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Dear Alumni, Parents, Friends, and Colleagues,
This past year has been amazing and exciting. There is so much to be proud and grateful for in the College of Arts and Sciences. One of the great pleasures that I’ve had in my role as dean is to hear about and celebrate the many achievements of the tremendously talented students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the College. It’s my pleasure to share just a bit of the news from this past academic year.
Congratulations to four of our seniors who received Fulbright Awards this year: Samantha Bennett (Environmental Studies, Psychology), Arelí Hernández (Ethnic Studies, Political Science, Spanish), Katelyn O’Neil (Environmental Studies, Spanish), and James Wang (Environmental Science, Electrical Engineering). Additionally, Beau Scott ’19 (Political Science) was one of 60 students nationwide to receive a Coro Fellowship, a premier fellowship for aspiring public servants. Read more about these student accomplishments below.
This year, SCU was one of 13 universities to receive funding from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation in support of outstanding students in the sciences. Designed to support four students and their research over the next three years, the Beckman Scholars program is incredibly competitive. This year, Kat Xia ’20 (Biology) was selected as our first Beckman Scholar!
Our alumni continue to do great things. Stephen Hobbs ’11 (Communication) received the public service Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. Allison Kopf ’11 (Physics) was listed as one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30. In 2015, she founded Agrilyst, a web-based software program that uses data to help indoor growers accurately manage their crops. Following an $8 million Series A funding round, Agrilyst has been renamed to Artemis, a name that signals the expected international growth of the company. Explore more alumni stories below.
Our REAL program has had great success this year. We increased funding for student research and internships this summer, providing roughly $700,000 to over 150 students. Placements range from research positions on campus to positions at local Bay Area companies and organizations across the U.S. Fall quarter, we launched REAL@Work—a ten-week experiential learning opportunity—where students work with a local company during the quarter to solve an existing business problem.
We hosted many notable guests on campus this year. Frank Sinatra Artist-in-Residence, Taye Diggs visited campus each quarter, sharing his experiences on everything from the stage to his family, with his residency culminating in a performance workshop involving students in the performing arts. Former Scholar-Artist-in-Residence Anna Deavere Smith and last year’s Artist-in-Residence W. Kamau Bell held a conversation about the creative process behind Smith’s play Notes from the Field. Khaled Hosseini ’88 spoke on writing, the refugee crisis, courage, and his latest project; Francis Ford Coppola shared about his Italian heritage, wine and film; and Karl Deisseroth, noted neuroscientist and bioengineer, discussed the work he’s doing to understand the connections between complex behaviors and the flow of information through the brain, at this year’s DeNardo Lectureship.
Our faculty continue to be recognized for their extraordinary work. Grace Stokes (Chemistry and Biochemistry) received a CAREER award to support her research from the National Science Foundation. Mathematics and Computer Science faculty Shiva Houshmand and Sukanya Manna received a Responsible Computer Science Challenge grant to help students develop a deliberative ethical analysis framework that complements their technical learning. Roberto Mata (Religious Studies) has been awarded a First Book Grant for Minority Scholars from the Louisville Institute for his book project, Coming out of Babylon: The Eschatological Migration of God's People in the Book of Revelation.
It has been an honor to serve as dean for the College of Arts and Sciences over the past 4 years. I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting and working with so many of the College's wonderful and talented students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and friends. I am proud of the College and its place as the heart of Santa Clara University.
Debbie Tahmassebi
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