Alumni News and Notes
Meredith DeBoom
Sibley, Iowa
Meredith DeBoom, a UI senior, is one of 65 students from 55 U.S. colleges and universities who have been selected for the 2008 Truman Scholarship.
DeBoom, an honors student who is majoring in political science in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) and international studies in CLAS and International Programs, hopes to specialize in energy and environmental policy in her future career. She is also a founding member of the UI Civic Analysis Network, a nonpartisan policy research center for the Iowa Legislature. She has served as a teaching assistant, a sorority president, a three-term student government senator, and a founding member of a campus community service group. DeBoom has studied foreign policy in Russia and is currently an intern in the EPA’s Climate Change Division.
The 65 Scholars were selected from among 595 candidates nominated by 283 colleges and universities. Each selection panel interviewed finalists from regions composed of three or four states and generally elected one scholar from each state and one at-large scholar from the region. Each panel typically included a university president, a federal judge, a distinguished public servant and a past Truman Scholarship winner. DeBoom worked closely with the University of Iowa Honors Program in preparing her scholarship application.
Each Truman Scholarship provides up to $30,000 for graduate study. Scholars also receive priority admission and supplemental financial aid at some premier graduate institutions, leadership training, career and graduate school counseling, and special internship opportunities within the federal government. Recipients must be U.S. citizens, have outstanding leadership potential and communication skills, be in the top quarter of their class, and be committed to careers in government or the not-for-profit sector.
Congress established the Truman Scholarship Foundation in 1975 as the federal memorial to the 33rd U.S. president. The foundation awards scholarships for college students to attend graduate school in preparation for careers in government or elsewhere in public service. The activities of the foundation are supported by a special trust fund in the U.S. Treasury. There have been 2,610 Truman Scholars elected since the first awards were made in 1977.
Meredith Good
Iowa City, Iowa
Meredith Good, a 2006 graduate of the master’s program in interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis in international studies is currently completing her Master’s of Public Health (MPH) in epidemiology at the University of Iowa. Good is also working as a graduate assistant at the Center for International Rural and Environmental Health. After Good completes the MPH, she will begin the post-baccalaureate pre-medical program at Johns Hopkins University in September 2008 and hopes to apply to medical school.
Erin Strait & Naveen Kumar Kempaiah
Oxford, Iowa and Bangalore, India
Erin Strait and Naveen Kumar Kempaiah, with parents Steven and Juanita Strait, and Smt. S. Nagarathna and Sri S. Kempaiah, accompanied by sisters Tara Strait and Divya Kempaiah with husband Rakesh married on March 24, 2008 in Bangalore, India with an Iowa reception following in the summer. The couple had a traditional Arya Samaj wedding, poolside reception at the Bowring Institute of Bangalore, and honeymooned at the Leela Resort of Kovalum Beach, Kerala.
“It was an amazing experience full of life, rich culture, and a strong family union,” Strait said. “With all the beauty of touring Bangalore, Mysore, and the awe-inspiring ruins of Hampi, only a wedding could create a more perfect and unforgettable family adventure!”
Strait graduated with a bachelor’s degree in international studies in 2006. She is originally from Oxford, Iowa. Kempaiah graduated from Mangalore University in 2000 and is originally from Bangalore, India.
Josiah and Chenoa Alamu
Coralville, Iowa
Josiah and Chenoa Alamu welcomed a new baby to their family. Baby Jonathan was born on Nov. 22, 2007 – Thanksgiving Day. Josiah, originally from Nigeria, is a doctoral student studying epidemiology with a focus on infectious diseases in the UI College of Public Health. He is a past president of the African Student Association (ASA) and the Organization for Active support of International Students (OASIS). Chenoa is a doctoral student in the School of Music and Musicology.
Eamonn Reider
Chicago, Illinois
Eamonn Reider (B.A. ‘06) has been accepted to participate in the 2008-2009 Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals, a study- and work-abroad program. Seventy-five participants were chosen from an applicant pool of nearly 500. Reider participated in the UI’s exchange program with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Universitaet in Frankfurt during the 2004-05 academic year.
Entering its 25th year, the CBYX program is made possible due to the ongoing support of the United States Congress and the German Bundestag since the program’s inception in 1983. Participants must be between the ages of 18 and 24 at the start of the program, and must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Applicants do not need to be enrolled in a college or university, but should have well-defined career goals with related work/internship experience, flexibility, good communication skills, diplomacy, and a strong sense of American identity. Previous knowledge of German is not required but strongly recommended. The program is designed primarily for young adults in business, technical, engineering, agricultural, and vocational fields, though candidates in all fields are eligible.
Mark Salisbury
Stillwater, Minnesota
Mark Salisbury, a graduate student in the University of Iowa College Education and former International Programs graduate assistant was awarded the Association of International Education Administrators’ (AIEA) Harold Josephson Award for Professional Promise in International Education.
The AIEA presents the Josephson Award each year to a graduate student at a member institution that demonstrates leadership in international education through graduate study and research.
Salisbury was the co-principal researcher for the University of Iowa’s internationalization assessment project that began in the fall of 2006, in conjunction with the UI’s participation in the American Council on Education’s (ACE) Internationalization Laboratory. During this time, Salisbury examined how international activities on campus can lead to a more globally aware, interculturally proficient campus community. Along with Diana Davies, then-director of UI International Programs, he developed and analyzed surveys of UI faculty and staff to make recommendations emphasizing the importance of internationalization at the university.
Salisbury is currently a research assistant at the Center for Research on Undergraduate Education in the UI College of Education and is pursuing a doctorate in student affairs administration and research. He is currently researching the reasons students choose to study abroad. His colleagues in the study are assistant professor Paul Umbach and professor Mike Paulsen of the College of Education and the Higher Education Program in the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership Studies. The research is part of a Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education (WNSLAE) study, which investigates critical factors that affect the outcomes of liberal arts education.