SHORT TAKES

FOR May 11, 2001  

Native Ways of Knowing Influence Future Doctor This year’s commencement speaker, Allison Kelliher, wanted to be a doctor, but was determined to incorporate her Athabascan heritage in her study of the hard sciences. By combining traditional Native ways of knowing with modern biochemical science she has done just that. She will graduate from UAF with an interdisciplinary bachelor’s degree in indigenous medicine. While at UAF she studied the decay rate of absorbic acid in Arctic ground squirrels as part of a study conducted by UAF chemistry professor Kelly Drew. Kelliher has been accepted to attend the University of Washington Medical School and plans to return to Alaska after becoming a doctor.

Contact: Larry Duffy, Chemistry Department at (907) 474-5510 or e-mail: fychem@uaf.edu; or Phyllis Fast, Alaska Native Studies at (907) 474-6604; or Allison Kelliher at (907) 474-0078.

Winding Path Leads Engineer to Top Honors Amy Tidwell will graduate with honors with a bachelor’s in civil and environmental engineering and she is the recipient of a 2001 National Science Foundation graduate research fellowship. The $85,500 fellowship includes a stipend of $18,000 a year for Tidwell and $31,500 to the college she chooses for graduate school. Tidwell is planning to earn her Ph.D in water resources at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Tidwell is a non-traditional student by most standards. She earned her General Equivalency Diploma (GED) after her junior year of high school, got married and moved to Dutch Harbor, Alaska. She took a couple of classes over the phone through the UAF Interior-Aleutians campus thinking she might go into early childhood development, but went into engineering after moving to Fairbanks due to family illness in 1997. In recognition of her circuitous route to a diploma, UAF will present her with the Gray Tilly Memorial Award, given to the graduating senior whose education was interrupted because of family responsibilities. Tidwell was also selected to receive the Marion Frances Boswell Memorial Award given to the outstanding senior woman. This is the first time ever that both the Tilly and Boswell awards have been given to the same person.

Contact: Robert Carlson, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at (907) 474-7366 or e-mail: ffrfc1@uaf.edu; or Amy Tidwell (907) 458-4448 or e-mail: fsact@uaf.edu.

Physics Grad Focuses on Illuminating Research Denis Seletskiy enjoys delving into unknown territory. Originally from Moscow, he moved to Anchorage with his family in 1995 after they won the U.S. State Department’s visa lottery. Seletskiy is graduating with honors in physics. His undergraduate research and honor’s thesis on sonoluminescence focused on the phenomena of creating light out of sound waves. There is currently no theory explaining the phenomena. of sonoluminescence. Seletskiy attended West Anchorage high school before attending UAF.

Contact: Denis Seletskiy at (907) 455-3712.

"Curious Gage" Describes Outstanding Senior Man Gage Choat, from Kenai, will receive a degree in chemistry. He is the 2001 Joel Wiegert Award winner given to the outstanding senior man. Choat has served as an ASUAF Senator and has spent years as a volunteer and orientation leader with the Student Activities Office. He’s an active member of the Honors Student Council, often responsible for organizing events and projects, has served as a residence hall leader and student coordinator for the Coalition for Student Leaders.

In addition to all of these pursuits, he went on an exchange to France, was an intern in China and is the founder of the campus band Mr. McFeely. He is co-founder of the Alaska Renaissance Project, a group of six UAF students from diverse backgrounds in a self-directed academic program. Course credit is based on eight projects completed during the academic year, including an amateur feature film, a book of creative writing and an educational video game developed for Alaskan elementary school students.

Contact: Sarah Comstock, Student Activities at (907) 474-6025; or Gage Choat at (907) 455-3619. More information on the ARP is available on their website at http://www.alaskarp.org.

Jordan on Target with Provost Prize Dan Jordan, former University of Alaska Fairbanks rifleman, is this year's recipient of the Provost Prize for 2001 in recognition of outstanding accomplishments at UAF. Jordan will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in natural resource management. He was paralyzed in a mountaineering accident in May of 1999. Jordan was a member of UAF's NCAA National Championship team garnering All-American honors in 1998 and 1999 and the rifle team's special assistant and statistician during the 1999-2000 season.

Contact: Randy Pitney, Athletics and Recreation Director at (907) 474-6810.

CJB/5-11-01/01-070

Commencement 2001 Graduating Class Profile

In addition to the individual student graduate profiles attached, I thought your news organization might be interested in the following statistics that provide a snapshot of the 2001 graduating class. Please be aware that these are only preliminary numbers. Final degree certification will NOT take place by the registrar’s office until after commencement. With that in mind here’s this year’s class profile:

• 919 degrees expected to be conferred:

• 96 certificates
• 211 associate
• 489 bachelor’s
• 137 master’s
• 27 doctorates

• 547 women graduating (60%); 372 male (40%)

• Number of graduates from Alaska 708 (77%), out of state is 167 (18%), international 44(5%)

• Minority breakdown:

• 127 Alaska Native (13.8%)
• 26 Asian (2.8%)
• 26 Black (2.8%)
• 19 Hispanic (2%)
• 658 White (71.6%)
• 63 Alien/Other (6.8%)