UT Dallas Magazine - Winter 2012 - (Page 6)

Big Weekend: Couple Married Friday, Graduated Saturday Emily Lichtenheld met President Obama during her White House internship. (White House photo by Pete Souza) T Archer Program Celebrates a Decade of Scholars he Archer Fellowship Program celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, and the seven spring UT Dallas Archer Fellows returning from Washington, D.C., learned lessons that will last well beyond the semester. eri Sullivan BS’11 and Thomas Williams BS’11 have proved that love and romance can bloom just about anywhere—even amid classes in computer architecture and electromagnetic engineering. The two engineering and computer science students met during freshman orientation, became engaged last fall and married the day before spring commencement. Between them they have family in three states, and that just made it practical to combine all the travel, preparations and accommodations for the two events, they said. They even met cute. When he ran out of conversation material at orientation, he asked her if she’d ever heard of a Möbius strip, a one-sided geometric surface formed by twisting a narrow, rectangular strip of paper 180 degrees and then connecting the two ends. She hadn’t. He made one from an orientation handout, and the conversation continued. They started dating a month or so later, and when he proposed last fall he’d first covered the floor with a few hundred Möbius strips. She earned her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, he received his in computer science and they honeymooned in Paris. She has now entered the master’s program in electrical engineering in the University’s Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, and he works in software support and development at Texas Instruments. -David Moore K Emily Lichtenheld, a UT Dallas student majoring in international political economy and a McDermott Scholar, interned in the White House’s Office of Cabinet Affairs, where her duties ranged from escorting cabinet secretaries to official White House events to working on various internal reports. “I have so many favorite memories of working in the White House, including meeting both the president and vice president,” said Lichtenheld. “I also got to help with the 2011 White House Easter Egg Roll, which included an impromptu hoops session with NBA players visiting the White House basketball court.” Lichtenheld’s long workweeks were punctuated by coursework at the Archer Center, where she and the other fellows took classes on advocacy and the federal policy-making process. Established by former U.S. Rep. Bill Archer and The University of Texas System, the Archer Fellowship program has placed more than 400 students in internships that immerse them in the national policymaking environment. In 2007, UT Dallas became the Archer Center’s administrative home. Dr. Edward Harpham, associate provost and director of the University’s Collegium V honors program, serves as primary faculty liaison to the Center and is a member of its advisory board. “UT Dallas has so many bright, talented students who have a passion for politics and the law,” Harpham said. “Our ability to give them this experience is something they can’t find widely outside the UT System.” -MA 6 utdallas.edu http://www.utdallas.edu

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of UT Dallas Magazine - Winter 2012

UT Dallas Magazine - Winter 2012
Contents
On Campus
From the Lab
Arts and Culture
Courtside Success
Athletics
Research Is Teaching
Town and Gown
In Your Footsteps: An Alumni Perspective
Alumni Notes
In Memoriam
Hindsight

UT Dallas Magazine - Winter 2012