Dr. Shana Stoddard, associate professor of chemistry at Rhodes College, is the 2023 recipient of the Council on Undergraduate Research’s (CUR) Silvia Ronco Innovative Mentor Award. The award recognizes original and insightful research work by a young investigator working with undergraduates that has had significant impact in chemistry and the STEM careers of students involved. The award includes a cash prize and certificate, and Stoddard will be recognized at CUR’s upcoming June conference.

Rhodes College’s Mallory Gymnasium court this fall will bear the name of Herb Hilgeman, who served as head men’s basketball coach from 1976 to 2010. Over the Alumni came together to raise $250K+ to update the gymnasium and to name the court in his honor.

Undergraduate research is important for students in the Department of Chemistry at Rhodes College. The hands-on experience not only provides a learning environment other than the classroom, but also provides students opportunities to work directly with faculty and gain skills for future success. Ten students and seven faculty members of the department recently participated in the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Indianapolis, IN.

Four Rhodes employees— Robert Carey, Liz Love, Steve Brummel, and Amy Moen —received the college’s 2023 Outstanding Staff Awards at the annual Service Recognition Brunch held May 16. Staff members with 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 40 years of service also were recognized at the program held in the McCallum Ballroom. Robbie Taliaferro was recognized as the Loretta Watkins Outstanding Housekeeper and Fred Garrett was recognized as Outstanding Campus Safety Officer.

The Southern Athletic Association (SAA) announced today that Rhodes College has won the 2022-23 Commissioner’s Cup. The Cup recognizes the all-sports champion among SAA member institutions with points awarded according to each program’s finish in the regular season standings.

Walker Coleman is the recipient of the Peyton Nalle Rhodes Phi Beta Kappa Prize, the college’s highest academic honor. The 2023 Algernon Sydney Sullivan Awards were presented to Priscilla Foreman and Mia Harris, and to Dr. Timothy S. Huebner, associate provost and the Irma O. Sternberg Professor of History.

Dr. Charles W. Robertson Jr., who is a member of the Rhodes Class of 1965 and co-founder of NanoDrop Technologies Inc. (now Thermo Fisher Scientific), will receive an honorary Doctor of Science at the 174th Commencement of Rhodes College. The ceremony will be held Saturday, May 13, at 8:30 a.m. in the Hubert F. Fisher Memorial Garden on campus.

Merrick Moore originally came to Rhodes to study neuroscience, but a course on the social determinants of health changed her direction. “I came to understand the gravity of damage that occurs from systemic racism and the profit-driven healthcare system in the United States . . . From that point on, I haven’t looked back on my path as a health equity major at Rhodes.”

Six seniors’ portraits are being added to Rhodes College’s Hall of Fame on the second floor of Southwestern Hall. They are David Caddle, Priscilla Foreman, Mia Harris, Owen Lubinski, Eliana Mabe, and Mallory Mire. Selection to the Hall of Fame, which was established in 1931, is based on individual merit, leadership in student activities, service to others, and overall contributions to the campus community. Honorees are chosen by their peers.

Fikemi Aiyepeku ’23 is the first Rhodes student to secure placement at one of the big three management consulting firms, which mostly recruit from graduate programs and a narrow set of top 10 universities. She credits her liberal arts education, faculty mentors, and peer support as the driving factors behind her placement as an associate consultant at Bain & Company.