Professional Notes

Kathryn Belcourt, a senior with a major in marketing management and a minor in advertising, was awarded the American Marketing Association Collegiate Scholarship. Her essay on personal branding highlighted her commitment to having a personal brand as a challenge seeker, group leader and active community member. Belcourt also helped St. Thomas’ AMA chapter receive grant funds for tying with St. Cloud State University for the most scholarship applicants. These funds will be used to support the college chapter's AMA activities.

Sarah Hansen, a chemistry major and research student in the lab of Dr. J. Thomas Ippoliti, College of Arts and Sciences (Chemistry Department), received a summer internship with Eli Lilly in its Discovery Research division in Indianapolis. Hansen was one of six students chosen nationwide for this highly competitive position. The interview process consisted of Hansen giving a technical description of her summer research project, which involved the synthesis of structure-directing agents for use in zeolite synthesis.

Dr. Monica Hartmann, College of Arts and Sciences (Economics Department), co-wrote and presented a research paper, “Racial Disparities in Federal Sentencing: A New Approach,” at the Southern Economics Association meetings Nov. 20-23 in San Antonio. Researchers employed a quantile regression technique that estimates the black-white sentencing gap across the entire distribution of prison sentences, rather than only at the mean. The findings suggests that black offenders receive longer sentences than white offenders for less serious crimes that carry shorter sentences.

Dr. Matthew Kim, College of Arts and Sciences (Economics Department), presented a research paper, “Charitable Giving and Volunteering in Retirement,” at the Southern Economics Association meetings Nov. 20-23 in San Antonio, Texas. The paper examined the effect of retirement on charitable giving and volunteering behaviors. The research indicates that Social Security reform, which may delay retirement decisions, may create unintended consequences for aggregate charitable giving and volunteering behaviors in the United States.