2017-2018 Executive Board Members

2017-2018 Group Photo

Back Row (L to R): Kyle Helvie, Jeff Kinard, Connor Born
Middle Row (L to R): Lincoln Klopfenstein, Jenna Willenborg, Johnny Lawless, Jessy Stika, Ellen Meis, Edel Aron, Maggy McGary
Front Row (L to R): Evan Boss, Samiha Raina, Laura Snyder, John Mobley IV, Gabi Mitchell
Not pictured: Jared Grubbs

All Executive Teams
Laurie-Law

Laurie Law

Administrative Director

Hi! My name is Laurie Smith Law, and I joined the staff of the University Honors Program as the Administrative Director in 2007. I served on the Board of Directors for the National Collegiate Honors Council from 2011 through 2014, and am currently co-chair of the organization’s Professional Development Committee. My primary responsibilities as the administrative director are to work in conjunction with the Honors staff and Honors Student Board to provide members of the Honors Program with an enriched academic experience.

Jessy Stika

Jessy Stika

Graduate Adviser

Hi, my name is Jessy Stika. I am a graduate assistant with the Honors Program and advise the Honors Student Board. Currently, I am my final year of the Student Affairs, M.Ed. program. I attended Central College (Pella, IA), earning my B.A. in Cultural Anthropology and English with a Spanish minor and was a member of the women’s basketball team. My hobbies include being outside, rollerblading, reading and writing, and spending time with family and friends. I am excited to be a part of Honors Student Board and meet more students at HSB events!

Ellen Meis

Ellen Meis

President

Hi! My name is Ellen Meis and I’m a junior from Le Mars, IA, majoring in biology and environmental science with a minor in emerging global disease. Joining Honors and living in an Honors house (Harwood!) were some of the best choices I made as a freshman. Last year I served as the Upper-Division Outreach Chair on HSB, trying to find ways to engage upper-division students in Honors and start forming a closer connection with alumni. I’m super excited to give back to Honors by working with the board as president this year to make the Honors community the best it can possibly be. Besides hanging out with Honors people, I enjoy playing saxophone and piano, reading, hiking, participating in intramural sports, watching ISU basketball, traveling, and playing tennis. Be sure to say hi if you see me around!

Connor Born

Connor Born

Vice President

Hi, my name is Connor Born and I am a junior in Aerospace Engineering. I am currently the vice president for HSB and am excited to see all of you at this years events. I am from Mound, Minnesota (probably a little small to know, so lets just say far west Minneapolis) and I absolutely love space so feel free to stop me any time to talk about it. Some of my other hobbies are drone flying, 3D printing and stargazing. I have been on the Honors Student Board for three years as both the Starbuck house representative and the vice president. I also run the HSB email account where we send out information about our events, and as the usual signoff goes, hope to see you there!

Jenna Willenborg

Jenna Willenborg

Secretary and Treasurer

My name is Jenna Willenborg, and I am a sophomore studying chemical engineering. I am from Stewartville, Minnesota, but since most people don’t know where that is, I say I’m from Rochester, Minnesota. I am the treasurer and secretary for the honors board. This year I am also involved in research and the volleyball club. I enjoy playing volleyball, going to sporting events, and hanging out with friends.

Edel Aron

Edel Aron

Webmaster

Hi everyone! My name is Edel Aron and I’m a senior double majoring in math and biology with minors in physics and computer science. I was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, and I love to read, cook and practice kung fu in my spare time. I’ve been involved with Honors in lots of different ways over my time here at Iowa State, including living in Anders and being on the UHP Committee for two years. I’m very excited to be your Webmaster for the year! If you have any ideas for the site, I would love to hear from you.

Kyle Helvie

Kyle Helvie

Events Co-Chair

Hello! I’m Kyle Helvie, a sophomore studying mechanical engineering. I’m from Crystal Lake, Illinois, and reside at Barton Anders when here at ISU. As a prior member of events committee, I’m extremely excited to be leading the committee this year and working with Laura to create great experiences for honors members. We found that brand new events ideas tended to work best last year, so I am excited to bring fresh ideas and events to the honors community. I am also a supplemental instructor for ME160, and a team leader for the M:2:I project M.A.V.R.I.C. I’m an avid reader, occasional writer, probably more interested in debate than is healthy, and might not be good at Volleyball and other sports but love playing them. I expect honors to have an excellent year and I hope everyone else is looking forward to it as much as I am.

Laura Snyder

Laura Snyder

Events Co-Chair

Hi! My name is Laura Snyder, and I am a sophomore studying Chemical Engineering. I’m originally from Dubuque, IA, but my home at school is Anders — the coolest honors house. This year I am thrilled to be co-leading the events committee. I look forward to building the community aspect of honors through hosting events such as ice skating. I also co-lead section D2 of Honors 121, serve as treasurer for AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers), and am a Vice President of Anders! In my free time, I also enjoy running, playing piano, hanging out with my fellow Andersians and watching Mulan. Have a great year, and I look forward to seeing you at our events!

Evan Boss

Evan Boss

Philanthropy Co-Chair

Hello, my name is Evan Boss and I will be serving as the Philanthropy Committee Co-chair throughout the 2017-2018 school year. I am a sophomore in Agricultural Engineering with an Agriculture Business minor. Having grown up on a third generation family farm near Coggon, Iowa, I am excited and passionate about the future of agriculture and the challenge of feeding a growing population. As a Philanthropy Committee Co-chair, my goals are to build a committee based around its members; to increase participation in activities in order to increase our impact on the Honors community, ISU community, and Ames community. I plan to work closely with the committee members and HSB board members to plan fun and creative activities that include a philanthropy spin on them!

Samiha Raina

Samiha Raina

Philanthropy Co-Chair

Hi! My name is Samiha Raina and I am a junior majoring in Biochemistry and minoring in Entrepreneurship. I am from Naperville, IL and Raleigh, NC. My hobbies include spending time with family, traveling, and singing. I am super excited to be part of the HSB this year as a Co-Philanthropy Chair! My vision is to enhance attendance at events and create a platform for all class members to enjoy and relish in. I hope to work with our committee and board while designing fun and innovative events. I look forward to working with everyone and hope to see you at our events!

Gabi Mitchell

Gabi Mitchell

First Year Outreach Chair

Hello hello! I’m Gabi Mitchell and I am a third-year in Linguistics with minors in French, Psychology, and TESL. My hometown is Omaha, NE (technically Gretna, NE) where I live on a farm with a dog, kitties, and chickens! As the FHP Chair, my goal is to create wonderful opportunities for first-year students so they feel more connected to the Honors Program and to each other. This is my third year on HSB, so I’m thrilled to be back again. Being involved in HSB, or any part of Honors, is my way of giving back to the program and showing my appreciation for everything it does!

Maggy McGary

Maggy McGary

Upper Division Outreach Chair

Hi! My name is Maggy McGary and I am currently a Pre-med Sophomore majoring in History. I am originally from Rochester, New York but my home is in St. Paul, Minnesota. I lived in Starbuck North last year and am now residing in University Village. I am so excited to be your Upper-division Outreach Chair this year and I look forward to leading the UHP committee. My goals are to build relationships between the upperclassmen and Alumni, along with work with Events and Philanthropy committees to plan events for UHP! In my free time, I am a massive sports fan and look forward to cheering all our ISU teams to victory. I can’t wait to see you all at our events and have a great year!

Johnny Lawless

Johnny Lawless

Anders House Chair

Hello! My name is Johnny Lawless and a freshman majoring in Physics with aims to go to graduate school. I lived in Peoria, IL before coming to Ames. As the Anders House rep this year, I aim to keep the channels of communication between Anders and the Honors Student Board open throughout the year. Outside of HSB, I am involved in both the Events committee and the UHP committee, and I’m hoping to get involved with research on campus. I’m looking forward to the upcoming year!

Lincoln Klopfenstein

Lincoln Klopfenstein

Ebbers-Day House Chair

Hi, there! My name is Lincoln Klopfenstein, and I am a freshman studying aerospace engineering. I was raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but have moved many times in my life so far. I am the Ebbers and Day House Representative for the Student Honors Board. This year I would like to get involved with honors in as many ways as possible. I love learning, performing arts, and making new friends wherever I adventure.

Jared Grubbs

Jared Grubbs

Harwood House Chair

​Howdy! My name is Jared Grubbs, and I’m a freshman in mechanical engineering with a minor in religious studies. I was born and raised in Davenport, Iowa, and am a firm believer that Whitey’s ice cream is the best in the Midwest (don’t @ me). As the Harwood House Chair this year I would like to increase relations between my house and the others, and organize a couple events between house. My personality type is ISFP, my love languages are PT and QT, and I don’t believe horoscopes are real, but they’re lots of fun.

Jeff Kinard

Jeff Kinard

Lorch-Russel House Chair

Hello all! My name is Jeff Kinard and I’m a freshman in Computer engineering here at Iowa State. I am from Fort Worth, Texas (west of Dallas), so I’m new to the Midwest, and so far, I’m loving it! I am the honors representative for the Friley Lorch-Russell house during the 2017-2018 school year, and I’m excited to be a big part of the honors program my first year. Outside of honors, I enjoy running, lifting, biking, swimming, and programming. I am part of the running club, triathlon club, and cyber-security club. I look forward to all the amazing honors events which everyone should attend!

John Mobley IV

John Mobley IV

Starbuck House Chair

Hello everyone! My name is John Mobley IV, and I’m a freshman majoring in Physics with the aspiration of also pursuing a Mathematics major and a Nuclear Engineering minor. I am originally from Jefferson, Iowa; however, Ames has always felt like a second hometown to me growing up. As the Starbuck House Representative, my goals are to increase the level of Starbuckian participation in HSB events and to help answer any Honors-related concerns that might be raised in Starbuck House. Beyond serving on the HSB Executive Board, I am involved in the Society of Women in Physics, the ISU Physics and Astronomy Club, and the President’s Leadership Class here on campus. I look forward to seeing the Honors community develop and prosper this year through the many opportunities Iowa State has to offer — especially HSB events!