News of the achievements of local students and members of the Armed Forces.
• Brigid Ueland of Arlington earned a master of business administration degree and Charlotte Ueland of Arlington earned a bachelor of arts degree in history during recent commencement exercises at Benedictine University.
• The following Arlington students were among those earning degrees with honor during recent commencement exercises at James Madison University:
Madeleine McCarthy earned a bachelor’s degree in economics, summa cum laude.
Melissa Suarez Zapata earned a bachelor’s degree in justice studies, magna cum laude. Alexis Rowland earned a bachelor’s degree in music, magna cum laude. Marina George earned a bachelor’s degree in general psychology, magna cum laude. Claire Morris earned a bachelor’s degree in health sciences, magna cum laud. Hannah Demas earned a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management, magna cum laude. Hannah Burkholder earned a bachelor’s degree in studio art, magna cum laude. Anna DeFalco earned a bachelor’s degree in communications studies, magna cum laude.
Syeda Shamsuddin earned a bachelor’s degree in biology, cum laude. Grace Peterson earned a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management, cum laude. Elizabeth Koehler earned a bachelor’s degree in physics, cum laude. Reilly Tickle earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, with distinction.
• Sharon Newman of Arlington earned a bachelor of science degree in environmental studies; Cody Godfrey of Arlington earned a bachelor of science degree in environmental studies; Madeline Miller of Arlington earned a bachelor of science degree in art education; and Katarina Visek of Arlington earned a bachelor of science degree in elementary education during recent commencement exercises at the University of Vermont.
• Nicholas Mundo of Arlington earned a bachelor of arts degree in communication, and Cathleen Gavin of Arlington earned a bachelor of arts degree in art history, cum laude, during recent commencement exercises at the College of Charleston.
• Julie Brewer of Arlington earned a degree, summa cum laude, during recent commencement exercises at the College of the Holy Cross.
• Pia Kramer of Arlington earned a bachelor of arts degree, with honors, in English literature, during recent commencement exercises at Virginia Tech.
• Lexi Beard of Arlington earned a bachelor of science degree in biology and Zafri Yussoff of Arlington earned a bachelor of arts degree in photography during recent commencement exercises at Eastern Mennonite University.
• Lauryn Moore and Allison Southfield of Arlington have been named to the dean’s list for the spring semester at Eastern Mennonite University.
• Samuel Dozier of Arlington, a graduate of Washington-Liberty High School, and Conor Daughtery of Arlington, a graduate of West Potomac High School, have been named to the dean’s list for the spring semester at Lebanon Valley College.
• James Pilot of Arlington will represent Yorktown High School at the 2022 American Legion Boys Sate program to be held at Radford University this summer.
Now in its 80th session, Boys State is among the most respected educational programs of government instruction for high-school students.
• Bishop O’Connell High School faculty member Melissa Pore has been selected by the D.W. Steele Memorial Chapter of the Air and Space Forces Association (AFA) as their 2022 Teacher of the Year, and then named the AFA’s 2022 Virginia State Teacher of the Year.
Linda McMahon, president of the Virginia AFA, and Mike Maxwell, D.W. Steele Chapter vice president for aerospace education, presented Pore with the awards on May 17, citing her “achievements in advancing and motivating students and young people toward the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines,” school officials said.
Pore has been an engineering and technology teacher at Bishop O’Connell for the past five years.
• A newly announced dollar-for-dollar match could net the Wakefield High School Educational Foundation’s scholarship fund as much as $2 million over the coming year.
It was announced June 2 that Henry “Ric” Duques, a 1961 graduate of the high school, and his wife Dawn had made an up-to-$1 million pledge to the foundation, which will match funds raised by the organization for the year ending June 30, 2023. The pledge comes through the Duques Educational Trust.
While at Wakefield, Ric Duques was a co-captain of the 1961 state-champion basketball team, which ended the season with a 26-0 record, and attended George Washington University on a basketball scholarship. He later went on to become CEO of First Data Corp., the nation’s largest bank-card-processing firm.
When asked what he learned at Wakefield that helped him to be a better leader, Ric Duques answered: “Tolerance of other people, a sense of being part of a team and really listening to other people.” To today’s students, his advice is: “You can always do a little bit better than you think you can do.”
The Wakefield Education Foundation is a volunteer-run non-profit that was created in 1986 and has raised more than $3 million to help over 540 students go on to higher education. Each year, the Foundation awards scholarships to students attending four-year colleges or universities (currently $12,000 each), scholarships to students attending Northern Virginia Community College (currently $6,000 each), scholarships to previous Northern Virginia Community College scholars to continue on to a four-year college or university (currently $6,000 each) and scholarships to students moving forward with career and technical training. The total amount awarded each year is typically in the neighborhood of $250,000.
“This support from Ric and Dawn will secure the future of the all-volunteer Foundation and it will allow the Foundation to select one scholar each year to receive the Duques Educational Trust Scholarship that will be much larger than the regular four-year scholarships,” the foundation said. “This will provide more meaningful funding to one deserving Wakefield graduate each year.”
Despite having a student body that spans the economic spectrum, Wakefield produces a graduating class each year that sees more than 90 percent advance to higher education.
• The Arlington County Medical Society recently presented a contribution totaling $12,000 to the Wakefield High School Educational Foundation, represented by Conchita Mitchell.
Dr. Jenny Hong, president of the society, announced the donation news at a recent general-membership meeting in conjunction with Dr. David Lee, founder of the society’s scholarship program and past president and current chief medical officer at VHC Health.
The Arlington County Medical Society has been providing scholarship support for almost a decade, bringing awareness to the physician shortage and difficult pathways that future health-care professionals face.
“Member physicians have participated in career days and have offered shadowing opportunities to interested students in the local area,” the organization said, and “continue to engage the community through various fundraisers in support of our future health-care professionals.”
• Marymount University has been accepted to join the research consortium of Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU), an elite group of more than 150 major colleges and universities that collaborate to provide innovative scientific and technical solutions to advance national priorities in science, education, security and health.
As an associate member, Marymount will actively work with ORAU and other member universities to connect higher-education expertise with government and private-sector organizations to create meaningful partnerships for innovation in scientific research and education.
Marymount is the first private university in Virginia to become a member of the consortium. Five other public institutions in Virginia, as well as four in the District of Columbia, are members.
“We are proud to join in their mission of advancing these important national priorities and serving the public interest, in particular given our diverse student body and our focus on market-driven programs and practical research,” Marymount president Irma Becerra said on June 2.
ORAU was established in 1946 as the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies by scientific leaders at what is now the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). For more than 75 years, ORAU has partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy and other government agencies to advance national priorities in science, education, workforce development, public health and worker health and safety.
“We’re honored to have a distinguished institution like Marymount University join ORAU’s university consortium,” said the organization’s president/CEO, Andy Page. “We look forward to working with Marymount University as a strategic partner.”