Kermit H. Carlson Scholarship

Many "veteran" faculty members, along with many alumni, perhaps your parents or those of some of your fellow classmates, remember the kind, gentle leader, the father of our department, Kermit Carlson. In the forties, he taught at Valparaiso University before and after serving in World War II, and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin; one of our country's leading graduate schools in mathematics. He earned the great respect of outstanding professionals in the field, and encouraged and nurtured us to develop skills in this new thing called computer science. In the late fifties, he had some sort of sense of the impact that the computer would have on higher education, even before a lot of people in technical fields began to push for it. He saw the computer as a tool for dynamic mathematics - mathematics in motion. He was a visionary in the true sense of the word.

As Chairman of the department for many years, beginning in 1957, he built the foundation for this modern department. He was a caring person who attracted caring people to teach at Valparaiso University. He conveyed the feeling that what Valparaiso University stood for was really worthwhile; that this was an institution that was important and meant something; that we had a mission. He helped to instill in us this feeling of community, mutual respect, and togetherness.

 Ansel Hillmer - winner of the 2008
Kermit H. Carlson Award

Kermit H. Carlson Recipients

1994-95    Jonathan DeVilbiss
1995-96    Daniel Felten
1996-97    Bonnie Stephens
1997-98    Danielle Harmon, Susan Sullivan
1998-99    Genevieve Knight
1999-00    Mark Kerins
2000-01    Ian Renner
2001-02    Lara Pudwell
2002-03    Josh Parsons
2003-04    Nina Miller
2004-05    Laura Stellfox
2005-06    Daniel Menna
2006-07    Deborah Steffen
2007-08    Ben Anderson
2008-09    Ansel Hillmer