Robert Bonner, the Marjorie Crabb Garbisch Professor of History and the Liberal Arts, emeritus, at Carleton College, will be awarded an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, from his alma mater, the University of Wyoming, during that institution’s commencement on May 7.

Carleton College students Cody Finke ’12 (Seattle) and James Lu Morrissey ’12 (New York) have been named Goldwater Scholarship winners. Finke, a chemistry major, is interested in HIV-related research and says a high-school volunteering experience sparked his science interest. Morrissey, a chemistry and Chinese double major, has pursued his interest in biomedical research since his sophomore year of high school, working in labs at several medical schools during summers and school breaks, with an emphasis on cancer research.

Carleton students Matthew Fink ’11 (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.), Adam Karas ’11 (Corpus Christi, Texas), and Kai Knutson ’11 (Bloomington, Minn.) have earned three of the 40 fellowships from the Thomas J. Watson Foundation. Carleton was one of only three institutions to have three or more winners, as Hamilton College (N.Y.) and Grinnell College (Iowa) also had three students receive fellowships. The fellowships, awarded to college seniors to pursue their unique passion or dream for a year of independent exploration and travel outside the United States, are picked from select private liberal arts colleges and universities. 148 finalists were nominated this year to compete on the national level.  Each fellow will receive $25,000 for twelve-months of travel and exploration.

Neil Lutsky, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Psychology, has been named as the 2011 recipient of the American Psychological Foundation’s Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award. This award recognizes “a significant career of contributions as an exceptional teacher of psychology.” Lutsky was nominated for this recognition by a group of his former students at Carleton and by colleagues in the psychology teaching community. “It’s satisfying to receive this honor but more humbling still to recognize how fortunate I have been to have taught such outstanding students and to have benefited from inspired and dedicated colleagues at Carleton and in the teaching of psychology community,” Lutsky said.

Minnesota Public Radio higher education reporter Alec Friedrich noted how Carleton librarians use trading cards to break through the awkwardness that often stop students from utilizing their expertise in his blog, On Campus, on March 1. Matt Bailey, media librarian and reference and instruction librarian for arts, told Friedrich “They [cards] offer us a way to be accessible and approachable to students. The library can be an intimidating place … We want something that’s not threatening, that makes us approachable so that students can ask questions.”

Carleton’s The Art of Sight, Sound, and Heart: Visualizing Japanese Theatre at the Carleton College Art Gallery is the subject of a Feb. 17 Minnesota Public Radio feature. Marianne Combs of MPR intereviewed mask-maker Bidou Yamaguchi, whose work is on display in the College’s Art Gallery. The exhibit runs through the end of winter term, ending March 9. 

President Steven G. Poskanzer made his intramural broomball debut on Thursday night, and local blog Northfield Patch was there to cover the momentous occasion with a video interview with Poskanzer and some game highlights.

In the 2009-2010 academic year, Carleton College faculty members received 29 grants which furnished a total of $585,582 in support for their scholarship and teaching. The grants went to 23 different faculty members who represented 15 different departments. Nearly $230,000 went to faculty in arts, literature, and humanities departments, while approximately $355,000 went to faculty in math, science, and social science departments. The 29 faculty grants were a historic high for the College, besting the old record of 22 grants received in 2003-2004. The full listing of all 29 grants is now available.

Steven Schier, the Dorothy H. and Edward C. Congdon Professor of Political Science, said in a January 7 interview with Minnesota Public Radio that former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty’s new book, “Courage to Stand: an American Story,” leaves little doubt as to his intentions regarding the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in 2012. “I think the content of his memoirs indicate that he is running for president,” Schier said in his interview with MPR’s Mark Zdechlik on Morning Edition. “If you’re writing a memoir and attacking an incumbent president consistently in that memoir, it’s pretty clear that you’re sort of honing and introducing campaign messages you plan to use on the stump during an election year.”

Deborah Appleman, the Hollis L. Caswell Professor of Educational Studies and Chair of Educational Studies department, has written an opinion piece in the September 29 edition of the Star Tribune entitled “Film about education is too narrow.” She responds to a recent editorial in the paper on the film “Waiting for ‘Superman’,” saying the reforms the film promotes are based on a small slice of the American educational system and that the film fails to recognize the numerous outstanding public schools and teachers within them.