15 Students Inducted into National Honor Society

Election to the society is based on fulfillment of eligibility requirements, including a grade point average of 90 or above and nomination by the student’s major department. Phi Beta Kappa is limited to 12 percent of the graduating class each year. The newly elected students are:

Claire Nilsen Blumenson, a government, psychology and sociology major from Cambridge, Mass., is interested in child advocacy as it relates to academic failure and juvenile delinquency. Blumenson completed a semester abroad in Brussels, Belgium, which included a full-time internship at the European Parliament working for the Maltese Labour Party.

Jennifer Mary Bunger is a biology major from Southington, Conn., whose interests include dancing, teaching, and working with children. A dancer in the group Power Groove, Bunger is also ballet and tap instructor and choreographer to children ages 3-12. She has been a teaching assistant in both science and math courses and tutors several hours a week. She plans on attending medical school and studying pediatrics.

Thapana Chairoj is a math-economics major from Bankok, Thailand, and a Freeman Scholar. His experience here has broadened his intellectual sphere and deepened his experience as an international student.

Avishek Chatterjee, a physics, math, and astronomy major from Calcutta, India, spent the past two summers conducting physics research on theoretical simulations of vortex dynamics in a film of superfluid helium. He is an honors candidate in math and physics and interested in philosophy, particularly in relation to the implications of scientific theories. He is applying to graduate school for theoretical physics.

Katherine Leigh D’Ambrosio, a double major in English and history from Atlanta, Georgia, is a member of the History Majors Committee and on the editorial boards of Historical Narratives, Wesleyan’s undergraduate literature journal. As a university scholar, D’Ambrosio has worked as a research assistant in the English and history departments and as a writing tutor and recently performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus.

Hoan Bui Dang is a math major and came to Wesleyan from Vietnam. He likes to challenge his mind with mathematical and logical thinking and wants to use this knowledge exploring physical nature. Dang is currently on the West Coast on a combined program.

Cassandra Dunkhase, a music major from Iowa City, Iowa, is a member of Wesleyan’s Chamber Music program and Cello Ensemble and has been principal cellist of the Wesleyan Symphony Orchestra for the past three years. Dunkhase was recently selected as the Senior Honoree in the 2005 Wesleyan Concerto Competition and will be performing a solo with the orchestra in May. She spent the fall of 2004 studying music at Royal Holloway University in London and is an experienced cello teacher.

Julia Fox, a double major in Spanish and psychology from West Hartford, Conn., spent a summer working with Miami ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) on a campaign that successfully raised the Florida minimum wage by $1. After a few years off, she plans on returning to school to further explore her interests and develop personal career goals that may include a combination of political campaign work, international travel and teaching.

Emily Jacobs-Palmer is a major in molecular biology and biochemistry from Greenfield, Mass. who has been researching a protein that corrects mistakes made in DNA during replication. After graduation, she plans to work for a year and then get her Ph.D. in a lab that applies the techniques of molecular biology to conservation problems.

Kimberly Anne Landry is a psychology major from Agawam, Mass, who studied abroad last spring in Canterbury, England. She loves astronomy and volunteers during the public observing night at the Van Vleck Observatory. Landry plans to go on to graduate school and will be applying to programs in Clinical Psychology and Marriage and Family Therapy. Her career goal is to become a practicing psychologist or therapist.

Rachael Elizabeth Lax is a psychology major from West Newton, Mass. In the summer of 2004 she received the Dana Grant and was sponsored to work at a non-profit organization in Ecuador as a mentor to children living on the street of the inner city Quito. She is currently assisting in a research project at the Middletown Department of Children and Families and is treasurer of the Wesleyan chapter of Psi Chi, the National Psychology Honor Society.

Heung Ming Ngai is a math-economics major from Hong Kong. During his time at Wesleyan, he has been a co-chair of the Chinese Students Association and a resident advisor and chair of technology for ODE – the economics honor society. After graduation he plans to pursue a career in banking in Hong Kong.

Krista Eva Perks, a neuroscience and biology major from Phoenix, Md. worked over the summer at the Marine Biological Laboratories in Woods Hole as part of the Hughes Summer Research Program. There, she studied the learning properties of the principle neurons of the cerebellar-like structure in the hindbrain of the “little skate.” Perks is a gymnastics coach in Middletown and was House Manager of Community Services House during her sophomore year.

Tal Gronau Rozen is a studio arts major from Amherst, Mass. In the fall of 2004, Rozen spent a semester studying High Renaissance and Baroque art history in Rome. In addition, he works as a layout editor for Fat Bottom Magazine, an experimental literary and arts student publication.

Liang Zhao is a double major in economics and math from China and a Freeman Scholar. He has worked for Information Technology Services (ITS), the math workshop, and has been a Chinese Economics Course Assistant. He has also been active in the Chinese Student Association. Zhao looks forward to returning to China and contributing to the future development of his home country.