Three students have been named 2009-2010 Hart Fellows. This year’s Fellows will join the 66 Duke graduates who have been awarded Hart Fellowships and have conducted community-based research projects in collaboration with 49 host organizations in 29 countries.

 

All three Hart Fellows will begin their programs in July 2009 and will return in late spring 2010. This year’s Fellows were selected based on their demonstrated commitment to excellence, ability to exercise leadership, and potential to conduct outstanding community-based research. The 2009-2010 Hart Fellows are:

 

Jane Chong

Jane Chong

Jane Chong, of Elk Grove, Illinois, who will graduate in May with a double major in English and Economics. Chong is a University Scholar and member of Phi Beta Kappa, who received High Distinction for her thesis “The Lolita Canon in a New Battlefield: Remapping the Tension Between Ethics and Aesthetics in the Parodic Novel.” In 2008, Chong received a Bassett Fund Grant and traveled to Brazil with the Students of the World (SOW) documentary filmaking team. In the Rio de Janeiro favelas, Chong worked closely with Citizens for Democracy in Information Technology (CDI) to chronicle the impact of poverty, human rights abuses, and environmental hazards on the local and international communities. In 2008, she also worked in Abuja, Nigeria with Teachers Without Borders (TWB) to design and launch the first Wall-less Classroom. At Duke, Chong has served as Honor Council Chair, Undergraduate Judicial Board Co-Chair, Undergraduate Representative for the Trinity College Board of Visitors, and Facilitator for the Center for Race Relations. She is also a columnist for the Duke Chronicle and former member of the Editorial Board.

 

Andrew Tutt

Andrew Tutt

Andrew Tutt, of Davis, California who will graduate in May with a triple major in Economics, Biomedical Engineering, and Mathematics. Tutt has written theses in both Economics and Biomedical Engineering entitled, Optimal Sick Pay as an Adverse Selection Problem and Particle Tracking Methods for Estimation of Diffusion Coefficients in Non-Newtonian Gels. In 2008, Tutt was awarded the Davies Research Fellowship in Economics, the Sustainable Energy Fellowship through the Global Institute of Sustainability, and the Phillips Foundation’s Ronald Regan College Leader Award. During the summer of 2008, Tutt worked with Engineers Without Borders and the Rural Agency for Sustainable Development in Nkokonjeru, Uganda to install local internet access points and to teach rainwater harvesting, sanitation, and sustainable agriculture techniques. While at Duke, Andrew founded Duke Conversations Society, founded and served as Editor-In-Chief of the Duke Journal of Public Affairs, and co-founded the Gothic Guardian, a monthly magazine that chronicles conservative student opinion at Duke. Tutt is also the founder and Director of Wired! 2 Achieve-a nonprofit organization that acquires and refurbishes computer equipment for local communities in need. Since 2005, Tutt has been a mentor for the Techtronics Mentoring Program, where he teaches local middle school students hands-on science and engineering lessons.

 

Yisel Valdes

Yisel Valdes

Yisel Valdes, of Miami, Florida, who will graduate in May with a major in Sociology and a minor in Economics. Valdes is a recipient of both the Bill Gates Millennium Scholarship and Hispanic Heritage Youth Scholarship. Since 2007, Valdes has worked as a student researcher for the Duke Center on Globalization, Governance, and Competitiveness on studies that link multinational companies and childhood obesity in the U.S., Mexico, and China, and track the effects of food safety standards on developing nations. Valdes also conducted research for Euro-Info Consommateurs in Kehl, Germany, where she studied the impact of national laws on consumers across the European Union. In 2007 and 2008, Valdes worked as a Summer Analyst for Merrill Lynch & Co in New York City. Originally from Cuba, Valdes co-founded the Cuban-American Student Association (C.A.S.A.) at Duke. Valdes also serves as a Diversity Liaison Team Member for the Duke Career Center, and served in the leadership of Mi Gente, the largest Latino student organization on campus. In Spring 2008, Valdes studied abroad at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Strasbourg, France.

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