Gustavus Honors First Decade Award Winners Posted on August 25th, 2012 by

Gustavus Adolphus College recently recognized Amy Brown ’02 and Michael Bland ’02 as its First Decade Award winners for 2012. The award is presented annually to one male and one female from the 10th anniversary class for early professional development.

Amy Brown

Amy Brown ’02

Brown graduated from Gustavus magna cum laude with a degree in biology to go along with Phi Beta Kappa honors. She went on to medical school at the University of Minnesota in Duluth, where she received the Reino Pummala Award and was elected into the Gold Humanism Honor Society, both honors that recognize dedication and humanistic approaches to the healthcare needs of families and children.

In 2006, Amy enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh’s Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh for her pediatrics training. As a pediatric resident, she received the senior resident award in neonatology. Realizing her fascination and love for newborns, she stayed on as a fellow in neonatology at the University of Pittsburgh while simultaneously earning a master of science degree in medical education.

Her research interests have included innovation in medical education as well as neuro-protective interventions for newborns. She has also spent time on committees involving newborn medicine bereavement, the development of a neonatal neuro-critical care unit, and the development of a protocol for seizure management in newborns. Brown’s journey will continue this fall when she joins the faculty at the Ohio State University College of Medicine as assistant professor of pediatrics.

Michael Bland

Michael Bland ’02

Bland earned his undergraduate degree in physics and geology at Gustavus and was also inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. During his four years at Gustavus, Bland was involved in research with professors Steve Mellema in physics and Jim Welsh in geology.

After Gustavus, Bland found a way to combine his interests in physics and geology by studying planetary science at the University of Arizona. After earning his Ph.D. there in 2008, he took a postdoctoral research associate position at Washington University in St. Louis, where he works in planetary geophysics. Bland uses his expertise in a variety of numerical modeling techniques to study tectonics and thermal evolution of the planets and satellites of our solar system.

Bland is an active member of the planetary science community, giving many invited seminars, sitting on and chairing NASA funding review panels, and serving as a reviewer of submitted research articles and book chapters. He has published nine important scientific papers in his short career and contributed at least 25 papers at conferences. He already has three successful research grants and has given at least 10 invited seminars on his work at places like Stony Brook University and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. He has received a number of awards for his work and is a member of the American Geophysical Union and the Division for Planetary Science of the American Astronomical Society.

Other Finalists

In addition to the First Decade Award recipients, other finalists from the Class of 2002 included:

Katie Howe Bertrand, Brookings, S.D., assistant professor, South Dakota State University Department of Natural Resource Management;
Katherine Beck Foss, Murfreesboro, Tenn., assistant professor, Middle Tennessee State University;
Mara Michaletz, Anchorage, Alaska, trial attorney, Anchorage District Attorney’s Office, Alaska Department of Law;
Karen Warkentien Oglesby, Eden Prairie, Minn., founder, New Mercies Ministry;
Ellie Roscher, Bronxville, N.Y., coordinator of communications, Lutheran Social Service of New York;
Annalisa Eckman Rudser, Falcon Heights, Minn., pediatric emergency medicine fellow, Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota;
Amelia Greiner Safi, Baltimore, Md., assistant professor, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers – The State University of New Jersey;
Ellen Anderson Wiegner, Stanford, Calif., radiation oncology resident, Stanford University Medical Center;

Michael Adkins, St. Paul, Minn., academic dean, St. Agnes School;
Kyle Allen, Dallas, Texas, neurontology fellow, University of Texas Southwestern;
Beau Barker, Los Alamos, N.M., Seaborg Institute postdoctoral fellow, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Chemistry and Nuclear Radiochemistry;
Michael Bradley, New Haven, Conn., postdoctoral associate, Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University;
Lance Breitenbach, Madison, Ala., task order lead, MCR Federal (Aerodyne, Inc.);
Jamison Conley, Morgantown, W.V., assistant professor of geography, Department of Geology and Geography, West Virginia State University;
Andrew Friberg, Uppsala, Sweden, laboratory engineer, Uppsala University;
Mitchell Harrison, Austin, Texas, Presidential Management Fellow and management analyst, Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce;
Blake Kane, Dundas, Minn., finance manager, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM);

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Media Contact: Director of Media Relations and Internal Communication Luc Hatlestad
luch@gustavus.edu
507-933-7510

 

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