05 Apr Zack Keller Wins HU Women’s Auxiliary Scholarship

Huntington University senior Zachary Keller (right) of Portland, Ind., has been awarded a $1200 scholarship from the Huntington University Women’s Auxiliary. This scholarship, designated for a math education student, was established in 1973 by Mrs. Elba Kriegbaum.

Keller, who will graduate in May 2012 with a degree in math education, has received the Auxiliary Scholarship for the past two years. Presently, he is completing his student teaching at Manchester Junior-Senior High School.

Chosen to be a teaching assistant for Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth in Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., last summer and again this summer, Keller will be teaching two college level math courses to talented high school students from across the United States.

At Huntington, Keller served as a program coordinator and tutor during his sophomore and junior years. Also, he was the student director for the Joe Mertz Center for Volunteer Service during his junior year and a program coordinator during his sophomore year.

Keller coordinated a trip to Jamaica, and participated in missions trips to India and New Orleans through the university. He also volunteered with Youth for Christ and Open Door Ministry, and worked as a summer counselor at Camp Lutherhaven.

03 Apr 264 Graduates Receiving HU Degrees May 12

Huntington University’s 114th commencement exercises are coming up. Degrees will be awarded to 264 graduates.

Date: May 12, 2012
Time: 3 pm
Location: Merillat Physical Education and Recreation Complex.

Dan Wolgemuth (right), president and CEO of Youth for Christ USA, will give the commencement address. Wolgemuth, a 1977 Taylor University grad, joined Youth for Christ USA as its president and CEO in 2005.

The university will also award three honorary doctorate degrees.

1. An honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree will be presented to commencement speaker Dan Wolgemuth.

2. An honorary Doctor of Divinity degree will be presented to the Rev. Luther Whitfield (right). Whitfield joined Youth for Christ in 1991 as the urban inner city director. In many years of service with the organization, he has helped to develop urban ministry programs for Fort Wayne, including the formation of the Primetime Community Center. Primetime inspires the youth of Fort Wayne through Campus Life ministries, juvenile justice programs, and sports programming. Whitfield continues to serve Primetime today as its senior director. He is also the senior pastor of New Covenant Worship Center, a church based at the Primetime Community Center.

3. An honorary Doctor of Humane Letters will be presented to 1977 Huntington alum Charles Curie (right). Curie is the principal/owner of The Curie Group LLC in Rockville, Md., which is a management and consulting firm specializing in working with national and international leaders in public and private health care. He is a 1977 graduate of Huntington, with degrees in psychology and sociology; he served as student senate president during his senior year. He also holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Chicago. In 2001, Curie was nominated by President George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the US Senate to head the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Dr. Tim Smith (right), Huntington University associate professor of history, will present the baccalaureate sermon at 10:30 am in the fieldhouse. His message is titled “The Empire Strikes Back” and will focus on Ecclesiastes 9:11.

Smith joined the Huntington history and political science department in 2007. He previously taught history at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom. His research and teaching focus on British imperial and diplomatic history. He is also the director of the Centre for Non-Western Studies. Smith recently published two books on the Vietnam War titled, “Churchill, America and Vietnam, 1941-45” and “Britain and the Origins of the Vietnam War: UK Policy in Indo-China, 1943-50.”

The commencement exercises and the baccalaureate sermon are open to the public, and no tickets are required.

02 Apr HU Prof and Student Design App for Grading Papers

Grading essays and writing assignments just became much easier thanks to an iPhone/iPad app created by Huntington University professor Del Doughty and 2011 graduate Andrew Martin.

Apple released the new application, called HighMarks, on March 5. It cuts the time spent grading papers for teachers up to 50 percent.

“For most teachers, the toughest part about the job is grading papers,” said Doughty, professor English. “It’s especially tedious when one has to keep making the same comments. That led me to wonder, ‘In what ways can I rethink the grading process to eliminate the repetitive, tedious parts?’”

Doughty began brainstorming ideas to design a new application to make the grading process easier. Realizing he needed a developer to design the actual application, Doughty turned to animation alum Martin, who had just finished developing the application, “Mafia Card-Generator,” a popular video game.

HighMarks incorporates touch-screen and voice command technology into the grading process of essays. A student sends his or her writing assignment to the teacher’s e-mail. The teacher then pastes the assignment into HighMarks. The teacher may leave comments, use grammatical correction options, and assign a letter grade.

The application costs $1.99, and may be purchased through the iTunes Store.