People

For mathematicians, getting to the “aha” moment can be a frustrating exercise. But in a field where it’s common to be wrong, Elizabeth Meckes has found passion. And those times when everything does align, she said, are “beautiful.” “Those moments of clarity—those moments of ‘I suddenly see the ligh...

When Megan Brown started playing pinball as a hobby nearly 10 years ago, she didn’t expect it to become a major part of her life. And she certainly didn’t foresee herself competing on the international stage. But yesterday, she did just that. Brown, department assistant in University Relations & D...

By Ellen Walter A number of Case Western Reserve University students attend school with their siblings, but few can say they compete on the same sports team too. And for seniors Nate and Nick Tommas, it goes a step further: They’re not only siblings, but twins—and co-captains of the Spartan wrestli...

Sowmya Ravi moved across the country from Chandler, Arizona, to attend Case Western Reserve University—and once she arrived, she quickly found support that made her new city feel like home. Part of her on-campus family came by way of Horizons, a medical mentorship organization that brings together ...

It was just Brooke Macnamara’s first day as a faculty member at Case Western Reserve University when she had a study published that upended long-held beliefs about the importance of practice on one’s expertise. The study, published in 2014 in Psychological Science, garnered attention from such publ...

John Tomko learned how to code on a TI-84 calculator at the urging of a high school math teacher. Tomko took on the challenge—and now, the rudimentary programming method seems simple to Tomko, having earned a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and nearing completion of the Master of Engineeri...

Growing up along Ohio’s northeastern shore, Dave Lucas felt the poetry of Lake Erie many years before he knew its landscapes could be thought of that way. A moment of epiphany for him came as a teenager, reading Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio—a poem that not only name-dropped a place familiar...

Pallavi Tiwari’s passion for biomedical engineering started in a garage in India. When she and a college friend realized the difficulty people with blindness have in navigating their surroundings—especially indoors—they set to work in Tiwari’s garage, teaching themselves how to solder. They then de...

Dorothy Humel Hovorka’s impact on Case Western Reserve University is indelible: She served as a trustee, a fundraiser, a donor, and the organizer of a centennial celebration of one of the university’s greatest discoveries. Last month, Humel Hovorka (HON ’09) passed away at the age of 96 after a lif...

A junior accounting major known for his infectious enthusiasm died early Tuesday morning in an automobile accident on the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway. Family, friends and fraternity brothers are mourning Robert Park, 20, who was known for his enthusiastic, outgoing nature—as well as the care he sho...