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College Advancement News 2004-2006

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Current and Archived Press Releases for Hope College

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.

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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.

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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."

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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."

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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."

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Grants Support CASA Summer Program

June 6, 2006

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.

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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."

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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."

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Grant Supports
Education Diversity Program

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

For 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

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.

The 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

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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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.

Read the press release

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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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Scott Travis Joins
Alumni & Parent Relations Staff

June 13, 2006

Scott Travis has joined the Hope College staff as assistant director of alumni and parent relations.

He started in the position on Tuesday, Sept. 5. He is responsible for a number of the events, activities and services at the college for alumni, and parents and families of students, and works with the program's director on a variety of other aspects of the program.

As assistant director, Travis will assist with the college's regional events and annual on-campus events for alumni, parents and students hosted by the office. He holds additional responsibility for involving alumni and parent volunteers in the college's programs, and for communicating with alumni, parents and friends of the college. He will also assist the program's director, Mary Remenschneider, with strategic planning and program development, and in promoting financial support of the college to alumni, parents, friends and families of Hope.

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Advancement Staff Addition
and Changes Announced

June 13, 2006

Hope College has announced an addition to and several promotions and changes within its advancement staff.

Annie Valkema joined the staff on Monday, June 12, as a regional advancement director. She is responsible for the college's fund-raising efforts in Southern California as well as in portions of West Michigan.

She was most recently a member of the advancement staff at Houghton College in New York, where she was director of the annual fund from 2000 to 2004 and a major gifts officer from 2004 until coming to Hope. Prior to joining the Houghton staff, Valkema had been employed at the University of Michigan. She was senior coordinator of Alumni Clubs from 1997 to 2000; a student services representative in the School of Public Health from 1992 to 1997; and a publication assistant with News and Information Services from 1989 to 1991.

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Advancement Staff Additions Announced

March 13, 2006

Hope College has made two appointments in recent months to the college's advancement team. Brett Holleman and John Ruiter, who are both Hope alumni, have both joined the staff as regional advancement directors. Holleman started at the college in late February, and Ruiter in November.

Holleman was most recently a development officer with the Holland Hospital Foundation. He had earlier served in development roles with Good Samaritan Ministries in Holland and Holland Christian Schools. Prior to his work in development he had worked in youth ministry with Young Life and Beechwood Church in the Holland area.

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Tom Renner Named "Paul Harris Fellow"

January 24, 2006

Tom Renner of the Hope College public relations office attended the Thursday, Jan. 19, meeting of the Holland Rotary Club thinking that he'd been invited as a guest in celebration of his birthday. That was only partially true. He was actually there to receive a present: recognition as a Paul Harris Fellow.

Renner was selected for and presented the award by Rotary member Jerry Redeker, a long-time friend, "for service and humanitarian efforts in the Holland community and for Hope College." The citation, accompanied by a pin and medallion, further notes that the award is given "in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world."

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Mark DeWitt Joins Development Staff

April 6, 2005

Mark DeWitt has joined the Hope College staff as director of corporate and foundation relations. He began his work at the college in March, and focuses on the college's efforts with corporations and foundations that support higher education.

DeWitt was previously an account representative with Thomson Learning. Since 2002, he has also been an adjunct member of the business faculty at Grand Rapids Community College, teaching marketing, business ethics, selling and retailing courses.

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Scott Wolterink Named VP
for College Advancement

March 7, 2005

Scott Wolterink of the Hope College staff has been promoted to vice president for college advancement. Wolterink, who previously served as associate vice president for college advancement, assumed his new duties on Tuesday, March 1. He succeeds William K. Anderson, who will be retiring from the Hope staff at the end of June as senior vice president for finance and advancement.

"Bill Anderson has provided an exceptional service to Hope College by assuming additional responsibilities in college advancement for these past three years. His overall contributions to the life of the college will be greatly missed," said Dr. James E. Bultman, president of Hope College. "We now look forward to the next phase of college advancement at Hope under the leadership of Scott Wolterink. He possesses demonstrated skills that will serve him and the college well in his new role."

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Basketball Coaches to Honor
Tom Renner for Service to Sport

September 14, 2004

Tom Renner of the Hope College staff will receive a "Hall of Honor" award from the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan (BCAM) on Saturday, Oct. 2, for his outstanding and long-time service on behalf of the game of basketball.

Renner, who is associate vice president for public and community relations at Hope, has coordinated the sports information programs at Hope and for the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) since 1967.

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Eric Foster Joins Hope Staff as
Regional Advancement Director

September 28, 2004

Eric Foster has joined the staff at Hope College as a regional advancement director. Foster is responsible for college fund-raising efforts in Chicago, Ill., Detroit and portions of West Michigan.

A 1995 Hope graduate, he has spent most of the past nine years working in Washington, D.C. He has held a variety of positions involving communications, constituent relations and management, serving on the staff of a law firm as well as on the staffs of the mayor of Washington, D.C., and two different legislators, including Congressman Pete Hoekstra.

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Legacies: A Vision of Hope Campagin News

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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Comprehensive coverage of “Legacies: A Vision of Hope,” our most recent campaign

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Faculty/Staff/Student Achievements

Current and Archived Press Released for Hope College