Academics

Three noted members of the education field will deliver Commencement remarks to Albion College’s Class of 2017 on Saturday, May 6: Jess Womack, ’65, retired general counsel and inspector general of the Los Angeles Unified School District and recent board member of L.A.’s Green Dot Schools; Linda Yonke, ’75, superintendent of suburban Chicago’s New Trier Township High School District; and Michael Milkie, CEO and superintendent of Chicago’s Noble Network of Charter Schools.

Albion College’s Distinguished Alumni Awards are presented annually to alumni who have demonstrated excellence in career achievements and contributions to community and humanity.

The College’s Young Alumni Awards are presented each year to alumni who have demonstrated exceptional achievement in their first 10 years following graduation.

An annual awards ceremony—this year to be held on Friday, April 21—allows the College to recognize and showcase the noteworthy success of its alumni. Please join us as we recognize and extend congratulations to the 2017 honorees!

Mary Jean Eisenhower shares her remarkable career in international peace work as Albion College’s 2017 Joseph S. Calvaruso Keynote speaker on Thursday, April 20. The College’s 28th annual two-day Elkin R. Isaac Student Research Symposium opens Wednesday, April 19, with the Isaac Alumni Lecture, to be given by shark researcher Nick Whitney, ’00.

Covering equal pay, entertainment, the environment and much more, Albion College celebrates Women’s History Month with a wide variety of events.

While many Albion students (and professors) made time for rest and relaxation during spring break, it was also a great opportunity to apply and expand upon work done in class. This week, students in music, mathematics and the Prentiss M. Brown Honors Program have gone in all directions to gain some unique learning experiences.

In 1936, homesick for his native Upper Peninsula, John Reynolds, ’39 (left), planted an Austrian pine tree from his home on the quad. Eighty-one years later (and earlier this week), two of his grandchildren who are members of the College grounds staff helped take down the tree, which had been beset by disease. But a new tree from the Reynolds family cabin in the U.P. will soon be brought to campus and planted in the same spot.

For nearly 40 years, Mary Johnson was a welcoming, soothing, calming, always smiling presence at the entrance of Albion College’s dining hall. And she knew every student’s name, or at least it certainly seemed that way. Johnson passed away Monday, February 27, at the age of 75, and her loss has left a hole in the Albion College community.

Fifty-eight majors, 31 minors and two concentrations were declared during Albion College’s Declare a Major event February 21. And that’s a start. Indeed, one of the biggest challenges for colleges everywhere is to get students to declare their major, preferably by the end of their sophomore year.

Dr. Mauri A. Ditzler shares his thoughts about the recent White House executive order pertaining to national immigration policy.

For Albion, 2016 was a year for celebration. The College cheered a lot of growth: a big new first-year class, the creation of the Ludington Center and the Harrington gift that will spur neighborhood revitalization near campus. There also was the City’s groundbreaking for a new hotel and planned expansion of the Bohm Theatre. We present photos of just a few highlights of student achievement, academic inquiry and innovative programs that make Albion an exemplary college and special community.