February 2022
Cooke Scholar Alumni Buzz
Hello Cooke Scholars and Alums!
February Buzz? What happened to the January Buzz? Don’t worry, you didn’t miss anything. Moving forward, we’ll be sending the Buzz at the start of the month (instead of at the end) to keep you up to date with news about your fellow Alums and the activities for the month ahead.
Alums, do you have a career or life update you’re excited about and want to share with the community? If so, we’d love to include you in an upcoming edition of the Buzz, just email us at alumni@jkcf.org.
Foundation Buzz
Let's Keep in Touch: The 2022 Survey of Cooke Scholar Alumni is Live!
Alums, how are you? Where are you? Would you like to get involved in Cooke Scholar Alumni activities? It's time for the 2022 Survey of Cooke Scholar Alumni where you can update your contact info and help us support your engagement with the Cooke Scholar and Alumni community. Check your email registered with us to complete the survey or email alumni@jkcf.org.
Apply for the 2022 Cooke Scholars and Alumni Awards
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is offering two monetary awards in 2022 for Cooke Scholars and Alumni.
The Undergraduate Scholar Award in Honor of Dennis I. Belcher is a $5,000 award that may be given annually to one or more current Cooke College Scholars or Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholars.
The Matthew J. Quinn Prize is a $10,000 award that may be given annually to one or more current Cooke Graduate Scholars or Cooke Scholar Alumni.
The awards are designed to recognize Cooke Scholars and Alumni who have demonstrated outstanding achievement during the prior three years (January 2019 through December 2021). The early March deadline is fast approaching, so click here to learn more about the awards and start your application today.
Compass Feature: William Tarpeh
2003 Young Scholar; 2008 College Scholar, Stanford University; 2012 Graduate Scholar, University of California at Berkeley
Every month, we will feature a Cooke Scholar Alum on Compass - the new content platform that is home to the inspirational stories of our Scholars and Alums. This month, we are featuring William Tarpeh - a member of one of the very first cohorts of Cooke Young Scholars, 2020 Matthew J. Quinn Prize recipient, and currently an assistant professor of chemical engineering at Stanford University. At the Tarpeh Lab, his work revolutionizes the recovery of resources through the treatment of liquid waste. To learn more about Will’s professional and academic journey, click here.
Community Buzz
New Blog - Catchin’ Up with a Cookie: Jonathan Finnerty
Guess which state has the best pizza? New Jersey (or at least according to Jonathan). Recently relocated to his alma mater at Rutgers University, Jonathan is running the undergraduate program for the Sociology Department and also teaches philosophy and history at local community colleges while completing his PhD in Philosophy. To learn more about Jonathan’s love for critical thinking and philosophical conversations, click here.
Connect with an Alum
Our Cooke Scholar Alumni network is a vibrant community of more than 2,000 individuals engaged in diverse career and personal pursuits. One way you can Connect with an Alum is to complete this form and let us to introduce you to an Alum sharing similar interests and career goals.
January Career Pathways Virtual Chat: Preparing for a Career in Tech
On Tuesday, January 18th, Cooke Scholar Alum Stephani Calderón hosted a conversation on Preparing for a Career in Tech with Gregory Clark, Manny Ruiz-Ramos, and Sondos Alnamos to share their professional and personal perspectives on working in the tech field. We discussed how they prepared while in undergrad to be competitive applicants for these jobs post-graduation, lessons learned on the jobs, what they wish they knew before working in tech, roles in tech outside of software engineering, graduate school, and the future of tech in our society. You can check out the video from the event below.
February Career Pathways Virtual Chat: How I Transformed My Passion into a Business
Join us on Tuesday, February 22nd as the Alumni Engagement Council host a conversation with Alum entrepreneurs on how they transformed their passion into a business. Alum panelists will share their professional and personal perspectives as business owners and entrepreneurs with a focus on taking us back to the moments of getting started. We will discuss the significance in effectively telling the story of your business, importance of building a supportive and resourceful network, overcoming obstacles and hurdles, building a holistic set of business skills, and tips for success on the early stages of starting a business. A formal invitation will be sent soon, but you can register for the event right now here.
Alumni Buzz
2016 Undergraduate Transfer, Columbia University
Join us in congratulating McDaniel on his recent promotion to Public Finance Investment Banking Associate at RBC Capital Markets where he specializes in municipal finance and provides research, structuring, and execution support for the firm's Municipal Housing Group. Also, McDaniel recently started a scholarship for students at Union County College, his alma mater - talk about a full circle moment!
2001 Young Scholar; 2006 College Scholar, Johns Hopkins University
Victoria, an Osteopathic Medical Student at Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, has an opportunity she wants to share with the Scholar and Alumni community - particularly those who are interested in medicine and public health. The New England Complex Systems Institute and EndCoronavirus.org are looking for volunteers which include roles in data gathering and analysis, and community support. Also, she will be co-presenting at Rowan University’s 5th Annual First-Generation Symposium from February 2 - 3, 2022 which you can attend by registering here (free with a university email).
Secretary Haaland presenting the award to Christina’s team via Zoom.
Christina Milloy
2004 Graduate Scholar, Yale University
Since May 2020, Christina has been working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Workforce Culture Transformation Team. This past fall, her team received the Secretary of the Interior’s Diversity Award in recognition of “outstanding leadership in effecting change toward increased diversity within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.” Christina mentioned it was an extra special honor to receive this award from Secretary Deb Haaland - our very first Native American U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary!
2006 Young Scholar; 2011 College Scholar, New York University; 2017 Graduate Scholar, Harvard University
Join us in congratulating Samantha for recently starting her new role as Director of LaunchX Entrepreneurship Program which brings together high school students from around the world to launch real startups, test their offering, and build the foundation for a sustainable company. Previously, Samantha was the founder and CEO of KlickEngage to combat the symptoms of childhood adversity and complex trauma by amplifying student voice and equipping teachers with critical data about students’ wellbeing.
Trung (second from left) with fellow classmates
2014 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar, Georgia Tech; 2017 Graduate Scholar, Georgia Tech
Trung just completed his first semester at Mercer School of Medicine. Before medical school, he earned his master’s degree in Biomedical Innovation and Development at Georgia Tech. He hopes by being scientifically bilingual in both engineering and physician jargon, he will be able to close the gap between urban and rural communities and improve the quality of patient care.
2002 Graduate Scholar, Harvard University & University of Notre Dame
Danna was recently a guest speaker on the Deliberate Freelancer podcast on the episode, “Crash Landing and Being Forced to Restart Your Business”. On the episode, Danna talks about her experience as a freelance writer for 11 years, mostly focusing on journalism while also having covered the visual arts, design, architecture, the trades and parenting. To listen more on why and how she restarted her freelance business five times, her recent transition to higher education journalism, and her experience with imposter syndrome, click here.
2018 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar, UC San Diego
This past year, Maria graduated from UC San Diego and moved to the Bay Area to join fellow Cooke Scholar Alum Claire Clelland to work as a research associate for the Clelland Lab at the University of California, San Francisco. Their lab’s goal is to cure frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and they would love to have other Cookies join the lab in any of the positions for research associates and post-doctoral scholars they currently have open!
Maria (second from left) and Claire (third from left) with colleagues from the Clelland Lab
Throwback Photo of the Month
College Scholars at Scholars Weekend 2014