Faculty Award for Service to the Alumni Association

The winner of the 2024 Faculty Award for Service to the Alumni Association is Arielle Cooley, Associate Professor of Biology and Garrett Fellow. Arielle joined the faculty at Whitman in fall of 2012, and was first called on to participate in the lifelong learning of Whitman Alumni for our 2015 Alumni Summer College. Arielle presented Darwin’s Paintbrush: The science behind the monkeyflower’s blush and provided flowers to each alumni ‘student’ to demonstrate.

Arielle was the first faculty member in the early days of the Covid shutdown to help the alumni office figure out how to present a virtual lecture to our alumni. She patiently worked with staff to figure out screen sharing, how to embed and play a video through the platform and take live questions from alumni around the country.

The alumni office has managed the Garrett-Sherwood Scholars spring break visit to New York City for many years, introducing students to alumni who live and work in the area and building their professional network. In 2023, Arielle joined the trip in her capacity as a Garrett Fellow. She spent a week of her spring break traveling across the country with our staff, joining meetings with the students and alumni. She also presented a lecture for alumni, parents and friends in the area highlighting undergraduate research at Whitman and painting a picture of what was happening in labs across campus.

This past spring, Arielle was invaluable in transitioning this annual trip from the alumni office to the Career and Community Engagement Center, assisting with maintaining elements of the previous program while incorporating new formatting.

In recognition of her collaborative spirit, her generosity in sharing her time and talent, and her contribution to the lifelong learning of our alumni community, we present Arielle Cooley with the 2024 Faculty Award for Service to the Alumni Association.