Evan Leadem

2020 Commencement Honorees: Nominations Welcome

October 17, 2019

The University of Portland invites nominations for the 2020 Commencement speaker(s), Christus Magister Medal recipient, and honorary degree recipients. All nominations should be emailed to greene@up.edu and leadem@up.edu and should contain the following information:

Name of nominee.
A paragraph or two answering the following questions:
If a nominee for Commencement speaker: Why would this nominee be an exceptional Commencement speaker? What sort of message would this nominee deliver to the graduates of the University and their families?
If a nominee for Christus Magister Medal: How has this nominee evinced a vigorous spiritual life and an accomplished professional career in service to others? How has this nominee been a source of inspiration and consolation to the world? How has this nominee illustrated and enhanced the mission of the University of Portland?
If a nominee for honorary degree: How has this nominee contributed to the University’s values of teaching and learning, faith and formation, and service and leadership? What impact has this person had on his/her local community and/or the world? Is this a person that the University would like for its students and faculty to imitate in their own lives?
Any contact information for the nominee (if possible).
Any connection between the nominee and the University of Portland (if applicable).

The deadline for nominations is Friday, October 25.

Aziz Inan, Shiley School of Engineering, had his article, “Letter: Pope John Paul II, by the numbers,” published in the May 29, 2020 edition of The Columbian. See the article here.

Jordyn Wolfand, Shiley School of Engineering, contributed “Stormwater control impacts on runoff volume and peak flow: A meta-analysis of watershed modeling studies” (with Colin D. Bell, Chelsea L. Panos, Aditi S. Bhaskar, Ryan L. Gilliom, Terri S. Hogue, Kristina G. Hopkins, Anne J. Jefferson) in Hydrological Processes, May 2020 (DOI: 10.1002/hyp.13784)

Michael Cameron, theology, was granted the Thomas F. Martin O.S.A. Saint Augustine Fellowship, Villanova, University, in January 2020. He contributed “Lucifer: Patristic and Early Medieval Christianity” in The Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, eds. Christine Helmer, et al. (Berlin: Walter De Gruyter, 2019), vol. 17: 102-106, October 2019. He also presented “On the Road to Conversion with Augustine: A Lenten Retreat Based on The Confessions of Saint Augustine” at Holy Cross Catholic Church, Portland, OR, March 2020.

Jeffrey White, international languages & cultures, presented “With a pandemic comes the opportunity for bold visions in redesign” as moderator and host for the Northwest College Reading and Learning Association Tides of Change Video Conference Lunch Series, with co-presenters Adrienne Beebe and Liz Coleman, May 2020.

Rachel Wheeler, theology, reviewed The Great Conversation: Nature and the Care of the Soul by Belden C. Lane, New York: Oxford University Press, 2019, in Spiritus 20, no. 1 (2020): 129-130, April 2020.

Aaron Moss, Shiley School of Engineering, contributed “Simplified Parsing Expression Derivatives” in Language and Automata Theory and Applications, Leporati A., Martín-Vide C., Shapira D., Zandron C. (eds) LATA 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 120, 38. February 2020.

Nelson Coates, physics, was granted a patent for “Thermoelectric polymer aerogels and methods of fabrication thereof,” (with coauthors Ayaskanta Sahu and Jeffrey Urban, and student coauthors Boris Russ, Edmond Zaia, Madeleine Gordon, Preston Zhou) U.S. Patent 10,522,732, December 2019. He also contributed “In-situ resonant band engineering of solution-processed semiconductors generates high performance n-type thermoelectric nano-inks” (with coauthors Ayaskanta Sahu, Miao Liu, Fan Yang, Jason Forster, Ya-Qian Zhang, Mary Scott, Kristin Persson, and Jeffrey Urban; and student coauthors Boris Russ, Edmond Zaia, Madeleine Gordon, Rachel Segalman) in Nat Commun 11, April 2020. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15933-2

Bruce Conkle, performing and fine arts, was featured in an article, “Artist Bruce Conkle: Isolation as meditation time” in Oregon Artswatch, May 11, 2020. See the article here.