The Rhodes Board of Trustees announced today that internationally renowned Blues artist, Blues Hall of Fame inductee, and Grammy Award winner, Bobby Rush, whose career spans eight decades, will be this year’s recipient of the Honorary Doctorate of Humanities.

With the support of the Mike Curb Institute for Music at Rhodes, Emma Jane Hopper ’22 and Elijah Matlock ’21 have been making quite a splash with Beyond Beale. The student-run podcast focuses on illuminating the underrepresented narratives of the Memphis music scene. In their first season, Matlock and Hopper took a deep dive into the integrated Memphis Country Blues Festival held at Overton Park Shell in the late 1960s; they also produced a mini-episode about the festival that garnered an honorable mention in NPR’s 2021 Student Podcast Challenge: College Edition.

Becca Risman '21 has used her passion for community engagement in Memphis as an Urban Fellow; studied urban planning in Sevilla, Spain; and will soon serve as a Work First Fellow in New York City with America Works, a nonprofit that seeks to alleviate poverty in major cities.

Ryan D. Mire ‘93, MD, FACP has been named President-elect of the American College of Physicians. Dr. Mire earned his Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Rhodes. He also serves on the Rhodes College Board of Trustees, is a past member of the Rhodes Alumni Executive Board, and previously received the Black Student Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award.

Senior English major Shaliz Barzani has been awarded The Steve and Riea Lainoff Crop Trust Fellowship in Honor of Cary Fowler. The fellowship is made possible through the generosity of Steve and Riea Lainoff, parents of Rhodes graduates Brian Lainoff ’11 and Mark Lainoff ’15. As a fellow, Barzani will join the Partnerships Team of the Global Crop Diversity Trust in Bonn, Germany, in August 2021. The 12-month fellowship provides the opportunity for a recent graduate to develop an understanding of the Crop Trust’s work and the issues associated with agricultural biodiversity conservation.

Katherine Polster, who is pursuing a master’s degree in urban education at Rhodes College, is the recipient of a Fulbright U.S. Student Award for the 2021-2022 academic year. She will serve as an English Teaching Assistant in Taiwan beginning in the fall. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government.

Founded in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa is America’s oldest collegiate honor society. Its campus chapters invite for induction the most outstanding liberal arts students at America’s leading colleges and universities. Fewer than one percent of U.S. college graduates are eligible.

Jasmine Turner ’03, who has more than a decade of experience in molecular virus detection methods, is currently conducting COVID-19 research. She works as a research lab specialist in the Department of Infectious Diseases at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “You do not have to major in a natural science to pursue a career in scientific research,” she says. “I work with people from all walks of life, and I have learned that exposure to disciplines outside of science can really help foster the innovation needed to drive science forward.”

Rhodes College ranks 16th on The Princeton Review’s 2021 list of “Top 20 Best Private Schools for Internships.” The education services company has published its annual guide ranking the nation’s “Best Value Colleges,” Rhodes ranks among the top 50 private colleges, coming in at 47th.  Princeton Review’s Best Value Colleges, 2021 Edition, evaluates factors including stellar academics, financial aid, and strong career prospects for graduates.

Dr. Loretta Jackson-Hayes, the James H. Daughdrill Professor in the Natural Sciences, is a 2021 recipient of the Outstanding Mentorship Award from the Council on Undergraduate Research’s (CUR) Chemistry Division. The division recognizes transformative mentoring and advising by higher education faculty across all subdivisions of chemistry. Each includes a cash prize and a certificate of recognition.