FHSU History Program

04/24/2024

Congratulations to Sarah Keiss and Chelsea Kiefer who are nominees for the Torch Award!

We’re excited to announce nominees for our three honorary commencement awards!

Recipients of each award will be announced at a press conference on Tuesday, April 30, at 9 a.m. in the Memorial Union’s Peter Werth Black and Gold Room, with refreshments to follow.

Twenty-three FHSU seniors were nominated for the Torch Award, acknowledging classroom excellence, leadership, participation in professional organizations, and student, civic, or research activities.

Six graduate students from the 2023-2024 academic year received Lighthouse Award nominations, honoring exceptional students completing graduate studies.

The graduating class of 2024 nominated eight faculty members for the Pilot Award, recognizing classroom excellence, ongoing research, and service activities.

You’re welcome to attend and join us in celebrating these outstanding Tigers next week! For those of you who can’t make it in person, a video recording of the press conference will be posted on our page after the event.

Congratulations to all our nominees and finalists!

* Denotes finalists for each award.

2024 Torch Award Nominees
Nominees are listed alphabetically by state and hometown.

Kansas

BELOIT
Trista Boeve, Radiologic Technology and Medical Diagnostic Imaging

CLAY CENTER
Rhett Koppes, Health and Human Performance (Sport and Exercise Therapy)

CLIFTON
Ashton Kahrs, Radiologic Technology and Medical Diagnostic Imaging

DODGE CITY
Jasmin Alvarado-Martinez, Business Administration (Human Resources)

ELLSWORTH
Logan Erichsen*, Geosciences (Geology)

GYPSUM
Rebecca Gahn, Radiologic Technology and Medical Diagnostic Imaging

HALSTEAD
David Schulte*, Finance (Economics)

HANSTON
Austin Ruff, Political Science

HOLCOMB
Derek Mesa, Fitness Programming and Health Promotion

PAWNEE ROCK
Cole "CJ" Gibson*, English (Writing) and Psychology

PHILLIPSBURG
Jenna Hoover, Communication Sciences and Disorders

RUSSELL
Jaelynn Sutter, Sociology

SALINA
Taygen McBurney, English (Writing)

SMITH CENTER
Jessalyn Kirchoff, Business Administration (Accounting and Finance)

ST. GEORGE
Karen Thew, Criminal Justice

ST. JOHN
Kenneth Hacker, Studio Arts and Ceramics

TOPEKA
Callyn Anderson, Tourism and Hospitality Management

WICHITA
Nathaniel Egan, Finance
Lauren Stallbaumer*, Communication Sciences and Disorders

Colorado

WELLINGTON
Sarah Keiss, History

International

SAN FELIPE, YARACUY, VENUZUELA
Diana Angarita Santos, Marketing

North Carolina

RALEIGH
Chelsea Kiefer*, History

Oklahoma

DURANT
Cody Hicks, Communication (General Communication)

LIGHTHOUSE AWARD NOMINEES
Nominees are listed alphabetically by state and hometown

Kansas

ELLINWOOD
Mark Freeman*, Master of Fine Arts (Ceramics)

OVERLAND PARK
Alexa Summers*, Education Specialist, Digital Leadership

Colorado

LAMAR
Jordan Parker*, Master of Science, Speech Language-Pathology

Missouri

K**B NOSTER
Sonja Brandt*, Master of Science, Biology

Nebraska

OMAHA
Olivia Stinson*, Master of Fine Arts (Ceramics)

Washington

BUCKLEY
Kelsie Arch*, Education Specialist, School Psychology

PILOT AWARD NOMINEES
Nominees are listed alphabetically by last name.

Linda Ganstrom*, professor, Art and Design
Brenda Hoopingarner*, professor, Allied Health
Dr. Iryna McDonald*, assistant professor, Agriculture
Dr. April Park*, professor, Psychology
Dr. Jessica Phelan, assistant professor, Health and Human Performance
Jeremy Ryan, lecturer, Agriculture
Dr. Jonathan Sumrall*, associate professor, Geosciences
Dr. David Tarailo, instructor, Biological Sciences

04/23/2024

Congratulations, Joanna Lockwood, on the successful completion of your Thesis!! On to graduation! We wish you the BEST and are very proud!

04/22/2024

🎉This year's winner of the $1000 cash prize for the Lynn Haggard Undergraduate Library Research Award is Chelsea Kiefer.

Chelsea is a FHSU History Program Major in our online program. In her Women in American History class with Dr. Hollie Marquess, she worked on a project called "Outside of Motherhood: Childless Women in America 1900-1950."

Chelsea utilized a libguide Brian Gribben had created, used knowledge from information Brian presented to another class she took, and research databases that she could access online with her TigerID.

Congratulation, Chelsea!

04/10/2024

Mapping Holocaust Survival using the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education's Oral History Collection at the Fortunoff Archives

04/01/2024

April is Holocaust Remebrance Month. The history program is beginning this month with a podcast episode called “Through Hell to the Midwest,” which features Dr. Amber Nickell, Hollie Marquess, and Sarah Keiss discussing their digital humanities project. They are mapping the stories of Holocaust survivors who settled in Kansas City after the war. Listen here, or wherever you get your podcasts.

‎Show Victor E History, Ep "Through Hell to the Midwest: Mapping Holocaust Survival in Kansas City" - Apr 1, 2024

03/29/2024

Jessica Rockhold is the Executive Director of the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education. She'll be at the library to present "Americans and the Holocaust" on April 4 at 6 p.m.

03/25/2024

Jeremy, our Kansas Room Coordinator, attended the annual Kansas Association of Historians conference this past weekend where he shared his research on Dr. Albert Yeager’s tomato breeding project at North Dakota State University. Originally from Kansas, Yeager spent his career breeding new varieties of fruits and vegetables suitable for the plains. 🍅

03/23/2024

Fhsu History students, faculty, and alumni presented at the 2024 Kansas Association of Historians conference at FHSU this weekend. While we are clearly not the best at posing for group photos, we tried. The students were spectacular and everyone learned so much!