News & Events Beyond the Limestone Graduate School 2010

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Graduate and Professional School 2010

How useful is a Dickinson education? Just ask our students and alums.

Dickinsonians regularly earn prestigious grants and scholarships, conduct research, work around the world and enter esteemed graduate programs. And, at a time of economic uncertainty, our seniors and alums are securing desirable positions on Wall Street, Main Street and beyond. They’re entering the growing fields of environmental science, finance, education, the arts, international business, peace advocacy and more.

Here are just a few of the accomplished Dickinsonians who plan to attend graduate or professional school.

Geoff Arnold '10

Geoff Arnold, a political science major from Berwyn, Pa., will train at the Jim Evans Academy for Professional Umpires in Kissimmee, Fla., in January 2011.

“Becoming a professional umpire is not connected to the college ranks, though if you have done college you will have invaluable experience and be much better prepared,” said Arnold, who has been umpiring National Collegiate Athletic Association games this spring. “It is not easy to break into the bigs. Pro baseball players have a 3 percent chance of rising through the minors and getting on a Major League Baseball roster. Umpires have about a 1 percent chance. However, I am pretty confident that I will make it through the school next year. I have had some great umpire mentors along the way who have provided valuable advice to me as I have honed my craft over the last 10 years. I am very thankful to have a group of family, friends and professors who have been incredibly supportive of my decision to pursue my dream.”

The academy serves as the spring training facility for the Houston Astros.

Kim Blank '10

Kim Blank, a political science major from York, Pa., has been accepted at the College of William and Mary, where she will study for a master’s degree in higher education administration.

Alexandra Bybel '10

Alexandra Bybel, an economics and political science major from Lancaster, Pa., has been accepted at the Penn State Dickinson School of Law.

Danielle Chock '10

Danielle Chock, an international studies and Italian studies major from Carbondale, Colo., has been accepted at the University of Bologna in Bologna, Italy, where she will pursue a graduate degree in international relations.

Melissa Dean '10

Melissa Dean, a chemistry major from Forest Hill, Md., has been accepted at North Carolina State University, where she will pursue a degree in chemistry.

Denise Del Gaudio '10

Denise Del Gaudio, a history major from Huntington, N.Y., has been accepted at St. John's University in New York City, where she will purse a degree in education and will work as a special education/math teacher at the secondary level though the New York City Teaching Fellows program.

Nadine Drago '10

Nadine Drago, an economics major from Oakdale, N.Y., has been accepted at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in Boston.

Cemre Eren '10

Cemre Eren, a neuroscience major from Glen Oaks, N.Y., has been accepted at New York University, where she will pursue a doctorate in physical therapy.

Chad Frazier '10

Chad Frazier, a history and law and policy major from Grand Junction, Colo., has been accepted at Georgetown University, where he will pursue a degree in global, international and comparative history.

Andrew Kamerosky '10

Andrew Kamerosky, an environmental-science major from Freeland, Md., has been accepted at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla., where he will pursue a master's degree in integrated environmental science.

Ryan Koons '10

Ryan Koons, a music major from Finksburg, Md., has been accepted at UCLA, where he will pursue a master's degree and doctorate in the six-year ethnomusicology program.

Jennifer Lap '10

Jennifer Lap, a psychology major from Plainview, N.Y., has been accepted at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, where she will pursue a master’s degree in forensic psychology. Lap also is a research assistant studying the differences between men and women with regard to how they view perpetrators and victims of sexual assault.

Sarah Lazun '10

Sarah Lazun, an English major from York, Pa., has been accepted at the University of Virginia's McIntire School of Business, where she will purse a master of sciences degree in commerce.

Kendahl Lester '10

Kendahl Lester, an East Asian studies and political science major from Sicklerville, N.J., has been accepted at Temple University in Philadelphia, where she will pursue a graduate degree in law.

Olivia Lewis '10

Olivia Lewis, a psychology and neuroscience major from Cincinnati, Ohio, has been accepted at Towson University in Towson, Md., where she will purse a degree in school psychology.

Kelly Lohr '10

Kelly Lohr, a neuroscience major from Norvelt, Pa., has been accepted at Emory University in Atlanta, where she will pursue a doctorate in neuroscience.

Daniel Magney '10

Daniel Magney ’10, an international studies major from Chevy Chase, Md., has been accepted at New York Law School in New York City. Magney plans to specialize in international and antitrust law.

Alison Maksimak '10

Alison Maksimak, a biology and biochemistry & molecular biology major from Danville, Pa., has been accepted to the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine in Manhattan, Kansas, where she will pursue a doctor of veterinary medicine degree.

Brandon McCall '10

Brandon McCall, an English major from Los Angeles, has been accepted at the University of Southern California, where he will purse a master's degree in public administration.

He has held leadership positions in several campus multicultural organizations and did volunteer work building houses in New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. He participated in an environmental fellowship program at Dickinson, where he studied environmental global governance. He was part of the college's delegation to the United Nations climate-change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.

McCall plans to pursue a career in sustainable urban development.

Amelie Milet '10

Amelie Milet, a Spanish major from Rye, N.Y., has been accepted at New York University in Madrid, Spain, where she will pursue a degree in Spanish language and translation.

Jojo Mukherjee '10

JojoMukherjee, an international business and management major from West Bengal, India, has been accepted at the Duke University Fuqua School of Business, where he will pursue a master's degree in management studies.

Cynthia Polasko '10

Cynthia Polasko, a political science major from Albuquerque, N.M., has been accepted at the University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore.

Senaka Ratnayake '10

Senaka Ratnayake, a biochemistry and molecular biology major (and music theory minor) from Valparaiso, Ind., has been accepted at the Indiana University School of Medicine.

Brian Riggin '10

Brian Riggin, a policy management major from Rehoboth Beach, Del., has been accepted at the University of South Carolina School of Law in Columbia, S.C.

Kelly Rogers '10

Kelly Rogers, a policy management major from Stroudsburg, Pa., has been accepted at Brown University, where she will seek a master's degree in public policy. Rogers participated in the United Nations climate-change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December. During her sophomore year, she received the James A. Finnegan Fellowship, an award given to outstanding undergraduates enrolled in Pennsylvania colleges. For her fellowship, Rogers did a 10-week government and politics internship in Harrisburg.

“I will be studying public policy with an emphasis on energy and climate-change policies,” she said. “Regarding the future, I see myself working in the private or public sector on energy policy at state, federal or international levels.”

Janel Rorick '10

Janel Rorick, law and policy major from Edwardsville, Pa., has been accepted at Penn State Dickinson School of Law, where she plans to focus on corporate law. She is a Red Devils cheerleader and Delta Nu sorority member.

Adnan Solaiman

Adnan Solaiman '10

Adnan Solaiman, a biochemistry and molecular biology major (and health studies certificate minor) from Islamabad, Pakistan, has been accepted to the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. He received Dickinson College's 2010 Dr. Roy Mohler Prize for pre-health students.

Rebecca Solarz '10

Rebecca Solarz ’10, a political science major from Langhorne, Pa., has been accepted at the Temple University Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia.

Lee Tankle '10

Lee Tankle, a law and policy major from Huntington Valley, Pa., has been accepted at the College of William and Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Va. Tankle, president of the Student Senate, plans to pursue a career in criminal prosecution or government, and run for elected office.

As co-chair of students for Hillary Clinton, Tankle introduced former President Bill Clinton at a political rally in the Kline Center in March 2008. He served on three internships, at the Pennsylvania Governor’s Office Healthcare Reform, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (through Dickinson's Washington Center program) and the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. He also served as chair of the Public Affairs Symposium, bringing speakers like Valerie Plame Wilson and Danny Glover to campus.

As president of the Student Senate, Tankle helped to restructure the student activities fee, allowing the college to hire four new key staff members in the area of student development. He organized a program to deliver meals and medicine to students with H1N1 flu and organized the Haiti Benefit Concert at the Carlisle Theatre, raising more than $17,000.

Tankle helped expand the safe ride/safe walk program, which will begin in August, 2010, for students both on campus and in the borough of Carlisle, and played at role in changes to the housing selection process. During his four years in the Student Senate, he helped in the development of off-campus housing policy and the strengthening of the anti-hazing policy.

At commencement, Tankle received the Hufstader Senior Prize. The award is given annually to the senior man and senior woman who, in the judgment of President William G. Durden '71, have made the greatest contributions to the good of the college during their undergraduate years.

Margaret Tobias '10

Margaret Tobias, a psychology major from Mendham, N.J., has been accepted at Loyola University of Maryland, where she will pursue a doctorate in psychology.

Natalie Waggaman '10

Natalie Waggaman, a psychology major from West Hartford, Ct., has been accepted at Argosy University in Washington, D.C., where she will pursue a doctorate in clinical psychology.

James Watson-Krips '10

James Watson-Krips, an East Asian studies major from Norrostown, Pa., has been accepted at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies (the Hopkins-Nanjing Center) in Nanjing, China, where he will pursue a certificate in China studies.

Sam Wheeler '10

Sam Wheeler, a physics major from Jericho, Vt., has been accepted at Lehigh University, where he will pursue a graduate degree in electrical engineering.

Marci Wills '10

Marci Wills, a geology major from Hummelstown, Pa., has been accepted at Northern Arizona University, where she will pursue a degree in geology.

Hai Xu '10

Hai Xu, a chemistry major from Nanjing, China, has been accepted at the University of Kentucky School of Medicine.

RECENT ALUMNI

Fred Barton '09

Fred Barton of Silver Spring, Md., has been accepted at George Washington University, where he will pursue a degree in emergency medical services management. Barton majored in history at Dickinson.

Michael Bilder '07

Michael Bilder ’07 of Washington, D.C, has been accepted at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute, where he will pursue a master’s degree in public policy with a concentration in homeland security. Bilder, who was a policy-management major at Dickinson, is a legislative correspondent for Republican Congressman Todd R. Platts, who represents Pennsylvania’s 19th District.

Bilder was the student senate president at Dickinson and a recipient of the William F. Hufstader Senior Prize, awarded to the senior man and senior woman who have made the greatest contributions to the good of the college during their undergraduate years. In August 2008, the McCain campaign hired Bilder as a field director for four Pennsylvania counties.

Megan Conlon '09

Megan Conlon ’09 has been accepted at the musicology program at Princeton University, where she will pursue a master’s degree and doctorate over the next five years beginning this fall.

“This program is one that nurtures individual, independent work, providing many resources for students to complete their own projects,” Conlon said. “Unlike many other musicology programs, Princeton's combines ethnomusicology, music theory and historical musicology. After having focused on Debussy and French nationalism for my undergraduate research project, I am planning to continue in French music.”

Conlon majored in music history and French at Dickinson, with a minor in English.

“The biggest role Dickinson played in my current goals was teaching me to develop a wide understanding of my field through the emphasis on global and interdisciplinary studies,” she said. “I felt encouraged to cultivate language skills, read outside of my discipline and apply varied theories to my analyses. I also feel that I benefited from the small size of the community and from the extremely close relationships I was able to have with my professors.”

Conlon is teaching English at a high school in Nevers, France, where she is gaining classroom experience, traveling and reading.

Conlon is the second Dickinson student in to enroll in Princeton’s musicology program in four years. Jamie Greenberg ’06, who met with Conlon during her visit to Princeton, currently is in the musicology program and is working on her thesis. Greenberg majored in English at Dickinson.

Phoebe Dembs '09

Phoebe Dembs ’09 of Syracuse, N.Y., who majored in English at Dickinson, has been accepted at Columbia University's School of Social Work, where she will pursue a master's degree in social work this fall.

Christopher Eiswerth '08

Chris Eiswerth '08

Christopher Eiswerth ’08 has been accepted at Harvard Law School. Eiswerth, who majored in English at Dickinson, has been tutoring and mentoring students at a Cleveland high school since September 2009. Prior to that, he taught English in South Korea.

“At Dickinson, the professors, especially those in the English department, taught me to write, and they taught me to think,” Eiswerth said. “They demanded more from me every day, and they have served as guides and mentors from the beginning. I could not ask for much more.”

Eiswerth plans to focus on criminal law at Harvard. He said he hopes to improve the education of children in inner cities.

Devy Emperador '08

Devy Emperador ’08 of Murrieta, Calif., has been accepted to the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, where she will focus on infectious diseases and vaccinology. Emperador, a biochemistry and molecular biology major at Dickinson, has been employed since graduation as a laboratory technician in the microbiology department at Abbott Vascular.

“At Cal, I hope to focus on infectious disease research for diseases that affect areas in East and Southeast Asia,” she said.

Colleen Hoy '08

Colleen Hoy '08 of Philadelphia has been accepted at Vanderbilt University, where she will pursue a degree in international education policy and management. She majored in psychology at Dickinson.

Josh Lichtman '09

Josh Lichtman of Poway, Calif., has been accepted at Stanford University, where he will study for a Ph.D. in the chemical and systems biology program. Lichtman majored in biochemistry and molecular biology at Dickinson, and credited his undergraduate experience for his acceptance at one of the nation’s most prestigious research universities.

“My liberal-arts education also prepared me very well for these interviews in which my ability to think on my feet and carry an educated conversation with faculty members served me well,” he said.

Lichtman has been working at worked at Synthetic Genomics, a biotech company in San Diego, since June and will continue there until he enters Stanford this fall. He plans to pursue a career in computational and systems biology, a rapidly expanding but still young field that combines techniques from biology, mathematics and computer science.

Lichtman, who received acceptance letters from two other graduate schools, said all of his interviews were successful thanks to his association with Dickinson.

“At these interviews, I was often complemented on the quality of my writing and the glowing nature of my recommendations, both of which I owe to my Dickinson education and professors,” he said.

Emily Wing '09

Emily Wing ’09 of Philadelphia has been accepted in the graduate program at Drexel University, where she will pursue a master’s degree in public policy. Wing, who majored in English at Dickinson, is a project coordinator at Drexel University College of Medicine’s Institute for Women's Health and Leadership.