New research fellowship will honor former physics professor

Summary: This summer a Calvin College student will be the first to benefit from a new student research fellowship named in honor of John Van Zytveld, who taught for 28 years in Calvin's physics department.

Calvin College has teamed up with the Murdock Trust to raise $60,000, establishing a student research fellowship named after former Calvin physics professor, John Van Zytveld.

If one were to look through physics and astronomy journals, one would note the steady flow of publications by Calvin faculty members, most with one or more student coauthors. This is part of the legacy of Van Zytveld, professor, researcher and student mentor of Calvin's physics department from 1968-1996. Upon leaving academia, Van Zytveld began his work as the senior program director for the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust.

Calvin recently received an initial $20,000 grant from the Murdock Trust upon Van Zytveld's retirement. Murdock added $10,000 to that grant after Calvin reached their goal of raising $30,000, establishing the John Van Zytveld Student Research Fellowship.

The fellowship is the latest in a growing list of student research opportunities offered at the college. For current science division research opportunities, see www.calvin.edu/academic/science/summer.

Roger Griffioen, emeritus professor in Calvin's physics department, worked closely with Van Zytveld for more than four decades. He said of his former colleague: "He was the one, more than any other, who helped set the tone of the department regarding undergraduate student participation in research."

Griffioen said that Van Zytveld believed that the best means to prepare students in physics or other scientific disciplines was through these hands-on experiences.

The first fellowship will be awarded this summer.

For more information, contact Roger Griffioen at 616-526-8554.

-end-
Received on Mon Mar 15 11:58:36 2010