Ikenberry Urges Juniata Graduates to Rely on Vision, Faith

     Stanley O. Ikenberry, former president of the American Education Council and former president of the University of Illinois, told Juniata students that they are entering a risk-filled world where they must rely on a personal sense of vision as well as their faith and the knowledge they accumulated during their education to navigate that world, as he delivered the May 11 commencement address at Juniata College's 125th commencement ceremony.

     After Ikenberry's speech, Juniata presented Ikenberry with an honorary doctor of humane letters degree. The college also awarded honorary doctor of humane letters degrees to Donald F. Durnbaugh, an author, historian and current archivist for Juniata College; and N. Unnikrishnan Nair, vice chancellor of Cochin University of Science and Technology in Cochin, India.

     Ikenberry, now a regent professor and president emeritus at the University of Illinois, also is president of the Board of Overseers for TIAA-CREF.

     He served as president of the American Council on Education (ACE) from 1996 to 2001. Ikenberry also served as president of the University of Illinois from 1979 to 1995. Before joining the University of Illinois, Ikenberry was senior vice president for administration at Penn State University from 1978 to 1979.

     He concluded the address by telling Juniata's graduates, "Knowing what is right, believing what is right and acting on what is right; and in the process, overcoming risk, not surrendering to risk, that is life's secret."
She's Baaaack! Michelle Corby to Lead Marketing Effort

     It seems that every time Michelle Corby '95 leaves Juniata, stronger forces keep drawing her back.

     Corby, who returns to campus to spearhead Juniata's new regional marketing initiatives, became assistant vice president of marketing in May, just a few months after leaving the campus for a new job at Penn State.

     Corby's connection to Juniata started as a student where she earned a bachelor's degree in English and theatre studies in 1995. She returned to Juniata in 1999 as assistant director of alumni relations and assumed the job of director of alumni relations about five months later.

     During her time leading the alumni team, Corby led the College's effort to recruit alumni volunteers, a program that brought more than 1,000 volunteers in to work for Juniata. She also spearheaded the formation of new regional alumni clubs, and the creation of alumni affinity groups organized around a common College experience. In addition, the volunteer-led Juniata Admissions Ambassadors and Juniata Career Team, achieved new heights under her direction. She worked closely with each president of the alumni association and the alumni board of directors and took a lead role in organizing the Celebration of Juniata Women event in April 2001.

     After her successful term as director of alumni relations, Corby left Juniata to become director of alumni relations for the Smeal College of Business Administration at Penn State.
3-D Biology: Feats of Clay

     In a marriage of seemingly unrelated disciplines, Juniata art professor and renowned ceramic artist Jack Troy took inspiration from the College's stellar reputation in the sciences and created a new course called "Biological Form and Sculpture" in which Troy and seven students formed from raw clay fantasy animals, full-scale models of microscopic life and a 3-foot long, 50-pound ceramic lobster claw.

     The fall-semester class produced such high-quality work that the College has agreed to purchase many of the pieces for permanent display in the lobby of the von Liebig Center for Science.

     "I found I loved creating on a really big scale," says Rebecca Degagne '03, who created the massive crustacean claw and other works based on fungi, diatoms and other forms. Degagne, who graduated with a POE in biology, found it exciting that the biology department thought enough of the students' work to purchase it. Other Juniata students who contributed work include Lynn Rassel '05, Ben Clark '03, Kent Black '04, Kelly Markel and Yumi Machino.

     For Troy, who created a few biological pieces himself, saw the project as "a perfect interface between art and science." He also wanted to hone his own sculptural skills, noting: "I've never tried to convince my students that ceramics is only about pottery." In addition to realistic work the students also conceived works that morph from one biological form to another. Dubbed "Goosing Evolution" by Troy, this sequence produced work such as Rassel's "mollusk-to-pinecone" series. Troy's experience with this class has convinced Troy to try other science-based sculpture classes.
Five Alumni Receive Achievement Service Awards

     Five alumni-related awards were given out June 7 during "Juniata College Alumni Weekend 2003: More Than a Memory." Emeritus member of the Juniata College Board of Trustees, Robert E. Wagoner '53 was awarded the Harold B. Brumbaugh Alumni Service Award; Harriet Windsor '62, Secretary of State for Delaware, received the Alumni Achievement Award; Jennifer Wade '88 received the Young Alumni Achievement Award; and Dr. Wayne Meyers '47, chief of mycobacteriology at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, received the William E. Swigart Jr. Alumni Humanitarian Award.

     In addition, Dr. Bradley J. Miller '94, a doctor at Family Health Associates in Belleville, Pa., received the 2003 Health Professions Alumni Appreciation Award at the ceremony.
Distinguished Faculty Receive Teaching Awards

     Three Juniata College faculty members were honored with distinguished teaching awards during the college's Spring Awards Convocation. Honored for their work were Henry Thurston-Griswold, professor of Spanish; Donna Weimer, Thornbury Professor of Communication; and James Borgardt, assistant professor of physics.

     Thurston-Griswold received the 36th annual Beachley Award for Distinguished Teaching, while Weimer was named the recipient of the 14th annual Beachley Award for Distinguished Academic Service. Borgardt received the Henry and Joan Gibbel Award for Distinguished Teaching by a faculty member with fewer than six years of service.
Finding the Science Beneath Brushstrokes

     Art by definition is judged by appearance, but a group of about 20 Juniata students and their chemistry professor are looking beneath the surface of artworks to examine the scientific principles used to create them.

     The course, Chemistry 199: Chemistry of Art, is comprised of short lectures detailing the chemical principles behind, say, using acids for etching metals or how glass is made. The bulk of class time is spent in the laboratory, performing such chemical experiments as creating pigments and paints, as well as studying the chemistry of metal patinas and ceramics.

     The students also prepared and painted a fresco, made paper and studied the chemistry of photography. The class also covered the science behind detecting forgeries by studying experiments done on the Shroud of Turin, a cloth that purported to retain the image of Jesus Christ's face as the cloth was wrapped around him after his crucifixion.

     Hark is planning to introduce a little more technology the next time he offers the class. He just received a $30,000 grant from the Henry and Camille Dreyfus Foundation to purchase two instruments, an X-ray fluorescence instrument and a Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope. "These instruments will allow us to analyze pigments and materials in artworks to help us discover what materials were used in making the work which can be of help in the authentification process," he says.

    "This course is a great example of the synthesis of different subjects that the liberal arts can represent," Hark says.
Comic Book Creator: Biologist Evolves as Storyteller

     Biologist Jay Hosler says drawing and writing comic books is just like teaching -- both require a coherent and interesting storyline and an appreciative audience.

     "The skills I use to tell a story visually and in writing are the same I use in class," says Hosler, assistant professor of biology. "With comic books I'm just teaching to a bunch of people I can't see."

     These days, Hosler is attracting more and more new students with the release of his latest graphic novel, "Sandwalk Adventures," a five-chapter, 160-page opus that follows the adventures of a tiny follicle mite who happens to make her home in the eyebrow of naturalist and evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin. The novel uses this science fiction device to tell readers how Darwin conceived his theory of natural selection and evolution.

     Hosler has had a lot of practice producing comic images. Several years ago, he published the graphic novel "Clan Apis," a five-chapter book about the life cycle of a bee called Nyuki. To date, "Clan Apis" has sold about 4,000 copies, respectable numbers for a comic book that does not feature a muscular superhero. The first printing for "Sandwalk Adventures" is 1,000 copies. The book is available by special order through almost any bookstore or through amazon.com. It also can be ordered directly through Hosler's Web site: activesynapse.com.

     Hosler, who does most of his writing and drawing during down times in his office, finds satisfaction when a well-drawn, well-written page emerges from the jumble of notes, articles and Post-its on his desk. "It's really like creating order out of chaos," he says.