Grand Valley is a gold sponsor of Grand Rapids Film Festival, which runs Wednesday, May 15, through Sunday, May 19. Billed as the area’s only family and culture-centered film festival, it draws thousands of movie lovers, film enthusiasts and students for film screenings and educational workshops.



Film screenings at Grand Valley’s Loosemore Auditorium and the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts will run concurrently, beginning May 16 at 5:30 p.m. Additional screenings are held each day of the festival, though times vary. Workshops are held each day at various venues, and the Awards Ceremony will be at Loosemore May 17, starting at 7 p.m. For a complete schedule and ticket information, visit http://www.grfilmfestival.com. Printed copies of the festival program are also available in the School of Communications office at Grand Valley.



Several School of Communications faculty members are involved in the festival. Associate Professor John Harper Philbin is part of the executive festival staff and will be part of a free production workshopon May 18 beginning at 11 a.m. He is also moderating an educational panel about film distributionon May 18 at 2 p.m., which includes Associate Professor John Schmit. Assistant Professor Marie Ullrich served on the festival film jury.

 

Pictured are graduates who earned top honors from the Biomedical Sciences department.

The Biomedical Sciences department honored its top students recently.



Fourteen students earned Graduates of Distinction honors. To qualify for this honors, students must have a minimum GPA of 3.5, be nominated and sponsored by a Biomedical Sciences faculty member, and submit supporting documentation that details their academic career.



Pictured from left to right are Eric Sesselmann, Christopher Scheiber, Jordan Maxey, Alexandra Gabrielli, Matthew McRae, Kayla Myers, department chair Tony Nieuwkoop, Katie Whittington, Danyelle O’Dell, CLAS Dean Fred Antczak, Amy Jenkins, Ibrahim Al Shaikh Dawood, Ryan Farley, Chris Casterline and Lindsay Stoyka. Not pictured is Trevor Armstrong.

 

Aubrey McMahan

Grand Valley State University alumna Aubrey McMahan has been selected for a prestigious nationally competitive scholarship offered through the U.S. Department of State. 

McMahan will spend summer 2013 in Oman studying Arabic through the U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship. 

She is one of approximately 600 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students who earned a scholarship from the CLS program in 2013. As part of the program, McMahan will spend between seven and 10 weeks in intensive language institutes in Oman. 

The CLS program is part of a U.S. government effort to dramatically expand the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages. It provides fully funded, group-based intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences. CLS program participants are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship and apply their critical language skills in their future professional careers. 

McMahan received assistance in applying for nationally competitive awards from Amanda Cuevas in the Frederik Meijer Office of Fellowships. McMahan also was named a 2011 Truman Scholar Finalist.

“Aubrey McMahan is deserving of this opportunity that will bring her one step closer to fulfilling her career goals.” Cuevas said, “Spending the summer as a Critical Language Scholar will be essential to helping her hone the language skills she will need to serve in this region of the world in the future. She aspires to be a leader in the U.S. foreign service and I look forward to seeing the contributions she will make in the years ahead.”

Finalists for the 2013 CLS program hail from all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington D.C. and represent more than 200 institutions of higher education. CLS program participants are among the more than 40,000 academic and professional exchange program participants supported annually by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to promote mutual understanding and respect between the people of the United States and other countries. 

For more information on nationally competitive fellowships and scholarships, visit gvsu.edu/fellowships or contact Amanda Cuevas, cuevasam@gvsu.edu.

 

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Left to right, School of Communications faculty members Joseph McCargar (sound designer), and John Harper Philbin (director) are joined by actor Michael McCallum to accept the Eclipse Award for their film Message Sent.

Two films from Grand Valley State University won an Eclipse Award for production excellence, presented during the April 19 ceremony at the Grand Rapids Art Museum.



The Eclipse Award is presented by WKTV with the West Michigan Film Video Alliance to honor the best regional works in film, video, sound and television production. All entries were reviewed and winners were selected by a panel of film professionals as judges. 



Both films were produced by Grand Valley’s annual Summer Film Project, founded in 1995, to bring students, faculty and industry professionals together on the production of a film. “Horizontal Accidents” was directed in 2010 by Tom Seidman, a film professional from Los Angeles, and son of the late L. William Seidman, founder of Grand Valley.



“Message Sent” was directed in 2011 by John Harper Philbin, associate professor in Grand Valley’s School of Communications, and a filmmaker who has worked in Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles as an editor, producer, director, writer and camera operator. The film was also recently named Best Drama Short Film at the 14th Annual Bare Bones International Film Festival 2013 in Muskogee, Oklahoma. This festival is dedicated to screening feature motion picture projects with budgets less than $1 million. For more information, visit http://www.theeclipseaward.com.



Grand Valley’s 2013 Summer Film Project will be directed by award-winning filmmaker Marie Ullrich, from Chicago, an assistant professor in the School of Communications. Her short film “Faster!” has screened internationally at juried film festivals and is available on iTunes and Amazon. Ullrich’s new Summer Film Project features a female protagonist. More details will be announced in June.

 

Alex Brennar, left, gives Andrew Grozenski instructions during a suture clinic at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.

Students in Grand Valley's Pre-Med Club had an opportunity to practice sutures during a clinic at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, in Grand Rapids.



Pictured are (seated) Andrew Grozenski, who will apply for medical school in the fall of 2014. Giving instructions is Alex Brennar, a GVSU graduate who was among the first students admitted to MSU-CHM through the Early Assurance Program Grand Valley has with MSU.



Debra Burg, associate professor of biomedical sciences, worked with the Grand Valley students to prepare them for the clinic.

 

More than 40 graduate students will be honored with Graduate Dean’s Citation Awards at the Graduate Student Celebration April 19 in Loosemore Auditorium on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus. The students are being recognized for outstanding academic performance.



Graduate students can be nominated by faculty and staff, advisors, a graduate program director, a department chair or a school director. The nominees are reviewed by Jeffrey Potteiger, dean of Graduate Studies, in consultation with others involved in graduate education; final selection is made by the dean. Each recipient is given a certificate of recognition and a graduate honors cord to be worn at commencement Saturday, April 27.



College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

•    Tamara L. Hillman, biology 

•    Kevin D. Deemter, biostatistics 

•    Lacey L. LaFave, cell and molecular biology 

•    April D. Best, English    



 Outstanding Master’s Thesis

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

•    Maisoun O. Al-sebaei, communications 

•    Pauline Bleuse, English 





Outstanding Master’s Final Project



College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

•    Julie E. Batty, biology 

•    Jaimie M. Pineda, cell and molecular biology 

•    Laura J. Hill, communications





Excellence in Service to the Community or Profession  



College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

•    Ehren R. Dueweke, cell and molecular biology 

•    Tyler J. Richardson, cell and molecular biology 

•    Jennifer L. Furner, English    







Excellence in Leadership and Service to GVSU



College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

•    Charlotte S. Barth, biostatistics  

•    Jennifer L. Furner, English    









 

 

Andrea Fleming took second place. Photo courtesy of Opera Grand Rapids.

Two Grand Valley vocal music students were among the nine who made it to the Opera Grand Rapids’ annual Collegiate Vocal Competition Final Round Concert April 14 at the Betty Van Andel Opera Center. 



A record number of students entered this year’s competition preliminary round in March, including Grand Valley finalists Emalie Huber and Andrea Fleming. The annual event provides an opportunity for the finest student vocalists being trained full-time at Greater Grand Rapids area colleges and universities to compete in a professional competition and to be recognized for excellence by a professional opera company. 



Entrants to the competition were required to perform two arias in differing styles, languages, and composers from an opera or operetta.



Fleming, a mezzo soprano, took second place with her performance of “Non so piú cosa son” from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and “Seeräuber Jenny” from Weill’s Die Dreigroschenoper. In the same competition last year, she took third place.

 

Huber, a soprano, performed “Non disperar” from Handel’s Giulio Cesare and “Elle a fui, la tourterelle” from Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffman. She was recently awarded the Opera Grand Rapids Betty VanAndel Scholarship, which promotes opera in West Michigan by encouraging people who have distinguished themselves as exceptional candidates to pursue continuing education and development in an opera-related field.

 

Chelsea Helm, of Western Michigan University, claimed first place, and Hope College’s Jenna Buck took third place.

Dr. Janet H. Vail (AWRI) has been selected as the winner and recipient of the 2013 Jack Vallentyne Award.

Robert Letcher, on behalf of the IAGLR Awards, Conference and Outreach Committees, and the IAGLR Board of Directors IAGLR formally recognized Janet, Vail stating, "your important and sustained efforts to inform and educate the public and policymakers on Great Lakes issues, and as a consequence, raising awareness and support for Great Lakes protection and restoration."  

 

Dr. Vail  will be formally presented the Jack Vallentyne Award at the IAGLR 2013 Awards Banquet at the 56th Annual Conference on Great Lakes Research (IAGLR 2013) that will be held June 2-6, 2013, on the campus of Purdue University, in West Lafayette, IN.

 

“Listen to your critics, but not all of them,” said Brandon Solano, vice president of franchise development at Domino’s Pizza. Solano was the featured speaker for the Peter F. Secchia Breakfast Lecture April 16 in the DeVos Center, sponsored by the Seidman College of Business.



Solano, who received a bachelor’s degree in public relations from Grand Valley in 1994, was the mastermind behind the need for a recipe change for Domino’s Pizza. He was hired by Domino’s in 2008 when the company was tied in a consumer poll with Chucky Cheese for last place for taste.

“We needed to listen to our customers and our critics; they were saying they didn’t like the taste of our pizza,” said Solano. “We knew we needed to change so we spent two years and $1 million dollars changing a 50-year-old recipe. A lot of science went into this.”



Solano said the company became transparent with its customers in all areas: ingredients, taste, delivery and price. “We took a risk making innovative television commercials showing what our customers didn’t like about our product,” he explained, “but we got a high return. We showed the changes we were making and then went back to our critics with our improved product. We tracked down people from the focus groups and had them taste our new pizza. We showed all of it in a TV commercial.”



Domino’s wasn’t prepared for the response, Solano said. Stores were running out of pizza and didn’t have enough workers to handle all the new business. He said new employees were hired and new restaurants were built as quickly as possible.



“Our sales blew up and we were quickly number one,” he said. “I learned a lot from this experience and often tell others, you have to be willing to sacrifice who you are for who you could become.”



Solano said Grand Valley gave him the foundation and background for his career and success. He said he worked in Housing while he a student at Grand Valley and was part of the Latino Student Union.





 

About 150 students, faculty and staff members attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Science Laboratory Building, April 15, on the Allendale Campus. The 151,000-square-foot, four-story building will be located on Campus Drive next to the Fieldhouse, just south of the Rec Center.

President Thomas J. Haas said the state’s investment in the project shows lawmakers believe in and have confidence in the university.  “State support for this building is validation that Grand Valley is a vibrant, stable and forward-looking university that creates a learning environment for our students to succeed," said Haas. "This new building will help us continue to attract talented students in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and health professions fields.”



Provost Gayle Davis said the building can’t open soon enough. “We have needed this new building for quite a while,” said Davis. “We have 82 undergraduate programs and 30 graduate programs, and about 40 of them touch on the STEM and health professions in some way.”



Katie Carlson, the former vice president of Educational Affairs for Student Senate and a biology major, said the new building will help students majoring in the sciences have inspiring moments like she has had. “Small class sizes are very important,” she said. “Grand Valley has helped me grow and develop in my field, and personal attention from faculty is crucial.”



Also taking part in the ceremony were Fred Antczak, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; Neil MacDonald, chair of the Biology Department; David Hooker, member of GVSU Board of Trustees; state Rep. Roger Victory, R-Holland; and  state Rep. Rob VerHeulen, R-Walker.



The building will feature nine classrooms, 15 teaching laboratories, 14 faculty and student research laboratories, study spaces, offices and a greenhouse. 



The $55 million dollar facility will receive $30 million from the state. The university will bond the $25 million needed to complete the project; no tuition money will be needed for the building.

 

Construction will begin in July and will create 950 temporary construction jobs; the target move-in date is fall 2015.



DOWNLOADABLE AUDIO:

President Haas said the state’s investment in the project shows lawmakers believe in and have confidence in the university (audio).

Provost Davis said the new Science Lab Building can't open soon enough (audio).

Our new Speech Lab is receiving national recognition. Two undergraduate speech consultants and the Faculty Director will travel to Greensboro, NC this weekend for the National Communication Association annual convention. This is Grand Valley’s first showing at the event. Our two student

participants, Brandan Bilski (junior, Philosophy & Economics major) and Bridgett Vanderhoof (senior, Theatre major) have been nominated for “Outstanding Student Paper” awards and will present their work at the convention. The Lab’s faculty Director, Dr. Danielle Leek, was nominated for the Joyce Ferguson “Outstanding Faculty Paper” award and will also present her paper at the convention.

Details about the convention are available online at:

http://speakingcenter.uncg.edu/nacc/2013/program.php

 

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Grand Valley Chamber Orchestra will tour London

The Grand Valley Chamber Orchestra will perform three concerts in London during the first week of May. A local Sendoff Concert, open to the public with free admission, will be performed at Park Church,10 East Park Place NE, Grand Rapids, Sunday, April 28, at 3 p.m. 



While in London the students will perform at Kingston University, the London College of Music and, as part of the Notting Hill Chamber Music Series at St. John’s Church. The performance tour is a result of the ongoing partnership between Grand Valley and Kingston University. 



“This is the first European tour of the Chamber Orchestra,” said conductor Henry Duitman, director of orchestral activities at Grand Valley. “The 14 students have been working hard to rehearse a demanding program and to raise their portion of the trip’s expenses.” Additional encouragement and generous support is being provided by the Music Department, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Padnos International Center.



Duitman has selected a varied program which includes works by British composers William Boyce and Hubert Parry, as well as American composer John Corigliano and Swedish composer Dag Wirén. Pablo Mahave-Veglia, Grand Valley associate professor of music, will also be traveling and performing with the orchestra. His cello solos will include a concerto by Italian composer Luigi Boccherini and a contemporary tour de force by Chilean composer Andrés Alcalde entitled “Der Mondbach II.”



Through the encouragement of Grand Valley’s Padnos International Center, the music departments of Grand Valley and Kingston have completed several collaborations during the last three years. David Osbon, previously head of Collegiate Music at Kingston and a composer, has visited Grand Valley several times. In June 2011 Duitman and Grand Valley music faculty member Kevin Tutt visited Kingston and conducted their Chamber Orchestra. Most notably, under the guidance of Osbon, the two departments united with a music conservatory in The Hague and produced a ground-breaking webcast, “Bodies In Motion,” for the London Cultural Olympics in July 2012.

Monday, April 8, the university hosted the annual awards celebration. One of the awards given at the event is the Glenn A. Niemeyer Awards, which are the most prestigious academic awards presented by the university. They are given to two faculty members, two undergraduate students, and two full-time and two part-time graduate students. The awards are named for Glenn A. Niemeyer, who retired from the university in 2001 after 38 years of service, including serving as provost from 1980 through 2001. 

CLAS congratulates Professor Ed Aboufadel, Chair of Mathematics, for his 2013 Niemeyer!

Each year, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences recognizes the dedication and hard work of its faculty and staff. This year, the College honors:

CLAS Annual Faculty Service Award

Colleen Lewis, Associate Professor of Movement Science

CLAS Lifetime Faculty Service Award

Gabriela Pozzi, Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures

CLAS Administrative and Professional Service Award

Michelle DeWitt, Laboratory Supervisor