Student Recognition

STUDENT RECOGNITION

STUDENT EMPLOYMENT WEEK
Each April we celebrate National Student Employment Week. Gift certificates are given to each of our student tutors in recognition of their work in the Mathematics and Computer Science Department's Tutor Labs.

OUTSTANDING MATHEMATICS & COMPUTER SCIENCE STUDENTS
Students honored for their accomplishments during their undergraduate careers.

l to r: Chris Bowler, Outstanding Mathematics Student, Steve Jarvis, Outstanding Graduating Senior, John Goodney, Outstanding Mathematics Education Student

Computer Science Major Named Outstanding Scholarly Athlete of the Month

On Thursday, December 6, 2012, NMU computer science major, Cohen Adair, was honored as the Outstanding Scholarly Athlete of the Month for October. Cohen was nominated for the award by Dr. Olga Hocking, his MA 171 Probability and Statistics professor, for being an outstanding student in her class as well as an outstanding freshman hockey player.

Jaclyn Beck (center) is shown with Mary Buchman,
president of The Marquette Branch of the AAUW and computer science professor, Dr. Michael Kowalczyk, who nominated her for the award.

American Association of University Women (AAUW) Honors Beck

Jaclyn Beck, Computer Science major with a Mathematics/Chemistry minor, was the recipient of the 2010 Martha Griffiths Award which is granted annually by the Marquette Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). The award is to honor and recognize a young woman who is seen as having potential. The criteria are that she be a graduating senior with a good academic background and it is preferred that she be in a field that is not historically associated with women.

Jaclyn was presented with a certificate and a check for $150

2010 Outstanding Students

Left to Right:

Cory Perry
2010 Outstanding Computer Science Student

Jaclyn Beck
Recipient of the 2010 Martha Griffiths Award

Esther Su
2010 Outstanding Mathematics Student

OUTSTANDING GRADUATES
Gift certificates are given in recognition of our outstanding graduates.

Mr. Steve A. Jarvis 2013 Outstanding Graduating Senior The Mathematics and Computer Science Department is proud to name Steve A. Jarvis as its Outstanding Graduating Senior for 2013. Steve will graduate in May 2013 Summa Cum Laude with a major in computer science and a minor in mathematics. As a student athlete, Steve was a resident weight lifter in the US Olympic Education Center and won 11 medals in national and international competitions. He also participated in a year-long internship at Intel Corporation in Portland, Oregon, where he helped develop the first generation of Windows 8 tablets. His experience
creating applications for the Android market helped him win a first-place finish in Intel’s Common Connectivity Framework programming contest. Steve plans to continue his study of computer science in graduate school in the fields of machine learning and artificial intelligence. As an introduction to the subject area, he created a neural network to recognize handwritten digits as a part of his senior project.

Ms. Andrea L. Clark

2012 Outstanding Graduating Senior

The Mathematics and Computer Science Department is proud to name Andrea L. Clark as its Outstanding Graduating Senior for 2012.

Andrea came to Northern in 2009, eleven days after the birth of her youngest child and ten years after earning an associate degree in accounting from Davenport University. She graduated from Northern in December 2011 summa cum laude with a double major in economics and mathematics and a perfect 4.0 GPA.

Andrea lives in Marquette with her husband and six children, ages 2 to 14, whom she home schools. She is active in her church as a teacher and as the secretary of the women’s Relief Society. She enjoys needlework crafts, hunting, target shooting and archery, and is a compulsive reader. Andrea is presently enrolled in Northern’s graduate program and is studying for the first two actuarial exams.

Mr. Michael Morissette 2011 Outstanding Graduating Graduate Student in Mathematics Education. Michael has been a mathematics teacher at Westwood High School in Ishpeming for the past eight years. He is a graduate of Westwood High School and a Northern Michigan University alumnus, graduating magna cum laude in 2002. As an undergrad, he co-authored a journal article entitled “Maximizing the Fit of a Box Spring Mattress up a Stairwell” with Dr. David Buhl and fellow student Jeff Wolf; the article was published in the November 2006 edition of Mathematics Teacher. Michael received his Master of Science in Mathematics Education degree in December 2010. Michael tells us that when he is not teaching he can usually be found sitting on an undisclosed lake in his boat or ice shanty
being mocked by fish as they swim by.

Mr. Charles Rye

2011 Outstanding Graduating Senior

Charles graduated magna cum laude with a major in computer science and a minor in mathematics. He has been on the Dean’s List every semester and will graduate with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

In 2010, Charles attended the Argonne National Laboratory's annual undergraduate symposium where he presented his research paper entitled “Benchmarking of Important Tasks Across Linux Distributions”. He has also participated in four programming contests and was on the team that took 21st in the region and 3rd on site in Sault Ste. Marie during the 2009 ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Programming Contest.

Charles has taken many optional high level computer science classes including Advanced Web Programming, Advanced

Networking, and special topics in Advanced Unix Administration, Machine Learning, and Videogames. He has also independently created an algorithm and corresponding program that can solve the classic Towers of Hanoi problem more efficiently than the solution given in most textbooks.

Ms. Cynthia F. Brooks

2010 Outstanding Graduating Graduate Student in Mathematics Education.

Cynthia Brooks graduated from high school in Brandon, Mississippi, after which she joined the Air Force where she earned honors in electronics communications studies.

Cynthia attended Northern Michigan University as a nontraditional student and graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. In 2008 she completed a master of science degree in guidance and counseling. The topic of her research paper in counseling was “Effective Classroom Management in Middle Schools.”

In 2009 she completed her second master’s degree, this
time in mathematics education. Her research in mathematics education investigated “The Effects of Playing Games on Learning the Concepts of More and Fewer in a Junior Kindergarten Classroom.

Cynthia is a kindergarten and junior kindergarten teacher at Birchview School in Ishpeming, Michigan. She is married and has two grown children.

Ms. Emily E. Engelhardt

2010 Outstanding Graduating Senior

Emily Engelhardt graduated in December 2009 summa cum laude with a double major in secondary mathematics and integrated sciences education after earning Dean’s List honors every semester, half of them with a perfect 4.0 record.

Emily is an alumna of both the Student Leader Fellowship Program and all four edges of the Superior Edge Program. She was a team-member recipient of the 2009 TLC Student Award (Learning Category), and for four years tutored in the Mathematics Department’s help center.

Last Fall Emily returned to her home state of Minnesota to student teach and was so successful that the Rushford, Minnesota, district where she student taught hired her as a fulltime teacher starting this

January for the remainder of the school year.

Ms. Angel Inglese

2009 Outstanding Graduating Graduate Student in Mathematics Education.

Angel is a mathematics teacher and the technology coordinator at North Dickinson High School in Felch, MI.

In 2008 she received recognition as an "Educator of Distinction" from the National Society of High School Scholars, and she was nominated for the 2008 Michigan Teacher of the Year award. She is a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and a teacher-leader in the Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School district where she conducts in-service training on technology uses for classroom teachers, most recently on the use of "clickers" in the classroom,

which was also the subject of her master's project.

Angel graduated from Kingsford High School then came to Northern Michigan University where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1998 and the Masters of Science in Mathematics Education in December 2008. She is married and the mother of three young children.

Mr. Jason Gregersen

2009 Outstanding Graduating Senior

Jason's dedication to academics is evident not only in his high GPA but also in his extracurricular activities. He has presented twice at the Minnesota Council of Teachers of Mathematics annual teachers conference and also several times at NMU regarding the use of technology in the classroom. In 2008, Jason was the recipient of Northern Michigan's TLC award and the Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics' Miriam Schaefer Award for excellence in education. He has also demonstrated his dedication to the student community through his volunteer tutoring in the math lab and by tutoring individuals privately.

Jason will graduate in May 2009, Suma Cum Laude, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education Mathematics. He will continue studying mathematics in graduate school and will pursue a doctorate in either pure or applied mathematics.

Mr. Brian Lowis

2008 Outstanding Graduating Senior in Mathematics and Computer Science

Brian Lowis, A Wisconsin high school graduate, now lives near Madison. He has always been a devotee of mathematics, always open to wonder and debate on every level and any topic. He has discussed elements of the Random Transpose Puzzle Scramble at the Argonne National Laboratory, and also presented research at NMU involving the Nash Equilibrium.

He served as math tutor at both NMU and the Sylvan Learning Center, where he prided himself on rescuing several students formerly immune to mathematics.

While majoring in mathematics and minoring in physics, he did not ignored other disciplines. “The Tomato Revolution”, written for a creative writing class, was published in Sirr magazine and in Alphelion, a science fiction e-zine.

He currently works for Epic, a highly rated software company that provides an integrated suite of ambulatory and inpatient applications to health care organizations.

Mr. Brent Sauve

2007 Outstanding Graduating Graduate Student in Mathematics Education.

Brent Sauve is a NMU alumnus who returned to earn his master's degree.

After graduating Magna Cum Laude with a major in secondary mathematics education and a minor in computer science, Brent Sauve taught at Nah Tah Wahsh Public School Academy before joining the faculty of Escanaba Senior High where he now teaches mathematics and co-advises the National Honor Society.

Brent has been a co-presenter at a Michigan Council of Teachers

of Mathematics statewide conference. He has co-authored a section of a book for educators of Native American students and is currently working on a mathematics education project that he hopes to publish in the future. He has been nominated by his students for the National Honor Roll of Outstanding American Teachers and has been cited in a published mathematics book for his original solution to a problem.

Mr. Mark Henrion

2007 Outstanding Graduating Senior in Mathematics and Computer Science

Mark Henrion is a truly outstanding graduate who is currently doing his student teaching in mathematics and physics at a high school in Germany. Mark's contributions to NMU and the community include his participation in the Student Leader Fellowship Program and his service as mentor to at-risk youth through the Marquette Department of Child and Family Services and as a volunteer coach for Bothwell Middle School's Math Counts program and their LEGO robotics team. He has been a patient and understanding tutor in NMU's mathematics help center and a tutor-counselor for high

school students in the NMU Upward Bound Mathematics and Science Program. Mark is a NMU Hardin Scholar and was one of five mathematics education students statewide to be honored in 2006 with a scholarship from the Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics.