Dr. Rashna Richards, dean for faculty development, reviews, and assessment at Rhodes, has been admitted into the 2023-2024 Senior Leadership Academy of the Council of Independent Colleges and the American Academic Leadership Institute.Up to 40 participants are selected for the competitive year-long program, which is designed for administrators to acquire knowledge, skills, and experience germane to the responsibilities and activities central to the work of a vice president or cabinet officer.

Rhodes College junior Abigail Hultquist and sophomore Ryan McCrory are among the 413 students from across the United States who have been selected as Goldwater Scholars in the 2023 competition. Established by Congress in 1986 to honor Barry M. Goldwater, 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.

Student Employee Appreciation Week at Rhodes is April 10-14, which will include recognition of this year’s Student Employee of the Year Audrey Bishop, Rhodes Student Associate of the Year Eliza Howard, and Supervisor of the Year Ethan van Drimmelen.

Rhodes students refine their passions, even after graduating. Krista Lebovitz ’21 has been visiting elite colleges where she has been accepted to decide where she will pursue a Master of Architecture this fall. Will it be MIT, Harvard, Yale, Cornell, University of Virginia, or Washington University?

Rhodes College will host the 38th American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) National Championship Tournament April 14-16, which is being sponsored by Burch, Porter & Johnson, one of the oldest law firms in Tennessee, and The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. This is the second time Rhodes has hosted the nationals, having done so in 2010.

A Rhodes College team has been testing a four-inch cube satellite of their own design—dubbed RHOK-SAT—to be launched into space aboard a NASA-sponsored rocket in 2024. Five students of the team got an opportunity to discuss their work at a student conference of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Biology and biochemistry and molecular biology (BMB) students in Dr. Jonathan Fitz Gerald’s research lab and Animal Development course recently taught about nutrition and plant science to second graders at Idlewild Elementary.

The group presented their research at the conference held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, March 8-11. “Students on my research team work with me as collaborators, and this level of involvement and understanding of the research yields opportunities that most undergraduate students at other colleges and universities don’t have,” said psychology and neuroscience professor Dr. Becky Klatzkin, who advised the students. “Dot, Hadiyah, Erica, and Bella presented our work at an international conferences alongside some of the most prestigious researchers around the world, and I think it’s something they’ll never forget.”

Rhodes College fellows have served for a decade on the staff of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, which provides support for the ongoing operations of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The Seed Vault houses more than 1.1 million seed samples from the world’s crop collections as a safeguard against catastrophic or accidental loss.

Benjamin Oelkers is among a select group of graduating college seniors nationwide to receive the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, which provides a $40,000 grant for one year of independent study and travel outside the United States. Oelkers’ project is titled “Desertion of Pediatric Cancer Care,” with proposed destinations of South Africa, India, the United Kingdom, and the Philippines. He seeks to immerse himself in healthcare systems and community organizations to understand why a pediatric cancer patient would choose to stop lifesaving treatment.