The Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics is pleased to recognize the accomplishments and activities of its alumni, students and staff:
Kristine Ahlfield, Archives of Women’s Political Communication research assistant at the center, will serve as the online communications intern at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC. The internship will run from June 3 to Aug. 9, 2013. Ahlfield is a senior in political science and will graduate from Iowa State in May.
Sawyer Baker, the Alice Rodine intern in community activism and Jane Greimann Legacy of Heroines scholar, has been accepted into the master of public administration program at the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration at The George Washington University in Washington, DC. She will graduate from Iowa State in May with a degree in political science and sociology and begin her graduate studies next fall.
Madeline Becker, the Rice-Neville Legacy of Heroines scholar, was among 10 Iowa State student-athletes recently recognized with the Big 12 Conference’s 2013 Dr. Gerald Lage award, the league’s highest academic honor. A senior in political science, Becker competes in track and field.
Dianne Bystrom, Catt Center director, recently spoke at Southern Methodist University (SMU), Southern Illinois University (SIU) and Iowa State University. She presented “Gender and Political Communication: 30 Years of Research on Women Candidates’ Media Coverage, Advertising and Websites” on Jan. 30 during a Women in Politics program hosted by SMU’s John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies. On Feb. 25, she presented “Women and the 2012 Election” as part of a series on women and politics hosted by SIU’s Paul Simon Public Policy Institute. While at SIU, she also gave presentations to an undergraduate women’s studies class and graduate communication seminar and met with women elected officials and community leaders. On March 5, Bystrom and Steffen Schmidt, university professor of political science, presented “The 2012 Election: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” as part of the ISU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series.
Valerie Hennings, scholar-in-residence at the Catt Center, gave two presentations about the center’s Ready to Run™ Iowa campaign school. On Jan. 25, she spoke with the 2012-2013 Leadership Ames class. On March 6, Hennings and center director Dianne Bystrom spoke in Iowa City during an event hosted by the Johnson County League of Women Voters. Hennings also was nominated for the Carl Albert Dissertation Award for her 2011 dissertation, Civic Selves: Gender, Candidate Training Programs, and Envisioning Political Participation.
Greta Johnson, a former Elverna Christian Legacy of Heroines scholar and Alice Rodine intern, accepted a position in January as senior advisor to Iowa Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds. She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Iowa State in 2010 and a master’s degree in leisure, youth and human services from the University of Northern Iowa in May 2012. Johnson served as the student member of the Iowa Board of Regents from 2008 to November 2012.
Sophia Magill, a participant in the center’s 2007 and 2011 Ready to Run™ Iowa campaign school, returned to Iowa State on Feb. 27 as assistant director of federal relations in the Office of the President. A 2005 graduate of ISU with a B.A. in political science, she served as president of the Government of the Student Body in 2004-2005. Magill earned a master of public administration from the University of Illinois-Chicago in 2010. She most recently served in the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Management in Washington, DC.
Katherine Marcheski, former public relations intern for the Catt Center, is currently studying abroad in Seville, Spain, for the spring 2013 semester at the Universidad de Sevilla. Marcheski is a junior in journalism and mass communication with a minor in Spanish and enrolled in the community leadership and public service certificate program, which is coordinated by the center.
Kelly Sebetka, the Elizabeth Hoffman and Brian R. Binger Legacy of Heroines scholar, has broken the ISU study abroad record of six. Sebetka recently accepted her sixth and seventh study abroad trips this year. She will visit Nassau, Bahamas, during spring break in March for business/tourism and Urbino, Italy, for a month during the summer for photojournalism. Sebetka’s previous travels have taken her to Oaxaca, Mexico, and Punta Gorda, Belize, for spring break service-learning; a social justice trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; a creative writing workshop across Ireland; and a semester in Cork, Ireland. She also participated in alternative breaks in St. Louis, MO. Sebetka will graduate with a degree in women’s studies and psychology in May.
Sarah Synovec, a junior in marketing and Plaza of Heroines intern at the center, presented at the Iowa State Leadership Experience on Feb. 2. Her presentation on “Leadership: Thinking Outside of the Box Thinking Within the Circles” discussed Simon Sinek’s “golden circle” concept of leadership success.