Category: Newsletter Top Story

The second annual FredTech STEM 16 Summit brought together more than 350 educators, students, community members and business leaders at the University of Mary Washington on Saturday, April 20.

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The day-long event featured seminars on STEM programming in school districts and women in technology, as well as a STEM career panel.  The summit also included more than 45 projects from UMW, regional elementary and secondary schools, Germanna Community College, and local and regional businesses and nonprofit organizations. Six UMW offices and academic departments were represented at the summit, including the Department of Biological Sciences, the Department of Computer Science, the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, the Department of Mathematics, the Office of Admissions and a 3D printing demonstration.

High school students measured their lung capacity at UMW’s Department of Biological Sciences booth.

UMW computer science student David Peworchik was honored with the “SWIFT Scholarship in Computer Science” Award for the 2013-2014 academic year, which provides a merit scholarship to a top computer science major in the region. The scholarship is funded by the Society for World Interbank Financial Telecommunications, Inc (SWIFT).

In addition, UMW students, Alex Gilley, Zach Goodwin, Jerome Mueller and Russell Ruud , were named as SWIFT Student Research Fellows for the 2013-2014 year.  They received funding from SWIFT and UMW to attend the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) conference  in San Diego in July.  The students will present their part of an interdisciplinary research project in the area of pharmaceutical discovery.  Their work with supercomputers and data analysis may lead to new treatments for diseases such as HIV and Tuberculosis, according to Associate Professor Karen Anewalt, chair of the Department of Computer Science.

UMW biology major Marco Montero (standing) explains a microscope at the Department of Biological Sciences booth.

In conjunction with the summit, UMW held a titration competition and its seventh annual calculus tournament. In the team competition of the calculus tournament, the team from Paul VI High School in Fairfax came in first place and the team from the Commonwealth Governor’s School came in second place. In the individual competition, Jack Sweeney of Paul VI High School won first place and Lina Hong of Paul VI High School won second place.

In the titration tournament, members of UMW’s honors general chemistry class won first place, followed by senior chemistry majors in second place.

The summit culminated with a keynote lecture by David Kerr, a program lead in the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Communications.

Legendary Irish flutist Sir James Galway will perform a special concert with the University of Mary Washington Philharmonic Orchestra on Saturday, March 16. The concert, part of Galway’s international Legacy Tour, will begin at 7:30 p.m. in George Washington Hall’s Dodd Auditorium.

Sir James Galway will perform with the UMW Philharmonic Orchestra on March 16.

Galway’s appearance marks the 10th anniversary of the Philharmonic’s popular William M. Anderson Celebrity Series, which began with Broadway maestro Marvin Hamlisch and has included such luminaries as Judy Collins, Kenny Rogers and the Canadian Brass.

“The orchestra is honored to have shared the stage with some of the greatest musicians in the world over the past decade,” said Kevin Bartram, director of the Philharmonic. “This year, we are excited to bring Sir James to Fredericksburg, and we had ‘the luck of the Irish’ in his schedule to land him on St. Patrick’s Day weekend.”

Galway, known as “The Man with the Golden Flute,” will perform the Mozart Flute Concerto in D Major, and then will be joined with his wife, Lady Jeanne Galway, in the duet “The Magic Flutes.” The concert also will include Sergei Prokofiev’s “Lt. Kije’ Suite,” Ron Nelson’s “Rocky Point Holiday” and Leroy Anderson’s “Irish Suite.”

In his more than 35-year career, Galway has performed for such dignitaries as Queen Elizabeth II, Pope John Paul II, President George W. Bush, President H.W. Bush, Princess Diana, and most recently President Shimon Peres. He was knighted in 2001 by Queen Elizabeth II and has received the Recording Academy’s President’s Merit Award. He was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame and received the Classic Brits Lifetime Achievement Award. His albums have sold more than 30 million copies.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit http://philharmonic.umw.edu, call (540) 654-1324 or visit the Fredericksburg Visitor’s Center.

Thirteen University of Mary Washington students spent a day last week talking to Virginia General Assembly legislators on behalf of the university.  Student Lobby Day provides  students from colleges and universities across the state a chance to meet with the state lawmakers.

“Lobby day is our opportunity as a university to articulate the importance of a liberal arts education and inform lawmakers about all of the exciting things our university is engaged in,” said senior Sean Simons, legislative action chair for the Student Government Association. Simons also majors in political science and political communications.

The students began their day with a brief introduction to Richmond’s General Assembly building. Then, students met with area legislators, including Speaker of the House Bill Howell, Sen. Bryce Reeves and Sen. Creigh Deeds. Afterwards, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling gave the group an impromptu tour of the Rotunda and shared the history of the building.

Erica O’Brien, a senior political science major, enjoyed meeting with the legislative aides.  “I love talking about Mary Washington, and being able to share some of the exciting things that are happening at UMW was fantastic,” she said.

Shirley Martey, a junior political science major, was excited to speak with legislators. “I wanted to practice communicating effectively with people in this environment so I thought this would be an excellent opportunity,” she said.

Student Lobby Day is annual event sponsored by the Student Government Association. More information on the SGA can be found at http://sga.umw.edu/

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For members of the University of Mary Washington club rugby team, Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend was all about community service. The players painted porches, spread mulch and cleaned up properties for Empowerhouse, formerly known as the Rappahannock Council on Domestic Violence. The team plans for another service day in April.

“UMW Rugby Team Sponsors Annual Service Project” in The Free Lance-Star on Saturday, Jan. 19

Eric Knapp paints a porch for Empowerhouse. His shirt reflects the team’s nickname — Mother’s Rugby

Mike Wehr (center) takes a break from painting to talk with members of the team

Tyler Barnikel

The team spent the weekend at Empowerhouse’s new residence in downtown Fredericksburg and at its public outreach office on Harrison Road

Christophe Perdu, a member of the UMW rugby team, painted a railing at Empowerhouse’s new location

Photos by Kimmie Barkley ’14