College of Arts & Sciences to celebrate Eisenhower Circle Celebration, recognize distinguished alumni and student scholars
The College of Arts & Sciences at Kansas State University will celebrate the sixth-annual Eisenhower Circle Celebration on Thursday, Oct. 15.
Established in 2010, ECC is a special event recognizing the college’s alumni award recipients, student scholarship winners and loyal alumni and friends who give $250 or more to the college annually. The Eisenhower Circle recognition society is named for Milton S. Eisenhower, the ninth president of the university and for whom Eisenhower Hall is named. The hall is home to the dean's offices of the College of Arts & Sciences.
“There are so many generous supporters to our college and the Eisenhower Circle Celebration allows us to thank them in style,” said Peter Dorhout, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. “It also gives us a great platform to recognize our outstanding alumni who are making a difference in their careers as well as the students in our college who are doing great things. It is a tremendous event for the College of Arts and Sciences.”
Patricia Solís, who earned bachelor degrees in modern languages (German) and physics from K-State, before going on to earn a master’s degree in geography from K-State and a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, will receive the College of Arts & Sciences Alumni Merit Award. David Waters will receive the college’s Young Alumni Award. Waters earned bachelor degrees in modern languages (Spanish) and political science from K-State in 1999, before going on to earn a law degree from the University of Kansas.
Dorhout, will make the award presentations at the K-State Alumni Center.
Solís is currently a Senior Research Associate in the Office of the Vice President for Research at Texas Tech University. Throughout her career, she has worked on sustainable development projects in Ghana, Nicaragua, the Philippines and Bolivia. Her work has touched the lives of thousands of young people and educational professionals in developing regions of the world. In 2007, Solís was selected to receive the Enlaces Award by the Council of Latin American Geographers, becoming the first female and first North American to receive the award.
Solís is a current member of the K-State geography department’s Alumni Advisory Board and was named a K-State Alumni Fellow in 2013. She was nominated by Charles Martin, geography department head.
“Over the last decade, her projects have engaged nearly 4,000 youth, university students, and teachers or professors, mainly in the developing regions of the world,” said Martin. “In addition to serving as a member of our Alumni Advisory Board, she has devoted countless hours to working with other alumni, and been a strong advocate and promoter of the department. It’s hard to imagine a better friend to K-State geography than Dr. Solís.”
Waters is an attorney and partner at Lathrop & Gage LLP in Kansas City, Missouri. He has been named to The Best Lawyers in America for Real Estate list for 2013-2016, as well as the Missouri/Kansas Super Lawyers “Rising Stars” list for 2012-2014. Heavily involved in his community, Waters has served on the Board of Directors of the Northeast Johnson County Chamber of Commerce since 2012 and was elected Executive Committee Treasurer in 2014. He serves on the City of Westwood, Kansas, Planning Commission, as well as its Board of Zoning Appeals. He was nominated for the College of Arts & Sciences Young Alumni Award by Jeff Pickering, political science department head.
“In a short time, David has distinguished himself in his professional career, just as he did during his time at K-State, where he was selected for membership in Phi Beta Kappa, the Golden Key Honor Society, Mortar Board, Phi Eta Sigma Freshman Honor Society and Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society,” said Pickering. “He is exactly the type of well-rounded, successful young alumni that our college and K-State should honor.”
Thursday’s event will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a social hour, followed by the award presentations at 6:30 p.m. and scholarship recognition at 7 p.m. Entertainment will be provided by a jazz ensemble from the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance.
