Honoring Friends and Family at UI Shortly after returning from service overseas in the early 1970s, Larry J. Baxter ’66 invested in property near Cascade, Idaho. Now a long-time resident of Vermont, Baxter decided to make a gift of this property to the UI to, in his words, “repay my school for the benefits it gave me.” He also wanted to honor two special individuals close to him: his late father, Lawrence H. Baxter, and First Lieutenant Kay Kimura, USMC, a close friend and classmate from Nampa Senior High School who lost his life in Vietnam. “If my gift to the University can keep alive their memories and provide assistance to coming generations of students who seek their own University of Idaho experiences, I will have repaid some small portion of UI’s gift to me,” said Baxter. To learn more about making a gift of real estate, contact Clark Hyvonen, at 208-885-9026 or clarkh@uidaho.edu. | | | Vandals In Focus Showcases Student Research The 2017 edition of Vandals in Focus is now available in print and online at www.uidaho.edu/vandalsinfocus. The publication is a project sponsored by the UI Office of Undergraduate Research that brings together a team of student writers and photographers to tell the stories of their fellow students and their work in research, scholarship and creative activity. Vandals in Focus features student stories from every college, as well as profiles of faculty mentors. “Hands-on research experiences allow students to develop as scholars and innovators while gaining experience they can apply to life after college,” President Staben said in his introductory message in the report. “Students at UI don’t just receive knowledge — they help unlock and unleash it. I am proud to see that Vandal tradition showcased here.” | | | UI Students Earn National Science Foundation Fellowships Three University of Idaho students have earned prestigious fellowships from the National Science Foundation. The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program provides a three-year stipend of $34,000, as well as $12,000 education allowance for tuition and fees, for the recipients to pursue their graduate degrees. Benjamin Anzis, a senior from Marshalltown, Iowa, is studying mathematics in the College of Science. Anzis will use his award to pursue his doctorate in algebraic geometry. Isaac Curtis, from Potlatch, Idaho, is a master’s student studying materials science and engineering in the College of Engineering and will use his NSF award to pursue his doctorate at UI. Emily White, of Hawthorne, California, is pursuing her doctorate in geology in the College of Science. In addition to the three recipients, six UI graduate students earned honorable mentions from the fellowship program, including Austin Anderson, Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, College of Natural Resources; Ian Gilman, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science; Grahm Johnson, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science; Sebastian Mortimer, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science; and Megan Ruffley, Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, College of Science. In the past 10 years, 16 UI students have received the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. | | | | | |