July 2023
Cooke Alums at Scholars Weekend 2019
Compass Feature: Amy McMillen
2009 Young Scholar, 2014 College Scholar, University of Virginia
Amy became a Cooke Young Scholar in 2009, and studied Engineering as a College Scholar at University of Virginia. In addition to being an author, Amy now works as a project manager at HUG.
In the below video, Amy shares how she faced an internal struggle of pursuing financial stability vs. meaningful work when navigating her career decisions. You can check out more of Amy’s videos here.
Compass Feature: Alum Interviews
As the Alumni Engagement Manager, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing fellow Cooke Alums virtually over the past few months. I’m so excited to start sharing these conversations with the greater community. The first Alum I interviewed was Aida Rodriguez, a 2013 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar from the University of Pennsylvania. Check out our conversation below and connect with Aida here.
Clara Ramirez
2010 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar, 2015 Graduate Scholar, University of North Texas Health Science Center
This May, Clara completed her MBA at TCU's Neeley School of Business. Although the initial transition back to school after being in the workforce for a few years was challenging for her, Clara shared that the two years flew by.
She recently got a job at Duke University Health System as a Primary Care Administrative Fellow. This role will give her a comprehensive learning opportunity that will include operational exposure to healthcare issues and practical administrative experience through hands-on involvement in various projects.
You can learn more about Clara’s academic and professional journey here.
Michael Uy
2008 Graduate Scholar, University of Oxford
Michael Uy was recently awarded an American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship. The program supports exceptional scholarship in the humanities and interpretive social sciences that has the potential to make significant contributions within and beyond the awardees’ fields. For 2023, the program awarded $3.8 million in research support to 60 scholars from a pool of nearly 1,200 applicants.
Michael’s project is called, “Endowing Equity: The NEA’s Expansion Arts Division and Funding the Underfunded, 1971-1995.”
Michael shared, “I'm excited to focus full time on researching and writing about this government program that was one of the few, if not only, federal funding source for minority artists and arts organizations in the country. It laid the groundwork for so many Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and Asian artists today, yet very little is known about it. We could learn many more lessons about models for equitable arts infrastructures through the Expansion Arts program."
You can read the press release here.
Shahriar Zamani
2016 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar, and 2019 Graduate Scholar, University of Cambridge
In June, Shahriar began a new position as a Cancer Prevention Fellow through the Fellowship Program at the US National Cancer Institute (NCI).
As a Fellow, he works together with an interdisciplinary group of researchers to address questions in cancer prevention and early detection. Shahriar shared that, “It’s an exciting time for the field as we can now leverage high dimensional data and new technologies to better understand this disease, so there are many possibilities to explore in this space. I very much look forward to continue to learn in this space and implement findings.”
You can learn more about Shahriar’s academic and professional journey here.
Elana Parajón
2015 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar, 2020 Graduate Scholar, Johns Hopkins University
Elana was featured in a Johns Hopkins article around careers in science and medicine programs. She is currently a third-year Ph.D. candidate in cellular and molecular medicine at the university, working in the lab of cell biology professor Douglas Robinson.
In the article, Elana shares about her academic and professional journey, which includes transferring from Miami Dade College with a UT Scholarship, and her future academic plans to attend med school.
You can read the full article here.
The Latest from the CookeAlumni.org Blog
Do you have any SW photos to share?
We are putting together a blog for our August Alumni Buzz around Scholars Weekend, and we need your help! We’re looking for fun stories, warm memories, and great photos to include. Whether your last Scholars Weekend was 2002 or 2022, we want to hear from you.
The deadline to submit your SW memories is Sunday, July 23.
Submit your SW memories here.
Seeking Regional Chapter Leaders!
If you are located in any of the following regions, and/or if you are interested in organizing Alum meet ups in your area, consider becoming a Cooke Regional Chapter Leader:
Minneapolis, MN
New Orleans, LA
Denver, CO
Phoenix, AZ
Seattle, WA
New York City, NY (we are looking for a co-Chapter leader to join New Jersey-based Jonathan Finnerty)
Austin or Dallas, TX (we are looking for a co-Chapter leader to join Houston-based Chris Chen)
Any other region where we don’t have an organized chapter
Please email alumni@jkcf.org if you want to learn more about becoming a regional chapter leader. We will have an onboarding and regional chapter leader meeting this summer to share best practices and updates from the Foundation!
Record a Welcome Message for Scholars Weekend
Most, if not all of you, are familiar with the Welcome New Scholars video we play at each Scholars Weekend. In fact, some of you have recorded messages for it before! We update it every couple of years and would like to do it again for this year's event.
If you're willing to give back in this way, please record a short 30-90 second video welcoming the newest Higher Ed Scholars into our community. You can find recording and delivery tips here, and please send all videos to us at studio@jkcf.org.
Calling Alums to Join the 2023-2024 Alumni Engagement Council
Are you looking to become more involved in the Cooke Alum community? Do you want to participate in quarterly meetings to brainstorm ways to further engage the Cooke community? Join the Alumni Engagement Council (AEC) for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Join a group of 20 fellow Alums to provide feedback on Alum engagement, help program and plan activities, participate in Cooke events, and serve as a liaison between the Foundation and the community.
Submit your application to join the 2023-2024 AEC here.
Share an update with us!
Alums, do you want to be featured in an upcoming Alumni Buzz? Do you have an academic, professional, or personal update to share? We would love to hear it!
Throwback Photo: 2006 Scholars Weekend