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Alumni

Michael Klein, ’03

Michael Klein grew up thinking he would attend the University of Kansas. However, after he made a disenchanting visit to Lawrence, some friends recommended Bethel. Now that he has earned his B.S. in psychology from Bethel, Michael believes that the rigorous, well-rounded education he received is truly exceptional for an undergraduate institution.

"Not only are [Dwight Krehbiel and Paul Lewis] phenomenal scientists and professors, but they are great people too," Michael says. "They took a personal interest in me and pushed me to hone my skills to a degree I’m confident I wouldn’t have with other instructors. The department they’ve created provides what I believe to be the perfect foundation for an undergraduate science student — research, methodology, philosophy, ethics, knowledge."

Michael’s undergraduate education included projects incorporating research, experimentation, data management, writing and statistical analyses. These included research in and analysis of emotional self-reports, EEG brain activity and schizophrenia. His senior seminar, which examined correlations between physiological and self-reported emotional change over time, earned recognition at the national level. The project was published in the proceedings from one national conference and received a first place award at another. Michael was also the featured speaker at a psychology research symposium at a state university.

Michael then worked at Via Christi Research, Inc., in Wichita, as a psychiatric research associate, conceptualizing, developing, writing and analyzing grant proposals and projects. He has recently re-enrolled as a full-time student at Bethel, where he is taking pre-requisite coursework with the goal of applying to medical school.

Audrey Blacklock, ’98

Audrey Blacklock graduated from Bethel College with degrees in psychology and natural sciences. She came to Bethel with strong interest in the sciences and her interest was nurtured by professors who provided her with opportunities and connections necessary to pursue her educational and career goals.

With the ultimate goal of attending medical school, Audrey was intrigued by the psychology department’s emphasis on the neurosciences. She embarked on a number of different research projects and experiments as an undergraduate and her professors helped her attain interesting off-campus opportunities as well. She spent summers studying at an adolescent sleep laboratory at Brown University in Providence, R.I., and a neuroscience laboratory at New York University. After graduating from Bethel, she worked for one year at Prairie View Mental Health Services in Newton with adolescents in the Residential Program.

Those experiences were key in her acceptance to the University of Kansas M.D./Ph.D. program. Her graduate experience has involved two years of medical school, followed by three years of research in a neurophysiology lab, followed by two more years of medical school. Audrey graduated from KU in May 2006 and entered an internal medicine internship in Boise, Idaho, at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital. She now lives with her husband Brent and daughter Grace in Minneapolis, where she is completing a three-year residency in ophthalmology.

"I have never regretted my decision to attend Bethel," said Audrey, "and am so thankful for the opportunity I had to meet and work with such gifted professors. They truly shaped my life and I will always be indebted to them in my future career."

David Stigge-Kaufman, '98

David Stigge-Kaufman entered a Ph.D. program in clinical neuropsychology at the University of Florida in Gainesville.