Amanda Hertel Wins 2022 Fellowship

Amanda Hertel with PKP officers, her advisor, and family

The University of Kansas Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi is pleased to honor Amanda Kay Hertel as the winner of its 2022 James Blackiston Memorial Graduate Fellowship and the chapter's nominee for a national Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship  in which she won one of the 1897 Fellowships which will reward her with $35,000 during her first year at KU School of Medicine.

Each year, this chapter of Phi Kappa Phi awards a fifteen-hundred-dollar fellowship for graduate education to a deserving initiate.  This fellowship was created to honor the memory of James Blackiston, a graduate student in the Department of Linguistics and an instructor in the Intensive English Center, now the Applied English Center, at KU.

Amanda is a graduating senior, completing a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering with honors. She has earned a 4.00 GPA while following pursuing a truly challenging program. The Blackiston Fellowship is the latest achievement for Amanda, who has received multiple honors while at KU, including a Tau Beta Pi, Engineering Honor Society Scholarship, the most recent of 18 scholarships, an Undergraduate Research Award for Spring 2021, Fall 2021, and Spring 2022, the Fred Kurata Thermodynamics Award, and the Outstanding Undergraduate Research Performance Award in Chemical Engineering. Amanda was named both the Outstanding Sophomore of the Year and the Outstanding Junior of the Year in Chemical Engineering.

Amanda's involvement on and off campus is a true indication of her dedication to education and supporting others. On campus, as an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, Amanda has worked in Biology 546, Mammalian Physiology and Biology 246, Principles of Human Physiology (Fall 2021). Amanda served as an Undergraduate Teaching Fellow in C&PE 211, Material and Energy Balances, and lead Zoom discussions and held weekly office hours in C&PE 112, Introduction to the Chemical Engineering Profession.

Amanda has served as the Vice President of the Engineering Honor Society, Tau Beta Pi, where she has hosted chapter meetings, led outreach events, and scheduled guest speakers and helped students prepare for Calculus III exams by administering a practice exam and answering questions. Amanda has been an Undergraduate Research Fellow since Fall 2019.

In the community, Amanda serves as a FIRST Robotics Mentor, advising high school students on the electronics used in the FIRST Robotics Competition, and as a volunteer at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

After graduation this May, Amanda, who was initiated in Phi Kappa Phi in February 2021, plans to pursue a MD degree at the University of Kansas School of Medicine.

It is with great pleasure that I present the 2022 James Blackiston Memorial Fellowship to Amanda Kay Hertel.