The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center at Drake University has received a $20,000 grant from Variety – the Children’s Charity to fund CHARACTER COUNTS! programming for early childhood centers. The grant will be used to provide materials and lesson plans to assist teaching staff as they work with children on social-emotional skills. Read more in the Drake Newsroom.

Thomas Rosburg to receive honor from the Iowa National Heritage Foundation
Professor of Biology Thomas R. Rosburg will receive a statewide award in recognition of his extensive conservation efforts, including giving 1,350 hours of his time to a project aimed at restoring prairies on private land throughout the state.

The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF) announced today that Rosburg will receive the organization’s 2016 Lawrence and Eula Hagie Heritage Award. The INHF is a statewide conservation organization that protects and restores Iowa’s land, water, and wildlife, with current projects in central Iowa including the High Trestle Trail, additions to Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt, and several others. Read more about Thomas’ work in the Drake Newsroom.

Mark Vitha publishes book on chromatography
Mark Vitha, professor of chemistry and a Windsor Professor of Science, published a new textbook, Chromatography: Principles and Instrumentation.

Chromatography is a physical method of separation that involves passing a mixture through a medium in which the components of the mixture move at different rates. The process separates the mixture into its individual components, allowing those components to be analyzed. Learn more about Mark’s book and work in the Drake Newsroom.

Kevin Lam to receive award for book
Kevin Lam, assistant professor of urban and diversity education, will receive a 2016 Critics’ Choice book award for his book, Youth Gangs, Racism, and Schooling: Vietnamese American Youth in a Postcolonial Context. The American Educational Studies Association (AESA) will present the award to Lam during the association’s annual conference in November. Learn more about Kevin and his book in the Drake Newsroom.

Maria Valdovinos to serve on Association for Professional Behavior Analysts board
Maria Valdovinos, associate professor of psychology, has been selected to serve on the Board of Directors of the Association for Professional Behavior Analysts. The association’s nominating committee selected Valdovinos from among a list of nominees, submitted by affiliate organizations, to serve a three-year term set to end Aug. 31, 2019.

The Association of Professional Behavior Analysts (APBA) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote and advance the science and practice of applied behavior analysis. To read more about Maria, visit the Drake Newsroom.

Drake recently received a $400,000 donation from Kemin Industries. The money will be used toward the purchase of a 500 megahertz nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer. The gift is especially meaningful because the founder of Kemin Industries, RW Nelson, is a 1950 Drake graduate who majored in biology. The impact of the donation and the presence of a 500 MHz NMR on thousands of students cannot be overstated: It improves our analytical capabilities and guarantees that Drake students will continue to get a state-of-the art education. It also significantly upgrades the research capabilities of the faculty in chemistry, biology, biochemistry, physics, kinesiology, neuroscience, and the health sciences. In addition, the new instrument provides opportunities for collaboration between Drake faculty and students and other educational institutions and corporate partners in Iowa. The acquisition of the instrument also contributes substantially to the STEM@DRAKE initiative.

—Office of Development

Aaron Harpold
Groundsworker

What do you do at Drake?
I’m a groundsworker—I take care of horticulture on campus, like flower beds. Our team works with 130,000 square feet of beds. I’m also a certified arborist and take care of smaller trees on campus.

What’s your favorite spot on campus?
It really depends on the season. Right now I’m really digging the Quad in between the first year residence halls. When you walk down into the quad it’s like you’re in a different place. We’ve been noticing more students going down there, which is great. It’s a nice spot. Another favorite spot is the Meredith Atrium. That space is so secluded; the aspect of stillness and quiet remind me of my work in the Japanese gardens in Long Beach.

You haven’t always been in horticulture—what did you do before this?
I got my BFA from Carnegie Mellon and I was an actor in New York City in my 20s. I did some shows on Broadway and was in a few episodes of shows like Law & Order. One of my favorite name-drop stories is when I read two lines of Shakespeare with Al Pacino’s hand on my back for a movie—it got cut, but I was floating on that experience for probably a week.

On Tuesday, Sept. 27, students in FYS 038 hosted a homecoming carnival at Ruby Van Meter (RVM) School, the special education middle school and high school for the Des Moines Public School System. Nearly 150 RVM and 21 Drake students participated in the event.

Drake students planned the 10 stations with interactive games and prizes, including face painting, pie toss, duck derby, and temporary Drake tattoos. Drake students made sure the stations were friendly to all ability levels and considered ways in which to adapt such activities. Through this project, Drake first-year students were able to explore, grow, and build by engaging with students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Ruby Van Meter students were able to interact in meaningful ways will peers close to their own age in a fun environment.

In addition to the homecoming carnival, Drake first-year students are learning alongside these individuals with various disabilities through bi-weekly visits to Ruby Van Meter. Thoughtful reflection following these school visits remains integrated in the course through both in-class discussion activities and out-of-class assignments. These activities and interactions at Ruby Van Meter stimulate classroom discussion and allow Drake students to reach their course objectives by informing students of the various resources and services provided by the Drake/Des Moines community. Not only are students involved within the Des Moines community, they also strengthen their interpersonal skills in a different environment that Drake students may not generally encounter.

—Anisa Fornoff, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

Lisa West, associate professor of English, will present a lecture, “The Dangers of Botanical Knowledge: Women, Witches, Collectors,” at the Viaduct Gallery of the Des Moines Social Club on Saturday, Oct. 15, at 1 p.m. The lecture is one of a series of events connected to Fatal Flora, a photography exhibit by Molly Wood, held at the Viaduct Gallery Oct. 7–30.