Jason Saldana Joins the USAF

 

Jason Saldana

SAU Honors College graduate Jason Saldana has joined the United States Air Force. He reports for training later this summer in San Antonio, Texas.

He will train to become a Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape Specialist (SERE).

The Air Force defines that specialty as follows:

Air Force Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape (SERE) Specialists are the only DoD specialty specifically trained, equipped, organized, and employed to conduct SERE operations for the duration of their career. They are the DoD's subject matter experts to prepare and support personnel designated as High Risk of Isolation. SERE Specialists are members of the Guardian Angel weapon system, focused on Personnel Recovery (PR) and provide support to the five PR execution tasks; Report, Locate, Support, Recover, and Reintegrate. SERE Specialist duties range from instruction of formal courses to direct operational unit support at Active Duty, Guard and Reserve locations in continental U.S. and overseas.

Corbitt Lead Author

 Recent SAU Honors College grad, Anna Corbitt, is the lead author of the article below. Way to go Anna!

Anna Corbitt

 

A. Corbitt, W. G. Schwartz, C. Farnell, J. C. Balda and H. A. Mantooth, "The National Center for Reliable Electric Power Transmission Test Facility," in IEEE Open Journal of Power Electronics, doi: 10.1109/OJPEL.2024.3405311.

Diana Mukweyi Returns to SAU

 

Diana Mukweyi

SAU Honors College graduate, Diana Mukweyi gave a talk today at SAU. She was sponsored by the Department of Biology.

Today, Diana is an IONM or an Inter Operative Neurophysiological Monitor. She monitors the progress of neurological surgeries of all kinds and alerts the team in real time if the surgery is having ill effects on the patient.

Her fascinating talk ranged over a wide variety of surgical events, from spinal cords to open brains. She described how she came to be an IONM and showed the several pathways toward such a career.

Before her talk she said she was moving to Kansas soon for a position that would allow her to travel, something she has always wanted to do. Her next stop will be in California.

It's always nice to see the progress of our grads. Thanks for dropping by!

Chinedu Okeke accepted into Penn State Law School

 

                                                   Chinedu Okeke in Havana, February 2020

Honors College graduate, Chinedu Okeke, recently reported being accepted into the Penn State University's Law School. Felecitaciones, compadre!

Shatina Hunter Williams in Sicily

 News from one of our grads! Shatina Hunter Williams

 

I graduated college ‘20 and moved to Little Rock for nursing school!  I got married a year later, and with my husband’s job, we moved to Sicily for three years. It’s been a whirlwind this past year! We moved here, and I finally had time to think about what I truly want to do without feeling any pressure. I am now in my 2nd semester of my online MSW program as this degree will allow me to work in the three areas that I love: higher education, healthcare, and geriatrics. I am excited for the possibilities with this career. 

MSW program as this degree will allow me to work in the three areas that I love: higher education, healthcare, and geriatrics. I am excited for the possibilities with this career. I majored in Spanish and moved to an Italian-speaking country; it is a blessing and a curse. I am learning more Italian than I thought I would, and the architecture is phenomenal. We have traveled to Germany, London, Venice, and Rome so far, and I practice mindfulness daily to remind myself of my amazing and enriching present. The Arkansan in me did not foresee ever moving overseas or integrating into military culture. That was a long explanation, but that has been my experience. P.S. I am also still shocked that I enjoy the phenomena of the social sciences.

 

Honors Grads Earn PhDs

 We received word recently that two graduates of the Honors College had earned PhD degrees. One was in Chemical Engineering (Corbitt, University of Arkansas) and the other was in Biology (Dhungana, University of Missouri).

Kiley Corbitt (right, and also an SAU Honors College grad) celebrates with her husband Dr. Joshua Corbitt.

Dr. Singha Dhungana and his wife celebrate his PhD in Biology.

The Honors College celebrates your accomplishments too. Congratulations. Of course you now know we will be asking to contribute once you get a job and become rich and famous :-)

Casey Ochs Returns

Casey Ochs (nee O 'Hara) is "back" at SAU teaching online. Welcome back! She is working as an adjunct instructor in the Chemistry Department.

She writes: It's good to be back - I never thought I'd be "back" at SAU, let alone teaching. It feels good.

 

Casey Ochs, SAU Class of 2016

May 2021 Honors College Graduates

 After a trying year, our 23 honors students graduated. We congratulate them.

They are:

• Mackenzie Driscoll
• Joanna Graham
• Jackson Hill
• Isabella Munson
• Hannah Campbell
• Megan Humphrey
• Madison Byrd
• Hannah Dunacusky
• Katherine Pletcher
• Kristopher Johnson
• William Lacalle
• Aryan Shrestha
• Brooke Shipp
• Anna Corbitt
• Aidan Brown
• Sarah Campbell
• Whitney Goff
• Melanie Martin
• Matthew Gustafson
• Almalkhon Ziyokhonov
• Makenzi Cross
• Brianna Davis
• Kaisi Ochs

We hope you had a good four years with us and we wish you the best for the future.

Chukwu Graduates

Chikaodiri (Nancy) Chukwu, BSN Nursing 2017

Congratulations to Nancy Chukwu upon receiving her BSN today! Best of luck in the future and to your future plans in medicine.

December Honors Grads

First row (L to R): Kody Kasper, Siye Lu, Taryn Sorsby; Second Row (L to R): Keifer Cooley, Emily Bowling, Sawyer Sams, President Rankin. Not pictured: Zachary Pinson

The Honors College graduated seven students in December. Six of them are pictured above, however Zachary Pinson left campus early to join the United States Air Force and could not be in the photo.

The students above never actually posed for the picture. Instead, they were individually photographed and later PhotoShopped into a composite by Lera Black. Dr. Rankin was also photographed and agreed to let us include him in the group shot as well.

Congratulations to our recent graduates! Good luck in the future and don't forget to support your dear old Honors College in the future.

Alum Chris Harris to Pursue Masters in Terrorism Studies at St. Andrews

Chris Harris (L) chats with John Hawkins

Honors College alum Chris Harris continues his march through the halls of academe. He will move to Scotland soon to begin a master's program in Terrorism Studies. Way to go Chris!