Randolph (Randy) Cowen, a graduate of Michigan State University’s College of Arts & Letters, College of Social Science, and Honors College, is a 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, which is among the highest awards the university bestows on its alumni.Each year, the MSU Alumni Office recognizes Spartans who positively reflect and enhance the prestige of Michigan State University with its…
Michigan State University graduate Josh Kilmer-Purcell is a New York Times bestselling author who, together with husband, Dr. Brent Ridge, founded a multimillion-dollar skin care company, starred in their own reality TV show, and won season 21 of The Amazing Race — and those are just a few of the couple’s many accomplishments in what can be described as an…
After graduating from Michigan State University with three bachelor's degrees, a perfect 4.0 grade point average, and as a member of the Honors College, Kaylee McCarthy set her sights on working and living abroad where she now teaches at a secondary school in Austria through Fulbright Austria's U.S. Teaching Assistants program. The school where McCarthy teaches, the Higher Federal Teaching and Research…
Marta Tienda grew up poor in the inner ring suburbs of Detroit. Her mother died when she was 6, but her father assured her life would be better if she worked hard and finished high school. She listened to her father, an immigrant from Mexico who raised five children in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Alternating between jobs as a factory…
Ryda Sundila is a May 2021 graduate of Michigan State University’s College of Arts & Letters. She currently works as a Product Designer at Ford Motor Co. She wrote this Graduate Voice article, which originally was published by MSU Today. The experiences and education that I gained through the Experience Architecture program has allowed me to strive in my current…
Shayla Pham, a Graphic Design senior, recently completed a motion graphic designer internship for Cape Town Television, a South-African community television station. The internship, which was made possible through MSU Excel Network’s Global Remote Internship Program, allowed Pham to sharpen new skills in animation and to expand her graphic design skills by editing the organization’s graphics. Pham met with her…
After developing an admiration for editing from her professional writing courses at MSU, Rachel Gignac completed a virtual internship as a Publishing and Communications Intern with Publishing ByChelle, an Australian-based publication that produces in-flight magazines for Australian airlines. The internship allowed the recent Professional and Public Writing alumna to receive hands-on experience with writing and editing before graduating this past spring.
Haydn Ramey, a senior from South Lyon, Michigan, utilized her experience as an Apparel and Textile Design major towards her first internship working remotely as a Fashion Design Intern for the Indian fashion label Rohit Kamra. Rohit Kamra specializes in luxury menswear. However, when Ramey worked for the company this past summer, she helped produce women’s textile prints for its collaboration with…
Despite being thousands of miles away, Mary Claire Zauel’s remote internship this past summer with the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland gave her priceless educational experiences while cultivating communication and time management skills. As a Project Management Intern, Zauel, an English major currently in her junior year at MSU, organized live Q&A events with Irish film directors, managed the Screen…
Spanish alumna Eileen Thompson began her journey at MSU with the goal of being a veterinarian while studying a second language to expand her possibilities. She now works as the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, fighting against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. “My main role in the response is to act as a liaison or conduit between…