IVSP Student and Alumni News and Awards
Congratulations to Jeremy Bennie (Leadership in a Diverse Society) for being named as one the University of Maryland's Top Ten Freshman Leaders!
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Spring 2013: Congratulations to Daniel Granot (Global Development) for being awarded the Byrd Citizenship Award!
Fall 2012: Congratulations to senior Daniel Granot (Global Development), for receiving the 2012 Spirit of Maryland Award. The award is presented annually to a male and female member of the senior class who through their achievements have most exemplified the "spirit" of the University of Maryland. Finalists excel in outstanding scholarship, leadership, campus involvement, community service and communication skills. The award was presented during the Homecoming football game on October 20th.
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Mohammad Zia (Global Development) has just been selected as a 2013 Truman Scholar! The Truman Scholarship is the nation¹s most selective and prestigious award for underclassmen with exceptional leadership potential who are committed to careers in government, the nonprofit or advocacy sectors, education or elsewhere in the public service.
Fall 2012: IVSP current student,Mohammad, has been featured in the Honors College Student Profiles. You can read his profile here: http://www.honors.umd.edu/MohammadZia.php
February 2012: Mohammad traveled to Morocco to volunteer with disabled youth over the 2012 winter break. Read his February 28,2012 article about his experience as submitted to America's Unofficial Ambassadors.
You can also read about his continuing adventures at mzia57.blogspot.com.
A January 2011 note to IVSP about Mohammad Zia's experiences in Africa:
Jambo! (Hello in Swahili)
Today is my first full day back in the U.S. since I left for Africa. My experience has been life changing. The orphanage had little electricity, no running water, no working toilets, and also hakuna matata (Swahili for no worries). The people were remarkably content with so little. The orphans I worked with were suffering from HIV and have endured a lot. Despite all of that, they were extremely kind, caring, and thankful. Even though it was difficult at times, this trip has been very rewarding.
I uploaded three videos as a part of the independent study and to remember my experience. The first video gives a glimpse of how it was and the second is a short slide show of pictures from the orphanage. The third video is of my short two day vacation to Zanzibar and around Dar Es Salaam. Also, I attached a copy of the newspaper article written about a fundraiser I did to collect donation money to buy a water motor for families in the rural Kilimanjaro region. Also, before leaving for Africa I was able to raise over $1,500 for the orphanage in addition to the $700 to buy two irrigation motors.
I hope your winter break went well and I will try to stop by the IVSP office once the semester begins to discuss my trip in detail. Thank you and the entire IVSP program for all your support throughout the year.
Asante Sana! (Swahili for thank you so much.)"-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On March 15th, 2011, Talia Lewis (Health, Culture, and Inequalities Studies, 2010) spoke about taking a "thinkmental" approach to life at TEDxMSIH; Inspiration to Action. http://www.ted.com/tedx/events/2207
Fall 2009: Talia Lewis has just been selected to be a 2009-2010 Philip Merrill Presidential Scholar. Talia named Dr. Sharon Desmond, Associate Professor of Public and Community Health and Talia's IVSP Faculty Mentor, as the faculty member who has made the most impact on her academic achievement.
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After graduation, Ellen Eichenbaum (Children's Nutritional Behavior, 2012) started an internship in New York City, NY with the Clinton Foundation. She had this to say about it:
Oct. 2012: My internship with the Clinton Foundation is AMAZING. I would highly recommend for any student to apply! I am working on one of their domestic initiatives- Alliance for a Healthier Generation. I am the Healthy Schools Program intern, so anything related to that I get to work on! They are flying me out to Little Rock this coming weekend for the Healthy Schools Program forum (all of the schools that win bronze, silver, or gold awards based on our criteria come as well to celebrate). I have been writing short success stories about the schools' efforts, compiling menus for schools, updating the product navigator on our website for school foods, creating resources for food service directors, and working on a behavioral economics piece. The internship program hosts a variety of speakers as well, so I have heard from influential people in a variety of fields! And of course, living in Manhattan could not be better- there is always so much to do!
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IVSP Alumnus, Aaron Shapiro (Global Health, 2011), just published article in Service Mad, a very widely spread magazine in Rwanda (October 2012).
May 2012: Aaron is currently working for Gardens for Health International in Kigali Rwanda as a program manager. He is working in Rwanda through a Global Health Corps Fellowship. Aaron has previously working in Tanzania, South Africa, and for USAID in Washington, D.C. He wrote an article in November 2011 that was published in Partners in Health blog.
Aaron received the 2010 William E. Kirwan award for undergraduates for "outstanding leadership and commitment to the college community" while he was a student, here at the University of Maryland.
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Leaving University of Maryland with a degree in Music Consumerism from the Individual Studies Program in 2009, Jonathan Joffe joined a NYC tech startup developing a social music-creation website in 2010. He worked as BreakoutBand's Supervising Music Producer — handling all of the music, content, and strategic campaigns on the site. The company has since launched their second product, Mixify.com — an online DJ marketing platform where electronic/hip hop DJs can host live virtual events for their fans, grow their social fanbase, and sell tracks. On a small team of only 8 people, Jonathan leads the Content and Artist Relations efforts for Mixify.
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Meg Eden (Cognitive Science and Written Communication, graduating May 2012) just won the Spiegel Creative Writing Award from the Department of English!
She has also won the Sebastian Herbstein Memorial Award for an excerpt of her novel 9-8 (written as her capstone project)! Congratulations, Meg!
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Congratulations to Zahra Ashktorab (Middle East Studies, 2011) who will be interning in the Radiology Department of NIH this summer!
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Laura Hawkins (Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, 2010) just received word of a prestigious Clarendon Scholarship to pursue a Dphil (PhD) at Oxford. Laura is finishing up her Masters in Cunneiform Studies at Oxford and will continue there on her Dphil in Assyriology.
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Since graduating, Caitlin Marshall (Culture, Crime, and Family Health, 2011) moved to Nicaragua to start a community program called "The Peace Project" with two other UMD alum. The Project began in August 2011 and has been steadily growing with the help of private donors and lots of community support. Caitlin and the other Director, Sarah, teach English in the local primary school, offer tutoring three times a week, and started an after school day camp to teach English, sports, dance, and art, among other things. They also host peace workshops, counseling workshops, and are starting a women's support group. You can check it all out on the web at www.thepeaceprojectnicaragua.org<http://www.thepeaceprojectnicaragua.org>!
On September 25, 2012, the Peace Project was highlighted in an article by the Diamondback.
Caitlin's Other News and Awards:
Fall 2010: Congratulations to Caitlin Marshall who was awarded the Fall 2010 Super Stamper award! Caitlin is the Coordinator of Social Media. She is responsible for posting all Stamp marketing events to Facebook, Twitter, Free Stuff at MD, Today at MD, and FYI. She designs ads for AXIS TX and does the filming and editing for all the Stamp videos on the web. She is an invaluable asset to the Stamp Marketing Teams by providing social media presentations to different units as well as making sure the Stamp Street Team always has their welcome bags to distribute information of campus events. On top of being extremely busy Caitlin, handles all her responsibilities with patience and good humor.
Spring 2009: Greetings from Spain! Spain is a completely different world, but I love it. After a couple days I realized that ham is the staple food, if you don't play soccer you must not be Spanish, and the 2pm-5pm siesta is not only real, but vital since 9pm is an early dinner and any kind of night life, whether it be a play or a pub, doesn't start until close to midnight. Europe's transportation system is incredible, and the ease of travel still surprises me. The Alhambra in Granada is breathtaking, the green seaside coast of Pontevedra is rejuvenating, and Madrid is always bustling with excitement. Each city is surrounded by a rich history shown through ancient architecture and art, but it is all encompassed with a modern way of life. I've discovered that there's nothing better than a trip to Sunday's open market, el Rastro, followed by a peaceful afternoon lounging around Madrid's "Central Park", el Retiro, and returning to the cozy suburb, Alcalá de Henares for tapas and café con leche."
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Ben Garner (Sport Culture and Communication, 2011):
Since graduating in May of 2011 with a degree in Sport Culture & Communication, Ben Garner has worked as an Account Executive for The Aspire Group. With Aspire, which handles all outbound sales and customer service for the University of Maryland Athletic Department, Ben has generated over $175,000 in revenue in just nine months, which leads all sales reps. Because of his leadership and success with Aspire, Ben was recently promoted to Senior Sales Consultant. Due to his success with The Aspire Group, Ben was contacted about a position with Clear Channel Communications as an Account Executive. After a series of interviews, Ben has decided to join the team starting in May. His responsibilities will include prospecting new clients, constructing and pitching effective advertisements, and maintaining relationships with existing clients. Ben will also assist in planning events and organizing promotional activities with his clients. Clear Channel is based in Rockville, MD, and manages six of the most prominent radio stations in the Washington DC area.
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Congratulations to Gloribel Le (Global Health Policy) for receiving the Erik Young, M.D. International Travel-study Award; she will be traveling to India on the India Global Health and Development trip summer 2012!
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Congratulations to Hudson Taylor (Interactive Performance Art, 2010) for being awarded the 2012 UGST Distinguished Alumni Award for his work in his non-profit, Athlete Ally!
Hudson's Other News and Awards:
October 2011: Hudson Taylor was featured in an article in the Huffington Post, as well as a video by Metro Weekly where he talks about Athlete Ally.
April 2011: Hudson Taylor was featured in an article in The Huffington Post, entitled "Wrestler Promotes LGBT Support among Athletes."
While enrolled at Maryland, Hudson Taylor received one of two Maryland 2010 Athlete of the Year awards! For article on Hudson Taylor's achievements see Human Rights campaign's magazine, Equality (pp. 28-29).
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IVSP current student, Nicholas Gerontianos's (Digital Innovations Management Studies), company, MotionVibe, which was founded using the education that he gained in IVSP is making some good headlines. It made the semifinals for UMD's competitive $75k business competition. This has generated some good PR in which he is listed in such sources as the Wall Street Journal and TD Ameritrade.
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Rebecca Zorn (International Relations, 2009) has written three blog posts about the NGO she worked with in Guatemala through Miracles in Action over summer 2011.
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IVSP alumnus Bob Moyer (Computer Graphics, 2000) is featured in an article in The Baltimore Sun about his work on the recent film Cars 2. He's also profiled in a recent Washington Post article.
Bob Moyer (Computer Graphics, 2000) gave a blockbuster presentation on his innovative work at Pixar Animation Studios, April 2009. Over 100 people attended. Bob praised IVSP for supporting and encouraging his creative major and innovative, interdisciplinary work! This Spring, he was selected as UGST's 2009 UM Distinguished Alumni Award winner. You can read more about him in The Advisor, the Undergraduate Studies newsletter.
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Jon Joffe (Music Consumerism, August 2010): June 2010: I am about to make a move up to New York City for my first full time job which I am very excited about. After spending my post-college time writing and producing lots of music, I landed a job as Supervising Music Producer and Content Manager for a new company called Breakout Band (moving into public beta this fall). Put simply, Breakout Band is an internet browser based song making machine for teens, tweens, and young adults. It uses a simple interface to allow users to create songs, profiles, collaborate in virtual bands with other users, compete in song charts, etc... It's a really fun product, team, and job!
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From Andrew Brash (Recreation Management, December 2009): "I'm working at a new outdoor adventure center called Terrapin Adventures. We're located in Savage, MD, less than 30 minutes from campus. We have a 330-foot zipline, 3-person giant swing with 2 G's of force, a climbing tower with all sorts of options, and a 3-level high challenge course with 18 elements. We also run mountain biking, hiking, kayaking, and various other outdoor trips." This is a great opportunity to be guided through outdoor courses by an IVSP student!
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Greetings from London! What an amazing city! I've had such a great time since arriving here last month. There's always something to do and I'm very much enjoying my classes as well! My work placement turned out to be with the National Health Service, Department of Health, Health Inequalities Unit. I start next week and am very excited!! As for traveling, so far, I've been to Dover, England, Calais, France and Amsterdam. This weekend I'm headed to Edinburgh and Scotland!" Elizabeth Striegel (Public Health Policy, studying abroad, 2/09)
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Kristen Mui (Urban Studies and Planning, May 2009) , has been honored
with the Philip Merrill Award (2008). The Merrill Presidential Scholars Program
honors the University of Maryland's most successful seniors and their designated
University faculty and K-12 teachers for their mentorship. Kristen Mui's IVSP
mentor is Dr. James Cohen, Architecture. Congratulations, Kristen!
Kristen is studying abroad this semester through the Danish Institute for Study Abroad.
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Cadet Joseph Nash (IVSP 2008, Meteorology), now Lieutenant Nash,
receiving his National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Scholarship
from General Schwartz, the Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, and
Mr. Doug Stewart, the NDIA Washington Chapter President, December 2008. Cadet Nash received a $2,000 scholarship from NDIA. Congratulations, Joe!
