October 2, 2007

Kalamazoo College to Bestow Annual Alumni Awards

KALAMAZOO, MICH – On Friday, October 12, during its Homecoming festivities, Kalamazoo College will bestow special awards upon two alumni—Julie Mehretu, Class of 1992, and Jack Lundeen, Class of 1969—and two retired faculty members—Paul and Sally Olexia, biology and health sciences, respectively. The College also will induct four individuals and four teams into its Athletic Hall of Fame. They are: Linda (Topolsky) Simpson, Class of 1986, tennis; Kory Kramer, Class of 1999, cross-country; MaryJane Valade, Class of 2001, basketball; Nicholas Duda, Class of 2002, swimming; the 1940 men’s tennis team; the 1949 men’s tennis team; the 1962 football team; and the 1969 women’s tennis team.

Julie Mehretu will receive the Distinguished Achievement Award, which is based upon national or international peer recognition of her excellence and achievement in her professional field. Mehretu is one of the most important young artists in the world. She uses a variety of artistic mediums to create large layered paintings that combine abstract forms with the familiar. Her work is widely celebrated and has been shown in solo or combined exhibitions in more than 20 countries throughout the world. Her paintings hang in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and this fall she will help celebrate the opening of the new Detroit Institute of Arts with the installation of her City Sittings exhibition. She has received numerous awards, including several artist-in-residency appointments (Walker Art Center, Headlands Center for the Arts), a MacArthur Fellowship (2005), and selection as a Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin, Germany (2007).

Jack Lundeen will receive the Distinguished Service Award, presented to alumni who have made exceptional personal contributions to the College. Lundeen has been one of the prime movers behind the College’s nationally recognized Discovery Externship Program. The program provides Kalamazoo College students a unique, modern-day apprenticeship, during which they work alongside and reside with Kalamazoo College alumni hosts for one to four weeks. Lundeen, an attorney, has personally hosted some 30 “K” students at his Lake Oswego (Ore.) home and law practice. In 2004, the Discovery Externship Program was recognized with the peer-selected Experiential Education Program of the Year Award. Last summer the program placed 70 “K” students in alumni professional offices and homes.

Professor Emeritus of Biology Paul Olexia, Ph.D., and Professor Emerita of Biology and former Director of Health Sciences Sally Olexia, Ph.D., will receive the Weimer K. Hicks Award, which honors current or retired employees for their contributions that advance the goals of the College’s Alumni Association. Since their retirements in 2001, both have worked tirelessly on behalf of environmental organizations including Wild Ones, the Michigan Nature Association, and the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy. Paul maintains the more than 300 individual plants representing more than 50 species of native prairie plants growing near the Dow Science Center. Sally volunteers with the First Presbyterian Church Free Health Clinic. She takes courses at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts and has developed her proficiency in Spanish, culminating in her own study abroad experience in Mexico in 2005.

Linda (Topolsky) Simpson played #1 women’s singles all four of her undergraduate years. She earned All-MIAA and MIAA MVP honors in 1983, 1984, and 1985. Despite an illness in her senior season, she helped lead her team to a third-place finish in the NCAA Division III National Championships. She majored in psychology, studied abroad in Hannover, Germany, performed human resources work at the Wayne County Air Pollution Control Department for her career development quarter, and completed her Senior Individualized Project on “The Psychology of Sport.” She served as the College’s women’s tennis coach for several seasons. She currently serves as vice president of human resources at Lexis Nexis Global Solutions Development.

MaryJane Valade set the College basketball record for games played (103). She is only the second player in the College’s history to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds in her career. She finished third on the Hornet’s All-Time Career Scoring List and earned All-MIAA first team honors in her freshman, junior, and senior seasons. She was All-MIAA second team her sophomore year, and she was team Most Valuable Player her senior season. She majored in history, earned a minor in studio art, and studied abroad in Caen, France. She completed a career internship with the Henry Ford Museum (Dearborn, Mich.) and finished her Senior Individualized Project with the Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, D.C.). She currently serves as an exhibition designer with the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.

Four-time NCAA All-American swimmer Nicholas Duda won many team and conference honors during his four years at Kalamazoo College. The former include team co-captain, team captain, team co-MVP, team MVP, and current Hornet records in three different events. Conference honors include All-MIAA first team honors four consecutive years and MIAA Conference Champion for the 400 Individual Medley (2000) and the 200 Butterfly (1999, 2000, and 2001). His MIAA record for the 4000 Individual Medley still stands. He majored in chemistry and studied abroad in Madrid, Spain. He completed his Senior Individualized Project based on research he conducted at Pharmacia, Inc. He works as a chemist for Ampac Fine Chemicals in Sacramento, Calif., provides private swim lessons, and helps raise money on behalf of cancer research.

Kory Kramer finished first in the 1996 MIAA Cross-Country Championships, the 1997 MIAA Jamboree, and the 1998 Ferris State Open. He finished second in five events, was an NCAA National Qualifier three times and was the only runner in Kalamazoo College history to earn All-American honors twice. He was named to the All-MIAA first team and earned All-Great Lakes Region Honors all four of his undergraduate years. He majored in biology and shortly after graduation served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bolivia, working with teachers and students in environmental education. He stayed with the Peace Corps a third year, working as a volunteer coordinator, before moving to La Paz to work as a mountain bike guide and manage two businesses. He returned to the U.S. this year to pursue work in environmental policy.

A Fellowship in Learning: At Home in the World, Kalamazoo College is a national liberal arts college and the creator and home of the Kalamazoo Plan. By emphasizing scholarship, civic engagement, and foreign study, Kalamazoo College cultivates a fellowship in learning among students, faculty, and a community of scholars throughout the world. Its students shape elements of the Kalamazoo Plan--rigorous academics, career internships, study abroad, service-learning, and a senior individualized project--into an educational experience that provides insight into the meaning of the kind of citizenship that is at home in the world.