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Thomas Lauren
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Thomas Lauren, a senior actuarial science major, is the winner of a 2009 John Culver Wooddy Scholarship Award from the Actuarial Foundation. The Foundation awards this prestigious scholarship annually to approximately ten graduating actuarial students from all over the world, selecting no more than one student from one university. Lauren is the fourth ISU student in five years to win a Wooddy Scholarship. Previous recipients were Carol Sorenson (2005), T.J. Turner (2006), and David Prevo (2008). “We are very happy that Thomas's outstanding record has been recognized by the Actuarial Foundation in this way,” said Dr. George Seelinger, Chair of the Department of Mathematics. “Being the fourth Wooddy Scholar from ISU in the past five years, Thomas continues the tradition of excellence in our actuarial program. Professors Ostaszewski and Thiagarajah have done a great job with this program.”
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Members of the German Club with Professors Segelcke, Weeks, and van der Laan
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The Illinois State University Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures is celebrating German Week by sponsoring a series of events that are free and open to the public. On Tuesday, August 25 at 5:00 p.m. in 314 Williams Hall, there will be a presentation on studying in Germany with an opportunity to meet German students on campus and American students who have studied in Germany. On Wednesday, August 26 at 7:30 p.m. in 307 Williams Hall, an exciting film with a critical message, “The Edukators,” (German with English subtitles) will be screened. On Thursday, August 27, at 5:00 p.m. in 314 Williams Hall, there will be a brief presentation titled “Life through the Prism of German Television: The Lindenstrasse Series,” followed by discussion and the screening of the popular half-hour German television episode. On Friday, August 28, at 4:00 p.m.there will be a “German Stammtisch” at Maggie Miley’s Pub in Uptown Normal. All are welcome to attend this casual German chat.
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Ali Riaz, Chair of the Department of Politics and Government, has published (Re)Reading Taslima Nasrin: Contexts, Contents & Constructions (Shrabon Prokashani, Dhaka, Bangladesh), an edited volume on Bangladeshi feminist author Taslima Nasrin. Nasrin is one of the most controversial authors to emerge from South Asia in recent decades. She has been exiled twice—first from her home country, Bangladesh, in 1994 and then from her adopted home, India, in 2008. Nasrin’s departures from these countries have been preceded by intense debates on her writings, comments, and personal life. In both instances violence and riots marked the days before she was forced out of the country. Both her work and personal life have attracted media attention in South Asia and worldwide. Popular western media frequently compare Taslima Nasrin to Salman Rushdie. The articles of this edited volume give importance to the content of Nasrin’s work; but also to the contexts in which her poems, novels, short stories, and newspaper columns were written. Riaz’s chapter in the volume is titled “Constructing Outraged Communities and State Responses: The Taslima Nasrin Saga in 1994 and 2007.”
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| Warren R. Harden |
The family, friends, and colleagues of Dr. Warren R. Harden, Professor Emeritus of Economics, have established the Dr. Warren R. Harden Endowed Seminar and Lecture Series. This fund will provide the resources to invite speakers to the Department of Economics seminar series. The funds may also be used for research purposes.
Dr. Harden began his career at Illinois State University in 1954 teaching economics. In 1966, Harden became the first head of the Department of Economics and later held positions as Coordinator of Academic Planning, Director of Institutional Research, and Director of Computer Operations. In 1983, Harden became Vice President for Business and Finance. He retired in 1990. He currently serves as a member of the Department of Economics advisory board and is an avid golfer.
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| Jon Kindseth and Robert Bradley |
Robert Bradley, Professor of Politics and Government, and Jon Kindseth, political science graduate student, were named Individual Trail Friends of the Year for 2009. The Friends of the Constitution Trail, a non-profit organization dedicated to the improvement and maintenance of the Trail, awarded Bradley and Kindseth plaques in recognition of their work in developing six signs commemorating the United States Constitution. The signs will be placed along the twenty-four mile Constitution Trail, three in Normal and three in Bloomington. Dr. Bradley first got the idea for the signs from a letter to the editor of the Bloomington Pantagraph that asked why the Constitution Trail included nothing about the Constitution. Each sign is made from recycled materials and features a part of the Constitution.
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Yusuf Sarfati
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Yusuf Sarfati joins the ISU faculty as an assistant professor of Politics and Government. Sarfati, who is originally from Istanbul, Turkey, received his PhD in political science from The Ohio State University. His teaching and research interests include comparative politics, politics of the Middle East, religious parties, and theories of democracy. He is fluent in Turkish, his native language, and is an advanced speaker of Hebrew and German. Sarfati's papers, publications, and presentations focus on the relationship between religion and politics. In his free time, Sarfati enjoys watching movies, playing soccer, and traveling.
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