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Success has many faces at Grand Valley...
and now you can count yours among them.
It's been a long productive road since you first came to campus.
I say it's the best decision I made in my life, thus far.
I love it here.
The feelings that come from the Grand Valley community are
pretty powerful.
I literally fell in love.
Sometimes you just know what feels right.
It felt like home to me and it's really where I wanted to go.
I feel that Grand Valley gave me so much in terms
of nurturing my interest in science
and my interest in education.
You came....
you saw....
you excelled!!!
Grand Valley is home to the best and the brightest...
some 24,000 students...
who are attracted by cutting-edge programs taught
by engaged and committed faculty.
I came here with the opportunity to teach.
Steve Mattox, associate professor of Geology,
has been chosen by the Alumni Association
as this year's Outstanding Educator.
Students say Mattox is inspirational,
passionate and approachable.
He returns the praise
to the students he finds at Grand Valley.
They're smart and they're willing to work hard,
so it's a pretty good combination.
So they'll take on challenging things to do and I try
to support them and keep lifting them higher
as they keep investing.
Mattox received a Bachelor Science in geology
from Indiana University, and a master's and doctorate degree
in geology from Northern Illinois.
He's widely published and has extensive experience working
with volcanoes.
He's received numerous teaching awards
since joining Grand Valley in 1998 and is always looking
for ways to teach outside of the classroom...
bringing students across the country...
to Canada and to Hawaii.
Probably most exciting is taking students to Hawaii
and letting them dip a hammer
in a moving lava flow...that's pretty hard to beat.
It's also pretty hard to beat the contributions
of Grand Valley alumna Louisa Stark...
the Alumni Association's choice for Distinguished Alumna.
She's a leader in genetics and genomics education.
Stark is the director of the University
of Utah's Genetic Science Learning Center and serves
as a clinical professor of Science Education
and associate director of the School
of Medicine's Community Engagement Core.
She's currently working with how parts
of our environment influence how our genes are expressed...
turned on and turned off.
So things you eat, things you experience,
all of these can influence your body, your genome, your genes.
Stark earned a bachelor of science in biology
from Grand Valley in 1979.
She spent several years as a teaching assistant and says
that foundation ignited her ongoing interest in teaching.
She also embraced Grand Valley's self-paced format,
in what was then college 4.
I also appreciated the opportunity to take as long
as I wanted to with something.
I still remember the first time I looked
through good microscope.
I spent all afternoon looking at everything.
My sister was there with me
and she was taking classes at the same time.
We looked at our lunch, everything in our lunch.
We looked at all the slides available.
We sliced pieces of plants.
It was so amazing.
After leaving Grand Valley, Stark worked for six years
as a research assistant and laboratory manager
at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
She went on to graduate school there and earned her PH.D
in evolutionary genetics.
The focus of her career has been promoting professional
development for teachers.
She has received numerous awards,
and is a noted author and speaker.
I'm very, very pleased to be receiving this award...from
such a wonderful university.
A wonderful university that's still providing the atmosphere
where people grow and change.
It's just a very well rounded
and as they say a liberal education.
Selma Tucker wants to stay in Michigan and be a city manager.
He's doing an internship with the city of Grand Rapids now
and he's a Leadership Fellow
with Grand Valley's Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies.
I got tools to help me in all kinds of things in my life,
not just academically, but tools that help me professionally,
tools that help me personally...
tools that will help me help my neighbor
that lives across the street...
or my co-worker.
Emily Martinich is a communications major
with a passion for dance.
Her involvement with the Dance Troupe,
the largest student organization on campus,
led to a recent fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.
So we're really excited that we've had the opportunity
to make a difference in so many people's lives.
I'm going to be attending law school in August
at the university of Wisconsin-Madison.
Jeanine Anderson of Chicago made the most
of her time at Grand Valley.
She credits her involvement with Student Senate and her advisor
for helping her get into law school.
I got way more than I expected from being at Grand Valley.
From your admittance to your last exams...
your success is just what Grand Valley expected.
Congratulations!
You made it!!!