Hannah Johnson wins first Hasselmo Prize

Hannah Johnson, a senior double-majoring in communication studies and English, is the inaugural recipient of the $5,000 Hasselmo Prize for Academic Pursuit at Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø.

Johnson plans on attending graduate school in communication studies with an emphasis in rhetorical theory and criticism.

¡°The faculty in the communication department is mostly to blame for this ambition,¡± she said. "My professors have been incredible, and I would want nothing more than to teach or research as well as they do."

Dr. Stephen Klien, associate professor of communication studies, nominated Johnson.

¡°Her work with me on a student-faculty research fellowship led to presentations at two national conferences," he said. "The University of Iowa¡¯s Ph.D. program in communication studies, arguably the nation¡¯s top program, saw the potential in Hannah¡¯s insightful research on the rhetorical performance of LGBTQ identity when they admitted her to begin study this fall."

Dr. Nils Hasselmo

Dr. Nils Hasselmo ¡¯57 came to study at Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø as an international student after receiving the college¡¯s Mauritzson Memorial Scholarship for students from Sweden.

After earning his Ph.D. in linguistics from Harvard University, he served in higher education throughout his career, including as a faculty member at Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø, the University of Arizona and University of Minnesota; vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of Arizona; president of the University of Minnesota; and from 1998 to 2006 as president of the Association of American Universities.

In 2011, he funded the Hasselmo Prize for Academic Pursuit at Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø, in recognition of the ways in which his Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø education both informed and transformed his life and vocational calling. The significant monetary prize is awarded to enrich the experience of a student who has demonstrated academic excellence and who expresses an intent to pursue higher education teaching and/or research as a vocation.