University News
Western Senior Named PKP Fellow
April 9, 2007
MACOMB, IL -- A Western Illinois University student is among 60 college students from across the United States to be selected for a Phi Kappa Phi (PKP) National Honor Society Graduate Fellowship.
Farah Marie Zolghadr, a senior music performance and political science/international relations major from Springfield, IL, was recently named recipient of the 2007 fellowship. Each PKP chapter is allowed to submit one nomination to compete in the nationwide selection. The national headquarters awards 60 fellowships annually, worth $5,000 each.
Zolghadr, who was named Western's State of Illinois 2006 Lincoln Laureate, performs with the Western Illinois University Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra and WIU Orchestra Trio, current as the principal flutist. She is a member of Western's Illinois Centennial Honors College and a Dean's List member. She is a Foundation Honors Scholar and also received the Bodine Outstanding Political Science Freshman, Robert L. Byrd Scholar, Walter H. Eller Music Scholarship and a talent grant.
She was named 2003 Bank One Student of the Year and is the president of the Beta Omicron Chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon. Zolghadr is the vice president of the Student Honors Association; secretary-treasurer of the Associated Students of Political Science (ASPS); is a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Mortar Board; and she served as a peer mentor for Keith Boeckelman's Political Science 122 class in Fall 2005.
"To say that Farah's academic career at Western has been outstanding is an understatement," said College of Arts and Sciences Associate Dean Susan Martinelli-Fernandez. "She is an exceptional scholar and artist, and she has achieved this with style and grace."
In Spring 2005, Zolghadr presented "Persian Classical Music as a Reflection of Iranian Society" as part of the 2005 Undergraduate Research Day. She was a 2002 WIU Flute Fest Masterclass Competition Winner and selected to participate in the 2004 Oberlin Flute Institute. In Summer 2005, she attended the "Anatomy of Sound" masterclass at the University of Michigan and Walfrid Kujala's orchestral audition masterclass at Northwestern University.
Zolghadr has performed with the Springfield (IL) Municipal Band and also served as an assistant coach for a youth soccer team.
Posted By: Darcie Shinberger (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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