Messiah College News Archive

Biopsychology major Michael Skolka received a stipend from the American Physiological Association to continue his research on acute pancreatitis at Penn State Hershey. Skolka has already been invited to present his data at the 2014 National Experimental Biology meeting.

Robin Collins, professor of philosophy, recently received a $53, 644 grant through the Providence and Chance project (funded by the John Templeton Foundation) to work on a two-year project entitled “Discoverability, Providence, and Chance.” He will be working with Messiah College physicist Abaz Kryemadhi.

Malcolm McDermond, senior sociology and anthropology and Biblical and religious studies major has been selected for a Fulbright U.S. Student award for 2013-2014. He will tenure his award in Malaysia where he will hold an English Teaching Assistantship (ETA). ETAs place Fulbrighters in a classroom abroad to provide assistance to teachers of English to non-native English-speakers.

Senior communication major Drew Gehman was awarded first place in the Pennsylvania Communication Association’s Undergraduate writing competition for his paper, “When Identification Leads to Misrepresentation.” Gehman’s paper was originally written for his COMM 359 Rhetorical Theory class.

Richard Schaeffer, associate professor of chemistry, was recently awarded a National Science Foundation Partnerships for Innovation Project Seed Grant for his project, “The Use of Phosphate (Apatites) as Heavy Alkaline Earth Metal Remediation Agents,” an investigation using materials based on readily available minerals to render some heavy-metal pollutants less dangerous in the environment.  Specifically, Schaeffer and four students will attempt to transform the contaminating metals into forms that are less soluble in natural waters and less bioavailable.

Xu Ren `12 is one of eight junior research fellows selected by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace for their prestigious fellowship program. During his fellowship, Xu Ren will work in Carnegie’s Asia Studies program.

The Carnegie Junior Fellow program is highly competitive. More than 400 schools nominate candidates. Between 25 and 30 are brought in for interviews for less than 10 positions. Candidates are assessed based on an essay, academic study, work experiences, grades, recommendations and a personal interview.

GRANTHAM, Pa. (Sept. 7, 2011) — With the start of the 2011-2012 academic year, Messiah College announces the addition of several new academic programs to its undergraduate and graduate course offerings. Undergraduate students enrolled at Messiah College can select from five new majors: Chinese business; Chinese studies; dance; digital media; and ethnic and area studies.

Messiah’s graduate program offerings have expanded to six, including three new master’s programs in education, higher education, and youth and young adult ministry. All of Messiah’s graduate programs are designed for working professionals and are conducted primarily online. Read the rest of this entry »

 Once again Messiah’s accounting students have been very successful in being selected for Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) scholarships. This spring the PICPA awarded 40 scholarships to Pennsylvania accounting students, and three Messiah College students were selected: Alanna Sweester, Brent Sensinig, and Isaac Won. Only Villanova students received more (four). One other school received three – Penn State University.

 The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) Baccalaureate/Graduate Degree Board of Commissioners recently awarded Messiah College initial accreditation of its business programs.

 ACBSP accreditation certifies that the teaching and learning processes within the business school at Messiah meet the rigorous educational standards established by ACBSP.

“Messiah College has shown their commitment to teaching excellence and to the process of quality improvement by participating in the accreditation process,” said ACBSP Director of Accreditation Steve Parscale, who will present the Certificate of Initial Accreditation at the ACBSP Annual Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 26. “This accreditation is evidence that Messiah College is committed to providing the highest quality business education for their students.”

 Jennifer Esbenshade, a double major in chemistry and math, has been granted a prestigious and highly competitive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. 

Esbenshade will attend the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, one of the nation’s top ten 10 chemistry graduate schools, for doctorate work in materials chemistry. During her time at Messiah College, Esbenshade was a member of the Honors program and active in the Collaboratory. She also landed an internship at the prominent Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. 

Esbenshade is not the first Messiah student to receive a fellowship from the National Science Foundation. Steve Frank `05, a student at Colorado School of Mine, Emily Howell `10, a student at Cornell University, and Mike Foster `02, a faculty member at George Fox University, all also received NSF Fellowships while students at Messiah.