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News Release
April 18, 2007
Boise State Alumni Association Names Top Ten Scholars
Next week, 10 of the best and brightest among Boise State’s Class of 2007 will
be honored by the Boise State Alumni Association at the university’s annual Top
Ten Scholars awards banquet. The event will be at 6 p.m. April 24 in the Student
Union. The banquet is open to the public. Tickets are available for $20 per
person by calling the Alumni Association at 426‑1698.
Top Ten Scholars are chosen from among the top 10 percent of Boise State’s
graduating class for 2006-07. They are selected based on academic performance,
recommendation from college deans and extracurricular and research activities.
Each student also honors a Boise State professor who was particularly
influential to his or her success. This year’s award winners, in alphabetical
order, and their honored professors are:
Kersti M. Harter
Kersti Harter, Boise, is an anthropology major with a Canadian Studies minor.
She is a recipient of numerous multi-year scholarships including the Brown Honor
Scholarship, Idaho Promise Category A Academic Scholarship, Boise State
President’s, anthropology and Canadian Studies scholarships. Harter served as a
research assistant for anthropology professor John Ziker, formulating electronic
bibliographic sources. Her student collaborations in the study of human
evolution resulted in presentations to the Human Behavior and Evolution Society.
While at Boise State she has held office positions in the Anthropology Club and
Honors Student Association as well as being inducted into the Founders
Leadership Society. Harter plans to continue her education to become a professor
in the hope of inspiring young people to study science.
Honored Faculty — Dr. John Ziker, assistant professor of anthropology
Kim Lock
Kim Lock, Meridian, is an English major with an emphasis on writing with a
certificate in technical writing. She has presented at the National
Undergraduate Literature Conference, Rocky Mountain Peer Tutoring Conference,
and the Sigma Tau Delta International Convention for three consecutive years.
Lock has served the Boise State chapter of Zeta Upsilon as president and
treasurer and served as a student representative for the Far Western Region of
Sigma Tau Delta. Locally she participated in the Log Cabin Literary Center
summer camp as an intern, teaching students the art of writing, revision and
oral presentation. Lock’s personal goals include helping those trapped in
poverty to improve their writing skills, and her career goal is to work as a
freelance technical communicator.
Honored Faculty — Dr. Jacqueline O’Connor, associate professor of English
Lisa L. McKinley
Lisa McKinley, Boise, is a psychology major who has conducted research in
alcohol, intimate partner violence and gender stereotypes while at Boise State.
Her work has resulted in professional presentations at the Midwestern
Psychological Association and three separate research presentations at the
Western Psychological Association. She earned a first-place and second-place
research award at the Psychology Research Forum and a regional research award
from Psi Chi National Honor Society. Her co-authored project “Adult attachment
as a risk factor for intimate partner violence: The ‘mispairing’ of partners’
attachment styles” is being reviewed by Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
McKinley plans to continue her education in psychology, develop her career in
school and social psychology, and continue to be involved in research.
Honored Faculty — Dr. Diana Doumas, assistant professor of psychology
Jamie Montgomery
Jamie Montgomery, Boise, is a biology major with an emphasis in human biology.
She is the recipient of the Idaho Network of Biomedical Research Excellence
Fellowship and the Excellence in Organic Chemistry Award. She served as a
research assistant and student researcher for the Boise State Chemistry
Department studying organic synthesis properties of synthesized natural products
and their usefulness as potential drugs — specifically in cancer treatments. Her
research has resulted in co-authored presentations at the 61st Northwest
Regional American Chemical Society Meeting and fifth annual Idaho Network
Biomedical Research Excellence conference. After Montgomery returns from
climbing Mount Aspiring in New Zealand to honor cancer survivors, she plans on
attending medical school, with the ultimate goal of practicing medicine in the
Northwest.
Honored Faculty — Dr. Don Warner, assistant professor of chemistry
Megan Penner
Megan Penner, Boise, is a health science studies major. She is a recipient of
the Dr. Ralph Jones Pre-Medical Summer Research Fellowship, Dr. Helen Been Man
Altrusa Memorial Scholarship, as well as numerous College of Health Sciences
scholarships. Penner has served as a research assistant at Boise State and
coordinator of research for the Idaho Neurological Institute at Saint Alphonsus
Regional Medical Center. Her presentations include “Sleep by Generations and
Cohorts: Illustrating Age Specificity” to the World Association of Sleep
Medicine Conference and “Nervous System Effects on Sleep Disorder Pathology”
presented at the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association 75th anniversary
meeting. Penner plans on enrolling in an M.D./Ph.D. program following
graduation, with the goal of investigating the treatment of neurological
disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.
Honored Faculty — Dr. Don Warner, assistant professor of chemistry
Cory Reche
Cory Reche, Boise, is an electrical engineering major. A non-traditional
student, Reche began his education after 10 years in the electronics field.
During that time he designed and presented a math and science career module for
Eagle High School. Reche also designed and demonstrated two K-12 exhibits for
the Discovery Center of Idaho that display fundamental engineering concepts. He
co-developed 16 microprocessor labs for the Boise State Applied Technology
electronics program, and served on that organization’s advisory board. He is a
member of the Eta Kappa Nu Electrical Engineering Honor Society. Reche is
currently employed at Micron Technology and plans on pursuing a master’s degree
in the future.
Honored Faculty — Dr. Jacob Baker, professor of electrical and computer
engineering
Jennifer Rice
Jennifer Rice, Chapel Hill, N.C., is a biology major with an emphasis in
molecular and cell biology. She is the recipient of the Eugene Fuller
Scholarship, the Venning Pre-Medicine Scholarship and several Boise State
department scholarships as well as an Idaho Network of Biomedical Research
Excellence Fellowship. Her awards include the Excellence in Biochemistry and
Excellence in Organic Chemistry awards. She has served as an organic chemistry
tutor and grader. Rice’s career goal is to become a physician specializing in
pathology. Her personal goals include learning to pilot a plane, speak a second
language and play the guitar.
Honored Faculty — Dr. Don Warner, assistant professor of chemistry
Michelle (Miki) Skinner
Michelle Skinner, Boise, is a psychology major with a minor in visual arts. She
has served as both a teaching assistant and research assistant, where she helped
develop and implement projects exploring terror management theory. Her research
was presented to the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, National McNair
Research Conference and Psychological Research Forum. She is the recipient of
the best experimental procedure award and the third-place research award from
the 2006 Psychological Research Forum. Skinner is also the recipient of the
NcNair Scholars Program for independent research focusing on perceptions of
positive relationship traits in gay and lesbian couples. She will pursue a Ph.D.
in counseling by beginning graduate school in the fall. Her career goal is to
have a private practice and never stop learning.
Honored Faculty — Dr. Mary Pritchard, assistant professor of psychology
Katherine (Katie) Street
Katherine Street, Browns Point, Wash., is a business economics major. She is the
recipient of the Anthony Robert Scott, Len B. and Grace Jordan and Boise State
Department of Economics scholarships. She has been named Boise State’s
Outstanding Graduate in Economics and received the President’s Award for
Leadership Excellence from the university. Street has served on the NCAA
Division 1 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and chaired the Western
Athletic Conference’s SAAC. She was the captain of the 2005 Boise State golf
team and WAC player of the month for two consecutive months. She will begin an
internship at the National NCAA office, after which she plans to attend law
school. Street’s long-term goal is a professional position in a college
athletics program.
Honored Faculty — Dr. Chris Loucks, professor of economics
Karen Wadley
Karen Wadley, Boise, is a history major with a minor in classic languages. She
has served as a research assistant for Boise State anthropology professor John
Ziker. Her research on “The Effect of Alcoholism and Demographic Health” won the
Research and Creativity Award from the Office of the Vice President of Research
at Boise State. She has also presented her paper “Irish Pre-History: Life Before
Celts” at the Idaho History Conference at the College of Southern Idaho. Wadley
is currently the curator for the Idaho Military Transportation Museum. She plans
to continue her education and research in medieval Irish history. She hopes to
have her current manuscript published and is working on a second.
Honored Faculty — Dr. Charles Odahl, professor of history
Photos may be downloaded at:
http://www.boisestate.edu/news/self_serve/top_ten/
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Contact: Renee White, Alumni Association (208) 426-1831,
reneewhite@boisestate.edu
Media Contact: Bob Evancho, University Communications, (208)
426-1643, bevanch@boisestate.edu
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Last reviewed on
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
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