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Ever wonder what Philosophy majors do when they don't go elect to pursue a career in Philosophy?

If so (and even if not), this page might help give you an answer.

(By the way, each person listed below has indicated that they will send me a photo. It might be a good idea for people interested in this page to remind them of that.)

 

------------------------------->>>>

Ryan Olsen (soon to be alum ('09)) will start work on his Ph.D. at the Yale School of Music this fall. Lucky fellow.

Sara Bergene, LU 2005

 

Judical Law Clerk at U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office of Immigration Review.

 

The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law

Juris Doctor (J.D.),

2005  2008

Recipient, Public Service Fellow with Dean's Highest Honors (completed 450+ hours of pro-bono work), 1st in class with 522 hours (2008)

 

(I believe these poor children pictured with Sara were forced to wear Buckeye apparel. (GO BLUE!))

Erik Carlson, LU 1999

Erik Carlson

What I'm doing: I'm currently a 5th year in the University of Minnesota's NIH-sanctioned Medical Scientist Training Program (a combined MD/PhD degree program). I've completed the first 2 years of medical coursework (not much patient work here, though our program has restructured a little since I started), and am now starting my 4th (and hopefully final, if experiments go well) year in the Graduate Program in Neuroscience. Short version: I've genetically manipulated mice to examine the role of a micronutrient in brain development. Long version: I'm working with genetic tools (specifically inducible trangenes and tissue-specific targeted knockouts--I'll be happy to clarify) to study the role of iron (an extremely important micronutrient that is a biochemical cofactor or structural element in literally hundreds of proteins) during the development of the brain. I'm further interested in how iron deficiency (anemic and non-anemic) affect brain sub-structures such as the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex during late gestation and early postnatal development (when these structures are differentiating). These structures are implicated in memory, learning, and conscious processing, and iron deficiency during these sensitive periods of development are known to cause long-lasting cognitive deficits, as tested by a number of both behavioral and electrophysiological measures, in both human and animal models. There are currently large populations of children and pregnant moms who are at risk for iron deficiency in both the developing world and western cultures
such as the USA.
I've kept philosophy as a hobby, and am particularly interested in what development, evolution, neuropsychology, and the emerging field of developmental cognitive neuroscience can teach us about how the brain works. Does this have implications for philosophy? I think so--a theory of mind (or as Dreher says, "minding") should be compatible with/grounded in these fields. When I see current work in the neuroscience lit regarding processing and function in prefrontal/parietal/language areas in the human brain, and even work looking at brain function in animals such as fruit flies or mice or monkeys, I long for my philosophy training at Lawrence, where there was always someone to bounce ideas off of. I wish I had an outlet (and time!) for discussion to pursue this!

Erik's Homepage

Jennifer Dieter, LU 2003

I am working at Lawrence University as the Associate Director of Annual Giving. That's right, I returned.
 

Prior to my work at Lawrence, I worked for a small social service agency in Evanston, Illinois as the development and communications associate.
I now officially consider myself a development professional, but I hope to one day pursue a MBA and take a position as an executive director of a nonprofit agency.

David Drewes, LU 1994

 

I am currently ABD at the University of Virginia in Religious Studies (Indian Buddhism) and am also a visiting lecturer at Indiana University Bloomington. I have a dissertation fellowship for next year and will defend next March.

My work is focused generally on Indian Buddhism between roughly the third century BCE and the fourth century CE, and especially on early, or "early middle period," Mahayana Buddhism. I am also interested in Indian Religion more broadly and in Buddhism as it has been and continues to be practiced throughout Asia and in the West. I am currently working on a dissertation and a handful of articles on the role of sutras (sacred texts) in Mahayana thought and practice and on a group of people known as dharmabhanakas, or "preachers of doctrine," who—I argue—were largely responsible for the composition of Mahayana sutras and the development of Indian Mahayana as we know it. I teach "Religions of the East," "Introduction to Buddhism," and an upper level seminar on Buddhism in India.

Jonathan Edewards, LU 2004

 

Vice President at ACI Commercial Insurance Broker.

Photographer at Edewards Photography.

 
(Here is a link to some of Jonathan's work:
http://www.portfolios.com/profile.html?MyUrl=JEdewards)

 

 

Tim Hadley, LU 2002

 

After Lawrence, I attended the University of Minnesota Law School. I moved to Colorado after I graduated in 2002. I worked for a time in a small Denver firm that focused on business and real estate litigation. In May, 2005, I started working in the real estate practice group at Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP, a Denver firm of about 100 lawyers. I now spend most of my time on real estate transactions or the real estate aspects of more multi-faceted transactions. I enjoy the job. It's probably fair to say that most of my work as a "dirt lawyer" involves applied logic. I spend most of my time drafting contracts or advising clients who are trying to perform their contracts (or trying to get the people on the other side to do so). I've only been doing this work full-time for about five months, but I'm enjoying it so far. I also try to involve myself in pro bono work and other volunteer efforts.

Ken Hemba, LU 2004
 
I have recently been accepted to the Premedical Postbaccalaureate Program at Bryn Mawr College just outside of Philadelphia. This basically means that starting June of '06 I'll be sweating my liberally-educated mind off on biology, chemistry and physics before I enter med school fall of '07. Cool
thing: BMC's linkage agreements with a dozen med schools (basically) guarantee matriculation at the program of my choice when I complete postbac.


Essentially I've already been accepted to med school!

 

Mark V. Herzing, LU 1984

After graduating from Lawrence, I earned a Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.  I was a Presidential Management Intern with NASA, and then moved into government consulting.  In 2001 I helped found a government consultancy based in Alexandria, VA that provides scientific, engineering, and technical management services to NASA, the Defense Department, and the Department of Homeland Security; we have 35 employees and expect to double in size this year.  I live in Fairfax Station, VA with my wife Suzanne and our children Alex (2 years) and Grace (6 months).  I remember the days of learning from John Dreher, Bill Boardman, and my fellow students in the Philosophy Department at LU with great fondness!

Best wishes,

Mark V. Herzing
Managing Partner

The Tauri Group, LLC
675 North Washington
Suite 220
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 647-8060
(703) 683-2866 (fax)

T. Vered Meltzer, LU 2005

 

I work fulltime for Language Line Services International as a Mandarin Interpreter. I work from home and take conference calls with people in many different parts of the world. I also do freelance webdesign. In my leisure time I work on artwork and creative writing. If anyone would like a philosophical essay or article translated into modern Chinese, for practical purposes or just for amusement, feel free to email me. My personal website is http://www.sweetprince.net
Charles Newhall, LU 1986

I am a prep school history teacher at St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers, Massachusetts. I did my graduate work at Boston College in the History Department, focusing on the Early National Republic (American history), particularly legal and cultural history. I have written about such figures as John Pickering (lexicographer) and Joseph Story (U.S. Supereme Court Associate Justice) and about such movements as the literary and intellectual clubs of Early America (such as Franklin's Junto, the Annapolis Tuesday Club, and the growth of atheneaums in America). Since taking at course with David Brion Davis at Yale, my scholarship has turned toward the issues of the emerging Atlantic world, particularly Atlantic slavery. As a teacher of AP United States history, my focus remains on teaching students to learn how to learn, how to read critically and how to write logical analysis with a narrative thread. My training in philosophy at Lawrence challenged me to do the same, but also left me wanting more narratives...hence history!

Wayland Radin, LU 2006

Wayland is studying Law at the University of Michigan. He just started this year after a year roughing it out east.

Jon Richards, LU 1986

 

After graduating from Lawrence, I taught English in Japan, volunteered with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School and then convinced people in Milwaukee to elect me to the Wisconsin State Assembly.   I now serve as Assistant Minority Leader in that august body.  Plato, Dewey and Mill are my constant companions as I sift through the issues facing Wisconsin.    It is great to be in touch with the Lawrence Philosophy Department again.  Hats off to Tom for creating this site.
Jon Richards

 

Todd Thompson, LU 1997

I majored in philosophy and physics while at Lawrence. I did my graduate work in physics at the University of Arizona in Tucson. I finished my Ph.D. there in theoretical astrophysics in the summer of 2002. I am currently a Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow in astrophysics at the University of California, Berkeley, and I will join Princeton University as a Lyman Spitzer Fellow in the fall of 2005. My interests are in supernova explosions of massive stars, the formation of the heavy elements, the birth of neutron stars, neutrino interactions, and the formation, evolution, and structure of galaxies.

My courses in philosophy at Lawrence have certainly helped me in my education and work as a physicist --- especially in constructing arguments, in reading and understanding texts and research papers, and in writing. In astrophysics I encounter actual philosophy more often than one might think. The 'anthropic principle', anthropic arguments, and the notion of 'multiverses' come up often.

Chris Van Hoof, LU 1996

 

After graduating from LU in 1996, I continued my education at UW-Madison by earning a mechanical engineering degree. After leaving UW-Madison, I moved to a suburb of Detroit, MI to start a position with General Motors. I worked several years as a fuel system test engineer. In 2001, I returned to UW Madison to pursue an MBA.  After graduating in 2003, I returned to General Motors as a Financial Analyst with GM Powertrain.  I currently work on hybrid vehicle applications. I recently purchased my first home and share it with my girlfriend, Sarah, and our dog, Sax.

 

 

Jeff Walker, LU 1986

Elizabeth Crabtree congratulates Jeff Walker, the 2004 Margaret Fuhry Grant recipient.

I live in Wales, Wisconsin, and work as a Research Manager – Writing Specialist at Children’s Hospital and Health System Foundation in Milwaukee (www.chw.org/display/PPF/DocID/11/router.asp).  Previously, I was an advancement researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee/the UWM Foundation (1999-2002) and at Lawrence University (1998-1999).  Before that, I taught in the UWM English Department (1989-1998), and also completed an MA and PhD there in English/Modern Studies (1990, 1995).

The snapshot was taken at an August 2004 conference in Toronto, where I received the Margaret Fuhry Grant from the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (www.aprahome.org).  The award is presented annually to a fundraising researcher who shows “commitment, leadership, and dedication to the profession.”

Where is the photo???

Although I am not quite sure if I am in the process of becoming a 'professional philosopher' or a professional anything for that matter, I received my M.A. in Philosophy and Cultural Analysis from the Universiteit van Amsterdam in 1999.  After having spent five years in Amsterdam and Paris, I currently live in New York City where I am quite involved in the contemporary chamber music and jazz and improvised music scenes as a presenter and am pursuing my writing activities on a broad range of  cultural, musical, aesthetic, philosophical, and political issues.  I will be entering the Ph.D. program in philosophy at the New School University in the fall of 2006.(If so, Chris will be booted off this page and booted onto the LU Alums in Philosophy in '06.)