“I am proud and excited to welcome Keith and Tim,” said Michael Harrington, ’85, chair of Albion College’s Board of Trustees. “I have known Keith for years as both a classmate and a friend and I know Tim’s quality and enthusiasm for Albion. The College is headed in new and exciting directions under President Mathew Johnson, and I am thrilled Keith and Tim will help us on that journey.”
In a year full of strife and uncertainty, Caryn Ryan, ’79, wanted to do her part to make sure the year also ended with hope. “Healing is a really big thing and this giving was a function of that,” said Ryan, whose matching gift of $20.20 to Albion College’s Student Assistance Fund came on a day that saw an Albion College Giving Tuesday-record 386 gifts from 343 donors.
When your research and teaching focuses on microbes, you can work anywhere—and Dr. Ola Olapade, professor of biology, has covered a lot of ground. His own research has taken him to the confluence of the Indian and Atlantic oceans in South Africa, Mayan ruins in Mexico and Belize (where he studied the impacts and contributions of microbes to the degradation and deterioration of stone monuments), Morocco, the Great Lakes and more.
Retired Provost Susan Conner passed away November 28 in Jackson. During her six years of service to Albion College, Conner, a French historian, developed and strengthened programs that distinguish Albion among its peers nationwide. “Susan was an inspired scholar and a generous colleague,” said professor of French Dianne Guenin-Lelle, adding that she “was an inspiration whom I will miss very much.”
Dugan Karnazes gained his engineering interest at Albion and has gone on to found Velocity Research in Grand Rapids. But when coronavrius overwhelmed the country, he joined a group of concerned professionals to build badly needed ventilators. “It was a group effort to make a difference,” he says.
In her new role, Chief Belonging Officer and Title IX Coordinator Keena Williams is leading the College’s journey to a place where everyone not only has a seat at the table, but “everybody’s heard at the table, everybody has ownership at the table.”
In partnership with two leading organizations championing the study of history, Albion joins eight other colleges—and is the only Midwest institution—offering a four-year $5,000 award to students declaring history as their major at the time of admission.
Albion College, one of the top 50 innovative liberal arts colleges in the country, has announced the Albion College Promise, an extensive scholarship program aimed at Michigan families who have college affordability concerns due to COVID-19.
Nearly 42,000 gifts and pledges totaling more than $101 million across four key priorities lead to the campaign’s conclusion 18 months ahead of schedule. The success underscores the interconnected impact experienced every day by Albion students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends, and boldly sets up the College for an engaged, purpose-driven future.
Albion College students have been tramping through the wilds of Whitehouse Nature Center in recent weeks removing destructive “mile-a-minute” weeds with an understanding that the work they do now will provide a long-lasting benefit. Said one student worker: “To preserve something for people years from now I think is really important.”
