L Syd M Johnson (HU) was interviewed by Big Think about the ethical implications of the recent development in gene editing of human embryos using CRISPR-Cas9. See here.
PhD student Nancy Henaku has just been elected to the board of the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language & Gender. Says Henaku, “I am honored to be selected to the board of an intellectually enriching organization such as the OSCLG. This unique opportunity is both important and exciting to me.”
RTC PhD alumna Roxane Gay’s opinion piece on HBO’s upcoming series “Confederate” was published in the New York Times. Gay is an associate professor at Purdue University, and a best-selling author. See here.
Jennifer Daryl Slack (HU) and her book “Cultural Studies 1983: A Theoretical History (Stuart Hall: Selected Writings),” are discussed in a New Yorker article about Stuart Hall. See here. The story was spotlighted in First Bell, the American Society for Engineering Education newsletter.
Anna K. Swartz, a graduate student in the RTC master’s program, has published a review of Beyond Schizophrenia: Living and Working with a Serious Mental Illness, in MetaPsychology. Read the review here.
A Michigan Tech alumnus was among the military personnel killed when a US Marine Corps KC-130 transport plane crashed near Itta Bena, Mississippi, Monday.
US Marine Corps Sgt. Julian M. Kevianne was among the 15 Marines and one Navy Corpsman on the flight. According to the New York Times, the plane took off from Cherry Point, North Carolina en route to El Centro, California. There were no survivors.
Sgt. Kevianne was a 2007 graduate of Michigan Tech with a degree in humanities. He joined the Marines in 2009. He came to Tech from Detroit’s High School for the Fine and Performing Arts.
He was very active on campus, serving as a resident assistant, a member of the National Society of Black Engineers, Young Democrats, Social Dance Club and the Lemmings broomball team.
Kevianne worked as a management assistant in McNair Hall where he was a student supervisor in the dining hall, helping students with everything from furniture requests to the Husky Host Program. During the winter semester break he organized and facilitated a Christmas dinner for McNair residents and provided transportation for incoming international students. His efforts were recognized when he was named the Student Employee of the Year in 2008.
University President Glenn Mroz says Sgt. Kevianne’s time at Michigan Tech made the University a better place.
“We oftentimes thank our students for what they bring to Michigan Tech and what they leave at Michigan Tech to make it a better place for others. Julian’s involvement in so many aspects of the University and the quality of his involvement defined that spirit. It was not surprising that he aspired to one of the most significant commitments a person can take in defense of all of us. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family as we all struggle with this tragic loss of an amazing person,” Mroz says.
Condolences may be shared with the family through Sgt. Kevianne’s brother:
Carlo Kevianne,
15735 Plainview Ave.
Detroit, MI 48223
A gofundme site has been established to help the family with travel expenses to the funeral.
L. Syd M Johnson (HU) published a review of the film “Concussion”, titled “Concussion: How Bennet Omalu exposed the worst kept secret in football,” in Journal of Ethics in Mental Health. Read it here.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has appointed Michigan Tech alumnus Nathaniel Gbessagee ’12 as president of Grand Bassa Community College, three miles north of Buchanan on Liberia’s Atlantic coast.
Gbessagee received his PhD in rhetoric and technical communication from Michigan Tech in 2012. His dissertation research focused on improving risk communication about malaria in Liberia.
After completing his doctorate, Gbessagee returned to Liberia, where he accepted a faculty position in the Department of Arts and Sciences at Tubman University. In 2016, Gbessagee was appointed a senior aide to the chairman of Liberia’s National Elections Commission. His responsibilities as president of Grand Bassa Community College will begin in August.
L. Syd M Johnson (HU) was appointed to the National Institutes of Health BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative Multi-Council Working Group Neuroethics Division. The Neuroethics Division examines and advises on critical ethical issues associated with BRAIN research.
L. Syd Johnson (HU) was an ethics panelist at the workshop “Stem Cells, Neural Organoids, and Ex Vivo Human Brain Tissue: Science and Ethics” at Duke University. The workshop was sponsored by the Duke Science & Society Program and the NIH BRAIN Initiative, on May 11.