts of mass incarceration.

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25 Jul 2019

Class of 2022 Learning Lab II Preparation - Mass Incarceration

Class of 2022 Mission/Focus
During Learning Lab II, the Class of 2022 will focus on the leadership demonstrated in many different aspects of reform in relation to mass incarceration. They will analyze the proposed reforms to the policies that created mass incarceration as well as efforts to mitigate the harsh impacts throughout many communities, especially the disproportionate impacts on poor and racial minority communities. They hope to learn the variety of steps national leaders are taking to reform our criminal justice system and alleviate the impacts of mass incarceration.

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09 Jul 2019

Park Scholars Host Gerald H. Elkan Distinguished Lecture in Science and Society Featuring Nicole Lurie

North Carolina State University’s Park Scholarships Classes of 2020 and 2021 will host the second Gerald H. Elkan Distinguished Lecture in Science and Society, featuring internationally-renowned health services researcher and health policy expert Dr. Nicole Lurie on Monday, September 23 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the James B. Hunt Jr. Library, Duke Energy Hall. The lecture, “Reaching the other side: lessons from the intersection of medicine and policy”, will immediately be followed by a reception, with both events being free and open to the public.

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15 Jun 2019

An Apple Tree Grows in the Park Community

The Park Scholarships prepares scholars for a variety of paths in life. Sometimes, though, those paths overlap. Currently, four Park alumni from different classes have at least one thing in common: they all work for Apple. Discover how the Park Scholarships helped prepare them for their different roles at a groundbreaking and innovative company.

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22 May 2019

Solving the Riddle of Genes

Nikhil Milind ’21, a 2019 Goldwater Scholar, is melding computer science and biology to explore links between genetics and disease.

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21 May 2019

Intelligent Life

From chromosomes deep in the heart of a cell to exoplanets in the farthest reaches of space, Goldwater Scholar Ana Sofia Uzsoy ’21 is doing research to help us understand the universe at every scale.

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17 May 2019

Jessica Ritter ‘10 is a Force for Change

When Jessica Ritter ‘10 decided to forego veterinary school for a year after graduating from NC State, she did not know how much of an impact that decision would have on her life, or in the world. It is a decision that has led her to her current role as director of water resources and coastal policy at the National Wildlife Federation, shaping and guiding policy and advocacy work on issues ranging from clean water to national infrastructure investments and from disaster response to coastal community resilience.

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16 May 2019

The Park Class of 2019: Highlights

On Saturday, May 11, the 20th class of Park Scholars graduated. Adding to a vibrant network of more than 900 alumni, the Class of 2019 has embraced the program’s pillars of scholarship, leadership, service, and character since the beginning.

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31 Mar 2019

Learning Lab I: Public Safety and Preparedness for Natural Disasters

Learning Lab I, an annual experience designed and implemented by freshman Park Scholars, affords students insight into leadership through the lens of a challenge currently facing the state of North Carolina. In the wake of the recent hurricanes that have devastated the state, the Class of 2022 chose to explore public safety and preparedness for natural disasters. The class traveled to Pembroke and Wilmington to visit those who faced tough decisions during the storms and discuss how they were able to lead in the middle of chaos.

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13 Mar 2019

A Dream Takes Flight

Madison Maloney ‘19 aspires to follow friend and mentor Christina Hammock Koch into space. Thanks to a prestigious Knight-Hennessy Scholarship, the NC State senior begins graduate studies in astronautics at Stanford this fall.

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13 Mar 2019

Brain Power

Ziad Ali ‘19 aims to combine electrical engineering and neuroscience to treat disorders such as epilepsy and Parkinson’s. The NC State senior heads to California in the fall to pursue a Ph.D. at Stanford thanks to a Knight-Hennessy Scholarship.

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12 Mar 2019

Reflections from Pranav Kemburu ’19

As a senior at NC State, Pranav Kemburu ’19 has been able to focus on a range of experiences to enhance his undergraduate career. From study abroad to internships, and from an alternative spring break to his Civic Engagement Initiative (CEI), he is well prepared for a lifelong commitment to making a positive impact in society. Here, he reflects on such opportunities:

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12 Mar 2019

Two Brothers, Two Paths to Emergency Medicine

Park Scholars each create their own college experience based on their values and interests, and no two scholars’ journeys are the same. Brothers Stanley ’05 and Peyton ’07 Hassinger have both found careers in emergency medicine, but how they arrived at that decision and the work they do greatly differs.

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01 Feb 2019

Park Scholarships Names Class of 2023 Finalists

The Park Scholarships Selection Committee, comprising approximately 290 NC State alumni and friends, conducted interviews with 475 Semifinalists in early January. The Semifinalists were selected from a record number of 2,409 applicants. Of these, 112 candidates were selected as Finalists for the Class of 2023.

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28 Jan 2019

Park Scholars don't just learn, they do

Enrichment experiences are vital to a student’s education and preparation for life beyond NC State. Belton Moore ’20 recognizes this importance and has been sure to take the reins on his involvement in- and outside of the classroom.

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21 Dec 2018

Park Scholarships Names Class of 2023 Semifinalists

The Park Scholarships program at North Carolina State University selected 475 Semifinalists for the Class of 2023 – the 24th class of Park Scholars. Candidates were selected from an exceptionally talented pool of 2,409 applicants based on outstanding accomplishments and potential in scholarship, leadership, service, and character.

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08 Sep 2018

A path well taken

At the age of 15, Josh Sawyer ’03 unexpectedly performed CPR on a neighbor until first-responders arrived. It was this moment that catapulted his interest in medicine. Today, Sawyer is an ER physician at Eastern Carolina Emergency Physicians in Wilmington, N.C.

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07 Sep 2018

A Time to Reflect and Connect

Excitement and anxiety are at the forefront of the emotional spectrum as students enter their freshman and senior years of college. Park retreats at the start of each of these years afford scholars the perspective to reflect on where they’ve been and make preparations for the next steps. Location plays a key role: the natural beauty of each retreat’s setting creates a space for contemplation and relationship-building without the distractions of everyday campus life.

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07 Sep 2018

Class of 2019 presented William C. Friday Award to Noran Sanford

North Carolina State University’s Park Scholarships Class of 2019 presented the 20th annual William C. Friday Award to Noran Sanford on Monday, November 5 at 5:30 p.m. in NC State’s Duke Energy Hall at Hunt Library. Sanford is the founder of GrowingChange, which converts decommissioned rural prisons into sustainable farms and education centers.

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31 Jul 2018

Two Park Scholars receive the Astronaut Scholarship

Ziad Ali ‘19 and Madison Maloney ‘19 are recipients of a 2018-2019 Astronaut Scholarship. Awarded to 50 scholars from 36 universities across the nation, the Astronaut Scholarship was established to aid the United States in retaining its world leadership in technology and innovation by supporting the very best and brightest scholars in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics while commemorating the legacy of America’s pioneering astronauts.

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18 May 2017

The Park Class of 2017: Highlights

This year, the Park Scholarships program proudly graduated the Class of 2017. From a pool of 1,642 applicants in the fall of 2012, the Park Selection Committee saw in these then-high school seniors their potential to excel as scholars, leaders, and in service to their communities. Indeed, the Park Class of 2017 has made a significant impact at NC State and elsewhere throughout the nation and world – from parks and natural spaces here in the Research Triangle, to the Belize National Zoo, to an archaeological excavation site in the ancient city of Petra.

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01 May 2017

Krystal Smith ‘14 Fosters Unity through Dialogue and Relationships

Krystal Smith ‘14 is passionate in her pursuit for intentionality. She has spent the past few years working as university engagement director and director of special projects for the Veritas Forum, an organization committed to creating opportunities for college students and faculty to engage in meaningful conversations.

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27 Apr 2017

Elliott Welton ‘12 Primes Campuses for Amazon Partnerships

Whether through its electronic devices, streaming media, or next-day delivery of items ranging from lentils to leotards, Amazon.com has revolutionized the retail realm for its hundreds of millions of users. As a senior business development manager for Amazon Campus, Elliott Welton ‘12 is playing a role in this consumerism paradigm shift.

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20 Apr 2017

Class of 2020 Studies Complexities of Tribal Sovereignty in North Carolina

Learning Lab I, an annual experience designed and implemented by freshman Park Scholars, affords students insight into leadership through the lens of a challenge currently facing the state of North Carolina. The Class of 2020 opted to explore the obstacles our state’s tribal leaders face in exercising their rights of tribal sovereignty and self-determination by discussing these topics with leaders of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the Lumbee Tribe. The class traveled to meet with both groups on their respective tribal lands—the former on the Qualla Boundary in Western N.C., and the latter in Pembroke, located near the state’s southern border.

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18 Apr 2017

Park March Madness Motivates Scholars To Give Back

This year marks the completion of the fifth annual Park Scholarships March Madness: a two-pronged, friendly competition between current scholars to see which class will have the highest percentage of donor participants and contribute the highest dollar amount in donations.

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18 Apr 2017

Claire Shigekawa Rennhack ’08 Crafts a Career in the Emerald City

As most creative types will attest, art-making is an iterative process requiring close study and a willingness to adjust and blend ideas. Likewise, Claire Shigekawa Rennhack ‘08 has sculpted her academic and professional journey over time, ultimately discovering her niche at the intersection of engineering and architecture.

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30 Jan 2017

Park Scholars To Host Inaugural Gerald H. Elkan Distinguished Lecture in Science and Society Featuring Marc Edwards

North Carolina State University’s Park Scholarships Class of 2019 will host the program’s inaugural Gerald H. Elkan Distinguished Lecture in Science and Society, featuring MacArthur Fellow and water quality engineer Dr. Marc Edwards, on Tuesday, March 21 from 5:30-6:30 pm. The lecture, entitled “Truth Seeking by the Lights of Perverted Science: Exposing the Flint Water Disaster,” will be held in the Hunt Library Auditorium, and a reception will immediately follow in Duke Energy Hall. Both the lecture and reception are free and open to the public; please register to reserve a seat: go.ncsu.edu/elkan-lecture-2017.

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30 Jan 2017

Class of 2017 To Present William C. Friday Award to UNC President Emeritus Tom Ross

North Carolina State University’s Park Scholarships Class of 2017 will present the 18th annual William C. Friday Award to Thomas W. Ross, President of the Volcker Alliance and President Emeritus of the 17-campus University of North Carolina, on Monday, February 27 at 5:30 pm in NC State’s Hunt Library Auditorium. Ross will deliver a lecture immediately following the award presentation. The event is free and open to the public.

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20 Dec 2016

Park Scholarships Names Class of 2021 Semifinalists

The Park Scholarships program at North Carolina State University has selected 400 Semifinalists for the Class of 2021 – the 22nd class of Park Scholars. Candidates were selected from an exceptionally talented pool of nearly 2,150 applicants based on outstanding accomplishments and potential in scholarship, leadership, service, and character.

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01 Nov 2016

Class of 2019 Explores Challenging Dynamics between Political Campaigns and the Media

In October the Class of 2019 traveled to Washington, D.C. for the Learning Lab II experience, designed to allow sophomore Park Scholars to develop a critical understanding of a nationally-relevant topic by interacting with leaders immersed in that issue. The class chose to examine how leaders balance ethics and efficacy when navigating the relationships between political campaign organizations and the media—a particularly relevant topic in the context of the contentious 2016 presidential election.

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01 Sep 2016

Daniel Hoag ‘03 Walks the Cutting Edge of Computer Technology

With hundreds of millions of users and one of the most iconic – and quirkily mercurial – logos, Google is among the world’s most familiar companies. Yet while many of us turn to Google search for information daily, few know its behind-the-scenes intricacies as well as Daniel Hoag ‘03. A software engineer at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., he has dabbled in several of the company’s key initiatives.

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31 Aug 2016

Richa Patel ‘18 Tackles Technology Policy in State Department Internship

Richa Patel ‘18 is the first recipient of the Jenny Chang Public Policy Endowment Award. Created to honor the memory of Jenny Chang ’00, this fund supports Park Scholars pursuing public policy internships or employment in Washington, D.C. Patel, an aerospace engineering and political science double major with her sights on a career in science and technology policy, spent this past summer in our nation’s capital interning with the State Department’s Office of the Science & Technology Adviser to the Secretary (STAS).

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30 Jun 2016

DKMS + Park: Building Skills, Saving Lives

Many of the Park Scholarships programs’ strongest partnerships began with a single connection. One exemplar of this is the Park Scholars’ work with DKMS (formerly known as Delete Blood Cancer), an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the fight against blood cancer and blood disorders. DKMS strives to increase awareness, recruit bone marrow donors, and raise funds to cover the costs of adding new donors to the registry. Over the past three academic years, Park Scholars have supported DKMS’ efforts by registering nearly 600 bone marrow donors – five of whom have since been matched with patients and completed the stem cell or bone marrow donation.

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30 Jun 2016

Alex Loflin ‘17 Finds Niche Where Environmental Sustainability and Community Development Meet

Alex Loflin ‘17 discovered her love for environmental science and conservation through her participation in North Carolina Envirothon competitions during middle and high school. She came to NC State to pursue these passions with the goal of becoming an environmental educator within a park system, science museum, or nonprofit organization that would allow her to equip others to be environmental stewards. Loflin’s coursework as a natural resources major and extension education minor has not only developed her technical knowledge, but informed her understanding of how to share that knowledge and enact change on a community level.

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30 Jun 2016

From Tinker Toys to Nuclear Reactors to Fiber Optics: Korey Hite ‘08 Pursues Passion for Mechanical Engineering

Korey Hite has always enjoyed taking things apart to see how they work. As a young child he once unscrewed the timer from his family’s game of Scattergories to examine the springs and gears inside. His investigations became increasingly sophisticated as he grew older. An aficionado of Tinker Toys, Legos, Erector sets, and the video game Rollercoaster Tycoon, Hite became adept at not only disassembling objects and understanding their functionality, but improving on their design. So it was no surprise when, upon completing a lengthy interest inventory questionnaire in high school, Hite’s top two best career matches were semi-truck driver and mechanical engineer.

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20 Jun 2016

Minimizing “Dirty Smoke”: Richard Ezike ‘05 Shifts Gears from Engineering to Policy

Richard “Memie” Ezike ‘05 can trace his interests in environmentalism and the public good back to a specific moment in his childhood. One day when he was 7 years old, he watched as a tractor trailer rumbled through the apartment complex where he lived in Johnson City, Tenn., spewing black smoke from its exhaust tailpipe. Contemplating the negative effects this “dirty smoke” had on the air he and his neighbors were breathing, Ezike knew he wanted to do something to curb this problem.

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16 May 2016

The Park Class of 2016: Highlights

The Park Scholarships program is proud of its recent graduates in the Class of 2016. During their time at NC State, these newest additions to the Park alumni roster made a meaningful impact on campus and around the world through their scholarship, leadership, and service.

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02 May 2016

Park Scholarships Announces Class of 2020

The Park Scholarships program at North Carolina State University has named 40 students to its Class of 2020, and the 1000th Park Scholar – the first to be funded entirely by donors beyond the Park Foundation – will soon enroll at NC State.

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01 May 2016

Park Faculty Scholar James Kiwanuka-Tondo Broadens Students’ International Perspectives

James Kiwanuka-Tondo has served as one of two Chancellor-appointed Park Faculty Scholars for the graduating Class of 2016. In this role, he and his counterpart, Derek Aday, have guided their class in developing enrichment activities and advised individual students on academic matters. Kiwanuka-Tondo’s connection with the Park Scholarships program, however, began long before the Class of 2016 entered NC State.

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01 May 2016

Natalie Cooke ’10 and Kati Scruggs ’18 Team Up to Train Future Nutrition Educators

This academic year, a Park Scholar and an alumna teamed up to develop a series of training videos for aspiring nutrition educators. Natalie Cooke ‘10, Postdoctoral Teaching Scholar in NC State’s Department of Food, Bioprocessing & Nutrition Sciences and Program Director for A PACKed Kitchen – a satellite of the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle – received a DELTA Exploratory Grant to investigate the feasibility of 360° videos in training and evaluation for a community nutrition service-learning course. Kati Scruggs ‘18, a dual major in applied nutrition and women’s and gender studies, served as a research assistant for the project.

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01 Mar 2016

Leslie Scheunemann ‘01 Blends Science and Ethics to Provide Compassionate Patient Care

As a Park Scholar at NC State, Leslie Scheunemann ‘01 had no shortage of interests. She triple-majored in physics, applied mathematics, and chemistry; minored in Japanese; conducted mentored research; studied ethics independently; gave piano recitals; practiced karate; and was engaged in community service. Not only did each of these pursuits help lay the groundwork for Scheunemann’s post-collegiate life and work, they made her feel connected to something larger than herself.

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29 Feb 2016

Educator Jezzette Rivera ‘10 Makes a Difference in South Texas Classrooms

As a freshman beginning her NC State career, Jezzette Rivera ‘10 anticipated pursuing a career in politics, law, and/or the nonprofit sector. She majored in criminology and political science with a concentration in law and justice, spent the summer following her freshman year interning with the League of United Latin American Citizens, and served as a House Intern with the North Carolina General Assembly throughout her junior year and the subsequent summer.

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27 Feb 2016

Daniel Mellinger ‘07 Elevates Aerial Robotics Technology to the Next Level

Aerial robotics: for some, this concept likely conjures up images of R2D2 and C3PO walking on tightropes and swinging from trapezes. But for Daniel Mellinger ‘07, aerial robotics is a technology with unlimited potential. Mellinger has built a career on the development of tiny quadrotor helicopters, or “drones.” These vehicles have applications ranging from consumer aerial photography to entertainment, and can even fly discretely into otherwise inaccessible or dangerous environments to capture photos and other data about scenarios ranging from natural disasters to poachers of endangered wildlife.

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31 Dec 2015

Leanne Nieforth ‘16 Changes Career Goals While Changing the Lives of At-Risk Girls

When New Jersey native Leanne Nieforth ‘16 arrived at NC State four years ago as an animal science major, she aspired to attend the College of Veterinary Medicine and eventually become an equine surgeon. Eager to build research experience, as a freshman she began working in Dr. Jack Odle’s Laboratory of Developmental Nutrition alongside senior research associate Dr. Sheila Jacobi.

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31 Dec 2015

Park Scholar Media Mentions

The following Park Scholars and Park Faculty Scholars have received media attention in recent weeks for their entrepreneurial ventures, anthropological breakthroughs, and commitment to regional dialect preservation:

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31 Dec 2015

Amanda Cannon ‘17 Builds Music Industry Expertise On and Off Campus

Amanda Cannon ‘17 was the kind of high school student who was curious about everything. While one interest – the music industry – stood out among the rest, Cannon doubted its potential to evolve into a “real” career. While she began college in Exploratory Studies (formerly known as the First Year College), NC State’s home for freshmen undecided about a major, by the end of that first year, she declared a business administration major with a concentration in marketing.

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22 Dec 2015

Park Scholarships Names Class of 2020 Semifinalists

The Park Scholarships program at North Carolina State University has selected 345 Semifinalists for the Class of 2020 – the twenty-first class of Park Scholars. Candidates were selected from an exceptionally talented pool of just over 2,000 applicants based on outstanding accomplishments and potential in scholarship, leadership, service, and character.

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31 Oct 2015

Dr. Shelly (Strickland) Lowery ‘04 Combines Healthcare Expertise and Hometown Pride

As a young college student who shadowed physicians while in high school, Shelly (Strickland) Lowery ‘04 was initially uncertain whether she wanted to pursue a career in medicine. She opted to double major in biomedical and biological engineering at NC State, believing these fields to be the best match for her love of mathematics and science as well as her tentative interest in medicine.

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31 Oct 2015

Park Scholars Explore Biodiversity through Belize Experiential Learning Trip 2015

In May 2015, Khari Cyrus ’16 and Marcel Souffrant ’16 led the fourth iteration of the Park Scholars’ Belize Experiential Learning Trip, a two-week service-learning initiative in which Evan Brooks ’18, Allie Dinwiddie ’18, Donnielle Jones ’18, Zach Jones ’17, Jeremy Nortey ’18, and Adrienne Williams ’17 also participated. This year’s trip, coordinated in partnership with NC State’s Center for Student Leadership, Ethics & Public Service (CSLEPS) and its Alternative Service Break programs, received partial funding from Park Enrichment Grants.

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31 Oct 2015

Park Scholar Media Mentions

Several Park Scholars have received media attention in recent months for their work on entrepreneurial initiatives and causes ranging from medicine to girls’ empowerment, the environment, and affordable housing. Read on to learn how they’re positively impacting their communities.

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29 Oct 2015

Win Bassett ‘07 Redirects His Career from Courtroom to Classroom

While no two Park Scholars are alike, a commonality among them is multipotentiality: each scholar possesses strengths and interests in disparate areas. One manifestation of this trait is an eclectic set of academic and life experiences, and Win Bassett’s rather circuitous professional path exemplifies this.

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01 Sep 2015

Veronica Brumbaugh ’04 Helps Katie Nagley ’16 Make Career Connections

For many Park Scholars, a key benefit of being part of this program community is having access to now 16 classes of alumni who are eager to offer advice regarding careers and graduate study. The Park Scholarships intranet, SPIFFY, is one forum through which alumni share job and internship leads and where scholars of all classes can make professional connections.

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31 Aug 2015

Toilet Reinventer BJ Ward ‘09 Travels the World in Pursuit of Renewable Energy

Imagine a toilet that uses concentrated sunlight to heat up human waste to temperatures upwards of 300°C and turn it into sterilized charcoal. As unconventional as it might sound, this “Sol-Char Toilet” was the basis of a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded project on which BJ Ward ‘09 spent most of her first year as a professional research associate with the University of Colorado (CU-Boulder).

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31 Aug 2015

Park Alumni and Leadership Coaches Afford Class of 2017 Perspective

Two days prior to the start of their junior year, the Class of 2017 took part in “Concepts and Models,” a half-day session that’s part of the Park Scholarships’ comprehensive Leadership Academy. Steve Barr and Paul Mulvey, professors in the Poole College of Management’s Department of Management, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship and former Park Faculty Scholars, led the session, which focused on self-awareness, personality, and communication styles.

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26 Aug 2015

Josh Christie ‘02 Recognized for Professional and Community Contributions

Josh Christie ‘02 currently serves as Vice President of Engineering for ChannelAdvisor, a global software company headquartered in Research Triangle Park, N.C. that provides cloud-based e-commerce solutions for retailers and manufacturers to manage and optimize their sales across online channels such as Amazon. He recently received a 2015 Triangle Business Journal 40 Under 40 Leadership Award. These awards recognize outstanding professionals under the age of 40 for their contributions to their organizations and to the community.

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04 Aug 2015

Park Faculty Scholar Lisa Bullard Offers Students Support and Wolfpack Pride

Lisa Bullard, a Park Faculty Scholar for the Class of 2018, has built her career at NC State on the foundation of a lifelong love for the university. A native of Garner, N.C., Bullard always wanted to attend NC State. She opted to study chemical engineering because she heard it was the most difficult major and “thought it sounded like a fun challenge.”

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01 Jul 2015

Park Scholar Connections Propel Silicon Valley-Based Startup

Park Scholars point to their peers – similarly ambitious and hard working individuals – among the most influential aspects of the Park experience. Synergies between scholars are at the core of campus-based initiatives like Service Raleigh, Triangle Youth Leadership Services, and the Krispy Kreme Challenge, but they also extend well beyond graduation. While Greg Mulholland ’07 and Jordan O’Mara ‘07 initially followed disparate paths after NC State, now they’re drawing upon one another’s strengths to build a potentially revolutionary startup company.

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18 Jun 2015

Jessie Jordan Hathcock ’11 Strives to Close the Achievement Gap

An eighth grade social studies and English/language arts teacher at Carroll Middle School in Raleigh, N.C., Jessie Jordan Hathcock ’11 is carrying on a family legacy in education. Her mother, who lost her battle with breast cancer when Hathcock was four years old, was a public school teacher. Hathcock grew up hearing stories of her mother’s positive impact on their community, and decided to major in middle grades education at NC State. She recently completed her fourth year of teaching.

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10 Jun 2015

Khari Cyrus ‘16: Uniting The Pack

Growing up, Khari Cyrus ‘16 always thought he would one day become an orthopedic surgeon. While that was his intent as a freshman human biology major entering NC State, it didn’t take long for Cyrus to realize his interests pointed somewhere other than medical school.

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11 May 2015

The Park Class of 2015: Highlights

This year, the Park Scholarships program is proud to graduate the Class of 2015. Since they first arrived on campus in Fall 2011, these students have excelled as scholars, leaders, and in service to their communities. Their Wolfpack imprints can be seen across the globe – in the educational experience of students at an Ethiopian school, in re-built homes destroyed by fire in Chile, and even within the excavated walls of Petra, Jordan, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

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14 Apr 2015

Park Scholars Solve Problems Collaboratively at Clinton Global Initiative University

Four Park Scholars – Alex Brown ’17, Chandler Gonzales ’18, Alex Kim ’17, and Charan Mohan ’15 – were part of NC State’s delegation to this year’s Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U), and attended the CGI U conference at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla. from March 6-8, 2015. The conference drew more than 1,100 students from 80 countries, as well as university representatives, topic experts, and celebrities. Participants discussed pressing global challenges, and how they’re taking concrete steps toward solving them.

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31 Mar 2015

A Tale of Three Teachers

Across North Carolina’s Triangle and Triad, Philip Boyne, Mollie Richardson Williams, and Jasmine Frantz are working to inspire the next generation of scholars and leaders. They are teaching more than physics, chemistry and math, respectively, as they bring the values learned as Park Scholars into the classroom.

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27 Feb 2015

Director of Development Kelleigh Smith Focuses on Park Scholarships’ Fundraising Goals

On January 26, Kelleigh Smith joined NC State’s University Advancement team as director of development with a special focus on advancing the fundraising goals of both the Park Scholarships and Caldwell Fellows programs. Smith will provide direction for both programs’ comprehensive fundraising efforts, and is responsible for attracting major gifts from alumni, friends, industry, private foundations, and other philanthropic partners.

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30 Jan 2015

Stephanie Wenclawski ’16 Dives into Experiential Learning

From the Sarteneja Peninsula in Belize to the coastal city of Perth, Australia, Stephanie Wenclawski ‘16 has demonstrated her commitment to the study of marine sciences. Her international volunteer work with oceanic wildlife coupled with outreach efforts as both a Park Scholarships and University Ambassador have already primed Wenclawski to be a leader in her field.

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30 Jan 2015

Zack Hester ’11 Rockets into Space Policy Arena

In an opinion piece for the August 11, 2014 issue of Space News, Zack Hester ‘11 wrote, “While a manned Moon landing or an ambitious attempt at a first Mars landing would bring tremendous prestige to China, current human and robotic endeavors have brought sufficient world standing to China as a space power and serve its geopolitical objectives.”

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27 Dec 2014

Melanie (Andres) Conklin ’00 Discovers the Power of Writing, Earns Book Deal

It goes without saying that many authors follow unorthodox paths in life, not necessarily beginning in writing. J.K. Rowling was working for Amnesty International when she came up with the idea of boy-wizard Harry Potter. Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney dreamed of being a newspaper cartoonist. Even Maurice Sendak, who famously penned Where the Wild Things Are, spent several years illustrating children’s books before he began writing his own.

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19 Dec 2014

Park Scholarships Names Class of 2019 Semifinalists

The Park Scholarships program at North Carolina State University has selected 292 Semifinalists for the Class of 2019 – the twentieth class of Park Scholars. Candidates were selected from an exceptionally talented pool of nearly 1,800 applicants based on outstanding accomplishments and potential in scholarship, leadership, service, and character.

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31 Oct 2014

A Salute to Our Soldiers: Park Scholarships Alumni in the United States Armed Forces

Scholarship. Leadership. Service. Character. The four pillars on which the Park Scholarships program is founded are also at the core of the U.S. armed forces’ mission – and more than one Park alumnus currently serving our country has remarked on this parallel. In recognition of Veterans Day, we asked six service men and women with shared roots as Park Scholars to shed light on why they chose to join the armed forces, what advice they would offer those who are considering military service, and how their NC State experiences have influenced their post-graduation endeavors.

We are grateful to these fine individuals and to all who serve and protect our nation.

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30 Oct 2014

Daniel Malechuk ‘03 Ascends as Leader in Food Service Industry

Career-savvy college graduates recognize that one must embrace both challenges and opportunities to achieve professional fulfillment. One such young alumnus was Daniel Malechuk ‘03, who graduated with a business management major and a Spanish minor and has spent the past eleven years clambering up the corporate ladder. Promoted from district manager to director of corporate purchasing for ALDI, Inc., Malechuk has served as vice president of international sales for Keysource Foods since January 2011.

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30 Oct 2014

From Computer Science 101 to Tech Start-Up: Joy Johnson ’07 Embraces Problem Solving

In an increasingly interconnected world, we look to the innovative thinkers and technology developers to solve some of our most pervasive problems. Joy Johnson ’07 is one of these technological innovators. From her years as an undergraduate at NC State to her current research at MIT, she has been using her skill set to take inventive projects to the next level.

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22 Oct 2014

Class of 2017 Discusses STEM Challenges with National Leaders

The Learning Lab II experience is designed to allow sophomore Park Scholars to develop a critical understanding of a national issue – selected by the class during their freshman year – by interacting with leaders immersed in that issue. In October the Class of 2017 traveled to Washington, D.C. to examine how leaders in the public and private sectors tackle complex challenges surrounding the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) from both domestic and international perspectives.

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02 Sep 2014

Energy in Bloom: The Class of 2015 Legacy

Problem: You’re studying outdoors on NC State’s Centennial Campus, and your laptop battery is nearly dead.

Solution: Plug into a flower to recharge.

Yes, a flower – but not just any flower.

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01 Sep 2014

Into the Woods: Retreats Foster Clarity and Connection

Retreats are integral components of the Park Scholarships experience. The Freshman Retreat serves to welcome new scholars into the community by affording them opportunities to get to know one another, the program itself, Park Faculty Scholars and staff, and the upperclassmen who facilitate small group discussion throughout the three-day period.

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01 Sep 2014

An Interview with Dr. Kristin Murphy

Kristin Murphy, global competitive sales intelligence manager for SAS Institute and an alumna of NC State, has been actively involved with the Park Scholarships program for the past four years. At present she serves on three committees for the Park Scholarships program: the Advisory Committee, which provides important counsel to the director on the scholars’ academic enrichment activities; the Service Advisory Committee, which offers guidance to the staff in planning and evaluating scholars’ Civic Engagement Initiatives; and the Selection Committee, in which capacity she conducts Finalist interviews.

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30 Aug 2014

The Tyler Confrey-Maloney Study Abroad Grant: Investing in the Impact of International Experiences

In a survey of recent Park Scholarships graduates, nearly 90% of respondents reported having had at least one international experience over the course of their undergraduate years – whether study abroad, research, a professional conference, an internship, service, or an alternative pursuit. Dr. Jere Confrey and Dr. Alan Maloney, parents of Tyler Confrey-Maloney ‘13, are among those who have observed the impact of international experiences on students’ professional and personal growth and broadened perspectives.

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26 Aug 2014

Digging Deeper: Cave Dwellers Explore the Big Questions

As freshmen, Park Scholars participate in a weekly seminar that introduces topics related to leadership and service, and exposes students to the diversity of NC State’s academic offerings and other resources. The seminar also provides a framework for how different disciplines approach problem solving.

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27 Jun 2014

Derek Aday Makes Splash as Park Faculty Scholar

Derek Aday serves as one of two Chancellor-appointed Park Faculty Scholars for the Class of 2016. In this role, he and his counterpart, James Kiwanuka-Tondo, guide their class in developing enrichment activities and advise individual students on academic matters.

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26 Jun 2014

Globe-Trotting Educator Kathleen Griffin ‘11 Receives Fulbright Grant

While many are celebrating America’s Independence Day with cookouts and fireworks, Kathleen “Kat” Griffin ‘11 will board a plane bound for South Korea. The recipient of a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) grant, Griffin will spend the next year living with a host family and teaching English in a public, secondary school in an as-yet-unassigned South Korean city.

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06 Jun 2014

Shaunis Mercer ’02 Sheds Light on Evolving Legal Career

Shaunis Mercer ’02 explored several majors before landing in NC State’s College of Management, where she completed a degree in business management. Although she concentrated in human resource management, Mercer said she enjoyed the diverse curriculum the college offered. Years later, when starting her own law firm, and in her current role overseeing juvenile defenders, she fully realized the value of her undergraduate coursework.

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15 May 2014

The Park Class of 2014: Highlights

The Park Scholarships program is proud of its recent graduates in the Class of 2014. These newest additions to the Park alumni roster have dedicated themselves to improving society through scholarship, leadership, and service.

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07 May 2014

NC State’s Standout Scholars

As a high school senior with excellent test scores and top grades, Karli Moore faced a tough choice when it came time to pick a college. It didn’t help that she was accepted by every institution she applied to, including Ivy League schools Harvard and Dartmouth.

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27 Feb 2014

Recent Park Graduates Give Back through AmeriCorps

Two recent Park alumni, Mary Charles Hale ‘13 and Alyson Harding ’13, have spent the past several months participating in AmeriCorps, a federal government-run program which provides services in nonprofit organizations, schools, public agencies, and community and faith-based groups across the country. We caught up with them to find out about their experiences as AmeriCorps members working with two very different program communities.

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27 Feb 2014

Georgia Davis Brown ’06: A Park Scholar in Pack Athletics

Sitting in her guidance counselor’s office, high school senior and star athlete Georgia Davis Brown ‘06 looked over the blank application before her – and slid it back across the desk to her counselor, incredulous that she had what it took to be selected for a Park Scholarship.

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30 Dec 2013

Meagan Gentry ‘14 Embraces Interdisciplinary Interests with EPA Internship

Meagan Gentry ’14 is participating in an internship with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Research Triangle Park, N.C. She works with a group in the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards on the continued development of statistical mapping software, BenMAP, which is used for modeling and monitoring the effects of air quality policy changes.

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30 Dec 2013

Jeremy Diner ‘08 Charts a Course to a Career in Sustainable Development

Jeremy Diner says the highlight of his undergraduate career at NC State was learning about some of the world’s biggest problems and, as an Environmental Technology major, gaining hands-on skills that could solve these problems. His academic advisor, Dr. Robert Bruck, inspired Diner to pursue the path of an environmentalist.

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30 Dec 2013

Tomás Carbonell ’02 Champions Clean Air and Environmental Defense

Tomás Carbonell ’02 plays an important role in the well-being of our environment. While many people are satisfied with turning off the lights upon leaving a room, or taking the time to separate recyclables into the proper bins, Carbonell’s position with the Washington, D.C. office of the Environmental Defense Fund puts him on the front lines of clean air legislation.

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19 Dec 2013

Park Scholarships Names Class of 2018 Semifinalists

The Park Scholarships program at North Carolina State University has selected 286 Semifinalists for the Class of 2018. Candidates were selected from a talented pool of nearly 1,700 applicants based on outstanding accomplishments and potential in scholarship, leadership, service, and character.

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31 Oct 2013

Jacob Rutz ’14 Studies Soil and Social Issues with the WWOOF Program

Jacob Rutz ’14 has a passion for soil. He aspires to be both a farmer and a community food organizer in the future, and wants to teach others about creating global sustainability and organic farming processes. Rutz was able to combine these passions by joining the Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) program in two locations in South Africa this past summer.

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31 Oct 2013

Anna Shope ’08 Embraces the Art and Science of Dentistry

During her time at NC State, where she completed an undergraduate degree in biological sciences in 2008, Anna Shope’s roles as a Park Scholar, member of Phi Beta Kappa, and philanthropy chair of Delta Zeta sorority cultivated her commitment to service. Reflecting on this period, she remarks, “My Park Scholarships experience has shown me how to be an independent, free-thinking, effective leader.”

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30 Oct 2013

Class of 2014 Creates New Endowment to Support Park Enrichment Grant Program

Whether known as GRASPs (Grants for Research, Artistic & Service Projects) or, in more recent years, as PEGs (Park Enrichment Grants), enrichment grant funding has aided hundreds of Park Scholars in pursuing professional and personal experiences that fostered their development in scholarship, service, leadership, and character. These funds, established in 1998, have provided support for scholars to launch new leadership and service initiatives at NC State and in the larger community, participate in internships and conferences, and study in locations throughout the world, among other endeavors.

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25 Oct 2013

Park Scholars Reflect on Summer Internships at Brody School of Medicine

Each summer Park Scholars are given the opportunity to explore the world of medicine through the Brody-Park internship. The internship, coordinated by the Park Scholarships program, allows students to shadow physicians, residents, and medical students at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. Internship participants receive funding through the Park Enrichment Grant program.

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18 Oct 2013

Justin Hills ’14 Conducts Childhood Cancer Research at St. Jude

Justin Hills ‘14 recently completed the Pediatric Oncology Education (POE) program at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. The eleven-week program affords the opportunity for sixty students from across the country to interact with scientists and physicians in their related departments. As a senior in biology with a concentration in human biology, Hills plans to attend medical school after graduation.

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18 Oct 2013

Allison Nolker ‘13 Inspires Young Musicians with Birdsong Studies

“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.” – Maya Angelou

Allison Nolker ‘13 is currently a master’s student at NC State studying zoology with concentrations in anthrozoology and bioacoustics. Nolker, who has had a lifelong interest in animals and human-animal interactions, piloted the accelerated dual bachelor’s/master’s program in zoology.

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03 Sep 2013

Kayla Anderson ‘09 Helps Dancers Live Out Their Dreams

As an undergraduate, Kayla Anderson ‘09 recognized that her experiences as a leader of the NC State dance team taught her strength and provided her with the opportunity to do what she loved while making friends and contacts. What she did not envision at that point was how her interest in dance would later evolve into a career.

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03 Sep 2013

Ben Darnell ’02 Makes Connections throughout the Tech Industry

There is a modern adage that many students who are entering college today will graduate into jobs that don’t exist yet. The same could be said of Ben Darnell who, subsequent to completing his undergraduate degree in computer science from NC State in 2002, launched his career at Google – a company that was founded mere weeks after Darnell began college in 1998.

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13 May 2013

Wade Colburn '14 Spends Semester Circumnavigating the Globe

As I sit here in my typical spot aboard the MV Explorer, I am reflecting on the last and most recent port of Morocco. It is hard to believe that this journey is near its end. It has provided me an extraordinary opportunity to travel all around the world with some of the most incredible people I have ever met in my life.

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10 Apr 2013

Learning Lab I: Energy Innovation in North Carolina

The Class of 2016 met with individuals in Boone, Pittsboro, and Raleigh to gain a deeper understanding of leadership through exploring the theme of energy innovation in North Carolina. Students interacted with leaders across the state currently involved with developing conventional and alternative energy solutions.

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08 Apr 2013

Michele Tam '00 Moves Forward and Gives Back

Michele Tam ‘00 believes in giving back. As a member of the first graduating class of Park Scholars, Tam feels it is her duty to assist in finding the best candidates for the scholarship, a process that gets more competitive each year. Her continuing efforts with Park Scholarships have allowed her to stay connected with the program even though she now lives in Chicago.

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27 Mar 2013

Service Raleigh Makes Splash in Triangle

A total of 1,600 University and community volunteers registered to participate in the annual Service Raleigh event. They began the day with a celebration on the NC State campus, where Raleigh City Councilmember Russ Stephenson and NC State Student Body President Andy Walsh delivered opening remarks.

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10 Feb 2013

Jordan O'Mara '07 and Jason Wong '06 Discuss Red Hat

To be successful in a company like Red Hat, the world’s leading provider of open source technology, one needs passion, and neither Jordan O’Mara ‘07 nor Jason Wong ‘06 is short on that. The two Park Scholar alumni have done very well in pursuing their passions for intellectual property and communications.

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31 Jan 2013

Park Scholarships Hosts Class of 2017 Finalists

The Park Scholarships program at North Carolina State University named 105 Finalists for the Class of 2017.

Approximately 200 NC State alumni who comprise the Park Scholarships Selection Committee conducted interviews for 264 Semifinalists in early January. The Semifinalists were chosen from a record number of over 1,600 applicants.

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21 Dec 2012

Park Scholarships Names Class of 2017 Semifinalists

The Park Scholarships program at North Carolina State University has selected 264 semifinalists for the Class of 2017. Candidates were selected from a talented pool of over 1600 applicants based on the four foundations of the program: scholarship, leadership, service, and character.

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13 Dec 2012

Caroline Ellington '13 Conducts Textile Research in Germany

Caroline Ellington ‘13 recently completed a research internship in Aachen, Germany. The internship, sponsored by UROP International, consisted of 40 students from the United States and Canada and involved individual research projects and intensive German language instruction. As a senior in textile engineering with a concentration in product development, Ellington developed biocomposite yarns from renewable, raw materials.

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21 Nov 2012

Donny Katz '07 Increases Transportation Efficiency at Home and Abroad

Donny Katz ‘07 is a man on the move, but it’s more for our benefit than his own. Katz has a passion for getting people where they need to be safely and efficiently. He recently completed his Ph.D. in civil engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and his previous role as a research assistant had him analyzing the effects of airline depeaking at hub airports.

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06 Nov 2012

Learning Lab II: Putting People at the Center of Politics

The Class of 2015 visited Washington, D.C. to explore the impact that an average citizen can have on policy-making decisions at the federal level. Through focusing on areas including the media, advocacy, and the legislative process, students gained a deeper understanding of how citizens can influence their government.

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16 Oct 2012

Remembering the Legacy of William Friday

The Park Scholarships community joins many around the state and nation in mourning the loss of one of the program’s first and most loyal friends, William C. Friday, who passed away on October 12. Friday served as president of the University of North Carolina system for 30 years, and he later played a key role in the founding of the Park Scholarships.

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15 Oct 2012

Carl Smith '16 Begins Nuclear Career in Elementary School

Carl Smith ‘16 distinctly remembers his first video game. What intrigued Smith most about The Simpsons Road Rage game was the fact that it featured a nuclear power plant. After learning about how nuclear plants generate significant amounts of electricity, Smith became fascinated by radiation and all of its properties — at the age of eight.

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02 Oct 2012

Brandon Carlisle '13 Co-Authors Paper on Ovarian Cancer Detection

Brandon Carlisle ‘13 is second co-author of a paper published in the journal Analytical Chemistry. An abstract of “Systematic Comparison of Reverse Phase and Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography Platforms for the Analysis of N-linked Glycans” by Walker SH, Carlisle BC, and Muddiman DC, can be found on PubMed, among other databases.

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01 Oct 2012

Park Alumni Society Hosts First Reunion

The Park Alumni Society (PAS) welcomed nearly 100 alumni back to NC State for the inaugural Park Alumni Reunion. Alumni traveled from locations such as California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Texas to attend the weekend.

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21 Sep 2012

Class of 2013 Prepares for Future at Rocky Mountain National Park

The Class of 2013 traveled to Rocky Mountain National Park this fall for their senior retreat. The seniors participated in thought-provoking activities that addressed the transition from their roles as Park Scholars to alumni. Discussions incorporated topics such as making contributions to their communities and maintaining connections with the program and NC State.

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04 Sep 2012

Hayley Stowe '14 Committed to Battling Cancer

“I watched a dear friend of my family fight melanoma for six years,” says Hayley Stowe ‘14. “That experience shaped my goal to be an oncologist and make a difference in the lives of people battling cancer.”

Stowe, a biological sciences major with a concentration in human biology, traveled to El Remate, Guatemala during her first year at NC State. While working in a medical clinic on an alternative service break trip sponsored by the Center for Student Leadership, Ethics, and Public Service, Stowe met a local medicine woman named Doña Maria. Doña Maria spends her time traveling throughout the country introducing Guatemalans to herbal remedies to combat a host of illnesses. This trip to Central America reinforced Stowe’s desire to enter the world of medicine.

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20 Aug 2012

Alyson Harding '13 Gains Archaeology Experience in Nevis, Palau, and Washington, D.C.

Alyson Harding ‘13 has taken full advantage of her summers since becoming a Park Scholar.

Harding recently returned from Micronesia where she participated in the Island Archaeology Program. While in Palau, she worked with a team to conduct an archaeological dig at a cemetery on the Rock Islands. The site, known as Chelechol ra Orrak, is approximately 3,000 years old and is one of the oldest known cemeteries in the Pacific Islands. Harding’s daily responsibilities included organizing the lab, wet screening in the field, and excavating trenches. Information gathered from Chelechol ra Orrak is fundamental to understanding the lives of the Pacific Islands’ earliest residents.

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19 Jul 2012

Park Faculty Mentor Profile: Roger Narayan

As a professor in the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, Roger Narayan has built a career based on medical applications research while guiding his students to advance the field of engineering.

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06 Jun 2012

Anne Watson '12 Uncovers Buried Interfaces of Organic Thin-Film Transistors

Anne Watson ‘12 has been investigating how certain organic materials play a role in devices including solar cells and transistors. Funded by a Park Enrichment Grant this past spring, Watson has been able to examine a system of locally constructed thin-film transistors composed of all-polymer materials that are cost-effective and environmentally friendly.

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18 Apr 2012

Inspired by Work in Dunn Lab, Justin Hills '14 to Conduct Research in Ghana

Garnered by his commitment to disband misconceptions about public health and promote knowledge in that field, Justin Hills ‘14, a biological sciences major with a concentration in human biology, has been named a participant of the Minority Health International Research Training (MHIRT) Program. Hills will spend 12 weeks this summer in Kumasi, Ghana through the MHIRT Program.

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11 Apr 2012

Park Scholars and Alumni Receive Goldwater, National Science Foundation, and Udall Awards

This spring, Park Scholars and alumni were named recipients of several distinguished national scholarships and fellowships. Congratulations to Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship recipients Richard Deans ‘13, Ian Hill ‘13, and Heidi Klumpe ‘13; National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellows Tyler Barry ‘09, Allie Landry ‘11, and Alex Schlegel ‘04; and Morris K. Udall Scholarship recipient Gretchen Stokes ‘13.

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09 Apr 2012

Park Scholars Investigate Economic and Environmental Sustainability with North Carolina Leaders

Learning Laboratory I is an experience that allows Park Scholars to study leadership through the exploration of an issue facing the state of North Carolina.

The Class of 2015 traveled to sites in Chatham, Surry, and Wake Counties to learn about the impact community colleges and small businesses have on North Carolina in the areas of economic and environmental sustainability, along with the challenges that leaders in these areas are facing.

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27 Feb 2012

Dylan Cawthorne '14 Works with NC State Faculty to Determine Path

As an environmental engineering major, Dylan Cawthorne ‘14 knows he would like to like to work with an engineering consulting firm after graduation. However, he has yet to decide if he wants that job to be on the technical or policy side of environmental engineering. Cawthorne is also uncertain if he wants to focus on promoting sustainability in water consumption, waste flow, or renewable energy sources.

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24 Feb 2012

Amanda Shumaker '04 Creates Hope for Ukrainian Orphans

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 65,000 of Ukraine’s 9 million children live in orphanages, shelters, and boarding schools run by the government. Over the last decade, the number of children living in Ukrainian institutions has doubled; this high rate of child abandonment is attributed to factors such as poverty, unemployment, and substance abuse.

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23 Feb 2012

NC State Team Receives Top Awards at Walt Disney Imagineering Competition

Brian Gaudio ‘13 and Kyle Thompson ‘13 were among four NC State students to win first place and best of show awards at the Walt Disney Imagineering ImagiNations Design Competition in February. Now in its 21st year, ImagiNations is a competition created by Walt Disney Imagineering to promote careers in creative fields and provide university students with the opportunity to gain design experience.

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18 Oct 2011

Learning Lab II: The Media's Effect on the Dissemination of Information

The Class of 2014 spent their fall break in Washington, D.C. analyzing the media’s impact on the dissemination of information in the United States. In light of events such as the WikiLeaks scandal and the national healthcare debate, the class was interested in exploring the responsibility assumed by the media in providing news to the American public.

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14 Oct 2011

Park Scholars Design Service-Learning Experience in Belize

This past summer, William Coe ‘14, Tyler Confrey-Maloney ‘13, Vincent Feucht ‘11, Jeb Fox ‘14, Luke Perkins ‘14, and Garik Sadovy ‘12 traveled to Belize for a two week experiential learning trip focusing on education, the economy, and the environment.

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30 Sep 2011

From Zurich to Austin: Kathleen Powers '05 Leaves Corporate World for the Classroom

Whenever Kathleen Powers ‘05 used to introduce herself as someone who worked in the tax field, she inevitably received a barrage of questions about personal income tax returns. Ironically, the former PricewaterhouseCoopers tax manager has never even completed her own tax return; however, she has audited the books of countless corporations over the course of her career in Switzerland.

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16 Aug 2011

Park Faculty Scholar Profile: John Griggs

John Griggs has been a faculty member at NC State University for over two decades and currently serves as a teaching assistant professor and coordinator of classroom instruction in the Department of Mathematics. Along with Juliana Nfah-Abbenyi, a professor in the Department of English, Griggs serves as a Park Faculty Scholar for the Class of 2013.

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27 Jul 2011

Krystal Smith '14 Leads Volunteer Teams in Haiti

After meeting Pastor Leon Dorleans, field director of Haiti Outreach Ministries, during a campus talk on post-earthquake relief efforts in Haiti sponsored by the University Scholars Program, Krystal Smith ‘14 immediately decided she was going to spend her summer making a difference.

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21 Jul 2011

Travis Miles '07 Studies Climate Change in Antarctic Circle

After living through over half a dozen major hurricanes while growing up in Hawaii and North Carolina, Travis Miles ‘07 decided he wanted to spend his life exploring the atmosphere and the oceans. This past year, Miles spent several months in Antarctica to investigate how climate change impacts ecosystems on the frozen continent.

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31 May 2011

Peace Corps Volunteer Sara Lane '01 Coordinates Sustainable Practices in Malawi

After growing up on a dairy farm in Caswell County, Sara Lane ‘01 now finds herself nearly 8,000 miles away from home in eastern Africa. Along the way, Lane completed degrees in agricultural business management and agricultural extension as a Park Scholar at NC State. She went on to pursue a master’s degree in broadcast journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Lane later worked as a producer with CNN until she decided to trade her office in New York for more modest surroundings in rural Malawi.

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26 May 2011

Park Scholars Launch Soccer Tournament to Raise Funds for Cancer Research

Kelly Cox ‘13, Josh Knight ‘13, and John Miller ‘13 have spent the better part of the last year turning an idea into a reality. In the process, the students landed sponsors, applied for status as a nonprofit organization, and recruited students to play in the inaugural Red and White Soccer Classic tournament they organized this spring – all in the name of cancer research.

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05 May 2011

NC State Belltower to Shine Red for Garik Sadovy '12

On Friday, May 6, the NC State Belltower will be bathed in red to celebrate the recent accomplishments of Park Scholar and University Honors Program student Garik Sadovy ‘12. Sadovy was named a recipient of the David L. Boren Scholarship by the National Security Education Program (NSEP) and the Morris K. Udall Scholarship by the Udall Foundation.

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26 Apr 2011

Park Scholarships Class of 2015 Announced

North Carolina State University is pleased to announce that 45 exceptional young women and men have been named to the Park Scholarships Class of 2015. The sixteenth class of Park Scholars was selected from over 1,300 applicants by the Park Scholarships Selection Committee, comprised of more than 200 Park Scholar and NC State alumni from across the country.

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18 Apr 2011

Ryan Nilsen '09 and Bryan Lopez '13 Provide Leadership for Border Issues Trip

During spring break, Ryan Nilsen ‘09 and Bryan Lopez ‘13 worked with former Associate Vice Chancellor and Director of Student Health Services Jerry Barker to lead a University Scholars Program experience to Arizona and Mexico where students learned about border and immigration issues. Through a combination of backpacking in Saguaro National Park and conversations with people whose lives and work are shaped by the realities of our current immigration system, the group gained a deeper understanding of the human and legal complexities of life on the border.

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08 Apr 2011

Park Faculty Scholar Profile: Dr. Gerry Elkan

Gerry Elkan received his Ph.D. in microbiology from Virginia Tech and joined the NC State University faculty in 1958. While he technically retired from NC State in 1994, Elkan has remained extremely active in the areas of teaching, research, and mentoring.

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06 Apr 2011

Service Raleigh Involves 2,000 Volunteers

Approximately 2,000 students, alumni, and community members took part in Service Raleigh this spring. The one-day service initiative allows participants to serve their community and encourages individuals to continue volunteering throughout the year.

Now in its 14th year, Service Raleigh was responsible for generating over 6,000 hours of community service to benefit residents of the greater Wake County area.

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04 Apr 2011

Garik Sadovy '12 Named Udall Scholar

The Udall Foundation is pleased to announce that 80 students from 61 colleges and universities have been selected as 2011 Udall Scholars. Among them is Garik Sadovy ‘12 from Wake Forest, North Carolina. Sadovy is working towards a major in materials science and engineering and a minor in environmental science. He is a Park Scholar and a member of the University Honors Program. Sadovy serves as president of Tau Beta Pi, a national professional engineering society.

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30 Mar 2011

Marycobb Randall '12 Receives Mathews Medal

While at NC State, Greenville, North Carolina native Marycobb Randall ‘12 has excelled in her studies in the Poole College of Management and has had a significant impact on campus during her time as an undergraduate.

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21 Mar 2011

Chris Carr '12 Presents Paper on Autism Spectrum Disorders

Chris Carr ‘12 recently presented a paper entitled Autism Candidate Genes via Mouse Phenomics at the 2011 AMIA Summit on Translational Bioinformatics (TBI 2011) in San Francisco, California. The summit involved a range of lectures and panels that highlighted the latest developments in biomedical informatics research and clinical care. Carr’s submission was selected as one of the top for TBI 2011, and is eligible for inclusion as an open-access publication in the Journal of Biomedical Informatics.

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15 Feb 2011

Park Faculty Scholar Profile: Dr. Jocelyn DeVance Taliaferro

Jocelyn DeVance Taliaferro is one of two Park Faculty Scholars for the Class of 2014. She provides guidance for the class along with her colleague Jim Martin, a professor in the Department of Chemistry. The faculty members were selected by the chancellor to work with the class during their four years at NC State University.

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08 Feb 2011

Vinnie Feucht '11 Receives Scholarship to Focus on Sustainable Poverty Reduction in Africa

Vinnie Feucht ‘11 is the recipient of a scholarship to participate in ThinkImpact’s Innovation Institute this summer in Africa. The Innovation Institute is an opportunity for students to live in rural African communities, learn about social entrepreneurship, and work collaboratively with community members to develop social products and services that can be managed and sustained locally.

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06 Feb 2011

Ryan Neely '09 Involved in Climate Change Research in Greenland

After graduating from NC State with a degree in physics, Ryan Neely ‘09 headed west to pursue his next degree. As the Earth System Research Laboratory – Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (ESRL/CIRES) graduate fellow at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Neely is pursuing his Ph.D. in atmospheric and oceanic science. CIRES is a joint institute of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the university.

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24 Jan 2011

Park Scholarships Finalists Announced

NC State University has named 105 Finalists for the Park Scholarships Class of 2015. These Finalists were selected following a review of more than 1,300 applications and interviews with a select group of Semifinalists in January.

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20 Nov 2010

Park Faculty Scholar Profile: Dr. Bob Grossfeld

Bob Grossfeld is one of two faculty members appointed by the chancellor to serve as a Park Faculty Scholar for the Class of 2012. He works with Dr. Steve Barr, a professor in the Department of Management, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, to provide guidance for class enrichment activities and advise individual students on academic matters.

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18 Nov 2010

Claire Lucas '13 Shapes the Future of Health Care as HOSA National President

The 125,000 members of the Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) have a new national president – Claire Lucas ‘13, an industrial engineering major at NC State University. Lucas has already met with Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) to discuss health care issues – and she is only getting started.

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01 Nov 2010

Nicole Mack '11 Explores African Culture During Semester in Ghana

Nicole Mack ‘11, a senior in mathematics education and statistics, recently spent a semester abroad studying in Ghana, the country of her ancestors. Her goal for the semester was to personally experience Ghanaian customs and culture, so that she could draw her own conclusions about what it means to be African.

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22 Oct 2010

Park Faculty Scholar Profile: Dr. Juliana Nfah-Abbenyi

Juliana Nfah-Abbenyi and John Griggs were appointed by the chancellor to serve as Park Faculty Scholars for the Class of 2013. In this role, the faculty oversee enrichment activities for the class and provide academic guidance for individual students.

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04 Oct 2010

Theresa Amerson '01 Mentors Park Scholars and Alumni Seeking Careers in Medical Field

As part of her problem-based learning curriculum in the M.D. Program for Integrated Learning at the Drexel University College of Medicine, Meghan Craven ‘09 was required to gain practical experience by working with a primary care physician for six weeks. She needed to look no further than fellow Park alumna Theresa Amerson ‘01, an internist at Boylan Medical Associates in Raleigh.

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04 Oct 2010

Jasmine Flood '12 Inspires Young Artists

Jasmine Flood ‘12 spent her summer working as an art instructor for the City of Greenville’s Famous Artists Camp. Her duties included coordinating creative projects influenced by well-known artists and art movements for children ranging in age from 5-13.

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27 Sep 2010

Drew Boyuka '11 Gains Experience at Microsoft Research Asia in China

Drew Boyuka ‘11 spent his summer in Beijing at the Microsoft Research Asia lab. While in China, he worked on distributed query processing and scheduling in a cloud-computing environment designed to improve the efficiency of large data centers such as those affiliated with Microsoft, Google, and Amazon.

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26 Aug 2010

ShoeManity Provides Footwear to Residents of the Dominican Republic and Haiti

Caldwell Fellow Kevin Miller (‘13) and Park Scholars Brian Gaudio (‘13), Alex Lombardi (‘13), and Claire Lucas (‘13) joined NC State students Drew Brisley (‘12) and Caitlin McCombs (‘13), along with members of the Raleigh community in collecting more than 2,000 pairs of shoes in conjunction with Soles4Souls, a nonprofit organization that coordinates shoe distribution to those in need around the world…

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19 Aug 2010

Lauren Wall '08 Creates Smiles and Transforms Lives

As a program coordinator for Operation Smile, Lauren Wall ‘08 organizes medical missions in developing countries to provide children with free surgeries to treat facial deformities, such as cleft palate and cleft lip. Although her primary territory includes Brazil, Venezuela, and Ecuador, Wall’s work has recently taken her to India and Bolivia.

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18 Aug 2010

Bryan Peele '12 Intertwines Research and Service

Bryan Peele ‘12 is passionate about using his mechanical engineering training to serve others. During his first semester at NC State, Peele began undergraduate research with his Park Faculty Mentor, Dr. Richard Gould, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, to create a solar-powered cooler to transport vaccines in developing countries.

He went on to spend a summer at the University of Hawaii at Manoa through the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, where he worked with researchers to develop a computational model that predicts the effect of storm surges on shipping containers.

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18 Aug 2010

Park Faculty Scholar Profile: Dr. Clifford Griffin

Clifford Griffin, a University of Rochester Ph.D. and a former National Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, is an associate professor of political science in the School of Public and International Affairs and a Park Faculty Scholar for the Class of 2011.

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18 Aug 2010

Park Scholarships Welcomes Fifteenth Class of Park Scholars

This fall, the fifteenth class of Park Scholars arrived on campus at NC State University. The class was selected from over 1,300 individuals who submitted their applications by last year’s November 1 deadline. Over 200 Park Scholarships and NC State alumni, faculty, and friends of the program participated in the selection process.

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10 Aug 2010

Andre Waschka '13 Works With Landmine Victims in Croatia

Andre Waschka ‘13 has spent the last two summers working with landmine victims in the Croatian town of Rovini on the Adriatic coast. The camp, coordinated by the Norwegian People’s Aid Foundation and the U.S. Department of State, provides activities designed to boost self-esteem, expose children to cultural and athletic opportunities, and introduce participants to others who experience similar physical and psychological problems.

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21 Jul 2010

Garik Sadovy '12 Performs in Sing for the Cure at Carnegie Hall

Garik Sadovy ‘12 took the stage at Carnegie Hall this summer and sang bass as a guest performer with the choir Resounding Harmony. His performance was part of an event entitled Sing for the Cure – a joint project involving Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the Turtle Creek Chorale.

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10 Jul 2010

Lianne Gonsalves '10 Awarded Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Venezuela

Earlier this summer, the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board announced that Lianne Gonsalves ‘10 was awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Venezuela. Gonsalves is one of over 1,500 American citizens who will travel abroad for the 2010-2011 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

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19 May 2010

Natalie Cooke '10 Recognized for Work with Community Nutrition Project

Natalie Cooke ‘10 was recently featured in Perspectives Online, the magazine of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, for her work in the Raleigh community. She served as head community liaison for a partnership involving NC State University and the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle where she coordinated student-led cooking and nutrition classes in Wake County.

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19 Apr 2010

Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Speaks to Park Scholars

The General H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center and Park Scholarships program sponsored a talk by General Hugh Shelton entitled “The Role of the U.S. Military and Cabinet-level Agencies with Perspectives on Afghanistan, Iraq, and Haiti.” Shelton is the 14th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and an alumnus of NC State University.

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31 Mar 2010

Class of 2013 Engages Leaders on Outer Banks Erosion

The Class of 2013 spent several days on the North Carolina coast in March exploring a leadership challenge facing the state – the erosion of the Outer Banks. During the field experience, Park Scholars engaged with politicians, engineers, and researchers to learn about the environmental, economic, political, and cultural issues connected to this coastal problem.

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30 Mar 2010

Joy Tongsri Receives Award for Excellence

Joy Tongsri, Park Scholarships associate director, was selected to receive the 2010 Award for Excellence for the NC State University Chancellor’s Unit. She was selected from a field of outstanding employees who contribute greatly to the university.

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26 Mar 2010

2,300 to Volunteer for Service Raleigh 2010

More than 2,300 volunteers will complete over 95 projects in Raleigh on Saturday, March 27 as part of the 13th annual Service Raleigh. John Leshney, Senior Vice President of Development for The V Foundation for Cancer Research, will be the keynote speaker at the morning kickoff that begins at 7:30 am on Harris Field on NC State University’s campus.

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15 Mar 2010

Special Olympics North Carolina President and CEO Named William C. Friday Award Recipient

Keith L. Fishburne, President and CEO of Special Olympics North Carolina, has been selected as the 2010 recipient of the William C. Friday Award, presented by the Class of 2010 Park Scholars at NC State University. Mr. Fishburne will be honored for his efforts to improve the lives of children and adults with intellectual disabilities at a special event at the NC State McKimmon Center on Wednesday, March 24, 6:00 pm, where he will present a talk on his work with Special Olympics North Carolina.

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03 Mar 2010

North Carolina State University Selects Fifteenth Class of Park Scholars

North Carolina State University has named 53 Park Scholars for the Class of 2014. These exceptional young women and men were selected based on their potential in the areas of scholarship, leadership, service, and character. The Park Scholarship is valued at $80,000 for residents of North Carolina and $135,000 for students from other states.

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21 Feb 2010

Krispy Kreme Challenge Raises $50,000 for North Carolina Children's Hospital

A total of 6,000 runners took to the streets of Raleigh on Saturday, February 6 to take part in the annual Krispy Kreme Challenge. In one hour, brave participants ran two miles to the Krispy Kreme store on Peace Street, consumed a dozen doughnuts and ran an additional two miles back to the NC State campus. The event generated a record $50,000 which will be presented to the North Carolina Children’s Hospital.

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30 Nov 2009

Rebekah Jewell '12 Named Director of Community Outreach with Center for Student Leadership, Ethics and Public Service

In her new role as Director of Community Outreach with the Center for Student Leadership, Ethics and Public Service, Rebekah Jewell ‘12 will be responsible for educating her fellow NC State students about community issues, promoting volunteer opportunities to address those issues, and chairing the Community Outreach Programming Committee – a group that plans and executes programs to link students with nonprofit agencies in Raleigh.

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25 Nov 2009

John Crews '07 Wins Philadelphia Marathon

John Crews ‘07 crossed the finish line in the Philadelphia Marathon in 2 hours, 17 minutes and 15 seconds. His time, a personal best, qualifies him for the 2012 Olympic Trials. Crews’ success in Philadelphia is one in a series of wins – including the Raleigh Marathon and Keybank Vermont Marathon.

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24 Nov 2009

Park Profile: Jezzette Rivera '10

Jezzette Rivera ‘10 was recently featured as part of the Community of Scholars series on the North Carolina State University website. To learn more about Rivera’s experiences as president of Mi Familia, co-chair of Service Raleigh and participant in a study abroad program to Guatemala, visit: http://www.ncsu.edu/featured-stories/community-of-scholars/nov-2009/jezzette-rivera/index.php

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12 Nov 2009

Park Scholars Help Create "Cinderella" Magic at Centennial Campus Middle School

Three times a week, Park Scholars Jessica Ritter ‘10, Elyse Smith ‘10, Michael McKnight ‘12, Brian Carter ‘11, Christina Ritter ‘12, Jamie Myers ‘12 and Kelly Quesnel ‘13 lend a hand with the vocals, acting and dance sequences to help prepare Centennial Campus Middle School students for their upcoming production of “Cinderella.”

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14 Oct 2009

Class of 2012 Travels to Washington, D.C. to Explore Impact of Foreign Policy on the Overseas Image of the United States

Each year, second-year Park Scholars spend their fall break in Washington, D.C. analyzing a national issue as part of a unique learning experience which extends well beyond the classroom. This October, the Class of 2012 focused on exploring answers to the following question: “How is the image of the United States overseas affected by our foreign policy?”

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02 Oct 2009

Senior Park Scholars Retreat to Grand Canyon National Park

During their senior year, the Class of 2010 had the opportunity to experience one of the natural wonders of the United States which encompasses over a million acres of stunning terrain. The class carried on the Park tradition of selecting one of America’s national parks as the setting for their senior retreat and spent three days in the Grand Canyon.

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04 Nov 2008

Season of Giving Back

Park Scholars and alumni will travel to Honduras this holdiay season bringing good cheer and health. Read and learn how you can participate.

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