Rhodes Sophomore Ada Collins Named 2025 Goldwater Scholar

Ada Collins, who is a physics and mathematics major from Greensboro, NC, is among the 441 students from across the United States who have been selected as Goldwater Scholars for the 2025-2026 academic year. The Goldwater Foundation provides scholarships to support college sophomores and juniors who show exceptional promise of becoming the nation’s next generation of natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering research leaders.

NEXT PHASE: Rhodes College Team Delivers CubeSat to NASA for Much Anticipated Launch

In 2021, Rhodes announced that its research proposal for a four-inch, cube-shaped satellite named RHOK-SAT was selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for its CubeSat Launch Initiative. Now the CubeSat has been delivered to NASA’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, where it will wait for liftoff this summer.

Nelson Writes New Book on How College Presidents Succeed

Dr. Michael Nelson, professor of political science at Rhodes College and a recognized presidential scholar, has written a new book titled How College Presidents Succeed: Lessons in Leadership from Three Generations of Reveleys. It will be released April 8 by University of Virginia Press.

Weil Receives Award from Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education

Rev. Beatrix Weil, chaplain at Rhodes College, is the recipient of the Outstanding Professional Award presented by the Spirituality and Religion in Higher Education Knowledge Community of NASPA, the Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. Weil received the award at NASPA’s annual conference held March 15-19 in New Orleans.

Rollens Co-Edits New Book, Judeophobia and the New Testament: Texts and Contexts

Dr. Sarah E. Rollens, associate professor and chair of religious studies at Rhodes College, has co-edited, with Dr. Eric Vanden Eykel of Ferrum College and Dr. Meredith Warren of the University of Sheffield, a new book titled Judeophobia and the New Testament: Texts and Contexts. It will be released in April by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Parth Sinojia ’25 Awarded Watson Fellowship to Travel the World While Studying Healthcare for the Homeless

Rhodes College senior Parth Sinojia has been selected to receive the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, which provides a $40,000 stipend for 12 months to travel and pursue an original project on a global scale. He is one of only 37 fellows selected in the nation for 2025 and the only Watson Fellow selected from a Tennessee college or university. His project is titled “Health and Homelessness: Accessing Medical Care Systems,” with proposed destinations of Japan, Costa Rica, South Africa, and Singapore.

Johnson to Receive Award from Arkansas Tech University

Nicole J. Johnson, vice president for student life at Rhodes College, has been selected as the recipient of the Dr. V. Carole Smith Diversity Award, presented by the Black Faculty and Staff Organization of Arkansas Tech University. Johnson will be honored at a ceremony on March 7, where she will also deliver the organization’s Distinctive Voice Lecture.