News briefs and honors from around campus

Furman University students, faculty, trustees and partners continue to receive honors and make news throughout the academic world and beyond. Here are some recent accomplishments:

• Furman has awarded physics and chemistry major Elizabeth Garcia-Ponte (Greer, South Carolina) a $2,000 scholarship for her involvement in experiential education. The award is made possible through President Elizabeth Davis, who was the recipient of the National Society of Experiential Education (NSEE) William M. Burke
  

  Garcia-Ponte benefits from an award presented to President Elizabeth Davis.

  Presidential Award for Excellence in Experiential Education. Garcia-Ponte was subsequently awarded the scholarship for several accomplishments, among them, summer research she conducted with chemistry professor Laura Wright; a fellowship appointment working in materials science at California Institute of Technology; her invited talk at the Conference for Undergraduate Women in the Physical Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln; and for presenting research at the Southeastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society (SERMACS).

• At SERMACS, Furman junior chemistry major Declan Devens (Boonton, New Jersey) received an award in the Organic Division for his presentation “Amination of (±)- hibiscone C: Creating an amine library.” The project was a collaborative effort with former South Carolina IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE)
  

  Furman was well represented at SERMACS.

  target faculty member and Furman chemistry professor Brian Goess (INBRE I) and recent Disciplinary Research Program (DRP) recipient and Furman biology professor Jason Rawlings (INBRE III).

• Senior chemistry major Garret Gomez (Suwanee, Georgia) received an award in the Biochemistry Division for his presentation with Furman visiting biology and chemistry professor Anita Nag, who has been supported through a SC INBRE Bioinformatics Pilot Project (BIPP) award. Gomez’s project was titled “Colocalization of SARS-CoV Nsp1 with host proteins that participate in RNA stability and localization.”
• Furman University junior piano performance major Emma Saba (Charlotte, North Carolina) was recognized as a third place, honorable mention recipient at the North
  

  Emma Saba ’20

  Carolina Music Teachers National Association competition (Young Artist division) held at the UNC School of the Arts in Winston Salem. Saba is a student of David Gross, piano professor and coordinator of collaborative piano.

• Sophomore information technology and communication studies double major Logan Boggis (Raleigh, North
  

  Lauren Boggis ’21 presents at CCSC.

  Carolina) won first place in the research competition at the Consortium for Computing Science in Colleges (CCSC) Southeastern Conference at Roanoke College (Virginia), where she presented the project, “Exploring the Tubercular Aesthetic: How 3D Modeling Enhances the Understanding of Historic Fashion.” Funded by Computing in Community @ Furman, the project was a collaboration with senior English major Caroline France (Fort Collins, Colorado), who co-wrote the extended abstract and helped prepare the poster. The students were advised by history professor Carolyn Day and computer science professor Andrea Tartaro.

• Senior computer science major Kathryn McGowin (Chapman, Ala.) also represented Furman at the CCSC, presenting her project, “Experiencing Abraham: Envisioning Furman’s Past through Augmented Reality.” McGowin was advised by communication studies professor Brandon Inabinet and Tartaro. The project was funded by Computing in Community @ Furman.
• Seniors Blakey Rippner of Metairie, Louisiana, a business major with a poverty studies minor, and business major Jake Campbell (Richmond, Kentucky) were the only
  

  Blakely Rippner and Jake Campbell were the only undergraduates to present a poster at the conference.

  undergraduates to present a poster at the South Carolina Association for Behavior Analysis Conference that took place in Greenville. Their topic “Antecedent stimuli to donor behavior: A component analysis of a nonprofit donor campaign,” won a research poster session award.

• Politics and International Affairs students presented research during “Coffee & Politics,” which took place Dec. 11 at The Woodlands retirement community. The topics for the poster presentations included: The 2018 Election; Immigration; Medical Marijuana; and Sports and Politics.
  

  Politics and International Affairs students presented posters at The Woodlands during “Coffee & Politics.”

• Finally, Furman University partners and trustees were honored by the Association of Fundraising Professionals SC, Piedmont Chapter during National Philanthropy Day 2018. Furman partner ScanSource was named Corporate Philanthropist of the Year, and former Furman trustee Ann Bryan received the Individual Philanthropist of the Year through a nomination by Children’s Hospital.