National and global news about Rhodes students and alums

Dr. Catie Welsh, associate professor of computer science at Rhodes College, is joining a distinguished roster of Fulbright U.S. Scholars this semester. She will be a visiting professor at the University of Innsbruck in Austria. The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program—a prestigious educational exchange program—selects American scholars, artists, faculty, and professionals for their substantial experience and leadership to lecture and/or conduct research abroad for up to a year.

Four Rhodes College juniors are competing for the 2021 Truman Scholarship, the premier graduate fellowship in the United States for those pursuing careers as public service leaders. They are Elizabeth Baldwin, Karim Garcia, Mariam Khayata, and Lauren Moore. The Truman Scholarship is a highly competitive national award, which provides up to $30,000 for a recipient to apply toward graduate school.

Rhodes College has formed a new partnership with The Posse Foundation to offer full-tuition leadership scholarships to diverse cohorts of students from Memphis and cities around the United States. Many of the cohort members will be the first in their families to attend college and typically attend high schools that are often overlooked in tradition student recruitment. 

Rhodes sophomores Hadley Lim and Lily Whitesell are part of an international astronomical research team, thanks to the work their Rhodes physics professor Dr. David Rupke is doing in preparation for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to launch in 2021. The team of astronomers—made up of students, postdoctoral researchers, professors, and other scientists from around the world—have been writing software used to study quasars, which are bright, active supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies.

Three Rhodes students won awards for their research presentations at the Arkansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) virtual conference recently hosted by the University of Arkansas. They are Will Newman ’21, Dasha Safarian ’21, and Kameron Klugh ’22. Students from more than 20 colleges and universities participated in the conference.

Mystery Writers of America (MWA) has named prominent Rhodes alumna, Charlaine Harris Schulz ’73­­, a 2021 Grand Master. The New York Times bestselling author, who writes under the name Charlaine Harris, has published 13 novels in her Southern Vampire series, which was adapted by HBO into the popular television series, True Blood.

Madison Zickgraf, a senior English major from Mount Juliet, TN, made the list of American finalists for the 2021 Rhodes Scholarship, the oldest and perhaps the best-known international fellowship program, which enables exceptional young people from around the world to study at the University of Oxford. Applicants for the Rhodes Scholarship must be endorsed by their college or university. Zickgraf was lauded for her intelligence, drive, insightfulness, and empathy by her recommenders at Rhodes College.

Dr. Dan Cullen, professor of political science at Rhodes College, has been named to a new national task force addressing ways leaders in higher education can ensure their campuses flourish as places of open inquiry, free expression, and inclusion. The Academic Leaders Task Force on Campus Free Expression was launched by the Bipartisan Policy Center located in Washington, D.C., and is made up of college presidents, professors, administrators, and civic leaders.

With an impressive resume that includes time in the White House and service in the Department of Homeland Security, Victoria McCullough ’07 credits Rhodes with influencing her career path in community service and activism. Now serving as the Director of Public Policy and Social Impact at Tumblr, McCullough says that her affinity for social activism is more important than ever.