Hiram Ranks in Top Colleges in “Washington Monthly”

Hiram ranked in the top 142 colleges in the “Washington Monthly’s” 2010 liberal arts college rankings. “Washington Monthly” rate schools based on their contribution to the public good in three broad categories: social mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and Ph.D.s), and service (encouraging students to give something back to their country).

For the full listing, go here.

Doug Grimm ’84 Leads Major Merger

Doug Grimm ’84 led the acquisition of Grede Foundries Inc. by Citation Corp., of which he was CEO. The merger, completed in January, resulted in Grede Holdings LLC, a metal component supplier with 3,000 worldwide employees. Grimm is the chairman, president and CEO of the new company. In this role, he is in charge of facilitating communication, combining cultures, setting standards and making sure that the process of merging two companies into one goes as smoothly as possible.

Grimm is also a member of Hiram’s board of visitors and has been very generous to the College with his gifts, including gifts of time and hospitality. He hosted President Chema’s dinner party at the Detroit Athletic Club in December 2009.

For the full story of Grimm’s business merger as reported in SmartBusiness, go here.

McMurray ’04 Swimming with the Fishes

Steven McMurray ’04, a native of Conneaut, Ohio, is currently living 50 feet below the surface of the sea on a coral reef off the Florida Keys as he works toward hisr Ph.D. in marine biology from University of North Carolina Wilmington. You can learn more about him, as well as see him on live webcams at this site here.

Join the “Swarm” to send our Entrepreneur-in-Residence to South By Southwest

BeeDance, a start-up company created by Michael Dungan, Hiram’s entrepreneur-in-residence, is currently in the running to present a panel at the South By Southwest Tech Conference in Austin, Texas, next March. Dungan is looking for more people to join his “swarm” of friends to vote the company onto the conference schedule.

South By Southwest (SXSW) is the largest annual gathering of journalists and film, technology and music professionals in the U.S. Recent high growth tech start-ups Twitter and Foursquare have used SXSW as their launch pad. BeeDance is aiming for similar success at this high profile venue.

The company has proposed a joint panel presentation titled “It’s Nature’s Way – Tech Innovation Through Biomimicry” that would be given by Dungan and Chris Allen of The Biomimicry Institute. The presentation would allow participants to learn how a systems approach that mimics nature’s lessons and resiliency can be adapted to technology design. Biomimicry is a proven design process that asks nature for advice. The application of biomimicry is responsible for the development of successful products ranging from Velcro™ and photovoltaic solar panels to advanced seawater desalination methods and more efficient Japanese bullet trains.

The company is currently in the top 10 for total votes cast out of 2,500 ideas submitted.

You can vote for BeeDance here. You can only vote once and registration is required. Polls close tomorrow, Friday, August 27.

For more information on South By Southwest, check out the conference website.

Corr Helps Train Leaders of Garfield High School Marching Band

Senior Associate Dean of Students/Director of Residential Education Mike Corr helped 20 Garfield High School Marching Band members develop better leadership skills last month.

Corr was asked by Joe Gaither ’07, assistant band director at James A. Garfield School District, to do a Leadership Training workshop for the Section Leaders of the band. The workshop took place on Wednesday, July 21, at the high school. The students and Corr shared over two and a half hours of leadership activities and experiences designed to help them better understand themselves, how to be good teammates and what it means to be a positive team leader.

“I believe that it was a very successful program judging by the feedback I have received from the band directors and the students who participated,” Corr said. “I also think it’s a good example of how Hiram College can partner with the local school systems to promote the kinds of programs we want students to be participating in.”

Smerek Wins Award for Dissertation

Ryan Smerek, assistant professor of management, was recently given an award from the American Association of University Administrators (AAUA) for his dissertation, “Sensemaking and Sensegiving: Leadership Processes of New College Presidents.”

The Leo and Margaret Goodman-Malamuth Dissertation Award is named for Leo Goodman-Malamuth, an early member of the AAUA who gave a small gift to endow the award. The award itself is an engraved plaque with Smerek’s name and the title and year of his work.

Smerek will receive the award at the AAUA’s next conference, which will take place November 4 through 6 in Washington, D.C. He will also have the opportunity to give a presentation about his work at a conference session dedicated specifically to the dissertation awards.

Kennedy Center Bistro to Open in Fall 2010

Another exciting addition to Hiram’s dining facilities, the Kennedy Center Bistro, is set to open in the fall of 2010.

The Bistro will be a bakery-café, similar to a Panera Bread café, but with a more expanded menu. The menu will offer Starbucks coffee as well as a number of signature items, a variety of salads, upscale sandwiches, pasta, soup, grill items (like mini burger sliders and buffalo style chicken, etc.) and pastries. It will be a very relaxed setting with a variety of tables, high top tables and soft seating available.

The Bistro will be located on the east side of the first floor, the current location of the coffee shop.

Hiram Team Wins Entrepreneurship Education Consortium Contest

President Thomas V. Chema just passed along some exciting news to the Hiram community:

Greetings to students, faculty and staff,

Our Hiram students are real entrepreneurs! I just left Baldwin-Wallace where our five students presented their unique idea for a business and won the Entrepreneurship Education Consortium contest.

Hiram students Dan Fakhoury ‘13, Adam Miller ‘13, Sydney Vore ‘11, Nicole Spencer ‘11 and Kara Vantaggi ’12 did a terrific job. In fact, the judges told them their idea was great and encouraged them to take their business concept to the next level. As the winning team, they will receive a package of cash and gifts, as well as resources to help make their idea a reality.

Our students spent this week networking with area entrepreneurs and meeting students from Baldwin-Wallace, Kent State University, John Carroll University, Case Western Reserve University, The University of Akron, Ashland University and Lake Erie College. This was all part of “Entrepreneurship Immersion Week,” put on by the EEC.

Congratulations to all,

Tom Chema

Constance Presents at National Sleep Society Conference

Cara Constance, assistant professor of biology, was recently invited by the Sleep Research Society to present a scientific workshop at the 2010 Trainee Symposia Series. On Saturday, June 5, 2010 she presented a workshop entitled “Introduction to Clock Genes: conserved and divergent characteristics of the molecular clock mechanism through evolutionary time” at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas.

“The rotation of the earth imposes a daily environmental cycle of twenty-four hours,” Constance said, giving background to her presentation. “Within each cycle is a period of light and of darkness, with an associated daily fluctuation in temperature. Virtually all organisms have adapted to life on earth by having an internal timer that controls rhythmic behavioral, biochemical and physiological processes, and confers a “circadian” period of about a day. These circadian rhythms occur independently of environmental influence, as demonstrated by their persistence in the absence of external timing cues, but can respond to the environment through a process called entrainment.”

“My presentation focused on the genes that are central to the clock; essentially these genes keep the clock ‘ticking,’” she said.

The 2010 Trainee Symposia series and Constance’s workshop were a part of SLEEP 2010, the 24^th Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, which took place June 5 through 9. The SLEEP meeting attracts the largest audience of sleep specialists in the nation. It is the only five day meeting in the nation with scientific sessions and an exhibition hall focused solely on sleep medicine and sleep research. To learn more about SLEEP 2010, visit the conference’s website.

Students to be “Immersed” in Northeast Ohio Entrepreneurship Community

Five Hiram students will get the unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the world of entrepreneurship and business next week.

Dan Fakhoury ‘13, Adam Miller ‘13, Sydney Vore ‘11, Nicole Spencer ‘11 and Kara Vantaggi ‘12 will be traveling to Baldwin-Wallace College for the Entrepreneurship Education Consortium’s (EEC) “Entrepreneurship Immersion Week” (EIW) which takes place Sunday, August 8 through Friday, August 13. Kay Molkentin, director of the Center for Integrated Entrepreneurship, will be traveling with the students and advising them throughout the week.

EIW is an event where students spend the week going to academic sessions, participating in breakout sessions and networking with students from eight other area universities – Baldwin-Wallace, Kent State University, John Carroll University, Cleveland State University, Case Western Reserve University, the University of Akron, Ashland University and Lake Erie College. Participants will also network with entrepreneurs and other prominent members of the Northeast Ohio entrepreneurship community. Students will explore business ideas, innovation and creativity. They will be introduced to the skills necessary to develop a new business concept and apply these skills in a team-based project. The experiences students will have will enhance their business insight and give them a great talking point in interviews and on job applications.

This is also an opportunity for the students to enhance or develop a business concept that they may have. They will work in teams to develop a business idea. At the end of the week, the students representing each school will present their concept to a panel of judges. The winning team will be awarded a package consisting of cash and gifts for their future.

The winning group of students will also be offered some of the resources to help make their business concept a reality. The EEC is attempting to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in the area and is creating an environment in which the winning team can pursue their endeavor.

For more information visit the Center for Integrated Entrepreneurship’s website or the ECC’s website.

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