URGO Archives - Giving to Augsburg University

Supporting the Needs of Students in STEM

Posted on July 5, 2023June 30, 2023

Dr. Keneeshia Williams, MD ’03 knows that when a student encounters a bumpy college ride full of twists and turns and more downs than ups, helping hands are crucial. That is why she is donating $25,000 to support the Office of Undergraduate Research and Graduate Opportunity (URGO) and aid for STEM students.

Now a critical care surgeon at Wellstar Trauma Acute Care Surgery in Marietta, Georgia, Williams has impressive credentials, not only as a trauma surgeon but also as a director of medical student education and an activist for violence prevention. But her path was not always clear or easy.

Growing up in Chicago, Williams was 14 when she witnessed the gunshot murder of a neighbor and determined that her brother, then in prison, was probably safer than she was. A student at Kenwood Academy on the south side, she was plagued by nightmares, depression, and anger. She needed a change and found a sympathetic ear in the Augsburg recruiter who had stayed in touch since her sophomore year.

“When they put me in touch with the basketball coach, I thought it would be a nice possibility for me. I liked playing basketball, and I really did not want to stay in Illinois at all,” she says. She was already familiar with the Twin Cities, having visited with her high school choir.

But academic goals? She wasn’t sure. She had enjoyed being part of a citywide creative writing program so thought English and/or history might work. “Pediatric surgeon” was the goal she’d noted in her high school yearbook, in light of a friend who’d had open heart surgery, so she put “premed” on her application but thought it unrealistic. Her parents had college degrees in theater arts, but her father’s vocation as a hotel bellman and her mother’s as a model turned hairdresser promised limited means.

Augsburg offered her a chemistry scholarship. “I loved school, but chemistry was my least favorite subject,” Williams recalls. She accepted anyway.

“Sometimes it is all about confidence,” she adds. “If you ever needed help, you could go find a professor. There were only three of us in our analytical chemistry class, and the quality was superb. Professor (emerita) Arlin Gyberg even made me like chemistry after all those years.”

Biology proved a better fit, however, and her summer research program studying the coral reef aquarium with associate professor Bill Capman proved pivotal.

“It pushed me more toward medicine. I couldn’t imagine a career in research,” though the experience became key in later medical school interviews, she pointed out, and definitely “made a difference.” Capman’s enthusiasm for his subject matter was infectious, and she loved how he taught and encouraged her to play with ideas, to explore and make them her own.

Capman was only one example of the support Williams discovered in Augsburg friends and faculty. She cites the contributions of now URGO director and former McNair Scholars director Dixie Shafer as well as English professor emerita Cass Dalglish, whose kindness and special attention helped Williams not only improve her writing but also tackle mental health challenges. The campus was much less diverse then, and she often felt isolated. In retrospect, however, she recognizes the positive aspects of such a defining period in her life.

“Something about it makes me want others to experience it,” she says. When her first medical school entrance scores fell short and she could not afford to test again, a benefactor stepped in to pay. She hopes her gift will encourage STEM students and ensure that their essential needs are met.

Williams did eventually return home, dedicated to preventing the violence she’d witnessed and treating its victims. She earned her MD at University of Illinois College of Medicine in Peoria, intending to specialize in pediatrics or family medicine until a surgery rotation sparked her passion. After her general surgery residency at Mount Sinai Hospital, she pursued trauma and burn research training at Loyola University Medical Center and a surgery critical care fellowship at Banner-University Medical Center in Tucson before spending five years with the Emory University Department of Surgery in Atlanta.

As keynote speaker at the Agre Symposium, Williams returned again this year to Augsburg, where she enjoys sharing her wisdom and experience with future students. With her help, they, too, will be able to flourish in their chosen careers.

TJ Bramwell ’03 Aids the Next Generation

Posted on February 24, 2023February 24, 2023

Dr. TJ Bramwell ’03, a biology major, has native roots in Tomah, WI, but when he chose to attend Augsburg, he was not unfamiliar with the area. Bramwell’s father, Thomas D. Bramwell ’78, also graduated from Augsburg.

He recalled his parents and grandparents watching him play running back for the Auggie football team throughout his four years of college.

“Part of my interest in joining the football team was that it was right after Augsburg won the conference title,” Dr. Bramwell said. “That excited me, as well as the academics.”

His interest in science, specifically biology, emerged during middle school, developing further in high school, and culminated with his time in the classroom and on the football field at Augsburg.

“Being on the football team and seeing people get hurt, treated, and being able to come back and play again helped me realize that I wanted to be a doctor,” Dr. Bramwell said. “It helped me identify my ultimate goal of being an orthopedic surgeon and helping people.”

He went on to do a few years of research at the Hennepin County Medical Center before getting accepted to medical school at Des Moines University and eventually completing a five-year orthopedic residency at Ohio University/Doctors Hospital, a journey that took nearly 15 years.

“A lot of what shaped my journey at Augsburg is the relationships I formed with my professors, specifically in the biology department,” Dr. Bramwell said. “They helped me navigate the waters of constructing a resume and getting into summer research programs, things that are so important and at the heart of URGO.”

Twenty years ago, when Dr. Bramwell attended Augsburg, URGO (Office of Undergraduate Research and Graduate Opportunity) did not exist. Now, URGO connects students with both new and existing research and scholarship opportunities on campus, across the U.S., and internationally.

Dr. Bramwell said he gives to URGO because he wants to ensure students have the support they need to succeed, whether that’s MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) practice tests, study materials, or other contributions that will aid the next generation of medical professionals, and you can too.

Learn more and get involved.

Donnie McCarthy ’09 Gives back to URGO

Posted on October 25, 2022October 25, 2022

When it comes to Augsburg’s Undergraduate and Graduate Opportunity (URGO) program, things have really come full circle for Donnie McCarthy ’09. One of the program’s first student researchers, Donnie is now the first URGO alumnus to serve as a sponsor, making the same experience he had as an undergraduate possible for current Augsburg students. “I’m thrilled that I can help someone–and hopefully, help a lot of people over the years–get access to that kind of experience,” he says.

Donnie was one of the first Augsburg students to participate in URGO in the summer of 2008. It was his first experience undertaking research, working alongside now-retired Biology professor Ralph Butkowski. “It was really my first exposure to doing biological research; my first exposure to doing research in a lab setting, and really got me excited about that concept—being able to carve into the unknown a little bit,” says Donnie.

Donnie also went on to undertake asthma research with Biology professor Jennifer Bankers-Fulbright, sparking an interest in pharmacology and immunology. “My experiences at URGO were career-influencing and what resulted in me going to graduate school to do basic research. I was fascinated by the idea of asking questions and experimentally answering them. To be at the frontier of our understanding of a biological pathway seemed akin to being an explorer, albeit of the molecular type,” he says.

While a student at Augsburg, Donnie developed time management skills as he juggled school, a six-day work week, research, and playing on the men’s soccer team–another pivotal experience for him. “Coming from Michigan, not really knowing anyone at Augsburg, getting thrown into the first pre-season training session, you create a family away from your family, and that was super valuable to me, getting really close with the whole team.”

Donnie has also been a supporter of the men’s soccer team over the years and admires head coach Greg Holker’s dedication to create a strong sense of community among students and alumni. “[Holker] really requires excellence, has a really strong standard for being a person–he really does foster a fantastic environment,” says Donnie.

After Augsburg, Donnie studied at Albany Medical College before receiving his doctorate in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of New York. If he hadn’t participated in URGO, Donnie says, he would have been at a disadvantage with his fellow graduate school classmates. “Having an idea of not just the scientific process, but being able to read and interpret scientific literature–there’s really no other way to get good at it, so having done it before (in URGO) definitely helped,” he says.

Today, Donnie works at Samsara Biocapital in San Francisco, where he serves as Vice President. In his work at Samsara, Donnie works with both company creation and more traditional investing in life sciences companies, helping companies developing early-stage drugs, take an interesting idea and how it might translate into a therapeutic concept, how it will position relative to things that are already out there. His URGO research provided the skills necessary to thrive in his career–“doing research is an excellent way to learn how to think about something critically.”

Donnie believes that a program like URGO sets Augsburg apart. “It truly does differentiate from most other small liberal arts schools–it’s not an opportunity you get at every place, for sure, and enriches the overall experience for students. It was just that impactful for me, and if I can help one person in my lifetime have that same sort of experience, I’ll do it a hundred times over.”

URGO is just one of many ways to give back, and any gift made to the program will automatically count towards your class’ total for the Alumni Class Challenge. Join the Challenge!

Learn more ways to give.

Lindstrom ’73 Supports Summer Research for Students

Posted on November 11, 2016February 8, 2017

160609-chemistry-219 — Terry Lindstrom visits a chemistry lab and meets the students whose research he helped fund in the summer of 2016. Taylor Mattice ’18, Adam Pancoast ’18, Ellyn Peters ’18, and Josh Kuether ’18 all received funding from Lindstrom for their 10-week research experiences.

It makes perfect sense that Terry Lindstrom ’73 and his wife Janet look forward to funding Undergraduate Research and Graduate Opportunity (URGO) Summer Research students for the next three years, just as they have since 2013. Lindstrom found his passion while doing undergrad research at Augsburg, and he wants to make sure others have the opportunity that meant so much to him.

“Everyone deserves a passionate career,” says Lindstrom, who in 2010 retired his post as Distinguished Research Fellow at Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, where he spent 31 years doing drug discovery and development.

Like many young Auggies, he had no obvious career path in mind when he first ventured onto the Augsburg campus. He thought he might like to major in science, and Augsburg had a good science department. But would he choose biology? Chemistry? Physics? He wasn’t sure. He was sure of one thing: chemistry was a challenge.

“I loved it, but it was hard,” he says. “Within just a few weeks, it was very clear that the chemistry professors and staff were very personable, approachable, and interested in teaching. Their willingness to help really solidified its appeal for me, although it was still difficult.” By the time he was a senior, he was also doing biochemistry research, isolating a virus in fruit flies, studying the intersection of biology and chemistry in living systems.

Bingo.

“After that, my career was a foregone conclusion. I was fascinated by biochemistry,” says Lindstrom. He was also intrigued by the teaching methods of his chemistry professor, Courtland Agre, who never gave him a straight answer, thus prompting him to find his own. “He’d always push back with another question, an orienting question. It was very frustrating at first, but he was teaching me to think critically. He’d draw it out of you, and you gained confidence. It made an indelible mark on me.”

As much as he loved the sheer fun of learning science, he also realized he wanted to find real-world applications to benefit society. After earning his PhD in pharmacology and biochemistry at the University of Minnesota and completing a biochemistry postdoc at Michigan State University, he joined Eli Lilly. He now holds at least six patents for life-changing drugs, including Evista, for osteoporosis, and Cymbalta, an antidepressant also used to treat bone and muscle pain.

Still enthralled by complex science, Lindstrom is retired only technically; he is busy consulting and advising in numerous capacities. He also volunteers for URGO’s summer program, giving seminars, meeting students, and collaborating with science faculty members such as Assistant Professor Michael Wentzel, Associate Professor Vivian Feng, and Assistant Professor Matt Beckman. He notes

Augsburg College funds 21 summer research slots each summer through the Office of Undergraduate Research & Graduate Opportunity (URGO). — Augsburg College funds 21 summer research slots each summer through the Office of Undergraduate Research
& Graduate Opportunity (URGO).

that students are working with PCR (polymerase chain reaction), a DNA synthesizing technique that made headlines not that long ago. “It was state-of-the-art only in the best molecular biology labs in the country, and now it’s actually being taught and done in Matt’s lab,” he says. “I was thrilled to see that.”

By fully endowing several students for URGO’s 10-week program, which costs $5,500 per student, he hopes that they, too, get a chance to discover their passion. “I understand how things take hold. Fundamentals are absolutely essential, but it was the research experience, free of academic book-learning, that convinced me what I wanted to do. If someone wants to test it out and see if it interests them, I’m extraordinarily happy to make that opportunity available.”

— Cathy Madison