40 students inducted into Pi Alpha Alpha
Drake University’s chapter of Pi Alpha Alpha, a global honor society for Public Affairs and Administration, inducted 40 new members and recognized a few students with special honors during an awards ceremony last month.

Each of the chapter’s new inductees demonstrated exceptional academic performance during their Master of Public Administration studies at Drake University. The chapter also named its new president and honored the recipients of the C. Kenneth Meyer Rising Star Award and Garry L. Frank Legacy Award during this year’s awards ceremony. To learn more, visit the Drake Newsroom.

Drake alumna receives honor at the John Pappajohn Student Entrepreneurial Venture Competition
Drake alumna Kelsi Ziemann was recently honored as one of the state’s top young entrepreneurs during the John Pappajohn Student Entrepreneurial Venture Competition.

Kelsi Ziemann Artistry was one of three student ventures selected to receive a $5,000 prize. Philanthropist John Pappajohn and Equity Dynamics, Inc., announced the winners during the annual competition’s awards ceremony on April 22. To learn more about Kelsi and the competition, visit the Drake Newsroom.

3D program graduates its first two students
3D, a teacher education collaboration between Des Moines Area Community College, Drake, and Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS) to support greater numbers of teachers of color in Des Moines, celebrated Drake graduates Larry Moore and Alexis Noring on Tuesday, May 10. Larry and Alexis are the first two 3D graduates. They will be ready to take their places as high school English teachers when school starts in the fall. Thanks to Jennifer Chung for her steady work for 3D and for all the Drake, DMACC, and DMPS partners who are contributing to the success of this program.

Todd Hodgkinson named to the Executive Council of the American Association for Teaching and Curriculum
The Executive Council of the American Association for Teaching and Curriculum (AATC) recently announced the appointment of Todd Hodgkinson, assistant professor of secondary education, as the new executive secretary. Todd’s appointment was made following a call for nominations, a review of all relevant documents, and a period of conversation and reflection on the part of the Executive Council.

Todd has been a long-term member of and contributor to AATC and counts among this national presentations and peer-reviewed articles, several from the annual conference and the Journal of Curriculum and Teaching and Dialogue.

He will assume his new responsibilities following the AATC’s mid-year Executive Council meeting.

—Catherine Gillespie, Associate Dean, Professor of Educaiton

Please join us in congratulating Professor Bob Soltis, who will be returning to his alma mater to become the next dean of the Butler College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, beginning June 27 (http://news.butler.edu/blog/2016/05/soltis/).

For the past 24 years, Bob has been a leader at Drake on a number of endeavors, most recently serving as the 2015-2016 Faculty Senate president. He has been instrumental in many initiatives for the CPHS, including curricular revisions, accreditation self studies, implementation of the health sciences program, and assistance with the remodeling that created the Ellis Pharmacogenomics and Wellness labs. While we will miss Bob’s leadership at Drake, we are proud of his selection as dean and excited for him to take on this role.

Please join us on June 7 at 3:30 p.m. in the Cline Atrium as we roast and toast him before he heads to Butler.

—Renae Chesnut, Dean, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

The Drake School of Journalism and Mass Communication is running a summer camp for high school students, June 26–29.
The camp will boost your high school student’s communication skills. From learning InDesign, social media management, and yearbook to editorial leadership and photo storytelling, we will infuse digital media components into every aspect of the camp experience. Class sizes are kept small to give individualized attention.

Top advisers, professional journalists, and collegiate-level instructors will share their very best with your high school-aged children.

Registration is $300 with a $50 non-refundable deposit due at time of registration. You can register your student at MediaNowDrake.com/Registration

For further information please refer to MediaNow.Press or contact christopher.snider@drake.edu.

—Dorothy Pisarski, Associate Professor of Journalism

Executive Women International (EWI) Des Moines announces that their 2016 ASIST Scholarship is now accepting applications! This program, which aligns with their core tenets, connections, careers, and community, awards scholarships to adult students in scholastic transition. It is open to adults 18 and over who reside within the boundaries of our chapter: Polk, Dallas, Story, and Warren counties. The application can be downloaded online. There are two $3,000 scholarships being awarded this year.

Please direct any questions to Sarah Roeder, 2016 ASIST committee chair, scholarships@ewidsm.org.

—Stephanie Cardwell, Administrative Assistant 2

Derick Ludwiig, an elementary education major, received the Des Moines Area Retired School Personnel Association Scholarship, a $1,000 scholarship awarded to one junior or senior in the School of Education. His award was based on his involvement on campus, why he wanted to be a teacher, and his career goals. The committee specifically mentioned his reference letters as being strong—Shout out to Sally Beisser and Bill Orcutt!

Ben Chadwick was recently honored as a finalist for Iowa Teacher of the Year. Ben, who is a member of our on-campus Leadership ‘14 cohort (Master of Science in Education Leadership) and a veteran attending Drake on the GI Bill, is one of our strongest aspiring administrators and has had quite a year. He recently had an article, “The effect of computer-aided design instruction on the spatial ability of high school students,” accepted for publication in the International Journal of Modern Engineering Research, and was honored at the Technology Association of Iowa’s Prometheus Awards for an innovative coding event (called the CTE Code Jam, in partnership with Principal Financial Group) that he designed for his classes. Ben’s clearly a rising star in the Iowa educational firmament, one who we expect to continue to hear a great deal from in the future.

—Catherine Gillespie, the Mary Collier Baker Professor and Associate Dean

Mahmoud Hamad takes part in drafting of Libyan constitution

Mahmoud Hamad, associate professor of political science, was selected by the United Nations to co-lead a mediation team that solved disputes within the Libyan Constitutional Drafting Assembly, which on April 20 announced they have approved a draft of Libya’s constitution.

Hamad stayed in Salalah, Oman, from March 15 to March 27 to work with the group. The mediation team included a former Jordanian prime minister and former ministers; justices; and members of parliament from Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, and Oman. The consultative meeting was held under the auspices of the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General Martin Kobler, the African Union Envoy to Libya Jakaya Kikwete (former president of Tanzania from 2005 to 2015), and the Omani Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah. Read more in the Drake Newsroom.

Perrine’s No Confession, No Mass honored

The 28th annual Publishing Triangle Awards were presented on April 21 at a gala ceremony. Jennifer Perrine, associate professor of English and director of women’s studies at Drake, received the Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry for her work, No Confession, No Mass.

The Publishing Triangle, the association of lesbians and gay men in publishing, began honoring a LGBT writer for his or her body of work a few months after the organization was founded in 1988, and has now partnered with the Ferro-Grumley Literary Awards to present an impressive array of awards each spring. The Publishing Triangle established its poetry awards in 2001. Joseph O. Legaspi, a judge this year, and Kamilah Aisha Moon, a past finalist for the Audre Lorde Award, presented these awards, which carry a prize of $500 apiece.