Three VCU Phi Kappa Phi Members Win 2019 Love of Learning Awards
October 29, 2019
The VCU chapter of Phi Kappa Phi is pleased to announce that three of its members have been awarded 2019 Love of Learning Awards. The $500 awards were given to 200 Phi Kappa Phi members across the nation. VCU Phi Kappa Phi members Alden Bean Blevins, Christine Orndahl and Pramit Nadpara, Ph.D. were announced nationally as Love of Learning Award winners in a recent release from the national headquarters. Awarded twice a year, Love of Learning Awards are designed to help fund post-baccalaureate professional development for active Phi Kappa Phi members including graduate or professional studies, doctoral dissertations, continuing education, travel related to teaching and research, career development and more.
Alden Bean Blevins is an alumna of VCU and a current graduate student in the Music Education Department at New York University. "The Love of Learning Award will assist me in attending the Masters program at NYU and taking more courses in the Kodaly Methodology of Music Education. The Kodaly method is a tried-and-true approach to teaching music literacy for students as young as pre-kindergarten. This method emphasizes the parallels between learning any written or spoken language and developing the tools to read, write, perform, and understand music," said Bean Blevins. "I am extremely passionate about giving all students the tools they need to understand music: I believe at my core that every child, every human being can be an artist, if they are simply given the tools that they need to express. This award will assist me in pursuing my Masters and paying that knowledge forward to my 500 students at Randolph Elementary School!"
Christine M. Orndahl is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Biostatistics in the VCU School of Medicine. "With the Love of Learning Award, I will travel to the Eastern North American Region (ENAR) International Biometric Society's spring 2020 conference meeting to present my dissertation research," Orndahl stated. "Because of this opportunity, I will be able to not only refine skills in presenting my dissertation research, but also get valuable feedback from other experts in the field."
Parmit Nadpara is an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science in the VCU School of Pharmacy. "The Phi Kappa Phi Love of Learning Award will help me continue my professional development, "said Nadpara, "and it will also help my career development."
To learn more about Phi Kappa Phi Love of Learning Awards, click here.
About the VCU chapter of Phi Kappa Phi
Phi Kappa Phi is the nation's oldest and most selective multidisciplinary collegiate honor society. The VCU chapter was installed on December 3, 1976, and continues to honor academic achievement by initiating members and awarding scholarships at annual ceremonies. The VCU chapter is administered by and Executive Committee of faculty and administrators. For more, see https://phikappaphi.vcu.edu/