Multi-talented Graduates Set to Make an Impact

Look for the clas of 2000 in fields ranging from molecular biochemistry to musicology

One member of the class of 2000, a classical pianist with a chemistry-biology major, won a fellowship worth a third of a million dollars for advanced study in molecular biochemistry. Another will undertake intensive musicology studies with a fellowship from the prestigious Eastman School of Music. These two — Andrew Leitz and Katherine Axtell — and other members of the Class of 2000 are well on the road to extraordinary work in their chosen professions. They go prepared with multiple talents, amazing scholarship, and significant awards from Yale, Stanford, Purdue, and other such institutions.

Medical Scholars Program

The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, is fully funding Andrew Leitz's eight years of study in its Medical Scholar Program. One of only about 25 students accepted into the program, which leads to both an M.D. and a Ph.D., Leitz will focus on molecular biochemistry and immunology with plans for a career as an infectious disease specialist. While excelling in his scientific pursuits at Whitman, the Puyallup, Washington, student completed his 16th year of classical piano study and served as whitewater manager for the Outdoor Program.

Eastman School: Musicology

A summa cum laude graduate from Olympia, Katherine Axtell is one of only four students accepted by the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. Axtell, whose senior research on Elfrida Andrée's Piano Quartet is being published, will pursue a Ph.D. in musicology. She also is the author of a research paper on Whitman music teacher Gena Branscombe. A pianist, Axtell has won several competitions and was selected to play at Baccalaureate this year.

Dean's Award for Medical Study

Whitman's delegation to graduate schools across the country includes, from left, Tom Garrison, Nicole Marshall, Brent Bryan, Jessica Clarke, and Andy Leitz.

Nicole Marshall will attend the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine as recipient of the Dean's Award Scholarship. The scholarship provides full tuition support for Marshall, a chemistry-biology major from Bellingham, Washington. Following her sophomore year at Whitman, Marshall received a Minority Scholars Research Award. The award provided her with two summers of biomedical research experience at the Mayo Medical School, where she worked in anesthesiology.

Purdue: A Ph.D. in Mathematics

Thomas Garrison received a five-year departmental fellowship from Purdue University to pursue a Ph.D. in mathematics. He served two summers as a research assistant in the field of optics, and he is coauthor of a published paper on semiconductor lasers. While at Whitman, the Port Angeles, Washington, student earned a double major in mathematics and physics, minored in classics, performed as a string bass player with the Whitman and Walla Walla symphonies, and worked as news director and summer manager for KWCW radio.

Cornell Fellowships

Cornell University awarded tuition and research fellowships and a teaching assistantship to Daniel Baird for graduate work in physical chemistry. The Longview, Washington, student has had two summer internships, one at Dendreon in Mountain View, California, conducting research on immunology, and the other at Cornell University using lasers to look at molecular vibrations in interfaces. Outside the lab, Baird's Whitman activities included playing on the lacrosse team and serving as an officer of Beta Theta Pi.

Stanford: Work in Geophysics

Stanford University awarded David Shelly a fellowship for graduate work in geophysics. A summa cum laude, mathematics-physics graduate from Ferndale, Washington, he will study earthquake seismology, crustal deformation, and fault mechanics. At Whitman, Shelly collaborated on research on the behavior of vertical-cavity, surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs).

Dean's Fellowship in Law

Abigail Joy St. Lawrence received the Dean's Fellowship for Excellence from Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon. Accepted into five law schools in all, she chose Northwestern for its top ranked environmental law program. She is a psychology major from Great Falls, Montana.

At Williams: German Art History

The Williams College Clark Art Institute in Massachusetts awarded art history major Katherine Ball a scholarship for a two-year master's program and museum internship. The Eugene, Oregon, student is interested in 20th-century German art history. She also was offered fellowships from the University of Oregon and the Art Institute of Chicago.