Faculty and Staff News

15 books from our MFAC faculty and alumni have been chosen as part of the 2018 edition of The Best Children’s Books of the Year from the Children’s Book Committee at the Bank Street Center for Children’s Literature. Congratulations to all!

Dr. Leila DeVriese was recently recognized by the Hamline Undergraduate Student Congress as the 2018 Faculty of the Year.

MFAC faculty Ron Koertge’s latest book of poetry, Olympusville, is out now from Red Hen Press. Congratulations, Ron!

BFA/MFA faculty member Angela Pelster-Wiebe has been named a mentor in Nonfiction for the 2018-2019 Loft Mentor Series.

Hamline MFAC Faculty Gene Luen Yang talks about writing, teaching, and the MFAC program in a new feature with Cynthia Leitich Smith.

The vision of an institution where pioneers could pursue higher education in the Minnesota Territory was initially realized on March 3, 1854 when Hamline's official charter was signed. Hamline University is considered Minnesota's first university, was one of the first co-educational institutions in the country, and conferred the first bachelor's and master's degrees in the state. Those were earned by two women, Emily and Elizabeth Sorin.

Hamline's Criminal Justice Department has received another grant from the U.S. Department of Justice through the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The $846,000 grant will build on a partnership to implement crime reduction strategies in a unique Minneapolis neighborhood identified as a hotspot for crime.

The Provost’s Office is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Art Guetter as the first Robert E. Green Distinguished Professor of Computational Science at Hamline University.

Hamline Dean of Undergraduate Admission and Financial Aid Mia Nhia Xiong-Chan was interviewed by the Pioneer Press' Ruben Rosario about the innovative ways in which Hamline is reaching out to prospective undergraduate students in the digital age. You can read the full article on the Pioneer Press's website.

The new Hamline brand campaign, We Take the Lead, was guided in part by a manifesto that encapsulates the spirit, heart, and mission of the university community. Hear a part of the manifesto for yourself, as read by members of our Hamline community, by watching this video.

Professor Rebecca Neal has been selected as the Gordon B. Sanders Endowed Chair in Teacher Education and Director of the Center for Excellence in Urban Teaching (CEUT).

In 2018, Hamline will join more than 50 other Minnesota colleges, and 1,757 across the country, in becoming a tobacco-free campus. The transition work is being done by an implementation team appointed by President Miller and comprised of students, faculty, and staff.

Representatives from Hamline’s Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center grant committee are participating in the national kick-off project meeting this week in Washington D.C.

Hamline is the first school in Minnesota to join the Start by Believing campaign, in partnership with Ramsey County. Start by Believing is a public awareness campaign aimed at ending the cycle of silence in cases of sexual assault.

Professor Lisa Ferguson-Stegall, exercise science and public health sciences students, and Professor Kathy Thomsen published research in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health about the benefit of music-based movement training in an older cohort.

Criminal Justice Professor Jillian Peterson has partnered with the Minnetonka Police Department to develop a new, research-based, crisis intervention training. The project was recently featured in the Star Tribune.

Assistant Professor Sayonita Ghosh Hajra’s poster titled "Challenges in Modeling Word Problems" was accepted for the 2017 annual conference of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education.

Aida Audeh, professor of art history in the Department of Studio Arts and Art History, has agreed to serve as one of Hamline's two New American Colleges and Universities (NAC&U) faculty ambassadors.

Hamline Professor of Art History Aida Audeh was recently named an affiliate member of the Consortium for the Study of the Premodern World at the University of Minnesota.

Hamline University remains a top-ranked university in its class according to U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges 2018 edition. Hamline ranked sixteenth among 162 institutions in the Best Regional Colleges ‘Midwest’ category. In addition, Hamline once again made the Best Value list, the top Minnesota university on that list in the Midwest category, and the list of A+ Schools for B Students. 

Stacie Bosley, professor of economics in the School of Business, alongside student researchers conducted an experiment during the Minnesota State Fair about consumer fraud prevention.

Professors in the School of Education Betsy Parrish, Andrea Echelberger, and Suzanne McCurdy presented at the Pronunciation in Second Language Learning & Teaching 9th Annual Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah on September 2.

Professor Máel Embser Herbert and Mai Nhia Xiong-Chan both visited the WCCO Radio booth during the course of the Minnesota State Fair for interviews with News and Views host Roshini Rajkumar.

The 32nd National Conference of Undergraduate Research (NCUR) will be hosted by the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma between April 5 and 7, 2018. The deadline for students to submit their abstracts to a Hamline selection committee is October 22, 2017.

Jim Hagen, professor in the Hamline School of Business, was interviewed by WCCO Radio three times over the summer on subjects relating to marketing and e-commerce.

Stacie Bosley, associate professor of economics, was interviewed about the losses experienced by female direct sellers across the country for the Pacific Standard Magazine.

Assistant Professor of Philosophy Gary Gabor was recently named an affiliate member of the Consortium for the Study of the Premodern World at the University of Minnesota.

Hamline University is ready to tell its story in a more compelling way with the launch of a bold, new brand campaign. The We Take The Lead campaign is part of a strategy to raise awareness of the university and strengthen its reputation worldwide.

John-Mark Schlink, lecturer in the Department of Studio Arts & Art History, participated in a three-week residency in July and August at the Print Association Bentlage in Rheine, Germany.

Assistant Professor of Environmental Education and STEM Patty Born will attend the World Environmental Education Congress in Vancouver, Canada.

Lifeng Dong, the Emma K. and Carl R. N. Malmstrom Endowed Chair in Physics, has co-authored three scientific articles.

Professor Máel Embser-Herbert has published a chapter in The Palgrave International Handbook of Gender and the Military.

Professor Jillian Peterson wrote an article on the role of social media in extremism for CNN.

Members of the Hamline community met with educators and religious leaders from Kurdistan, Iraq on Tuesday, August 15.

The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) has chosen Hamline University as one of the nation’s first Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center sites. Hamline was the only Minnesota institution chosen for the honor. The grant will engage and empower campus and community stakeholders to advance justice and build equitable communities.

Kimberly Feilmeyer, Caroline Hilk, Nicole Nelson, Kristofer Scheid, and Tracy Williams presented at the International Active Learning Forum at the University of Minnesota.

Michelle Benegas, assistant professor in the School of Education, visited the U.S. Department of Education in Washington D.C. last week.

Assistant Professor Sayonita Ghosh Hajra has published an article in the Journal of Mathematics Education: East and West, Teaching and Learning, Theory and Practice.

For the tenth straight year, Forbes magazine has ranked Hamline among its 2017 “America’s Top Colleges.”

TPT television recently featured President Fayneese Miller and Professor Máel Embser-Herbert on its weekly program "Almanac" to discuss highlights of this year's Summer of Justice series of community forums that covered different subjects of race and justice.  

Aida Audeh, professor of art history, presented at the 32nd International Conference on Medievalism at the University of Salzburg, Austria on July 16, 2017.

Legal Studies Professor Leondra Hanson presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Association of Women Lawyers in New York.

Assistant Professor of Environmental and Stem Education Patty Born will present two sessions at the Natural Start annual Nature-Based Preschool conference in Seattle Washington on August 3-5.

Professor Peggy Andrews from the Hamline School of Business was featured on KARE 11 twice discussing issues in human resources like summer hours.

Serena King, professor of psychology, published a first-authored paper in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, an American Psychological Association Journal.

Jim Scheibel, professor of practice in the School of Business, will be welcoming the HandsOn Twin Cities Summit and National Summit on Volunteer Engagement Leadership to Hamline University on July 25 and July 26.

Professor of Religion Deanna Thompson was interviewed on Coffeepot Fellowship Podcast.

Professor Singleton recently presented at the 15th International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities in London.

Celebrating its 10th year, the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults (MFAC) boasts an impressive number of award-winning alumni and faculty who are among the most influential writers of young people’s literature in the country.

Professor Binnur Ozkececi-Taner presented research on prime minister leadership style at the International Society of Political Psychology annual convention in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Ken Fox, professor in the School of Business, co-coached the Mitchell | Hamline law student negotiation team to a first place finish at the 2017 International Negotiation Competition for law students.

Lifeng Dong, the Emma K. and Carl R. N. Malmstrom endowed chair in physics, was invited to present at the 2017 National Symposium on Solar Materials and Solar Cells held in Qingdao, China on June 23-25.

John Mazis, professor of history, was interviewed by the Greek Public Radio program "Voice of Greece" on June 22, 2017.

Jillian Peterson, assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice, co-authored a commentary in the Star Tribune regarding the Philando Castile verdict.

Assistant Professor Patty Born was interviewed after the publication of her first book, Early Childhood Activities for a Greener Earth on the podcast Mom Enough.

Faculty members Vivian Johnson, Trish Harvey, Maggie Struck, and Jennifer Carlson in the School of Education were among the presenters at the Innovate! Teaching with Technology Conference for K-12 teachers and college educators held in June at the University of Minnesota Morris.

The Center for Justice and Law at Hamline University is hosting the third discussion in the "Summer of Justice" series on Tuesday, August 22.

Jeannie Fox, director of nonprofit management programs, has been tapped to be a weekly newswire writer for Nonprofit Quarterly, based in Boston, MA. Jeannie will contribute one to two online articles a week and an occasional feature article for the print version of the publication.

Valentine Cadieux, director of environmental studies and sustainability, was the creator of an installation called Making the Best of It: Dandelion at Northern Spark, an all-night public art and food event on June 10, 2017.

Kathy Burleson, senior lecturer in biology, presented a workshop at the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society (HAPS) annual conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Drawing upon his experience as the mayor of St. Paul, Professor Jim Scheibel wrote a piece published in MinnPost about the federal budget and its effect on the Twin Cities.

Gaith Hijazin presented as a panelist at the Mid-Year Apartment Update Student and Affordable Housing Summit. He presented on living learning communities and spoke about the experience of international students.

A review of Professor Valentine Cadieux's work in the new book "Conversations in Food Studies" has just been published in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development.

Yali You, professor of music from the College of Liberal Arts, recently returned from five weeks of artistic and scholarly activities in China during her sabbatical in the spring semester.

The Midway Como Monitor published an article about the new Math and Coding Literacy Project with lessons designed by Hamline University faculty and being taught by Hamline University students at Hamline Elementary.

Valerie Chepp, professor of sociology and social justice, recently published an article titled “Equity-Minded High-Impact Learning: A Short-Term Approach to Student-Faculty Collaborative Research.”

Hamline physics students Ray Culp and Seth Rice and faculty member Dr. Lifeng Dong, Malmstrom Endowed Chair in Physics, presented their research using superhydrophobic surfaces to repel snow from solar panels at the National Sustainable Design Expo in May in Washington, D.C. 

David Berg, professor in the School of Business, was interviewed on KARE 11 TV about the impact of a new proposed import tax.

Assistant Professor of Environmental and STEM Education Patty Born presented a workshop at the Morton Arboretum's conference of the Northern Illinois Nature Preschool Association. Her workshop was entitled "How nature play supports the development of STEM thinking skills."

Curt Lund, assistant professor of digital media arts, presented on a panel at Nouveau Reach, an inaugural Critical Luxury Studies conference held at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario.

Assistant Professor of Mathematics Sayonita Ghosh Hajra receives the Hamline University Community Social Justice Award presented from the Wesley Center for Spirituality, Service, and Social Justice.

School of Business alumna Nicole Kutsi and Professor Kris Norman Major co-wrote a piece that was published in the Minnesota Cities Magazine titled Women In Public Service: Can We Close the Gap?

At the 2017 Commencement ceremony on May 20, Hamline will honor two distinguished individuals who have devoted their careers to fighting for equality and the rights of others. The 2017 honorary degree recipients are former Ambassador James C. Hormel who will receive the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at the undergraduate ceremony, and Sharon P. Robinson, president and CEO of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, who will receive the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at the graduate ceremony.

Hamline University and Hamline political science professor David Schultz, noted expert on elections, politics, and public policy, announced the selection of Red Wing, Minnesota and Willmar, Minnesota as the first two Minnesota cities which will host a unique new effort called Community Assemblies.

Studio arts professor Allison Baker's solo exhibition, Lost Bread, opened at Inverhills Community College. The exhibition runs through July 7, 2017.

Rachel Endo, a faculty member in the School of Education, led and presented at the American Educational Research Association's annual conference in San Antonio, Texas.

On Wednesday, April 26, more than 70 faculty, staff, and students attended the 2017 Hedgeman Honors and Awards ceremony which recognized excellence in academics, leadership, and service.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, the Dean of Students Office is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2017 John Wesley Leadership and Service Award for Students and the 2017 John Wesley Trustee Award for Faculty and Staff.

Soon there will be a new place to do your library research: CLICsearch. It's in the final stages of data migration, with an anticipated go-live date of June 1, 2017. The CLIC libraries, of which Hamline is a nearly 50-year member, are migrating to this new system to provide leading-edge technology to their communities for finding, exploring, and accessing online and print materials. 

Hamline School of Business students Evelyn Baker, Remi Remney, and Sara Anthony assisted faculty member Jeannie Fox and her husband Matt Entenza in hosting a reception for the Icelandic ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Geir H. Haarde. Governor Dayton attended the reception and presented the ambassador with an official proclamation naming Sunday, April 23, 2017 as Iceland Day in Minnesota.

Religion Professor Deanna Thompson's latest book, The Virtual Body of Christ in a Suffering World, will be the featured book on Syndicate, a forum for scholars interested in not merely reviewing new work in the humanities but engaging it in substantive and diaological ways. Starting on Monday, April 24, 2017, Syndicate will host a symposium on The Virtual Body of Christ that will run for five weeks.

Jim Scheibel, Hamline School of Business professor of practice and former Saint Paul mayor, writes for the MinnPost on why National Service should be expanded and not ended. You can read the full article on MinnPost's website.

Jason Sole, adjunct instructor in the Criminal Justice Department, spoke at the Urban Affairs Association (UAA) Annual Conference during their opening plenary session titled Pursuing Regional Equity in the Twin Cities on Thursday, April 20 in Minneapolis. Sole is also the president of the Minneapolis Chapter of the NAACP.

Join Hamline School of Business on Friday, April 21 for the fifth annual Community Economic Development Symposium, Itasca to the Bayou - Economic Development along the Mississippi. This day-long event is a powerful convergence of experts who have enacted real change along America's most prominent riverfront. Please register online.

Adjunct School of Education Professor Jeff Ridlehoover was named assistant superintendent of instruction for Mounds View Public Schools. Dr. Ridlehoover was also recently selected as the Minnesota High School Principal of the Year by the Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principals. 

On Wednesday, April 12, Professor of Philosophy Gary Gabor presented the paper Ammonius and Boethius on Porphyry at the American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division, Annual Conference. Gabor also organized two sessions on late antique philosophy, with presentations by faculty from Syracuse University, the University of Michigan, St. Olaf College, and Trinity University.

A group of 36 Hamline students are in Memphis, Tennessee to present their collaborative research at the 31st annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR). Students present original research with topics spanning across a variety of disciplines and programs, from social justice to business, and biology to history.

Hamline School of Business professor of practice, and former Saint Paul mayor, Jim Scheibel recently wrote an opinion piece for the St. Paul Pioneer Press about some good questions that voters could ask the city's mayoral candidates. The column frames the questions based on how the next mayor could build on the successes of six of the city's previous mayors.

Valerie Chepp, assistant professor of sociology and social justice, was invited to deliver the 11th annual Torstenson Lecture in Sociology at Augsburg College on April 5, 2017. She presented her research on youth activism and spoken word poetry. 

Hamline University and the Midway Public Art Working Group are excited to announce three finalists to create the new Snelling Avenue Mural: Lee Blauersouth, Ilana Budenosky, and Sarah Lentz. The selection committee will choose the final artist and the muralist will be announced later in April. 

A group of Hamline University students, Amber Alme, Greta Lapcinski, Abigail Thompson, and Patrick Woods, presented to an audience of faculty and staff at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Along with Sociology Professor Máel Embser-Herbert and Caroline Hilk, Center for Teaching and Learning, the students shared their experience learning abroad while in Rwanda in May 2016, including perspectives on the genocide memorials, reconciliation efforts, and organizations that were improving human health and wellness. 

Religion Professor Mark Berkson gave two talks at Zion Lutheran Church on March 27 and April 3.  The first lecture was entitled The Changing Religious Landscape of America, and the second lecture was entitled Borderless Religion: Hinduism and Buddhism in America.

Criminal Justice Professor Jillian Peterson was invited to provide a half-day training seminar at the National Homicide Investigator Conference in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Professor Peterson presented her recent research on how social media is influencing violent crime and murder.

Hamline's Communication Studies and Certificate in International Journalism students Hibo Ahmed, Corey Jolma, and Elena Deeter presented their media research at the University of St. Thomas' 26th Annual Undergraduate Communication Research Conference on Friday, March 31.

Minnesota Campus Compact has announced Hamline's winners of the Presidents' Student Leadership Award, Presidents' Civic Engagement Award, and Presidents' Community Partner Award. These awards recognize effective leaders in the development of campus-community partnerships. Hamline's award winners are Farhiya Ali, the Sexual Violence Prevention Task Force, and Tom Fitzpatrick.

Professor Aida Audeh, art history, presented her paper, Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio: The Tre Corone as Model of Creative Influence and Collaboration, in a panel organized by the Dante Society of America at the 63rd Annual Renaissance Society of America Conference held in Chicago on March 30-April 1, 2017.

On Power of One Day last November, the Center for Global Environmental Education's (CGEE's) Tracy Fredin and John Shepard pledged to paddle the Mississippi River in a blizzard if CGEE met its fundraising goal of $1,500. That goal was not only met, but exceeded. Watch Fredin and Shepard paddle against the elements in the video here.

The Center for Teaching and Learning will hold hold a Faculty Institutional Review Board (IRB) training session on April 6, 2017 from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in Bush Memorial Library Room 205. Students interested in conducting human research studies must receive approval through Faculty Institutional Review Board (IRB). Members of the IRB Committee will provide guidelines for conducting research with human participants, and show you how to submit a proposal to the IRB.

Political Science Professor Ozkececi-Taner's article, Disintegration of the 'Strategic Depth' Doctrine and Turkey's Troubles in the Middle East, is forthcoming in the journal titled Contemporary Islam. The journal provides insights into the contemporary dynamics of Muslim life by focusing on questions concerning ordinary aspects of everyday life of Muslims as well as more systemic concerns

To kick off networking and interviewing season, Hamline University's Student Alumni Board, Alumni Relations Office, and Career Development Center hosted its annual three-course etiquette dinner for Hamline students in March 2016. The event is designed to give  college students a competitive edge during business networking and social dining engagements. Students learn etiquette skills during a real-world networking opportunity.   

Hamline Library's head of resource and acquisition management, Frances Singh, along with several colleagues from other Cooperating Libraries in Consortium (CLIC), presented research titled How can a Consortium of Small Libraries with Modest Budgets Maintain our Commitment to Shared Resources in an eBook Environment? at the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) national conference in Baltimore, MD.

Assistant Professor of Environmental and STEM Education Patty Born has published a new book titled Teaching STEM Outdoors. The book aims to help educators and others who work with children to better understand and support the thinking skills and practices associated with science, technology, engineering, and math. It also illustrates the many ways to use nature as a context for learning STEM.

David Schultz, political science professor, wrote on the battle to repeal and replace ObamaCare for The Huffington Post. In the article, Schultz breaks down the new House bill and the impact it could have. Reach the article on The Huffington Post's website.

Assistant Professor Bill Lindquist, School of Education, had the chapter, Exploring Simple Machines with Creative Movement, published in Cases on STEAM Education in Practice. The chapter was in collaboration with two colleagues who share a case of K-6 students as active agents in a dynamic model using creative movement to bring meaning to the science of simple machines. 

Religion Professor Deanna Thompson's latest book, The Virtual Body of Christ in a Suffering World, was the featured book review in the March 15 edition of The Christian Century, a national publication with close to 40,000 subscribers. 

David Schultz, political science professor, recently spoke on government reform at the Ministry of the Interior in Lithuania.   

Hamline University President Fayneese Miller spoke to the Midway Como Monitor about her experiences and observations following the shooting death of Philando Castile, and her work with Hamline's Center for Justice and Law, the St. Paul Foundation, and The Circle of Peace Movement to create the community conversation forum What Would Justice Look Like? The upcoming community dialogue will be held on March 15, 5:30-9 p.m. in Klas Center. 

The Diversity Initiatives Steering Committee (DISC) is eager to share some important work undertaken by the committee related to strengthening diversity and inclusive excellence at the university. The work on the recent Diversity Climate Assessment, inclusive of focus groups and a survey on feedback from members of the university community, has resulted in a report and a set of recommendations that has been shared with the campus.  

The Center for Global Environmental Education (CGEE) in the School of Education was awarded a second grant of $457,000 from the Minnesota Department of Education's Math and Science Partnership Program to continue its innovate work in science teacher training. This brings the total grant amount for this two-phase project to $907,000.

Assistant Professor Jae Hwan Lee was awarded a scholarship to attend the Organizational Behavior Teaching Society's 2017 Early Educator Institute and Teaching Conference at Providence College. OBTC aims to enhance teaching and learning initiatives across management disciplines. Professor Lee teaches in Hamline's Marketing, Management, and Public Administration Department.

After nearly 13 years at Hamline University, Dean of Students Alan Sickbert has announced he will retire on June 30, 2017. Learn more about his accomplishments during his tenure at Hamline.

Dr. Craig Waldron, lecturer and co-director of the Center for Public Administration and Leadership, was interviewed and quoted in Minnesota Cities Magazine. Waldron discussed the reasons millennials are not running for local elected offices or volunteering for commissions in very large numbers. View the original article here. 

Hamline School of Business Assistant Professor Stacie Bosley was invited to present her research, Judgment and Decision-Making in a Pyramid Scheme Experiment, at the Agricultural and Applied Research Seminar at the University of Minnesota.

Stuart Robbins-Butcher has just joined Hamline as the associate director of the Global Engagement Center. Robbins-Butcher comes to Hamline with ten years of experience in higher education and international education from previous positions at Harvard University and the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management.

Coordinator of Religious and Spiritual Life Programs Nur Mood was recently part of the panel on The Feast of St. Scholastica, reflecting on its Benedictine values. Also on the panel were Duluth Mayor Emily Larson, Board of Trustees Chair Chris Dolan, and Religion Department Professor Gary Boelhower. Nur Mood is an alumnus of the College of Scholastica and serves on their Board of Directors' Alumni Relations.   

Professor of chemistry Deanna O'Donnell was invited to present at the Minnesota Society of the Archaeological Institute of America about the work she performs with undergraduate students titled "What is Glass Bead Disease?: A study of the Fort Union Trade Bead Collection".

Professor Ozkececi-Taner's chapter, titled Stages in Foreign Policy Making, is forthcoming in Encyclopedia of Foreign Policy Analysis.

Assistant Professor of Psychology Erik Asp will be published in Forensic Scholars Today with Jerrod Brown and other colleagues. The article presents an introduction of Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome (WKS) to criminal justice and legal professionals.

In January, Jeannie Fox, professor of practice and director of nonprofit management in the School of Business, was invited to join the board of GTS Educational Events, a primary provider of government training and events. She was asked to join particularly because of her cross-sector experience in both the public and nonprofit sectors.  

Read the new issue of It's Academic which features a list of all things new: digitized historical and cultural collections, a research guide on the new MLA style, Lynda.com videos, and a book display featuring works by Mahle Symposium participants.

Hamline's public administration programs build on an impressive track record of more than 30 years of preparing dedicated public servants who make important decisions that influence all areas of the sector: public safety, transportation, education, utilities, food safety, public health, and environmental control. Recently, the success of public administration and criminal justice alumni in the public safety sector has been particularly evident on the statewide and even international stage.  

Assistant Professor Michelle Benegas, Second Language Teaching and Learning in the School of Education, was selected as the alumni representative (Ph.D., 2015) to participate in a delegation from the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota to Havana, Cuba. At 99.8%, Cuba has one of the highest literacy rates in the world. The delegation had the opportunity to learn about Cuba's 1961 literacy campaign as well as ongoing education initiatives. 

Assistant Professor Sayonita GhoshHajra from the Department of Mathematics received a Mansergh-Stuessy Fund for College Innovation grant for her project titled Curriculum for Addressing Math Anxiety through Service-Learning. GhoshHajra's project aims to provide opportunities for Hamline students to apply their learned mathematical concepts with children and thereby ground their own mathematical knowledge for a concrete mathematical foundation.

Hamline University Athletic Director Jason Verdugo has been appointed to the NCAA Division III Diversity and Inclusion Working Group. Verdugo, who has been athletic director at Hamline University since May 2012, is one of just four athletic directors on the 12-member committee who will work with members of the NCAA to increase diversity among student-athletes, coaches and athletic administrators.

Learn how to write a better résumé, become a project manager, or enhance your leadership skills. All Hamline students, faculty, and staff have access to Lynda.com, a tool that provides high-quality, professional video tutorials and training, which can supplement textbooks and classroom instruction, as well as give users the ability to develop new or enhance existing professional and creative skills. 

As the spring semester begins, Hamline University has been revitalizing and improving its sustainability efforts to foster engagement in environmentally-friendly practices and to make Hamline University better stewards of its resources. The senior leadership team has asked the Office of Facilities Planning and Management to develop a list of reduction strategies to decrease Hamline University's landfill waste output through cost-effective means. 

Hamline alumnae Elaina Hamann and Keyah Adams are candidates for the 2017 Aurora Queen of the Snows. The St. Paul Winter Carnival coronation is on January 27, 2017 during which time the queen, princesses, and other members of the royal family are selected.

The Office of Institutional Effectiveness posted the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) 2015-2016 results online.

Criminal Justice Professor Jillian Peterson published Cyber Violence: What do we know and where do we go from here? in the journal, Aggression and Violent Behavior. The article is the first comprehensive review of the literature on the relationship between social media and violence.

Kate Bjork, professor of history, was interviewed about Cuba on Frogtown Community Radio (WFNU 94.1 FM). In the interview, Bjork discussed the history of relations between the U.S. and Cuba, including the recent steps both countries have taken towards normalization. 

Assistant professors Sayonita Ghosh Hajra and Frank Shaw from the Department of Mathematics received a seed grant through the Math Teachers' Circle Network of the American Institute of Mathematics (AIM). They are starting Saint Paul Elementary Math Teachers' Circle (MTC), one of the first in the Twin Cities for elementary teachers. 

In order to best keep our community notified in the event of inclement weather or an emergency situation, please make sure your contact information is up-to-date in Piperline under the Hamline Alert tab.

Each year, President Miller has the opportunity to nominate one student leader for Campus Compact's Newman Civic Fellows Award. Sophomores and juniors are preferred but all are welcome to be nominated. Deadline for applications is Friday, February 10 by 5pm.  

The Hamline Midway area is now home to a new, arts immersive community gathering space: Can Can Wonderland thanks to the creativity and innovation of Hamline School of Business Master of Public Administration (MPA) alumna Jennifer Pennington.

Jack Serier '90 is the new sheriff of Ramsey County, Minnesota. Sheriff Serier replaces another Hamline alumnus, Sheriff Matt Bostrom DPA '03, who recently announced he would retire in order to continue his research about police hiring practices at the University of Oxford.

A poster proposal from Wyatt A. Ehlke '16 and Sayonita Ghosh Hajra, assistant professor of mathematics, was accepted for the 20th Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (RUME 2017) in February in San Diego. Their poster is entitled Calculus Students' Meanings for Average Rate of Change. Ehlke graduated from Hamline in 2016 with degrees in mathematics and education. He is currently a Master of Arts in Education at Hamline University.

Craig Waldron, lecturer and co-director of the Center for Public Administration and Leadership, was recently interviewed and quoted by the StarTribune regarding the causes for the anti-incumbent voting in this last local election cycle. Additionally, Dr. Waldron had an article published in the Minnesota City /County Managers Association newsletter about observations during his 41 years of public service. 

Valerie Chepp, professor of sociology and social justice, recently published an article titled Activating Politics with Poetry and Spoken Word. You can read the article in the fall 2016 edition of Contexts.

Pipers come from many states. Find out which ones and other interesting data in the January issue of Institutional Effectiveness' Monthly Stat. 

Juan Grimaldo graduated from Hamline in 1990 with a double major in communication studies and French and later returned to Hamline to earn his Master of Arts in Management. His career has been diverse in terms of work and geography, and he is currently the senior press information specialist for the U.S. embassy in Bogota.

Dr. Andy Rundquist, professor of physics, and Dr. Mike Reynolds, professor of English, have been appointed to the positions of associate dean of undergraduate programs of the College of Liberal Arts and associate dean of graduate programs of the College of Liberal Arts, respectively.

Hamline students studying in Cambodia and Thailand during J-term are blogging about their experiences. You can follow the students' adventures and studies online.

A project proposal that Wyatt A. Ehlke '16 worked on with Sayonita Ghosh Hajra, assistant professor of mathematics, was recently accepted to the Twentieth Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (RUME 2017). Ehlke graduated with his bachelor's in mathematics and education, and is now attending Hamline to earn his Master's Degree in Education.

MinnPost recently published an article by School of Business Professor of Practice Jim Scheibel entitled What would you like to hear on Inauguration Day?. The article is a compilation of excerpts from papers on that topic written by students in Scheibel's first year seminar on the 2016 presidential election.

School of Education Professor Letitia Basford's article has been published in the Action in Teacher Education journal. The article, titled Preventing the Shut-Down: Embodied Critical Care in a Teacher Educator's Practice, explores the practice of one teacher educator to understand how she mitigates student resistance to prevent what is called "the shut-down" when teaching mostly white students about systemic forms of oppression. 

Emily Gustafson has joined the staff of the Wesley Center as a communications administrative assistant. A graduate of Macalester College, Gustafson brings to Hamline an innovative and keen sense of design, social media skills, and commitment to mentoring students. 

Former Hamline President Charles Graham passed away after a brief illness on Friday, December 23 in Minneapolis. Graham was a distinguished university educator and administrator in Minnesota and Wisconsin who served as the 16th president of Hamline from 1981-1987.

Making Waves participated in Project X, a collaborative effort of the Brooklyn Center Community School, the YMCA, and the Brooklyn Center Police Department, to conduct a series of workshops called Engaging Community and Police in Social Justice Theatre: How do we create conversation about police brutality and violence in our communities? How do we improve interactions with police and young people of color?