News From Our Graduates

Justin Biddle completed his Ph. D. at the University of Notre Dame with the defense of his dissertation on July 7, 2006.  His degree is in the history and philosophy of science. He recently presented "The Epistemic Significance of the Institutional Context of Science:  The Case of Vioxx" at a conference in Madrid, Spain.  In the summer of 2005, he was one of 3 North Americans selected to participate in the Collegium Helveticum of the Swiss Institute of Technology. The topic of the workshop was "Shaping the Future--Science as Intervention."  Justin has been awarded a postdoctoral fellowship in Biefeld, Germany.  He is working with a group exploring ethical issues in pharmaceutical research.  He will examine the research, development, and distribution of HIV/AIDS drugs, particularly in third world countries.  He will build on the work of his dissertation, continuing to look at the institutional context of current pharmaceutical research, and at the epistemic significance of these institutional arrangements.

Ben Carpenter (2000) worked as an abstinence educator in New Carlisle from 2001-2004.  He is married and has a daughter, Katie.  He has completed his first semester at UD's School of Law.

Patrick Craig has been accepted at the New School for Social Research and Duquesne University for each of their PhD programs in philosophy.

Chris Dodsworth completed his Ph.D. at the University of  Michigan.

Kevin Fitzgerald reports that he plans to attend law school beginning in the Fall 2007.  He has been accepted by both Duke and Harvard and is researching possibilities of a PhD in Philosophy at those schools.

Shannon Driscoll (2002) presented her honors thesis, written under Dr. Danielle Poe's direction, at a conference in Liverpool, UK on Women and the Divine. She is in her second year of study at the University of New Mexico Law School. She hopes to implement an alternative sentencing program in Albuquerque and is considering a career in the foreign service.

Elizabeth Goins (Brockermann) (2005) married in the summer of 2005 and is currently studying law at Loyola University.

Robert Gressis (1998)  received a Fulbright Fellowship when he graduated from UD. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan and then a post-doc at Notre Dame. His dissertation, under the direction of Steven Darwall, is on Kant's theory of radical evil. He has taken a tenure-track position at California State, Northridge and plans to marry in the summer of 2008.

Dan Hutmacher reports that he has almost completed his studies at Leuven.  His interests have become psychoanalysis, existentialism, and contemporary philosophy.  He is working on a thesis on Sartre's critique of Freud.  He plans to stay in Leuven and do a second MA in Family and Sexuality studies.  He also reports he is starting a publishing company!

Paul Jusseaume is a production builder with MDC Homes in Charlotte, NC.  He is in charge of building neighborhoods with 10 to 30 homes.  He has also purchased a subdivision to build homes on  his own.

David Koller (99) graduated from New York University School of  Law in 2003 and now serves as a Special Assistant to the President of the International Criminal Court, located in The Hague, Netherlands.  In 2004, he received the Human Rights award from the Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law for an article on the immunity of foreign ministers from criminal prosecution under international law.

Christopher Krafcik is studying for an MA at Leuven.  He is focusing on Malebranche, Merleau-Ponty, and the union between soul and body.  He plans to go on for a Ph. D.

John Lynch has completed a Ph. D. in Rhetoric at the University of Georgia.  He will be on a one-year contract in 2005-2006 in the Communication Department at Vanderbilt University.

Dominic Marcellino (2002) visited UD in February 2005  to conduct a session in an interdisciplinary mini-course on global warming. He also conducted a session of Dr. Daniel Fouke's course on environmental ethics. Dominic did post-graduate studies in Germany on a Fulbright Fellowship from 2002 - 2004. He worked for Environmental Defense as an environmental research specialist. His work there involved a successful effort to convince Russia to sign the Kyoto Protocol. Dominic's interest in environmental policy matters was sparked by the Honors Thesis that he wrote under the direction of Dr. Daniel Fouke of the Philosophy Department. His thesis conducted a philosophical analysis of emissions trading, which is a provision of the Kyoto Protocol.   He completed further graduate work at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and has most recently (2008) been awarded a Bosch Fellowship for work in Germany.  As Dr. Fouke notes, "This will provide him with the tools he needs to facilitate cooperation and common understanding between Germany and the United states and place them in a position to lead the way to an effective treaty in the next phase of international negotiations on climate change."

Kristen Oganowski is doing doctoral work at Syracuse University.

Carrie Pappas reports that she is now a member of the New York City Teaching Fellows.  Through the Program, she will teach middle/high school math in the NYC public schools while she earns a Masters in Education.  She hopes to one day go on for a Ph.D. in philosophy or cognitive science.

Jonathan Rhodes is executive director of Three Walls, a gallery and community organization in Chicago.  He is applying to law school.

Beth Rohlman completed her Ph. D., working on Indian religions, at the University of Virginia.  She is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Religion at the University of Wisconsin,  Madison, WI.

Hall Smeltzer is working with Goodwill Industries. He is considering further study.

Sophie Vick (2005) is working in an after-school program in Boston.  She is also working at a Finnish bakery.  She has been accepted for the Ph.D program in philosophy at Michigan State.

Cyndi White graduated from the University of Dayton, School of Law, on May 14, 2005.  She will take the bar and then look for a job, preferably doing something with family law.