Track & Academics
Bowdoin Track & Field maintains a long tradition of excelling in both athletics and academics. Each year, our program attracts a special class of student-athletes. Though all are outstanding students, exceptional grades represent only one aspect of what makes Bowdoin track such a unique team. Our student-athletes possess a deep dedication to their intellectual pursuits. This dedication manifests in all aspects of our lives - during runs on the trails surrounding Bowdoin, at team dinners in the dining hall, or lounging around the field house after practice. In essence, Bowdoin track is not merely an athletic activity. It is above all a lifestyle geared towards fostering the very best ideals in its athletes. Such a superlative commitment to spirited academics creates an environment primed for success - both in the classroom and on the track.
Below is a listing of some recent honors theses completed by track athletes. As you can see, the interests of our team are wide and varied. It also demonstrates the opportunity students have at Bowdoin to do major scholarly work in addition to completing at a high level of athletics.
A study of gases in Arctic & Antarctic firn
Eric Sofen '07
After Bowdoin: Ph.D. in Physics/Climatology at University of Washington
Selecting against gender: sex selection, reproductive technology and the question of moral permissibility
Gina Campelia '07
After Bowdoin: Ph.D. in Philosophy
The synthesis of enepolyynes
Kristen Brownell '07
After Bowdoin: Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at Stanford University
The science of sympathy: Darwin and community in George Eliot's Middlemarch
Jamie Knight '07
After Bowdoin: Philadelphia Teacher's Project
The impact of anti-Americanism and Francophobia in foreign policy
Michael Record '06
After Bowdoin: Teaching English in France
Stress-induced ultra-structural cellular modifications in Arabidopsis
Andrew Combs '06
After Bowdoin: Biotech Consultant
Turning rhetoric into action: increasing congressional commitment and research funding for the number one killer of American women
Jill Schweitzer '06
After Bowdoin: Sales Representative for Cisco Systems
The meta-ethics of Simon Blackburn : taking morality seriously on naturalistic grounds
Jonah Popp '06
After Bowdoin: Fulbright Fellowship in South Korea
The constitutionality of the Partial birth abortion ban act of 2003
Alexander Linhart '06
After Bowdoin: Analyst at J.P. Morgan
Chase
Humanitarian intervention in the post-cold war world : a moral inquiry into sovereignty, self-determination, human rights, and state-building
Patrick Hughes '05
After Bowdoin: Working for Senator Susan Collins of Maine in Washington
Muddy children, temporary deafness, and the 10,000th digit of 2: modeling knowledge
Greg Kelsey '05
After Bowdoin: Graduate School in Mathematics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Wordlength in alternative presentations for Thompson's Group F
Greg Kelsey '05
After Bowdoin: Graduate School in Mathematics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
I/O-efficient refinement of triangulated terrains
Jon Todd '05
After Bowdoin: Computer Systems Consultant
Developing an autonomous robot soccer team at an undergraduate institution
Greydon Foil '05
After Bowdoin: Programmer for Athena Health
Leo Strauss's unliberal defense of liberalism
Taylor Washburn '04
After Bowdoin: Columbia Law School
The synthesis of tethered bis-4, 7-diisopropylindene ligands for lanthanide series metal catalysts James Wilkins '04
After Bowdoin: Marshall Fellowship at Cambridge University for biochemistry
Ward Cleaver versus Heathcliff Huxtable: morality in contemporary American politics
Gregory Bangser '04
Mutational stabilization of the prion protein
Scott Barbuto '03
After Bowdoin: MD/PhD Program at Harvard Medical School
Synthesis, purification, and optical spectroscopy of dimethyl polyenes
Elizabeth Barney '03
After Bowdoin: Tufts Veterinary School