mcnair scholars storm graduate...
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Business Name
West Virginia University
McNair Scholars Newsletter
Summer 2017 Volume 18 Issue I
McNair Scholars Storm Graduate Schools
Graduates Degree Program Graduate School
Adam Cruz Master’s in School Counseling West Virginia University
April Highlander Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology University of North Carolina
Cecily Flight Master’s in Ethics, Peace & Global Affairs American University
David Mersing Ph.D. in Chemistry West Virginia University
Donnique Sherman Master’s in Energy Systems Engineering West Virginia University
Evan Dorsey Master’s in Applied Behavior Analysis University of Pittsburgh
Elizabeth Janeiro Master’s in Rehabilitation Counseling West Virginia University
Hailey Taylor Master’s in Clinical Psychological Sciences University of Maryland, College Park
Hanah Conlan Master’s in Applied Behavior Analysis Simmons College
Lynnora Grant Ph.D. in Materials Science & Nano-Engineering Rice University
Omobola Oluwafemi Master’s in Public Health University of Texas at Houston
Samantha Shimer Master’s in Public Policy University of Maryland, College Park
Shelby Boggs Ph.D. in Psychology The Ohio State University
Shelby Bradford Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences West Virginia University
May 2017 graduates. Back Row (L to R): Adam Cruz, Omobola Oluwafemi, David Mersing, Evan Dorsey, Samantha Shimer, Hailey Taylor, Rachael Taylor
Front Row (L to R): Donnique Sherman, Shelby Bradford, Apr il Highlander , Lynnora Grant Not pictured: Shelby Boggs, Hanah Conlan and Chelsi Sayti
Congratulations to our scholars who graduated in December, 2016 and May, 2017! Beginning fall 2017, our scholars will be enrolled in various graduate programs and schools.
December 2016 & May 2017 Graduation The WVU McNair Scholars Program held graduation dinners for the De-
cember 2016 and May 2017 graduates. Speakers at the respective events
were McNair alumni—Dr. Victoria Sanchez from the University of Mary-
land McNair program, and Dr. Heather Washington, 2005 WVU McNair
Scholar—who shared their McNair and graduate school experiences, and
offered words of advice for the departing graduates. The graduating
Scholars expressed their gratitude for the McNair program and staff, as
well as faculty mentors for their academic, research and professional de-
velopment. The May 2017 ceremony ended with a special presentation to
Dr. Natalie Shook, Associate Professor of Psychology, for her dedication
in mentoring McNair Scholars. In five years since 2012, Dr. Shook has
mentored eight McNair Scholars.
December graduates (L to R): Elizabeth Janeiro, Courtney McDon-
ald, and Cecily Flight.
University of Maryland McNair Conference
Dr. Betty Mei (L) presenting the Outstand-ing Service Award to Dr. Natalie Shook
Dr. Heather Washington speaking at the May 2017 graduation dinner
Dr. Victoria Sanchez speaking to December 2016 graduates and
dinner guests
2016 Scholar Omobola Oluwafemi
giving an oral presentation at the
conference
Scholars at the University of
Maryland McNair Conference
2016 Scholar David Mersing (R), a chemistry major, presenting at the poster session
WVU McNair alumni continue to press a step closer to the doctorate. The following students have attained master’s
degrees in the spring and summer of 2017:
JC Abdallah (2014) - Master’s in Communication from The Ohio State University; will attend the University of Ala-
bama Ph.D. program in Communication & Information Sciences in the fall semester
Jordan Drew (2014) - Completed internship at the National Institute of Health; will be enrolled in Ph.D. program in
Electrical Engineering at University of Washington in fall, 2017
Tahrea Flemming (2010) - Master’s of Social Work from University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Jacqueline Fowler (2014) - Master’s in Sociology from West Virginia University
James Hartnett II (2014) - Master’s in Counseling from West Virginia University
Brandy Ledesma (2014) - Master’s of Social Work from University of Denver
Jordan Lovejoy (2013) - Master’s in English from The Ohio State University; will continue in the program for Ph.D.
Allie Nwosu (2014) - Master’s in Couples and Family Therapy from Oregon State University
Shakira Smith (2012) - Master’s in Educational Psychology from Indiana University; will continue to pursue a Ph.D.
In Health Behavior and a second Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology
Leigh-Ann Wilkins (2014) - Master’s in Economics from Drexel University
April Highlander
(Left) and Omobola
Oluwafemi (Right),
have been selected
to be 2017 WV
TRIO and ME-
AEOPP Scholar-
ship recipients re-
spectively. April
also received the
Gilman Scholarship
to study in New
Zealand this summer. She was also awarded Out-
standing Senior in psychology.
Awards and Honors
2016 Scholar Edinam Ku-
mazah was awarded the
2017 WVU Martin Luther
King Jr. Scholarship. A
WVU undergraduate stu-
dent is selected annually
for this award for partici-
pating actively in human
rights, civil rights, social
justice, world peace or oth-
er activities exemplary or reflective of King’s life
and ideals, in addition to exceling academically.
2016 Scholar Mariah Felty, a
political science major, was
selected as a Judith Herndon
Fellow who interned at the
state capitol in the spring 2017
semester to assist state senators
and delegates with research and
various staff functions. Mariah
described the experience as in-
credible, and that she “learned
how the WV Legislature operates and made lasting
connections with the great leaders of our state.”
Lynnora Grant, a re-
cent graduate from the
WVU McNair Scholars
Program, whose research
focused on titanium di-
oxide based inks for use
in direct writing of flexi-
ble optoelectronics, was
awarded the National
Science Foundation
Graduate Research Fel-
lowship (GRFP) for biomedical engineer ing. She
will attend Rice University in the fall to pursue re-
search on Materials Science and Nano-engineering.
WVU McNair Scholars Program 600013100006
305 Student Services Center
PO Box 6212
Morgantown, WV 26506-6212
National TRIO Day
Program Staff: Dr. Betty Mei, Program Director ([email protected]), Hellen Nditsi, Program Coordi-
nator ([email protected]), Charles Mawusi, Graduate Assistant ([email protected]).
Office Address: WVU McNair Scholars Program, 305 Student Services Center , PO Box 6212, Morgantown,
WV 26506-6212 Phone: (304) 293-4316 Fax: (304) 293-4365 Website: http://mcnair .wvu.edu
To celebrate National TRIO Day on February 25th, the WVU McNair Scholars collaborated with students from the WVU TRIO Student Support Services and Upward Bound (UB) programs to participate in a host of community service projects. One group of students visited the WVU Children's Hospital where they presented gifts and participated in playful activities such as coloring pages with patients. Students also had the opportunity to interact with parents of admitted chil-dren, and nurses to learn more about the health condition of some of the children.
The second group visited the Ronald McDonald House, where they cleaned and organized different parts of the house, and made desserts for the residents. The third group served in the Empty Bowls event, which raised money to promote food security in the local community. Besides benefitting the community by serving in these projects, TRIO students also got to interact with each other where the college partici-pants served as role models for the UB students, and provided college and career aspirations.
“Going into the field of public health, I would like to work as a health policy advisor or analyst, focusing on wom-en’s and children’s issues. This volun-teer experience reminded me that pub-lic health still makes a difference.”
- Lola Oluwafemi, 2016 McNair Scholar
McNair Scholars and Upward Bound students pictured at Ronald McDonald House
Scholars David Mersing and Lynnora Grant mak-ing desserts at the Ronald McDonald House