University News
WIU Students Inducted Into Phi Kappa Phi; Earn PKP Scholarships
April 8, 2004
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Clara Carrigan (Print-Quality Photo) |
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Daniel Larakers (Print-Quality Photo) |
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Jason Orris (Print-Quality Photo) |
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Jessica Denna (Print-Quality Photo) |
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Jessica Harriger (Print-Quality Photo) |
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Lacey Barron (Print-Quality Photo) |
MACOMB, IL - More than 200 Western Illinois University upperclassmen and graduate students were inducted into the WIU chapter of Phi Kappa Phi honor society during an April 4 ceremony in the University Union.
Admission to the honor society is by invitation only and requires nomination. Invitations are extended to the top five percent of juniors, top 10 percent of seniors and the top five percent of graduate students. Founded in 1897 at the University of Maine, the name Phi Kappa Phi is based on the Greek words Philosophia Krateito Photon, "Let the love of learning rule humanity."
Six WIU students received individual scholarship recognition and one student was named Westerns Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship nominee. Each year the PKP Fellowship Program awards 60 Fellowships of $5,000 each and 40 Awards of Excellence of $2,000 each for post-graduate study at accredited institutions of higher learning. They are awarded on a competitive basis for first-year graduate or professional study.
Westerns 2004 PKP Fellowship nominee is Jason Orris, a senior from Macomb majoring in physics with minors in business, military science and mathematics. A 1999 Macomb High School graduate, Orris is a member of the Illinois National Guard, a student in Westerns military science (Army ROTC) program and a member of Westerns Illinois Centennial Honors College. Since his sophomore year he has conducted research with physics Professor Mark Boley on ferromagnetic materials (iron, cobalt and nickel) and how they may be used as torque sensors for automotive and industrial applications. Orris plans on pursuing a doctorate degree to teach at the university level.
Jessica Deanna, a junior mathematics education major and communication minor from La Grange, received the Sheila and Paul Nollen PKP Scholarship, named in honor of the faculty members and benefactors of the scholarship. Paul Nollen retired from WIU in 1999 following more than 35 years of service as a professor of biological sciences; Sheila Nollen retired in 2002 as a professor of libraries at WIU.
Jessica Harriger, a junior from Urbana majoring in business and economics with minors in music and ethics, received the Phi Kappa Phi Scholarship.
Lacey Barron, a junior health services management major from Mt. Pleasant, IA, received the Roland Grass Memorial Scholarship. Grass, who was Spanish professor and assistant dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, was a charter member of Western's PKP.
Three Lowell Grabill Undergraduate Research Awards were presented. The first place award was presented to Clara Carrigan, a secretary in communication broadcasting from Macomb with a major in womens studies and minors in horticulture and management, for her research, Weve Come a Long Way, Baby!
Second place was awarded to senior physics major and mathematics minor Greg Sollenberger from Macomb for his research, Domain Wall Intensity and Magnetic Torque Sensor Sensitivity.
Third place went to senior accountancy major Daniel Larakers from Galesburg. His research was The Impact of Bankruptcy on Poverty in the United States.
A complete listing of student inductees into Phi Kappa Phi is available on the web at www.wiu.edu/CountyNews. The junior, senior and graduate level classification corresponds to students' records at the end of the Fall 2003 semester.
Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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