Clemson World Archive | Summer-Fall 2017

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Three Named Honorary Alumni

September 2, 2017 / in Lifelong Tigers / 0 Comments / by: Jon Harp

Deshaun Watson, Beth Clements, Kathleen Swinney, Dabo Swinney, Wil Brasington, Sandy Edge

There are people associated with Clemson whose lives and personalities seem to be imbued with all things Clemson. Three of those people were named honorary alumni this spring.

Football Head Coach Dabo Swinney and his wife, Kathleen Bassett Swinney, received the recognition at the 2017 All In Ball, an event presented by Swinney’s All In Team Foundation. A University of Alabama graduate, William Christopher “Dabo” Swinney began his career on the Clemson football coaching staff in 2003 and was named interim head coach in 2008, eventually taking on the role permanently at the end of that season.
Kathleen Swinney, also a graduate of the University of Alabama and a former schoolteacher, has focused her attention on using her high-profile platform as the first lady of Clemson football to better the lives of others.
The Swinneys were recognized for their impact in the community and the All In Team Foundation, whose mission is “to raise awareness of critical education and health issues in order to change the lives of people across the state of South Carolina.”

Danny Greg, Mickey Harder and Sandy Edge

Lillian U. “Mickey” Harder, who retired as director of the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts in June, was named an honorary alumna at the annual Clemson Pops Concert held at Patrick Square.
Harder came to Clemson in 1972 and has devoted her time to nurturing performing arts, serving as music faculty prior to becoming director of the Brooks Center in 1996. She and her husband established an endowment to create the Lilian and Robert Utsey Chamber Music Series at Clemson University, the only endowed chamber music series of its kind in South Carolina.
Harder holds degrees from Coker College and Converse College and has continued her studies at Boston University, the University of Georgia, Amherst College and the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau, France. She previously received the Clemson Outstanding Faculty Woman Award given by the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, the Thomas Green Clemson Award and the Elizabeth O’Neil Verner Governor’s Award for the Arts.
Honorary alumni are selected by the Alumni Association Honors and Awards Committee on the basis of outstanding service, lifelong devotion, and loyalty to Clemson or the Alumni Association.

All the Ways You Can Reunion!

September 2, 2017 / in Lifelong Tigers / 0 Comments / by: Nancy Spitler

The alumni office has been busy with plans that provide you a plethora of ways to get together with your fellow Tigers. Whether you’re a young alum or a Golden Tiger or somewhere in between, you can choose the event (or events) that works best for you:

Fall Band Party

Click on photo to see album.
First conceived as a Young Alumni Event, the Fall Band Party has morphed into a great occasion for alums of all ages to gather in Greenville and reconnect. Sponsored by the Clemson Young Alumni Council, IPTAY and the Alumni Association and presented by Endeavor, the event will be held this fall at the TD Stage at the Peace Center Amphitheater on Friday, October 27, the night before the Georgia Tech game. Catch up with friends, grab some snacks and dinner from local food truck vendors, and listen to some great music by DJ Sha and the Brooks Dixon Band.
Admission is only $10; mark your calendar now and plan to join us this year.

Spring Fling

Click on photo to see album.
Scheduled for the Saturday of the spring game, Spring Fling provides student organizations, colleges and departments a wonderful opportunity to bring alumni back to campus to reconnect and reminisce. Check with your fraternity or sorority, club sport team, service organization or departmental/academic clubs about reserving a tent and gathering spot next spring.
Email hoxner@clemson.edu for more information.

Golden Tiger Reunion

This annual event celebrates the 50th anniversary class and serves as the class reunion for all classes who have already been inducted to the Golden Tiger Society. A range of activities are planned to provide time to share memories and catch up on what’s currently happening on campus. The 2018 Golden Tiger Reunion will be held June 7-8 at the Madren Conference Center.
For more information about all the ways you can reunion, go to clemson.edu/alumni.

You Brought Your Daughters!

September 1, 2017 / in Lifelong Tigers, My Clemson / 0 Comments / by: Nancy Spitler

The Women’s Alumni Council held the 19th annual Bring Your Daughter to Clemson event in May. More than 40 volunteers from the council hosted and staffed the event that brought 132 girls aged 6-18 and their chaperones to campus.
A mix of activities was planned to provide participants a better idea of what life as a Clemson student entails. Faculty members from eight different departments led educational activities for the girls, who also explored campus through tours that ranged from the football operations facility to the Carillion. The group attended a Breakfast of Champions held in the football stadium.
The event also serves as a fundraiser for the Women’s Alumni Council, with proceeds going to the Alumni Council Scholarship Endowment Fund. Registration for next year’s event will open in early spring.
See more photos:

Eight win NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

September 1, 2017 / in In These Hills / 0 Comments / by: Nancy Spitler

This year’s crop of NSF Graduate Research Fellows included (from left) Jacqueline Rohde, Lauren Pruett, Lauren Gambill and John Sherwood. Not pictured are Sarah Donaher, Kylie Gomes, Shyla Kupis and Brandt Ruszkiewicz.

One of the nation’s top honors for graduate students is going to eight from Clemson, putting them in the same club as several Nobel Prize winners, Google co-founder Sergey Brin and “Freakonomics” co-author Steven Levitt.
The students are receiving Graduate Research Fellowships from the National Science Foundation. A fellowship is recognition that the recipient shows high promise in becoming a knowledge expert who can contribute significantly to research, teaching and innovations in science and engineering.
Each fellow receives a $34,000 annual stipend and a $12,000 cost-of-education allowance. The money supports graduate study that leads to a research-based master’s or doctoral degree in science and engineering. The NSF received more than 13,000 applications for the 2017 competition and made 2,000 award offers to students from 449 institutions.
This year’s crop of Graduate Research Fellowships underscores the success of Clemson’s Grand Challenges Scholars Program. Two students who received fellowships and one student who received an honorable mention are in the inaugural graduating class of Grand Challenge Scholars at Clemson.
In 2014, Clemson became the 19th engineering school in the nation to offer a Grand Challenges Scholars Program, which is aimed at helping students prepare to become world-changing engineers.
These Clemson students received research fellowships:

Sarah Donaher, senior, environmental engineering major and Grand Challenge Scholar.
Lauren Gambill, senior, biochemistry major.
Kylie Gomes, graduate student, industrial engineering.
Shyla Kupis, graduate student, environmental engineering.
Lauren Pruett, senior, bioengineering major.
Jacqueline Rohde, senior, bioengineering major and Grand Challenge Scholar.
Brandt Ruszkiewicz, graduate student, automotive engineering.
John Sherwood, graduate student, environmental engineering.

Travelers Summer-Fall 2017

September 1, 2017 / in My Clemson, Travelers / 0 Comments / by: Chris Waldrop

Lindsay Rodenkirchen shows off her Tiger Rag while sitting in a pen of pedigree Border Leicesters sheep. She is studying at the University of Glasgow in Scotland as part of an agreement between Clemson Animal and Veterinary Science and the University of Glasgow.

Analytics leader is Watt Center founding innovation partner

September 1, 2017 / in Clemson Forever / 0 Comments

Emily Baranello, vice president for education practice at SAS, spoke during the announcement of the SAS Clemson partnership.

Clemson’s research goals and thousands of students and professors have gained a powerful ally — analytics leader SAS. Through a new educational partnership, SAS and Clemson will provide research, software, services and funding to the Watt Family Innovation Center.
Thanks to the new partnership, professors, students and researchers can access and apply advanced SAS Analytics, business intelligence, cybersecurity and data management software toward that mission. SAS also provides teaching materials, onsite faculty and staff training and helps develop analytical programs.
Professors will be able to easily integrate SAS software into coursework, giving students hands-on experience with this highly marketable skill. In fact, a study of 54 million employee profiles on PayScale.com identified “Knowledge of SAS” as the No. 1 career skill that translates into salary bumps.
The Watt Center promotes student engagement, interactive learning and partnership with industry and government. SAS was recognized in March as the sixth Founding Innovation Partner for the Watt Center, joining Comporium Inc., Haworth Inc., Philips Lighting, Scientific Research Corporation and SCRA.
“The Watt Family Innovation Center is a unique educational facility that quickly has become invaluable to our students and faculty and one of the most innovative in the nation,” said President Clements. “This partnership with SAS, a leader in innovative software solutions, will allow us to better serve our University community, and we are very appreciative of their generous support of Clemson’s mission.”

“The Watt Center brings together students, faculty and industry in a hothouse for learning and research,” said SAS CEO Jim Goodnight. “With data and analytics at the heart of innovation today, that means Clemson can generate more of the talent in high demand worldwide.”

Long Live Longleaf Pines: Ryan Bean '04

September 1, 2017 / in Alumni Profiles, My Clemson / 0 Comments

Ryan Bean has his sights set on turning three acres of land at Clemson’s Sandhill Research and Education Center in Northeast Columbia into an educational opportunity for South Carolina landowners.
Restoration of longleaf pine trees is important for enhancing the South Carolina landscape, according to Bean, a Clemson Extension and Forestry Natural Resources agent. “At one time, South Carolina had 7.6 million acres of longleaf pines,” he said. “That figure has decreased, and today the state has just 569,646 acres.”
The Sandhill REC plot once was home to pecan trees used for research. Knowing the pecan tree research was no longer ongoing, Bean proposed a new plan for the site. “This is a great piece of land, perfect for a forestry education site,” Bean said. “It will be a place where landowners can come and see firsthand how different planting techniques work. They can use this information when planting trees on their own properties.”
The longleaf pine ecosystem once covered more than 90 million acres across the Southeast, Bean said. Today there is only a fraction of that left due to land clearing, mostly for agriculture. Bean said the longleaf pine ecosystem is home to about 100 bird species, 36 mammal species, and 170 species of reptiles and amphibians. In addition, 29 species associated with longleaf pine forests, such as the red-cockaded woodpecker, are listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as threatened or endangered.
“There is a huge push to restore this ecosystem,” said Bean.
Bean said he loves working outside and helping people achieve their goals, noting he’d “go crazy” if he had to sit at a desk or in a cubicle for a job.
“I field many questions regarding tree planting and proper care for timber stands,” he said. “It will be nice for forestry and natural resource agents to be able to show landowners and others their options for planting and management practices using this demonstration site.”
Bean also will use the demonstration plot to collect data and reference information specifically for South Carolina.

“Our goal as Clemson Extension agents is to bring information and education to the people of South Carolina,” Bean said. “This demonstration plot will be an excellent way to collect local data, as well as educate people about the proper way to plant and maintain longleaf pine trees here in South Carolina.”

Class of 1967 inducted as Golden Tigers

September 1, 2017 / in Lifelong Tigers / 0 Comments / by: Nancy Spitler

Tigers celebrating more than 50 years since graduating returned to campus for reunion this year. Members of the Class of ’67, plus representatives of 19 other Golden Tiger classes, gathered for meals and memories at the Madren Center. Tours of campus, class parties and updates on construction and future Clemson initiatives provided opportunities to reminisce about the Clemson experience, then and now.
At the induction of the 76 members of the Class of ’67 into the Golden Tiger Society, the class presented the University with a gift of more than $336,000 for need-based scholarships, scholarships for first-generation students and resources for student veterans.
Next year’s Golden Tiger Reunion is scheduled for June 7-8, 2018. If you graduated in 1968 or earlier, mark your calendar now!

Building on Our Legacy of Undergraduate Excellence

September 1, 2017 / in The View from Sikes / 1 Comment / by: Chris Waldrop

More than 4,700 Clemson graduates walked across the stage in December and May of this past academic year in a commencement tradition that never gets old. I love looking into the eyes of our new graduates wondering how they will use the amazing foundation their Clemson education has provided. With each hand that I shake on stage, I grow more assured of our graduates’ abilities to achieve their dreams and make a positive difference in the world.
Our students come to Clemson as undergraduates having already set themselves apart from many of their peers in the classroom. Indeed, the average SAT and ACT scores for our applicants last year place Clemson among the very best in public higher education for student quality.
Students are coming to Clemson with better academic credentials, and the pull of the Clemson name has never been stronger among potential applicants. This year we received more than 26,000 applications for 3,600 spots. That’s a 41 percent increase in applications from just five years ago.
Clemson’s popularity has been broad-based. Not only are we doing a better job of attracting elite students from outside South Carolina, Clemson today is educating 3,000 more high-quality in-state students than we did 10 years ago.

The continuously improving academic profile of our accepted students is a reflection of Clemson’s status as a top-tier public research institution as well as our much-deserved reputation for creating a living and learning environment that is second to none.

The students who are choosing to come here are doing so because of our reputation, academic programs, research, real-world learning opportunities and return on investment. They also are attending because of the family-first atmosphere and strong sense of community at Clemson — all of which are reflected in the wide spectrum of national recognition Clemson receives each year. This year, the University was ranked No. 23 among national public universities by U.S. News & World Report. And we just learned that we have been named the top university for career services and ranked in the top 10 in seven other categories in the Princeton Review’s annual national survey of more than 130,000 college students.
Our ClemsonForward strategic plan articulates our strong commitment to undergraduate teaching and individual student success. And once enrolled, our students continue their paths toward great achievements in an environment that is built to foster their growth and to surround them with family that applauds their successes.
This past academic year was a record-setting year for the number of students receiving nationally competitive scholarships or fellowships. In total, 28 students received national honors: four Fulbright Grant winners; two Goldwater Scholarship recipients; eight National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship recipients; 12 Gilman Scholarship winners; one Schwarzman Scholarship recipient; and one Truman Scholarship recipient.

Clemson has a long tradition of offering a world-class undergraduate education to the best and brightest students from South Carolina, across the country and throughout the world. We remain committed to providing the resources and strategic direction necessary to build on our legacy as a “high seminary of learning” so that future generations of students will walk across our commencement stage confident in the knowledge that their Clemson education has prepared them for a lifetime of success.

Seven researchers earn NSF CAREER awards

September 1, 2017 / in In These Hills / 0 Comments / by: Nancy Spitler

Luiz Jacobsohn is working to find the most effective material for use in radiation scintillators, which will lead to a reduction in the radiation dose in medical treatments.

How can we keep food fresh with less energy during cold storage and transportation? What’s the best way to manage water supplies during extreme drought? How can we get personalized medications to patients faster?
Seven Clemson researchers will tackle these questions, and others, thanks to competitive awards from the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Program totaling more than $2.7 million. CAREER awards are investments in some of the country’s most promising young researchers, providing a boost to their careers and to the quest for answers.
Clemson has experienced increasing success in winning CAREER awards. There currently are 31 active projects funded by CAREER awards; 30 University faculty members have received awards since 2010, including seven each in 2016 and 2017.
“These CAREER awards from the National Science Foundation are a testament to the talent, dedication and ingenuity of Clemson’s faculty,” said Tanju Karanfil, vice president for research. “Not only are these faculty working to solve some of society’s most pressing problems, they are providing the highest quality education to our undergraduate and graduate students.”
The 2017 CAREER Award winners are:
Luiz Jacobsohn (pictured above), assistant professor of materials science and engineering. Jacobsohn’s quest is for the most effective material for use in radiation scintillators, which detect radiation in a number of applications, from medical imaging to national security.

Sophie Jörg

Sophie Jörg, assistant professor of digital production arts. Jörg works to make the virtual world more realistic. With the NSF grant, she will develop and refine the complex and subtle movements of hands and fingers.

Amin Khademi

Amin Khademi, assistant professor of industrial engineering. Khademi is tackling the complex and complicated process of bringing pharmaceuticals and other products to market and to patients, by developing new mathematical methods for carrying out clinical trials.

Ashok Mishra

Ashok Mishra, assistant professor of civil engineering. As a water resource engineer, Mishra is creating mathematical models to characterize extreme drought events that can improve water security in a changing environment.

Simona Onori

Simona Onori, assistant professor of automotive engineering. Onori, a control engineer, is helping make the world a cleaner place. Her research involves multiscale modeling to develop advanced controls that will mitigate emissions in new-generation vehicles.

Marissa Shuffler

Marissa Shuffler, assistant professor of industrial and organizational psychology. Porter received a rare award for behavioral research. Her work focuses on improving the ways teamwork and leadership are taught in organizations.

Sapna Sarupria

Sapna Sarupria, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. Sarupria is designing new materials for keeping things on ice. She’s using high-throughput screening to efficiently discover new materials that either inhibit or promote ice formation.