Alumni
2017
Alexander Maksik ’95 wins Guggenheim award.
2016
Natalie Hannah Berg is now a Stage Management Apprentice at Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle, WA.
Jessica Palacios '16 was a summer intern for Milkweed Press, a winner of both the Class of 1986 Minority Student award and the Russell J. DeRemer award, and the 2016 Baccalaureate speech writer.
2015
Edward Daschle '15 (English Major) is now a European Humanities Program Assistant at DIS: Study Abroad in Scandinavia.
2014
Dylan Tull received an M.A. in Journalism from Stanford University in 2017 and is currently a consultant at the Spur Group (Business Consulting) in Redmond, WA.
Frannie Nunn is a Marketing Production Assistant for Penguin Random House in New York, NY.
Hanne Jensen is pursuing a law degree at the Berkeley School of Law, University of California, Berkeley.
Maren Schiffer is an MFA Candidate in Poetry and is currently an Instructor at the University of Montana, Missoula, MT.
2013
Blair Hanley Frank has worked as a journalist covering technology stories for GeekWire in Seattle and for IDG News Service and VentureBeat in San Francisco. He is now a Principal Analyst for ISG (Information Services Group) in San Francisco.
2010
Connor Guy is an Associate Editor at Metropolitan Books in New York, NY
Jihwan Kim received an MA in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary, 2018, and is currently the Test Prep Coordinator and College Essay Coach for Oaks Christian School in Thousand Oaks, CA.
Jocelyn Richard is a comedy writer who is currently writing for the Hulu series I Love You America with Sarah Silverman.
Rebecca Levy is a PhD candidate in English and an Instructor at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA.
2007
Gordon Hansen received a Master of City Planning and Urban Design from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2009 and is currently a Senior Transportation Planner at the City of Berkeley in Berkeley, CA.
2005
Elizabeth Hawkins - After post-graduate study at Universidad de Granada in Hispanic Studies and the University of Bath in International Relations, Elizabeth earned a JD from the University of Washington School of Law, 2010; her firm is Hawkins Law Group PLLC in Seattle, and her practice focuses on removal defense, family-based immigration, asylum, and other forms of humanitarian relief.
2004
Nathan LeRud - N.Div, General Theological Seminary NYC; Dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Portland, OR.
2000
After graduating from Whitman, Chrissy Vaughan worked for the Hacker Group, first as a copyeditor and proofreader, then as an Account Coordinator, and later as an Account Executive and Marketing Data Specialist. In 2010, she earned an MBA in Communications and Marketing from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame and is now Vice President of WE Communications in Bellevue, WA. Chrissy has done pro-bono consulting work for USAID in Ghana and is a Whitman College W Club board member.
Fulbright Student Program
2014
Hanne Jensen ’14 received a Fulbright grant to teach English in Germany.
2013
Alumna Brianna Gormly '13 is the new Digital Initiatives Librarian at Franklin & Marshall College.
2012
Patricia Vanderbilt, '12 taught English in New Dehli on Fulbright-Nehru grant.
2005
Bridget Kustin '05 won a Fulbright full grant which funded her project to conduct research regarding the role of Islam in the lives of women working in garment factories in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Bridget is now a graduate student in Anthropology at the Johns Hopkins University, were she studies theologies of money, specifically Islamic banking and finance in Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia. Within this field, she is interested in Islamic micro-investment, transnational regulation, risk, speculation, social justice, capitalism, and questions of authority, performativity, nationalism and development. Previously, she served as the South Asia Researcher for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a federal, bipartisan agency providing foreign policy recommendations to the President, Congress, and Secretary of State.
1994
Candace Barlow won a Fulbright Fellowship to study in Germany. Candace was a double major in English and German.
1993
Juniper Ellis won a Fulbright Fellowship to study in New Zealand.
Thomas J. Watson Fellowship Recipients
2001-2002
Tara Ebrahimi, an Iranian-American, won the Watson J. Fellowship to study the role of women in Islamic Sufi culture. Ebrahimi visited a number of Sufi communities in Europe and Australia and went on to earn her M.F.A. in Nonfiction Writing from the University of Pittsburgh and is currently Corporate Communications Director at the Navigators Group, Inc. and a member of the Association of Iranian American Writers. Her award-winning writing has appeared in Creative Nonfiction, The Seattle Times, RIVET Magazine, Elan Magazine, Whitehot Magazine, and "Keep It Real: Everything You Need to Know About Researching and Writing Creative Nonfiction (Norton, 2008), and is forthcoming in Love and Pomegranates: New Voices Celebrating Iran. She has been in residence at both Hedgebrook and the Millay Colony for the Arts, where she was on the jury in 2008.
1999-2000
Daniel Myers, an English/Music major at Whitman and a graduate of Gonzaga Preparatory School of Spokane, Washington visited the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to study traditional Irish music and to master the uilleann pipes.
1996-1997
Kinoka Onnah Ogsbury won a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship ($18,000) for her project on weaving as a form of cross-cultural communication in Guatemala, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, and Bhutan. She majored in English and minored in Spanish, speaks Arapahoe, and has studied French for nine years and Spanish for three.
Amanda Walker won a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship ($18,000) for her project on theatrical combat. She will study with professional fight directors in London and visit museums and castles in England, Scotland, Germany, and Austria to study Medieval and Renaissance weapons and armor. She is a double-major in English and Theatre.
1995-1996
Chris DeBenedetti won a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship ($16,000) for his study of traditional beer brewing techniques in West Africa and Europe.
Beinecke Memorial Scholarship Recipients
2012
Gabriella Friedman '13 won a Beinecke Memorial Scholarship to pursue graduate studies in comparative literature. Gabriella earned an MA in English from Cornell University in 2017 and is now a PhD candidate and Instructor at Cornell, completing a dissertation on contemporary American Literature and American Studies. Gabriella has also published an article on Toni Morrison in Modern Fiction Studies.
1998
Sonya Hess won a Beinecke Memorial Scholarship to pursue graduate study in creative writing.
1996
Jessica Palmer won the Beinecke Memorial Scholarship ($32,000). Jessica, a double major in English and Biology, also won a Goldwater Scholarship ($7,500), an award in science.
Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities
In addition to a Fullbright Fellowship, Juniper Ellis won an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities (1992-97) and a Jacob J. Javits Fellowship (1992; declined).
Other Andrew W. Mellon Fellowships in the Humanities have been won by Eric Spencer, Nathan (Nate) Johnson, and Karen Kingsbury.