Lexington, Virginia • March 10, 2009
Steven W. Squyres, the Goldwin Smith Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University and the principal investigator of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Project, will be the speaker at the Washington and Lee University Phi Beta Kappa/Society of the Cincinnati Convocation on Thursday, March 12. The convocation will be held at 11:40 a.m. in Lee Chapel.
The convocation, which is open to the public without charge, also will recognize and honor 47 W&L members of the classes of 2008, 2009 and 2010 who were recently accepted into the Phi Beta Kappa society based on their exceptional academic achievements.
Squyres has participated in a number of planetary spaceflight missions. From 1978 to 1981 he was an associate of the Voyager imaging science team, participating in analysis of imaging data from the encounters with Jupiter and Saturn. He was a radar investigator on the Magellan mission to Venus, a member of the Mars Observer gamma-ray spectrometer flight investigation team and a co-investigator on the Russian Mars `96 mission.
Squyres's work involves analysis of data from both spacecraft and ground-based telescopes, as well as a variety of types of geophysical modeling. Areas of particular interest include the tectonics of Venus, the history of water on Mars, and the geophysics of the icy satellites of the outer planets. Data analysis and theory are used together to examine the processes that have shaped the surfaces and interiors of these bodies.
W&L students being inducted into Phi Beta Kappa:
Aaron P. Albert of Hebron, Conn.; Sarah L. Atkinson of Memphis, Tenn.; Erik N. Ball of Sammamish, Wash.; Olivia Claire Barrett of Mobile, Ala.; Katherine M. Bastian of North Wales, Pa.; Jessica N. Bergquist of Huntington, W.Va.; Rebecca R. Bratu of Arad, Romania; Melissa R. Caron of Effingham, N.H.; Hilary L. Craig of Georgetown, Ky.; Melissa L. Dolan of Centennial, Colo.; Scott C. Ennis of Newark, Del.; Robert L. Frasco of Suffield, Conn.; Briana C. Gapsis of Ellicott City, Md.; and Leann A. Gerlach of Rocky Mount, N.C.
Also, Phillip S. Golladay of Waxhaw, N.C.; Elissa N. Hanson of Boca Raton, Fla.; Anthony L. Ives of Charlotte, N.C.; Lisa P. Luu of Monterey Park, Calif.; Jennifer V. Lysenko of Voorheesville, N.Y.; Christopher L. Martin Jr. of Shreveport, La.; Kaitlin M. Simpson of Scottsdale, Ariz.; Andrew M. Sims of Silver Spring, Md.; Aaron L. Toomey of Round Rock, Texas; Alexandra E. Utsey of Orangeburg, S.C.; Anne M. Van Devender of Jackson, Miss.; and Emily K. Wallace of Roanoke, Va.
Hiba M. Assi of Baalbeck, Lebanon; Natalie I. Bunnell of Clarendon Hills, Ill.; Whitney R. Burns of Moorefield, W.Va.; William J. Cooper of Lynchburg, Va.; Josiah W. Davis of Warrenton, Va.; James C. Dick of Schenectady, N.Y.; Neville L. Fogarty of West Windsor, N.J.; Stephanie A. Marks of Frederick, Md.; and Joseph P. McDonald of San Antonio, Texas.
Also, Christin E. Quinn of Beaumont, Texas; Holly L. Ratliff of Oxford, Ohio; Rachel M. Skains of Charlotte, N.C.; Dorothy R. Todd of Watkinsville, Ga.; Sarah J. Trimble of Jacksonville, Fla.; Darinka Truebutschek of Koblenz, Germany; Bena Tshishiku of Martinez, Ga.; John R. Weems of Greenville, S.C.; and John T. Wren of Richmond, Va.
From the Class of 2008:
Jessica C. Cobb, of Washington; Logan Gibson, of Charlottesville, Va.; and Audrey M. Horn, of Arlington, Va.
The winner of the Phi Beta Kappa Sophomore Award, which is given each year to the sophomore who has attained the highest cumulative scholastic average through the end of the fall term of the sophomore year at W&L, also will be announced, as will the names of an honorary member and an alumni member of Phi Beta Kappa and the winner(s) of the Pinney Prize.