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College Advancement News


Endowed Chairs

Grants and Gifts

Department News

College Advancement Staff News

Legacies: A Vision of Hope Campaign News

Faculty/Staff/Student Achievements

Current and Archived Press Releases for Hope College


Endowed Chairs

"Leonard and Marjorie Maas Endowed Chair in Reformed Theology"
Supports Religion Program

September 4, 2007

A new endowed chair at Hope College emphasizes the faith tradition of which Hope is a part.

The new "Leonard and Marjorie Maas Endowed Chair in Reformed Theology" has been established to be awarded to a faculty member whose scholarly emphasis is on the historical and philosophical development of Reformed theology through the present day. The professorship has been donated by Leonard and Marjorie Maas of Holland, who are longtime supporters of Hope as well as lifelong members of the Reformed Church in America, the denomination with which the college is affiliated.

The chair's first recipient is theologian Dr. Mark Husbands, who joined the Hope religion faculty this fall and has made Reformed theology a central focus of his scholarship and teaching.

"The generosity of Leonard and Marjorie Maas to Hope College and the Reformed Church in America is a manifestation of their commitment to the Christian faith," said Dr. James Bultman, president of Hope College. "This endowed chair is yet another example of their joyful lives of gratitude and their desire to positively influence the Christian dimension of the college."

Read the announcement


Thomas Ludwig and Caroline Simon Appointed to Chairs

May 30, 2007

Hope College faculty members Dr. Thomas Ludwig and Dr. Caroline Simon have been appointed to endowed chairs at the college.

Ludwig, a professor of psychology, has been appointed to an eight-year term as the John Dirk Werkman Professor of Psychology. Simon, a professor of philosophy, has been appointed to a four-year term as the John H. and Jeanne M. Professor of Philosophy.

They are each the second member of the faculty to hold their respective chairs. Their appointments will begin with the new school year.

Read the announcement


Tom Smith Appointed
to New Endowed Chair

June 27, 2006

Tom Smith of the Hope College faculty has been named the first recipient of the college's new Dr. Leon A. Bosch '29 Professorship in Business Management.

The chair is designated for an outstanding member of the faculty in the department of economics, management and accounting who has a strong interest in management and organizational development. It was established through the estate of Virginia French Bosch in memory of her husband, Dr. Leon A. Bosch '29.

Read the annoucement


Susan Mooy Cherup
Appointed to Sonneveldt Chair

June 27, 2006

Susan Mooy Cherup of the Hope College faculty has been appointed to the college's Arnold and Esther Sonneveldt Endowed Professorship in Education.

The chair, first held in 1998, is designated for a member of the education faculty who is an outstanding teacher and demonstrates a commitment to the Christian faith and to preparing young people for the field of education. The chair was established in the Sonneveldts' honor by their family. It was originally and previously held by Dr. Leslie Wessman, who has retired from the college's education faculty.

Read the annoucement


Paul DeYoung Appointed
to Endowed Chair

May 18, 2005

Dr. Paul DeYoung of the Hope College faculty has been appointed the "Kenneth G. Herrick Professor of Physics" at the college. The appointment recognizes DeYoung for his outstanding and long-time service to Hope. It was approved during the May meeting of the college's Board of Trustees, and is for a 10-year term.

"Dr. DeYoung fulfills all the criteria for the Herrick professorship, and does so with distinction," said Dr. James Boelkins, who is provost at Hope. "His consistent record of teaching, scholarship, funding, collaborative research with students, and faithful service to the college and the field of physics are exemplary."

Read the annoucement


Barry Bandstra of Religion Faculty Appointed to Endowed Chair

October 27, 2004

Dr. Barry Bandstra of the Hope College religion faculty has been appointed to the Evert J. and Hattie E. Blekkink Professorship. He was recognized during an investiture ceremony and luncheon on Tuesday, Oct. 26.

"Barry Bandstra was an obvious choice for the Blekkink endowed professorship," said Dr. James N. Boelkins, provost at Hope. "He models the quality of the Blekkink chair that was exemplified by the previous holders - Elton Bruins, Dennis Voskuil and Allen Verhey. He is an accomplished scholar and teacher, a demonstrated servant-leader, a strong supporter of the college's mission, and a humble and caring colleague. He is a person with vision who couples that vision with the energy and hard work that it takes to implement that vision. It was a joy to support Professor Bandstra's nomination and selection for the Blekkink professorship."

Read the announcement


The Rev. Trygve D. Johnson Appointed Hinga-Boersma Dean of the Chapel

February 24, 2004

The Rev. Trygve D. Johnson has been appointed the Hinga-Boersma Dean of the Chapel at Hope College. Johnson, who is currently completing doctoral studies at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, served most recently as chaplain at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa. He will assume his duties at Hope in January of 2005.

"Trygve possesses the full array of skills and gifts that we were seeking," said Hope College President James E. Bultman. "He is completing his doctorate in theology and homiletics, he has experience as a college chaplain, and he has prepared himself for spiritual life leadership in the academy."

Read the announcement


Michael Silver Appointed
to Endowed Chair

June 12, 2002

Dr. Michael Silver of the Hope College chemistry faculty has been appointed to the college's Frederich Garrett and Helen Floor Dekker Endowed Professorship. Silver was recognized during an investiture dinner held at the college in May. His appointment to the chair is for 10 years.

The professorship was established through the estate of Dr. Fred H. Decker and Marie V. Buranek Decker to provide financial support for a faculty member who has an established record of excellence in biophysics, biomedicine or biology. Dr. Decker was a 1921 Hope graduate.

Read the announcement


Steven Bouma-Prediger Named to Jacobson Endowed Chair

March 24, 2002

Dr. Steven Bouma-Prediger of the Hope College religion faculty has been named the first holder of the John H. and Jeanne M. Jacobson Endowed Professorship. The chair was established by the college's Board of Trustees as a retirement recognition in honor of Dr. John H. Jacobson, who was 10th president of Hope College, and his wife, Dr. Jeanne M. Jacobson, who was an adjunct member of the Hope education faculty and a senior research fellow with the college's A.C. Van Raalte Institute.

The professorship is designated for a tenured faculty member with a commitment to the Christian faith who is an outstanding teacher-scholar or artist and who proposes to conduct a significant program of research or creative activity. The chair is open to faculty from any department, with appointment for a four-year term. Bouma-Prediger will hold the chair beginning with the 2003-04 school year.

Read the announcement


Christopher Barney Named to New
Weier Endowed Chair in Biology

June 20, 2001

Dr. Christopher Barney of the Hope College biology faculty has been named to the college's new"T. Elliot Weier Chair in Biology." Barney is a professor of biology and chair of the department, and has been a member of the Hope faculty since 1980. He was appointed to the chair for a 10-year term by the college's Board of Trustees in May, and was honored during an investiture ceremony held at the college on Monday, June 18.

The chair, designated for a Hope biologist with a distinguished record as a teacher and scholar, has been established through the estate of T. Elliot and Katherine S. Weier. T. Elliot Weier graduated from Hope in 1926, and Katherine S. Weier in 1921. T. Elliot died on Oct. 14, 1991, and Katherine on March 19, 1977. In accord with the terms of the bequest, the holder of the chair is to be publicly referred to as "The Weier Professor of Plant Science."

Read the announcement


Grants and Gifts

April 22, 2008

Major Grant Emphasizes
External Research Ties

A major grant to Hope College from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) will enable the college to strengthen existing relationships and build new ones as the college continues to emphasize its acclaimed model of teaching through faculty-student collaborative research in the sciences.

HHMI has awarded Hope a $1.4 million, four-year grant, part of $60 million in grants to 48 institutions in 21 states and Puerto Rico. The recipients include three colleges from Michigan, all from the west side of the state: Hope, Calvin and Kalamazoo.

The new grant to Hope will fund multiple initiatives, many building on the success of efforts that have been supported by a $1.5 million, four-year grant that the college received from HHMI in 2004. Emphases will include enhancing research efforts in the biomedical sciences at Hope, with particular attention to collaborations with other institutions; increased emphasis on training K-12 science and mathematics teachers; increasing diversity in science, both at Hope and beyond; and initiating and participating in efforts to promote and develop scholarly lessons concerning teaching and learning at the college as well as within the broader higher education community.

Read the Press Release


April 24, 2008

Beckman Foundation Award
Funds Student Research

Hope College has received a fifth consecutive award for student research from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation of Irvine, Calif., the only college or university in the nation to have received continuous support through the program since it started. Hope is one of only 15 institutions nationwide to receive a "Beckman Scholar Award" for 2008. Hope also received awards in 1998, the year that the program began, and 2000, 2002 and 2005.

The Beckman Scholars Program is an invited program for accredited universities and four-year colleges in the United States. It provides scholarship support to select students at the recipient institutions in chemistry, biochemistry, and the biological and medical sciences with an emphasis on sustained, in-depth laboratory research experiences with faculty mentors.

The $77,200 award to Hope will support a total of four students across the next three years as they conduct research in biology, biochemistry/molecular biology or chemistry. The award will support the students as they conduct research with faculty members full-time during two summers and part-time during the intervening school year.

Read the Press Release


December 12, 2007

Hope Chosen for National
HHMI Science Initiative

Hope College is one of only a dozen colleges and universities nationwide and the only institution in Michigan selected by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to implement a new genomics course that will involve incoming freshmen in cutting-edge research during their first semester in college.

The program, the Phage Genomics Research Initiative, has been developed by HHMI's Science Education Alliance, which is a new initiative intended to help shape science education nationwide. HHMI is committing a total of $4 million overall over the first four years of the program, including the support given to all of the individual colleges and universities.

The research-based, year-long laboratory course has been designed to provide beginning college students with a true research experience that will teach them how to approach scientific problems creatively and hopefully solidify their interest in a career in science.

READ THE PRESS RELEASE


November 19, 2007

Chemist Participates
in NSF-Funded Project

Dr. Joanne Stewart of the Hope College faculty is one of seven chemists from colleges and universities across the nation participating in a project recently funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop an online resource to help professors of inorganic chemistry work together to improve their teaching.

The project is titled "IONiC," for "Intellectual Online Network of Inorganic Chemists." It has received a $150,000 award for development during 2008 and 2009 through the NSF's "Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Initiative."

IONiC will use a Web site and other Internet technologies to develop a virtual community that will serve as a way for colleagues from a variety of institutions to work together conveniently regardless of distance to share and develop materials related to teaching in the discipline and to help each other improve through online discussions and workshops. Following the network's development and initial testing, it will become part of the National Science Digital Library, an online library for education and research in science that is available to scientists around the world.

READ THE PRESS RELEASE


 

September 25, 2007

Project Will Benefit CASA and
Upward Bound Students

A new effort at Hope College will focus on inspiring a brighter future for the local elementary-age and high school students participating in the Children's After School Achievement (CASA) and Upward Bound program at Hope.

The Michigan Campus Compact (MCC) has awarded a "Brighter Futures" grant to the college for activities to help the two programs place additional emphasis on overcoming obstacles to academic success and preparing the students to think about their futures. The $6,000 grant has been awarded to Dr. Deborah Sturtevant of the college's sociology and social work faculty through MCC's "Investing in College Futures Learn and Serve" program, and will provide support matched by Hope and the business community as students in the department develop the additional activities on CASA's and Upward Bound's behalf.

CASA, a community organization housed at Hope, focuses on academic and cultural enrichment for at-risk second-through fifth-grade students. The program, which runs year-round, is intended to improve the students' academic performance by providing the tools they need to succeed in school.

READ THE PRESS RELEASE


September 18, 2007

Grant to Support Students
from Community Colleges

A major new grant to Hope College from the National Science Foundation (NSF) will provide scholarship aid to community-college students who are interested in continuing their education in the sciences at Hope.

The scholarships will support students who transfer to Hope to major in biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, the geological and environmental sciences, mathematics or physics after completing work at a community college. The $564,360 grant has been awarded through the NSF's "Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics" (S-STEM) program. It is one of approximately 90 new S-STEM awards made nationwide this year.

"Hope has a proven record of success in preparing students for successful careers in the sciences, but historically most of our students have gone through our entire four-year program. We believe we also have a lot to offer to students who have completed a two-year degree and are seeking the additional career options made available through a four-year degree," said Dr. Herb Dershem, who is the Hope initiative's coordinator and also a professor of computer science. "We hope that by providing additional scholarship assistance and enhancing our outreach to community colleges in the region that we can help make attending Hope a reality for them."

READ THE PRESS RELEASE


September 4, 2007

Chemist Jeff Johnson
Receives Dreyfus Award

Dr. Jeffrey Johnson, assistant professor of chemistry at Hope College, has received a Faculty Start-Up Award from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation Inc.

The foundation presents the awards to support the scholarly activity of new faculty at primarily undergraduate institutions, generally to faculty who will be beginning their first tenure-track appointments. The foundation typically awards only a dozen or fewer each year, and Johnson is the only recipient at a Michigan college or university from among the eight scholars who received the awards this year.

It is second time in four years that a member of the Hope faculty has received one of the awards. Dr. Jason Gillmore, also an assistant professor of chemistry, also received one when he joined the faculty in 2004.

READ THE PRESS RELEASE


July 14, 2007

Hope Participates in
International Science Program

Hope College is one of nine colleges and universities from Canada, Mexico and the United States participating in the North American Mobility Project, a consortium focused on the study of ethics and public policy issues in the sciences in North America.

Through the consortium, students from any of the nine participating institutions will have an opportunity to spend a semester at an institution in one of the other two nations represented. The program includes three institutions each in Canada, Mexico and the U.S.

The program has been funded through a three-year, $203,021 grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) that will continue through August of 2010. In addition to Hope, the participating U.S. institutions are HowardUniversity in Washington, D.C., which is the U.S. lead for the project, and the University of Texas at El Paso. The participating Canadian institutions are ConcordiaUniversity in Montreal, Quebec; Université de Montréal; and St. PaulUniversity in Ottawa, Ontario. The participating institutions in Mexico are the Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro; the Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla; and Universidad Anahuac.

READ THE PRESS RELEASE


June 13, 2007

Hope Receives One of Only
11 Phi Beta Kappa Grants

Hope College is one of only 11 colleges and universities nationwide chosen to participate in "Deliberation about Things That Matter," an initiative sponsored by Phi Beta Kappa to encourage the teaching and learning of deliberative skills through the discussion of major issues of meaning or value.

Through the support, Hope is developing a program with an academic focus for incoming freshmen in conjunction with New Student Orientation that will also link with campus-wide events scheduled for later in the school year.

"We are honored that Phi Beta Kappa selected Hope for participation and recognized our longstanding commitment to a liberal education that engages students in the deliberative thinking about issues that impact our world," said Dr. James Boelkins, provost at Hope. "The opportunity to engage our first-year students in discussions of important cultural issues will contribute to our efforts to grow world citizens in the soil of Hope."

READ THE PRESS RELEASE


Grants Support CASA Summer Program

June 5, 2007

Local elementary-age children will be learning about the natural world in their own neighborhood this summer through a grant to the Children's After School Achievement (CASA) program at Hope College from the Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area.

And then they'll go into the new school year well-equipped thanks to further support from the Holland Junior Welfare League.

The Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area has awarded CASA $6,600 to help underwrite "CASA Goes Wild: Amazing Lessons in Nature," which will be featured throughout CASA's summer program, running Monday, June 18, through Thursday, July 26. The theme will provide the framework for a variety of activities for the approximately 110 second- through fifth-grade students the program anticipates hosting.

READ THE PRESS RELEASE


Professor Vicki Ten Haken
Receives Fulbright Award

May 2, 2007

Vicki Ten Haken, associate professor of management at Hope College, will spend the fall and winter teaching and conducting research in Krakow, Poland, through an award from the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program.

Ten Haken is the fourth member of the Hope faculty to receive one of the awards in the past four years, and it is the second year in a row that a member of the economics, management and accounting faculty has received one. Dr. Victor Claar, associate professor of economics, has spent the 2006-07 school year teaching at the American University of Armenia in Yerevan, Armenia, through a Fulbright award. In 2004, Dr. William Cohen, professor emeritus of history, and Dr. David Klooster, professor of English, received Fulbright awards to teach in Japan and Austria respectively.

Ten Haken will be teaching management classes at the Krakow University of Economics in the university's MBA and international business studies programs. She will participate in an orientation program in Warsaw during the latter half of September and then be in Krakow from October through the end of the university's first semester in February.

READ THE PRESS RELEASE


Grant Supports NSBE Chapter

January 22, 2007

The Hope College chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) has received a grant from the DaimlerChrysler Corporation Fund in support of professional development opportunities for its student members.

The $2,500 grant will enable students to attend the regional and national conferences of the NSBE.

The NSBE is the premier organization serving African Americans in engineering and technology. With 15,000 members and more than 300 chapters, NSBE supports and promotes the aspirations of university and pre-college students and technical professionals. The society's mission is to increase the number of culturally responsible black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community.

READ THE PRESS RELEASE



Professor Veldman and senior Becky Lathrop show
Congressman Peter Hoekstra materials used in the testing.

October 11, 2006

Research Seeks to Reduce
Aircraft Blast Damage

Even as security measures internationally endeavor to prevent terrorists from smuggling explosives onto aircraft, Dr. Roger Veldman of the Hope College engineering faculty is conducting research he hopes will make a difference if the unthinkable does happen.

Veldman, an associate professor of engineering, is engaged in a multi-year, ongoing research effort to help aircraft better withstand internal explosions. His work has recently received funding from the Science and Technology Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security, the third in a series of federal grants in support of his work in the wake of the 9-11 attacks in 2001.

"The idea is, how can you make aircraft structures more robust if something does make it through the security system," he said.

READ THE PRESS RELEASE


Player's Sacrifice for Team
Inspires Scholarship

August 15, 2006

A Hope College basketball player's selfless act is having an effect far beyond her team's recent national championship season.

It's led to creation of a scholarship that will help other students in perpetuity.

When the Hope women's basketball team made it to the playoffs this past spring, NCAA regulations required that only 15 players could suit up for the competition. Hope's MIAA championship squad had 16 members. Rather than make it necessary for Coach Brian Morehouse to choose or perhaps for one of her teammates to sit out the remaining games, junior guard Becky Bosserd of Sparta stepped forward and volunteered to spend the rest of the season in her street clothes.

The gracious gesture earned the admiration of her coach, her team mates and also Hope's loyal fans. One of those fans, community member Rob Zaagman, has decided to celebrate it by establishing an endowed scholarship at the college in her name. The "Rebecca Bosserd Scholarship Fund," available starting with the new school year, is intended for any student with financial need who, in keeping with Bosserd's example, has shown commitment to servant-leadership or volunteerism.

Learn more


Economist Victor Claar
Receives Fulbright Award

July 19, 2006

Dr. Victor Claar, associate professor of economics at Hope College, will spend a year teaching and conducting research in Armenia through an award from the Fulbright Scholar Program.

It is the third time in three years that a member of the Hope faculty has received one of the awards. In 2004, Dr. William Cohen, professor emeritus of history, and Dr. David Klooster, professor of English, received Fulbright awards to teach in Japan and Austria respectively.

Claar will teach at the American University of Armenia in the capital city of Yerevan. The university, founded approximately 10 years ago, offers only graduate-level courses, taught in English. Claar will be teaching MBA students in the business school and economics courses in the political science program from late August through early May.

Read the press release


CrossRoads Project Receives
Renewal Grant Posted

June 20, 2006

The CrossRoads Project at Hope College has received a three-year renewal grant through Lilly Endowment Inc.'s "Program for the Theological Exploration of Vocation" (PTEV).

The $500,000 grant will support the program from the fall of 2009 through the spring of 2012. The CrossRoads Project was established through a $2 million PTEV grant that Hope received from the Endowment in 2002 that will continue to provide funding until the new grant takes effect.

Read the press release


Grants Support CASA Summer Program

June 6, 2006

The Old West will take on new life through the Children's After School Achievement (CASA) program at Hope College this summer with the help of grants from two local organizations.

The Youth Advisory Committee of the Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area has awarded CASA $9,960 to help underwrite "CASA Strikes Gold on the Journey West," which will be featured throughout CASA's summer program, running Monday, June 19, through Thursday, July 27. The western theme will provide the framework for a variety of activities for the approximately 100 second- through fifth-grade students the program anticipates hosting.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, through a grant to Holland Hospital and Hope College, has provided $4,735 in support of CASA's "ABC Workout (Active Bodies at CASA)" program, which as part of the summer program will offer structured physical activity and presentations designed to help the children value and practice physical fitness.

Read the press release


Grant Supports Van Raalte
Institute Program

May 16, 2006

A grant from the Netherland-America Foundation of New York City to the A.C. Van Raalte Institute at Hope College is supporting the institute's on-going commitment to sponsoring scholars conducting research on area history. The $10,000 grant from the NAF is underwriting the "NAF Visiting Research Fellowship Program" at the institute for the next three years, starting this fall. Representatives of the NAF presented a check for the first year during a visit to the institute on Wednesday, May 10, during the city's Tulip Time Festival.

"I'm very pleased with receiving this grant because it enables us to enhance our visiting research fellows program, doubling the size of the research fellowship," said Dr. Jacob E. Nyenhuis, who is director of the Van Raalte Institute. "By labeling this person the 'NAF Visiting Research Fellow' we add prestige to the fellowship and help to promote the NAF as well."

Read the press release


Science Center Named in
Honor of Hope Alumnus

May 5, 2006

A Hope College graduate who appreciated his own undergraduate experience has given a $7 million leadership gift in support of the college's science center project as a way of saying thank you and helping new generations of students. In recognition of the gift, given by Dr. A. Paul Schaap and his wife Carol of Grosse Pointe Park, the college is naming the building the "A. Paul Schaap Science Center." Both the gift and the naming were announced on Friday, May 5, in conjunction with the spring meeting of the college's Board of Trustees.

"This is a generous and transforming gift for this exceptional facility and for enhancing Hope's national reputation in collaborative undergraduate research," said Hope College President Dr. James Bultman. "With this gift, Paul and Carol are giving the largest gift to the science center project, one of the largest gifts Hope has ever received, and in the process are providing the last remaining piece of the very successful 'Legacies: A Vision of Hope'capital campaign."

Read the announcement

Learn more about the A. Paul Schaap Science Center


Hope Again Leads with
Six NSF-REU Grants

April 24, 2006

For a third consecutive year Hope College holds six grants for summer student research from the National Science Foundation's "Research Experiences for Undergraduates" (NSF-REU) program, continuing to hold more than any other liberal arts college in the country.

Among all institutions nationwide, including major research universities, fewer than 20 hold more of the grants.
Hope holds the grants in biology, chemistry, computer science, the geological and environmental sciences, mathematics, and physics and engineering. It is the 15th consecutive year that at least four Hope departments have had NSF-REU support.

Read the press release


Several Hope Projects
Receive Consortium Support

March 6, 2006

Several Hope College projects have received grants from the Michigan Space Grant Consortium.

A total of 10 projects from Hope received funding from the consortium through its 2006-07 grant period. The awards to Hope projects are in three categories: seven are fellowships for students conducting collaborative research with members of the college's faculty, two are "seed grants" for faculty research and one is through an initiative for pre-college education. They total $32,500, including $2,500 for each of the student fellowships, and $5,000 each for the other three projects. The consortium awarded grants in the three categories to a total of 34 projects statewide, chosen from among 92 applications.

Read the press release


Hope Researchers Participate
in NASA Project

December 6, 2005

Researchers from HopeCollege are participating in a NASA project aimed at understanding the nature of pulsars. Dr. Peter Gonthier, who is a professor of physics, and his Hope student researchers are part of a NASA-based team that has been seeking to better understand how pulsars, which are highly compact collapsed stars, produce high-energy gamma rays. The team's project, "High Energy Emission from Pulsar Magnetospheres," recently received a three-year, $341,147 grant from the NASA Astrophysics Theory Program.

The team is headed by Dr. Alice Harding, who is on the staff of the Exploration of the Universe Division of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. In addition to Gonthier, who has been conducting research with Harding since 1992, co-investigators on the team also include researchers from the Pentagon, RiceUniversity and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.

Read the press release


Grant Supports Community Health Effort

November 28, 2005

Dr. Deborah Sturtevant, professor of sociology and social work and chairperson of the department at Hope College, has been awarded a partnership grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to research and facilitate activities designed to improve community health. The $49,900 grant, secured through the support of the Holland Hospital Foundation, will help fund the final year of a three-year effort to identify the most pressing needs within the community and design programs to address those needs.

"The exciting part about the project is that it's intended to try to improve the overall health of the community by engaging the community," Sturtevant explained. "If the projects that are developed in the third year run well, we'll work with the community to find ways to sustain them."

Read the press release


Grant Supports
Education Diversity Program

October 21, 2005

The CrossRoads Project at Hope College and the West Ottawa Public Schools have teamed up to increase the cultural sensitivity and awareness of middle school teachers with support from the National Diversity Education Program.

The Hope-West Ottawa program, "Becoming a Culturally-Responsive Teacher," expands an effort that began at Hope for the college's education students during the spring 2005 semester. It features a series of films and panel presentations that explore diversity from a variety of perspectives, often by highlighting the experiences of families from the area.

The National Diversity Education Program selected 12 educators from five states - Michigan, Arkansas, Illinois, Texas and California - to create diversity education programs for middle school teachers. The total includes the three educators who have created the Hope-West Ottawa program: Dr. Jeanine Dell'Olio, a professor of education who specializes in urban education at Hope; Kim Douglas, an adjunct assistant professor of English who teaches "Encounters with Cultures" at Hope; and David Douglas, who is the lead trainer for diversity in the West Ottawa Public Schools.

Read the press release


Grant Supports Acquisition
of Research Equipment

September 7, 2005

Hope College will receive $245,516 from the Department of Health and Human Services to purchase new scientific equipment that will help further health care research, U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, announced today.

"Hope College is ranked as one of the top undergraduate scientific research institutions in the country," Hoekstra said. "Enabling the Science Center to access additional research and teaching tools is an investment in the future of health care."

The funding was originally included in the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2005. It passed as part of the federal omnibus appropriations package last fall.

Read the press release


NSF Grant Funds "Supercomputer"

August 23, 2005

Hope College will soon host the most powerful supercomputer in West Michigan, thanks to a new grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Hope is one of four colleges that will share the equipment. The new computer, which is actually a cluster of 100 computers, will be housed and maintained at Hope, and will be used in research at Hope as well as at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn.; Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn.; and Macalaster College in St. Paul, Minn. The grant totals $379,609, and the new cluster will be operational in early 2006.

Read the press release


Grant Will Support Assessment
of Student Learning

June 14, 2005

Hope College is part of an eight-institution consortium that has received support from the Teagle Foundation Inc. to develop a new way of measuring how well students are learning.

The three-year, $300,000 grant, which is being administered by Hampshire College of Amherst, Mass., will focus on helping liberal arts colleges better determine how their approaches to teaching are affecting students, ultimately so that the schools can do an even better job of teaching. In addition to Hope and Hampshire, the members of the consortium are Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa.; Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.; the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind.; Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y.; Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, N.Y.; and Vassar College in Arlington, N.Y.

Read the press release


Community Foundation
Grant Supports CASA

May 17, 2005

A grant from the Youth Advisory Committee of the Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area will help add some intrigue this summer to the Children's After School Achievement (CASA) program at Hope College as it works with area children. The $8,350 grant will help underwrite "Spine-Tingling Mysteries: A Thrilling Way to Learn," which will be featured throughout CASA's summer program, running Monday, June 20, through Thursday, July 28.

The CASA program, a community organization housed at Hope, works with at-risk second through fifth grade students, focusing on academic and cultural enrichment. The program, which runs year-round, is intended to improve their academic performance and help them develop healthy, productive lifestyles.

Read the press release


Hope a Leader with
Six Summer NSF-REU Grants

April 20, 2005

For a second consecutive year Hope College holds six grants for summer student research from the National Science Foundation's "Research Experiences for Undergraduates" (NSF-REU) program, continuing to hold more than any other liberal arts college in the country. Among all institutions nationwide, including major research universities, fewer than two dozen hold as many or more of the grants.

Hope holds the grants in biology, chemistry, computer science, the geological and environmental sciences, mathematics, and physics and engineering. It is the 14th consecutive year that at least four Hope departments have had NSF-REU support.

Read the press release


Hope Receives Merck/AAAS Grant
to Support Student Research

March 21, 2005

Hope College has received a grant from The Merck Company Foundation and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) through the Merck/AAAS Undergraduate Science Research Program.

Hope was one of only 15 institutions nationwide to receive one of the three-year, $60,000 awards, which the college had also received in 2001. The funding supports research stipends for undergraduate students and related programs that foster interaction between biology and chemistry. The award will provide stipends for a total of 12 students conducting summer research at the college, four per year. Hope will also use the grant for supplies, some related travel expenses, and to bring in a guest scientist to work with the students.

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Beckman Foundation Award
Funds Student Research

March 7, 2005

Hope College has received a fourth consecutive award for student research from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation of Irvine, Calif.

Hope is one of only 14 institutions nationwide to receive a "Beckman Scholar Award" for 2005. Hope also received awards in 1998, the year that the program began, and 2000 and 2002.

The foundation established the Beckman Scholars Program to enhance the training of the nation's most talented and gifted undergraduates in chemistry and the biological sciences by providing sustained, in-depth laboratory research experiences with faculty mentors. The recipient colleges and universities were chosen out of an initial pool of nearly 800 institutions across the country.

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Students Receive Grant
for Community Project

March 21, 2005

A practical classroom exercise at Hope College is translating into a new program to help middle school students in Zeeland.

Each year, Dr. Deborah Sturtevant of the college's social work faculty requires the students in her senior-level "Interventions III: Communities and Organizations" course to develop and submit a grant proposal for projects they have devised to meet critical social needs. This past fall, a team of four students won an award from Michigan Campus Compact for a new program that will work with suspended students of the Zeeland Public Schools.

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Student Receives Grant
for Summer Research

March 8, 2005

David DeWitt, a Hope College freshman from Sioux Falls, S.D., has received an award through the "Undergraduate Research Grants for the Environment" (URGE) program of the Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, a biological field station located south of Hastings.

The biological field station is made up of a consortium of 11 Michigan colleges and universities, which in addition to Hope include: Albion College, Alma College, Aquinas College, Calvin College, Central Michigan University, Cornerstone University, Ferris State University, Grand Valley State University, Olivet College and Western Michigan University. An advisory board made up of two representatives from each school oversees the consortium.

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NEH Awards Fellowships
to Two Professors

February 10, 2005

Joseph LaPorteNatalie DykstraFor the second consecutive year, two members of the Hope College faculty have received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Dr. Natalie Dykstra, assistant professor of English, and Dr. Joseph LaPorte, associate professor of philosophy, have each received "2005-2006 Fellowships for College Teachers and Independent Scholars" from the NEH. Each will be using the fellowships as they work on book projects.

The NEH awarded only 195 awards nationwide, totaling $7.4 million. Dykstra and LaPorte both received $40,000, the maximum.

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Congressman Hoekstra Announces Hope
to Receive $250,000 for Science Center

November 22, 2004

Science Center U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, has announced that the federal funding package passed by the House on Saturday, Nov. 20, includes $250,000 that will contribute to the recent construction and renovation of the college's science center.

"Hope College has long been nationally recognized for its reputation in undergraduate science education," Hoekstra said. "The expansion and renovation of the Peale Science Center has allowed Hope College to improve its programs by expanding its method of collaborative mentoring research among faculty and students to its sciences."

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Department of Education and OAISD
Receive Grant for Online Courses

November 1, 2004

The department of education at Hope College and the Ottawa Area Intermediate School District (OAISD) have received a grant to develop online graduate courses for in-service teachers.

Hope and OAISD have received $100,000 for "Brain-compatible Instruction in the Content Areas," and are creating four courses, focusing on the language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. The grant has been made through Michigan LearnPort, a statewide, online professional development management system for teachers jointly administered by the Michigan Department of Education and Michigan Virtual University.

Each course, designed for elementary and secondary teachers alike, will run for a semester, and will be available to educators throughout the state via Michigan LearnPort. The plan is to have the completed courses ready by the fall of 2005.

Leslie WessmanThe courses are being developed by a five-member team that includes OAISD Assistant Superintendent Dr. Dan Jonker, education consultants Dave Neifer and Dr. Jan Dalman, and Hope professors Linda Jordan and Dr. Leslie Wessman. The project has grown out of the week-long summer "Midwest Brain and Learning Institutes" that the team has coordinated at Hope since 2001.

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Hope Shares in Cooperative
Grant for Laser Research

September 7, 2004

William Polik Hope College is part of a group of colleges and universities that are working together to provide their undergraduates with new opportunities in laser research through a shared grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Hope, Calvin and Kalamazoo colleges, and the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, will all share, round-robin, a transportable pulse laser system being purchased through a $241,000 grant from the NSF. The four schools are partnering with Purdue University, which will host workshops and provide technical support.

Hope's involvement is being coordinated by Dr. William F. Polik, who is the Edward and Elizabeth Hofma Professor of Chemistry at Hope. Polik and the Hope students working with him will use the new equipment to measure how reactant molecules combine to form new product molecules. They will also be testing theories of chemical reactivity which can be modeled with Hope's new super computer.

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Grant Provides Computer Science,
Engineering and Math Scholarships

June 24, 2004

A major grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) will provide scholarships to encourage students to study computer science, engineering or mathematics at Hope College.

"Our goal is to attract more students to these three disciplines," said Dr. Herbert Dershem, who is a professor of computer science at Hope and the grant's administrator. "We're especially interested in encouraging enrollment among members of minority groups and women, who are traditionally underrepresented in these fields nationally." The grant will provide support for prospective students who enroll at the college and current students who commit to one of the programs.

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HP Technology Grant Supports
Electronic Textbook Project

June 2, 2004

Hope College has been selected as one of 42 college and university recipients nationwide to receive an HP Technology for Teaching grant, designed to transform and improve learning through the innovative use of technology.

Each college or university receiving an HP Technology for Teaching grant will use the HP wireless technology to enhance learning in computer science, engineering, math or science courses.

At Hope, the grant will be used to support research into the effectiveness of electronic textbooks, a project headed by Dr. Ryan McFall of the computer science faculty. The college will receive an HP cash and product package valued at up to $60,000, which will include one year of access to HP's higher education help desk support.

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Grant Supports Research
Using Computational Modeling

May 25, 2004

A grant from Research Corporation has helped provide and will put to use the most powerful computer for scientific research on the Hope College campus.

Dr. William F. Polik, who is the Edward and Elizabeth Hofma Professor of Chemistry at Hope, has received $45,000 in support of his research focusing on developing the computer as a tool for modeling and predicting chemical reactions. The project is a benefit of the college's new science center, which opened last August and was designed with a computational modeling laboratory in mind.

"It's an area that I've been developing in my research group for the last four to five years, and it's still growing," Polik said.

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Major Grant Will Support
Development of Science Program

May 18, 2004

A major grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) will enable Hope College to develop even further an approach to science education that has a proven record of success and also provides a platform for the full infusion of science education and research across disciplinary boundaries, according to the college’s dean for the natural sciences.

HHMI has awarded Hope a $1.5 million, four-year grant, part of $49.7 million in grants to 42 baccalaureate and master’s degree institutions in 17 states and Puerto Rico. The awards, supporting a variety of programs to improve undergraduate science, were announced on Tuesday, May 18.

The grant to Hope will fund multiple initiatives, including the development of interdisciplinary courses and minors, equipping a new laboratory, collaborative research opportunities for students, and training post-doctoral fellows. Hope faculty have been invested in this mode of education for several years, but in quantity and quality the award from HHMI provides an opportunity for a significant leap forward that wouldn’t be possible without the infusion of support, said Dr. James Gentile, who is dean for the natural sciences at Hope.

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CASA Receives Grants for Program Support from Local Agencies

May 17, 2004

Grants from two local agencies will provide support for the Children's After School Achievement (CASA) program at Hope College as it works with area children this summer and during the coming school year.

The Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area and the Holland Junior Welfare League have each awarded CASA grants that will support activity this summer and fall respectively.

The CASA program, a community organization housed at Hope, works with at-risk second through fifth grade students, focusing on academic achievement and social development. The program began in 1987.

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David Klooster of English Faculty
Receives Fulbright Award

March 8, 2004

David J. Klooster, professor of English at Hope College, has won a Fulbright Scholar award to teach and conduct research at University of Klagenfurt, Austria, in 2005.

It is the second Fulbright grant awarded to a member of the Hope College faculty this year. Earlier, William Cohen, professor of history emeritus, won a grant to teach in Japan.

Klooster will teach courses in American literature and conduct research on witches and warfare in the late 17th century in southern Austria. "Witchcraft figures in many American literary texts," said Klooster, "and at the same time Americans were conducting witch trials in Salem in the 1690s, many European countries were swept up in a witch frenzy as well. I'm curious to learn more about the cultural and religious conditions that fueled those prosecutions."

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Hope Leads Liberal Arts Colleges
With Six NSF-REU Grants

April 19, 2004

Hope College holds six grants for summer student research from the National Science Foundation's "Research Experiences for Undergraduates" (NSF-REU) program, topping its previous total of five awards and continuing to hold more than any other liberal arts college in the country.

Among all institutions nationwide, including major research universities, fewer than 10 hold more of the awards. Hope is the only liberal arts college in Michigan to hold any of the grants, and only two universities in the state hold as many.

New this year among the Hope programs with NSF-REU support is the department of geological and environmental sciences. Hope also holds the grants in biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, and physics and engineering. It is the 13th consecutive year that at least four Hope departments have had NSF-REU support.

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Historian William Cohen Receives Fulbright Award to Teach in Japan

February 16, 2004

Dr. William Cohen, professor emeritus of history at Hope College, will spend a year teaching in Japan through an award from the Fulbright Scholar Program.

Administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, the program sends some 800 U.S. faculty and professionals abroad each year. The awards for 2004-05 include placements in approximately 140 countries.

Cohen, who retired in 2001 after teaching at Hope for 30 years, will be in Japan from September of 2004 to July of 2005, teaching at Yokohama National University and Kyoritsu Women's University.

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Nuclear Research Group Receives
NSF Summer Research Grant

February 2, 2004

The nuclear research group at Hope College has received a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation's "Research in Undergraduate Institutions" (NSF-RUI) program.

The research team is led by Dr. Paul DeYoung, who is professor of physics and chairperson of the department, and Dr. Graham Peaslee, who is an associate professor of chemistry and geological/environmental sciences. DeYoung and Peaslee have each held RUI support every summer during which they have been on the Hope faculty - since 1986 and 1995 respectively.

The $213,000 award will support a variety of research projects for the next three years. The activities will center on radioactive nuclear beam studies at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University and the Nuclear Structure Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame.

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Anne Larsen of French Faculty
Receives NEH Fellowship

February 2, 2004

Anne Larsen, professor of French at Hope College, has been awarded a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for her critical and annotated bilingual edition of Anna Maria van Schurman's letters on women's education. Competition was intense for the NEH's year-long "2004-2005 Fellowships for College Teachers and Independent Scholars." Only 180 of 1,289 applications were funded. Larsen received the maximum, $40,000, award. This is her second NEH fellowship.

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John Cox of English Faculty Receives Prestigious NEH Fellowship

January 13, 2004

John Cox of the Hope College English faculty has been awarded a prestigious fellowship by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The fellowship will support Cox for a year of research and writing at a research library of his own choosing. Cox's fellowship was one of just 180 awarded this year by NEH, from among 1,289 applications.

Cox received the award for his current book project, called "Shakespeare Thinking." The book interprets Shakespeare's writing in light of important philosophical questions, including questions about God, goodness and evil, politics, art, and how humans know what they know. Cox acknowledges that Shakespeare was a busy man in a flourishing commercial theater, but the book argues that Shakespeare also read widely and thought carefully about many issues of enduring concern.

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Chemist William Polik Chosen as Mentor Through Dreyfus Foundation Program

December 2, 2003

Dr. William Polik of the Hope College chemistry faculty has received an award from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation Scholar/Fellow Program for Undergraduate Institutions.

The award, one of only four made nationwide this fall, will enable a post-doctoral Fellow to spend two years mentored by Polik at Hope, learning how to combine a research program with undergraduate teaching. Hope, Polik believes, is uniquely qualified to serve as a host site.

"There are many institutions that focus primarily on teaching or on research," he said. "To emphasize both is something that is quite special and that Hope does well."

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Andrew Huisman of Zeeland Receives Prestigious Goldwater Scholarship

March 31, 2003

Andrew Huisman, a Hope College junior from Zeeland, has received a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship for the 2003-04 academic year. It is the sixth time in seven years that at least one Hope student has received one of the scholarships.

The scholarships were awarded by the Board of Trustees of the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation to 300 undergraduate sophomores and juniors. The Goldwater Scholars were selected on the basis of merit from a field of 1,093 mathematics, science and engineering students who were nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities nationwide.

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Hope Receives Major NSF
Grant for Particle Accelerator

June 26, 2003

A major grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) will provide Hope College with a major resource for joint student-faculty research across multiple departments, and puts the college in rare company that includes national research laboratories.

The college has received $660,000 from the NSF for a Pelletron particle accelerator and attached microprobe facility for materials analysis. The instrument will support research projects ranging from the analysis of dinosaur bones, to the development of a way to find the glucose level in blood, to testing for lake pollution.

To put the magnitude of the grant into perspective, the NSF Physics Directorate has awarded on average about $3 million per year for each of the past five years as part of its Major Research Instrumentation program. The majority of the awards go to major research universities. The Hope College grant this year represents more than a fifth of the average amount awarded in a typical year.

The award is the largest grant for scientific equipment in Hope's history.

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Chemist William Polik to Receive
Research Mentoring Award

September 23, 2003

Dr. William Polik of the Hope College faculty is one of only eight chemists from throughout the nation being honored during the "Excellence in Undergraduate Chemical Research Symposium" being held by the Department of Chemistry at Indiana University in Bloomington on Saturday, Sept. 27.

Now in its third year, the annual event recognizes faculty from four-year colleges who have made significant contributions to research and to the mentorship of chemistry undergraduates. In conjunction with the recognition, the honorees will each receive a plaque and commendation in addition to making an invited talk during the symposium. Polik will present "Spectroscopy and Quantum Mechanics of Highly Excited Molecules."

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Major NSF Grant Supports
Biology Research

August 26, 2003

A major grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) will involve multiple departments at Hope College in exploring the roles that fungi play in the ecosystem.

Dr. Thomas Bultman of the biology faculty has received an $885,773, four-year grant, one of only six awarded nationally through the NSF's "Collaborative Research at Undergraduate Institutions" (CRUI) program. It is the largest research award ever to Hope from the NSF. The project will involve five faculty from three disciplines and two institutions as well as several Hope students as co-researchers.

"The over-arching goal is to better understand the ecological interactions that these fungi have with other species, and that includes the plants that they live in and the animals that feed on the plants," said Bultman, who is principal investigator for the project and is also a professor of biology and chairperson of the department.

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Grant Supports German-U.S. Student Internship Experiences

July 20, 2003

A new grant will help Hope College develop internship experiences in Germany for students in engineering. The three-year grant has been given through the German American Initiative for Students in Science and Technology (GIST) program of the German Academic Exchange Service. Hope is the only liberal arts college among this year's 10 grant recipients.

Through the award, which totals approximately $20,000, Hope will create an on-going program that will feature a semester of study in Freiburg, Germany, followed by a summer-long internship with a German corporation. The program will also provide an opportunity for students from Germany to study and intern in West Michigan.

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Henry Luce Foundation Provides Funds For Women Science Students

June 4, 2003

A grant from the Henry Luce Foundation Inc. of New York City will provide full scholarships and summer research experiences for four women majoring in the physical sciences at Hope College. The scholarships, which will go into place beginning with the summer of 2004 and have been established through the foundation's Clare Boothe Luce Program, are for women students who are rising juniors majoring in computer science, physics or engineering at Hope. The goal is to encourage women interested in science disciplines in which they are traditionally underrepresented nationwide.

" It is exciting to be able to provide exceptional encouragement to young women entering careers in computer science, physics and engineering. While these disciplines are traditionally overlooked by women as they consider career opportunities in science, the rewards and benefits of entering such careers are outstanding," said Dr. James Gentile, who is dean for the natural sciences at Hope and the Kenneth G. Herrick Professor of Biology. "The young Hope women selected for these scholarships will ultimately become role models for other young women to also consider career paths in these disciplines."

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U.S. Department of Education
Renews Upward Bound Support

May 27, 2003

The long-running Hope College Upward Bound Program has received a five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The grant continues and even improves upon a strong tradition of support for the program, according to Elizabeth Colburn, director of Hope College Upward Bound.

"We're starting our 35th year, and fortunately we've been funded all the way through," she said. "This is the first time we've been able to get a five-year grant, so that's exciting for us." The new grant totals in excess of $1,780,000 for the five years, and includes a two percent increase in support. Only a small percentage of programs received support for five years instead of four.

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Hope Leads Liberal Arts Colleges
With Five NSF-REU Grants

May 1, 2003

Hope College again holds five grants for summer student research from the National Science Foundation's "Research Experiences for Undergraduates" (NSF- REU) program, more than any other liberal arts college in the country.

Among all institutions nationwide, including major research universities, only 24 others hold five or more of the awards. Hope is the only liberal arts college in Michigan to hold any of the grants, and only two universities in the state hold as many or more. Hope holds the grants in biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, and physics and engineering. It is the 12th consecutive year that at least four Hope departments have had NSF-REU support.

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Fifth Third Bank Supports
Fieldhouse Project With $100,000 Gift

May 1, 2003

As part of its annual celebration, Fifth Third Bank announced that it has committed $100,000 to Hope College for the construction of DeVos Fieldhouse. "Fifth Third has a tradition of announcing major community commitments on or around May 3, or 5/3, in the local markets we serve," explained Larry Koops, Senior Vice President for Fifth Third Bank (Western Michigan). "We believe that if you build a stronger community, you build a stronger bank. Supporting economic development as well as increasing access to homeownership and cultural activities are priorities at Fifth Third Bank."

Hope College President James E. Bultman commented, "We are grateful for this significant gift from Fifth Third Bank, a bank in which Hope has had a longstanding relationship that is treasured. This generous gift is especially meaningful because of the community initiative that is helping bring the new DeVos Fieldhouse closer to reality."

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Community Foundation
Grant Supports DeVos Fieldhouse

April 29, 2003

The Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area has awarded Hope College a grant in support of the DeVos Fieldhouse project. The foundation has presented Hope with $14,000. The grant recipients for 2003 were announced during the organization's Annual Meeting and Luncheon on Monday, April 28, at the Holland Country Club.

The fieldhouse is being designed as a multipurpose spectator facility with both campus and community use in mind. Planned uses include intercollegiate athletic events, sports events for local high schools and other community events. Owned and operated by Hope, the facility will become home court for the college's volleyball and men's and women's basketball programs, and will house the athletic training program.

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Kresge Foundation Challenge Grant Supports Science Center Project

March 7, 2003

A major challenge grant from The Kresge Foundation of Troy has been approved for the science center project at Hope College, in a way designed to add incentive for future supporters. Hope will receive the $850,000 grant when the college raises an additional $3.1 million for the new building by March of next year.

Hope is both building a new science center and renovating the existing Peale Science Center. The combined facility will house the departments of biology, chemistry, biochemistry, the geological and environmental sciences, nursing and psychology.

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Major Grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. Supports Exploration of Vocation

November 27, 2002

A major grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. will enhance Hope College's role in helping students to consider the role of vocation or calling in their lives. Hope has received $2 million from the Endowment for its "Program for the Theological Exploration of Vocation." The multi-faceted effort, which will begin in the fall of 2003, will encourage students to reflect on how their faith commitments are related to their career choices and what it means to be "called" to lives of service.

"This program will be a tremendously rich experience for our students," said Dr. James E. Bultman, president of Hope College.

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Grant Supports Research
in Blood Cell Development

October 8, 2002

Dr. Michael J. Pikaart of the Hope College chemistry faculty has received a federal grant for research that could ultimately have implications for the treatment of blood diseases.

Pikaart has received a $102,317 Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) through the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The three-year award will support his on- going research into the way that blood cell development is affected by the interaction between DNA and a protein known as Gata-1.

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Hope Engineering Professor Seeks
to Help Aircraft Survive Explosions

April 22, 2002

Dr. Michael J. Pikaart of the Hope College chemistry faculty has received a federal grant for research that could ultimately have implications for the treatment of blood diseases. Pikaart has received a $102,317 Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) through the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The three-year award will support his on- going research into the way that blood cell development is affected by the interaction between DNA and a protein known as Gata-1.

"Gata-1 is required for bone marrow stem cells to mature into functional blood cells in circulation," said Pikaart, an assistant professor of chemistry at Hope. "In red blood cell development, for example, Gata-1 works to turn on expression of the globin genes to produce hemoglobin protein, the molecule which carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body."

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Multi-Media German Language
Project Receives $495,870 Grant

September 26, 2001

A cooperative effort to produce a "next-generation" multi-media course for beginning students in German has received major support from the Fund for Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) of the U.S. Department of Education.

The project, "Auf Geht's!," is a collaborative effort to develop computer-based, multi-media teaching materials for first-year German courses at the college level. The FIPSE grant provides "Auf Geht's!" with a total of $495,870 across the next three years.

"Our goal is to produce a 'next generation' course that is based equally on print and multi-media/Internet," said Dr. Lee Forester, who is an associate professor of German and is project director and head of instructional design for "Auf Geht's!" "There is no textbook, though there are workbooks and a reference book."

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Gift Provides Hope With New Observatory

September 6, 2001

A gift prompted by one former faculty member in memory of another has provided a new learning opportunity for students at Hope College. The college has built an observatory with support from a $20,000 grant from Dr. James W. Seeser through the Saint Louis Community Foundation. The observatory, featuring a 12-inch telescope in a six-foot-diameter, computer-controlled dome, as well as related equipment, was installed on the roof of VanderWerf Hall in mid August.

Seeser taught at Hope from 1970 to 1976, serving on the physics faculty and computer science faculty. He recommended the project in honor of Dr. Harry Frissel in recognition of Frissel's mentorship while they were faculty colleagues at Hope. Harry Frissel, who was on the college's physics faculty from 1948 until retiring in 1985, died on March 18, 2000, at age 79.

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Grant from McGregor Fund Supports Student-Faculty Research

June 12, 2001

A major grant from the McGregor Fund of Detroit is providing additional opportunities for Hope College students to conduct original research. The $100,000 award is supporting collaborative research between students and faculty in the arts, humanities and social sciences. With its emphasis on active learning and one-on-one interaction, the three-year program underwritten by the grant adds an important dimension to the college's work with students, according to Dr. Jacob E. Nyenhuis, who is provost and professor of classics at Hope.

"Hope College works hard at preparing students to be productive members of the intellectual community who are able to pursue a variety of career opportunities," Nyenhuis said. "Collaborative research involves the student first-hand in the process of scholarly exploration and discovery which characterize the academic life."

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Hope Again Holds Five NSF-REU Grants for Summer Research

June 5, 2001

For the fourth year in a row, Hope holds five grants for summer student research from the National Science Foundation's "Research Experiences for Undergraduates" (NSF-REU) program.

Although complete national data for 2001 is not yet available, last year Hope held more of the grants than any other liberal arts college in the country and more than< all but about a dozen other institutions of any sort nationwide, including major research universities.

Hope holds the awards in biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, and physics and engineering. It is the 10th consecutive year that at least four Hope departments have had NSF-REU support.

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Julie (Costello) Kipp of English Faculty Receives NEH Summer Stipend

April 18, 2001

Dr. Julie (Costello) Kipp, assistant professor of English at Hope College, has received a highly competitive Summer Stipend from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The award was one of only 130 such fellowships awarded by the NEH to college teachers, university professors and independent scholars for research on topics in the humanities.

Kipp's scholarship focuses on Irish and Scottish women writers of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and she will use the summer stipend to continue work on a book tentatively titled "Remembrance, Rebellion, and the Bardic Nation: Irish and Scottish Romantic-period Women's Writings."

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Julie Costello of English Faculty
Named Towsley Research Scholar

January 8, 2001

Dr. Julie Costello, assistant professor of English at Hope College, has been named a "Towsley Research Scholar" at Hope.The award was announced during the college's annual Faculty Recognition Luncheon, held on Monday, Jan. 8.

The Towsley Research Scholars Program is funded through an endowment made possible through a grant from the Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation of Midland. The foundation's awards to the college have also included grants for the construction of the Van Wylen Library and the new science center, faculty development in the pre-medical sciences and support for an endowed chair in communication.

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Department News


Holland-Zeeland Community
Campaign Is Oct. 25

October 17, 2006

On Wednesday, Oct. 25, representatives from Hope College and leaders from local businesses will engage in a long-standing tradition of visiting more than 250 area businesses in Holland and Zeeland seeking contributions to the Hope Fund for the college's 2006-07 Community Campaign.

The Hope Fund has been in existence for almost as long as Hope College itself. The Community Campaign on behalf of the Hope Fund began more than 30 years ago as a way to engage community leaders with Hope faculty and staff in building and maintaining relationships between the community and the college.

In addition to those receiving personal visits on campaign day, hundreds more businesses and friends of Hope College will receive letters encouraging a contribution.

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Hope Community Campaign Is Nov. 2

October 25, 2005

On Wednesday, Nov. 2, representatives from Hope College and leaders from local businesses will engage in a long-standing tradition of visiting more than 250 area businesses in Holland and Zeeland seeking contributions to the Hope Fund for the 2005-06 Community Campaign.

The Hope Fund has been in existence for almost as long as Hope College itself. The Community Campaign on behalf of the Hope Fund began nearly 30 years ago as a way to engage community leaders with Hope faculty and staff in building and maintaining relationships between the community and the college.

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Hope Wins National Fund Raising Award

July 13, 2005

Hope College is being recognized nationally for fund raising excellence by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).

Hope is receiving a "2005 CASE/Wealth ID Award for Educational Fund Raising," for exemplary overall performance over the past three years. The award will be presented on Saturday, July 16, during the CASE Annual Assembly in Miami Beach, Fla., as one of the "2005 CASE Circle of Excellence Awards for Alumni Relations, Communications and Marketing, and Fund Raising."

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Successful “Legacies” Campaign
Concludes with Record Total

January 28, 2005

The "Legacies: A Vision of Hope" comprehensive campaign at Hope College has successfully concluded as the largest single fund-raising effort in the college's history.

Hope has raised more than $137 million from more than 3,300 donors through the campaign, well above the college's goal of $105 million. The college also raised nearly $15 million through its annual "Hope Fund" effort from 2000 through 2004, for a combined total of more than $152 million, making it one of the largest fund-raising efforts by a non-profit organization in West Michigan history.

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Details about our most recent campaign

Legacies: A Vision of Hope


Parent Relations and “Legacies” Campaign Programs Honored

December 16, 2004

Hope College has been honored for three of its advancement programs by the Great Lakes District of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), including with a top award for the college's new Parent Relations program.

Hope received a Gold Award in the "Alumni Relations Best Practices/Individual Projects" category for launching the college's new comprehensive Parent Relations Program. In addition, the college received two awards in the "Fundraising Best Practices/Individual Projects" category: a Silver Award for the "Legacies: A Vision of Hope" comprehensive campaign, and an Honorable Mention for the summer, 2003, phonathon on behalf of the campaign.

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Hope Honored for Fund-Raising Program

July 1, 2002

Hope College has received national recognition for its fund-raising program. Hope has received a 2002 "Circle of Excellence in Educational Fund-Raising Award" for overall improvement from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). The award will be presented on Monday, July 8, during CASE's International Assembly in Chicago, Ill.

The program honored 47 colleges and universities, and 21 K-12 schools, with awards for either overall improvement or overall performance in fund-raising. Approximately 1,000 institutions were eligible for consideration, based on having submitted data to the Council for Aid to Education's "Voluntary Support of Education" (VSE) Survey for three consecutive years.

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Staff News


November 30, 2007


Tom and Carole Renner
Honored for Service

After spending more than four decades helping to put the spotlight on Hope College students, faculty, teams, coaches and athletes, Tom Renner is in turn receiving some enduring recognition from the college.

Renner and his wife Carole are being honored for their significant roles in the life of the college by having the media section of the Richard and Helen DeVos Fieldhouse named in their honor. A bronze plaque commemorating the recognition will be unveiled during pre-game activities for the Hope men's basketball game that begins at 8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 7, as part of the Holland Sentinel Community Tournament.

"It is time to recognize Tom and Carole for their distinguished service to Hope College for the past 40 years," said President Dr. James E. Bultman. "Tom has received accolades from so many different organizations, and it is fitting now for this place that receives most of his attention to honor him and his wife Carole. Their work at Hope, especially in intercollegiate sport, has been a team effort. No one could give what Tom has given without the involvement and support of an understanding spouse."

READ THE PRESS RELEASE


Scott Travis Joins
Alumni & Parent Relations Staff

June 13, 2006