Tagged with "alumni"

Davorin Kempf (MA music ’90) recently retired from the University of Zagreb Academy of Music where he served as a full professor in the in the Department of Composition and Theory of Music. In 2006 Kempf earned his Ph.D from Freie Universität Berlin (doctoral dissertation: Symmetrie und Variation als kompositorische Prinzipien: Interdisziplinäre Aspekte, supervisor: Prof. Dr. Albrecht Riethmüller). Two years ago he became a full member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. An award-winning composer, Kempf’s work has been performed at concerts and festivals in more than a dozen countries including the United States.

As an architectural designer at Studio Joseph in New York City, Shuo Yang (BSE civil engineering ’14; BA art ’14) mainly works on projects in pavilions, exhibitions, and public spaces, like educational facilities and museums. Yang says the solid interdisciplinary education he received at the University of Iowa (UI) opened the door to and prepared him well for his dream career.

Jennie Wonderlin, a Des Moines native, graduated in 2018 from the University of Iowa. She is now a community healthcare worker at Primary Healthcare, Inc. and she gets to put into practice what she learned during her college career.

UI alum and world renowned opera singer Simon Estes was awarded the 2019 International Impact Award as part of this special program of WorldCanvass.

Brett Burk took his UI education to new heights, studying abroad, getting a Fulbright to Taiwan, and using what he learned to dedicate himself to helping others.

UI President Bruce Harreld will present the 2019 International Impact Award to internationally acclaimed opera singer Simon Estes in a public ceremony at the beginning of the November 21 WorldCanvass program. Following the presentation of the award, Estes will be interviewed by WorldCanvass host Joan Kjaer about his young life in Centerville, Iowa, his long and successful international operatic career, and the racism he faced in both the European and American contexts as his talents carried him to greater heights but his color often prevented consideration for stage appearances. This special event, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7 p.m., November 21, in the Recital Hall of the Voxman Music Building, on the corner of Burlington and Clinton Streets in Iowa City. All are invited to a pre-show reception from 6:30-7 p.m.

Lilian Sanchez, UI grad, is working for U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, a California Democrat running for president, to help the candidate connect with Latino voters in Iowa.

While Iowa City native Jennifer Yerkes (BA art ’93) stuck close to home for her undergraduate career at the University of Iowa, she took full advantage of study abroad experiences to expand her worldview. Those early study abroad experiences—one in Austria, another in Hungary—led to a lifetime of learning, living, and working abroad.

Pankaj Jain received a PhD in religious studies from the UI in 2008, and is currently associate professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at University of North Texas. He will feature in an episode of the third season of “The Story of God with Morgan Freeman” that airs on Tuesday, April 9th, 2019.

After receiving the October 2018 version of our International Alumni Quarterly E-Newsletter, Philip C. Campbell (PhD sociology ’70, MA sociology ’63) wrote in to share his experiences from over 50 years in international education.