Chloe Deaton named Whitbeck Award winner

Ajani Oyindamola — Mon, 02 May 2016 17:38:48 +0000

A Donaghey Scholar who taught women in Nicaragua how to support themselves by making metal jewelry and selling their creations online is the recipient of the 2016 Edward L. Whitbeck Memorial Award. Chloe Deaton, 23, of Little Rock, has maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average while double majoring in Spanish and fine arts with an emphasis in metals at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The Whitbeck Memorial Award is the single greatest distinction the university annually bestows on a graduating student. Deaton will receive the award during a luncheon beginning at 11:30 a.m. Friday, May 13, at the Clinton Presidential Center Great Hall in Little Rock. Elaine Eubank, who will receive the ��Vlog��ýLR Distinguished Alumni Award, and Paul Nolte, who will receive the ��Vlog��ýLR Presidents Award also will be honored during the event. Deaton’s final project for the Donaghey Scholars program included leading a metal jewelry making class for Nicaraguan women participating in Nueva Imagen, a program teaching new life skills to women previously trapped in prostitution. Before she left, Deaton raised more than $1,700 for tools and supplies during a two-week period via social media. When she returned home, she created a business plan to help participants sell their products online. “That opportunity was the most complete I have ever felt,” Deaton said. “I cannot fully express the joy that is found in seeing these marginalized women transform into confident, hammer-wielding craftspeople. I believe that work like this project embodies the idea of citizenship. “Utilizing the skills we have all acquired at ��Vlog��ýLR to make a positive impact is perhaps the best way to give back and fulfill our duties as privileged citizens of the world.” As someone who is not afraid to take on new challenges, Deaton also created a stop-motion animated film entirely on her own for her final fine arts major project. is about a cricket tailor who helps out the bullying dung beetle mayor, who has ripped his pants at an inopportune moment. “It has an underlying message of class and equality,” she said. “The mayor does something bad to the cricket, and the cricket still does something nice when the mayor needs help.” The film was accepted into seven film festivals and won several awards, including Best Student Film at the Indie Film Festival in Switzerland, Best College Film at the Austin Student Film Festival, and the Presidential Award at the North Carolina Film Awards. Coming from a family that believes strongly in giving back, Deaton has always been active in her community. She volunteered as a facilitator at World Services for the Blind, a fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a translator for Community of Grace Health Center, and a tutor at Franklin Elementary School. After doctors diagnosed Type 1 diabetes in Deaton when she was a child, her parents helped found a local chapter of the in Little Rock, where Deaton still volunteers as an ambassador. Most people would not realize just how accomplished Deaton is because she “has the potential to fly under people’s radar,” said Simon Hawkins, interim director of the Donaghey Scholars Program. “She is friendly and personable, but her demeanor is quite modest,” Hawkins said. “Sometimes getting her to list accomplishments is like pulling teeth, but her work is impressive in its complexity, detail, thoughtfulness, and commitment to others.” Deaton has worked in leadership positions in several ��Vlog��ýLR organizations. She restarted ��Vlog��ýLR’s Spanish Club and has served as president for the past three years. She also served as personnel chair of Chi Omega Fraternity and was a founding member of Delta Epsilon Iota Academic Honor Society. She is also a member of Golden Key International Honor Society, the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and Sigma Delta Pi. The ��Vlog��ýLR Faculty Senate Honors and Awards Committee makes the annual selection of the outstanding senior based on the criteria of citizenship, scholarship, and leadership. Frank L. and Beverly Whitbeck established the award in memory of their son, Edward Lynn Whitbeck, who was a senior at Little Rock University, the predecessor of ��Vlog��ýLR, at the time of his death in 1965. Each scholar receives a personalized plaque and a monetary award and will lead the graduating students during the academic processional at spring graduation. Deaton is currently keeping busy by working as a cake decorator at Natalie Madison’s Artisan Cakes and as a radiology assistant at Radiology Associates, P.A. After graduation, Deaton is getting married May 21 to her fiancé, Mr. Kaley Crum. This summer, she plans to finish her second stop-motion animated film about two Florida retirees playing on the beach and the humorous situations that arise.

Whitbeck winner heads to NASA

Gloria King — Tue, 12 May 2015 15:30:08 +0000

��Vlog��ýLR senior Saad Azam, only the second Arkansan ever invited back to NASA for multiple internships, is this year’s Edward L. Whitbeck Memorial Award winner.

Saad Azam, 2015 Whitbeck Memorial Award recipient

He will receive his award at the ��Vlog��ýLR Distinguished Alumni Awards Luncheon on Friday, May 15, at the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock. Azam graduates as a ��Vlog��ýLR Donaghey Scholar and Science Scholar. He interned at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology and has been offered a permanent position after graduation. A double major in chemistry and biology, received a NASA Workforce Development Fellowship to intern at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he worked on solid-state electrochemistry and chemical physics. The following year he was hired for a second internship to help develop rechargeable, high energy, aqueous metal hydride-air batteries for electric vehicles. He will return a third time to continue his work at NASA this summer. Azam represented ��Vlog��ýLR at four conferences at the local, state, and national levels where he won awards at every conference, including the Emerging Researchers National Conference, where he placed second in a pool of 300 students. In 2013, Azam received a $6,500 Statewide Undergraduate Research Fellowship grant from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education to help fund his project of synthesizing renewable electrodes for fuel cells application. He served as a co-author on three publications related to this work, including the Journal of Applied Polymer Science He has served on school organizations, including the ��Vlog��ýLR Chapter of American Chemical Society for two years as president, and he serves as vice president of the national health pre-professional honor society, Alpha Epsilon Delta. Winner of the National American Chemical Society Chapter Award, College of Science Leadership Award, and Chemistry Departmental Service Award, Azam has given his work and vision to help ��Vlog��ýLR and the future of STEM in Arkansas. In 2013, Azam received a $6,500 Statewide Undergraduate Research Fellowship grant from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education to help fund his project of synthesizing renewable electrodes for fuel cells application at ��Vlog��ýLR under the mentorship of Dr. Tito Viswanathan.

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

Chloe Deaton named Whitbeck Award winner

Whitbeck winner heads to NASA

- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock