Baker Proud Fall 2017 - 23

BAKER PROUD | Fall 2017

Mike Ellis, '84
Global Director of Accessibility, Sprint

With Sprint headquarters practically
in Baker's backyard, the company is
familiar to many Baker students and
alumni. But what they may not know
is that the Sprint employee leading
some of the company's most state-ofthe-art work is a Baker graduate. Ellis
directs Sprint's relay services division,
which is dedicated to providing excellent and dependable wireless devices
and relay services to people with hearing and vision loss, ensuring that they
stay connected and can communicate
easily and effectively.
After learning leadership skills
during his senior year as a Presidential
Intern under Baker President Ralph
Tanner, it's not surprising Ellis found
himself in the White House years
later. In 2015, Ellis, was honored by
the White House as a Champion of
Change for his advocacy for people
with disabilities. The event was held
in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities
Act and honored advocates who work
to uphold and expand the spirit of the
ADA. Ellis has also received the Sprint
Legends Award, one of the company's
highest honors and reserved for leaders who make meaningful contributions to advancing the company, the
telecommunications industry, and the
surrounding community.

Lauren Breithaupt
Langston, '13
Doctoral Candidate, George Mason University

Lauren Breithaupt Langston came
to Baker planning to major in mass
media, but after one research methods
class, she knew she wanted to pursue
research psychology. Now a doctoral
candidate in clinical psychology at
George Mason University in Fairfax,
Virginia, she received a National
Science Foundation and Swedish
Research Council grant in January to
spend nine months at the Center for
Eating Disorder Innovation at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. While there, she has explored the
genetics, metabolomics, micro biome,
and neural correlates of anorexia
nervosa. Rather than focusing on
treating eating disorders, her research
focuses on preventing eating disorders
from developing into life-threatening
illnesses. Breithaupt Langston also was
one of 100 female doctoral students
from the United States and Canada
to receive a $15,000 Scholar Award
from the PEO Sisterhood in May 2017.
She will use it to finish her dissertation, which combines real-time data
collection methods via a smartphone
app and neuroscience to understand
how to change attitudes about weight
stigma.

Laura J. Peek, '02

Principal Scientist & Assistant Lab Director,
Oncimmune USA LLC

When Peek walked through her class
gate and across campus during her
commencement procession, she reflected on the memories and the lifelong bonds she'd made as an undergraduate. Fast-forward through earning
a PhD with honors in pharmaceutical
chemistry from the University of Kansas and receiving a Schering-Plough
Science and Innovation Award for her
doctoral research, and it's no wonder
that Peek's thoughtful reflection and
critical thinking have taken her to the
innovative edge of science.
Oncimmune is a clinical laboratory that has revolutionized early cancer detection through simple blood
tests. Peek's role as principal scientist
and assistant lab director sets her
up perfectly for future success as
Oncimmune follows up a clinically
available lung risk assessment with
similar developments for liver and
ovarian cancers.

Baker Built: We want to feature you!
We're proud of our alumni and their accomplishments and have been excited to showcase so many of them through our #BakerBuilt
stories this past year. Read about Baker alumni who are making an impact in their communities and beyond, and then head over to
facebook.com/BakerUniversityAlumniAssociation to see more. And don't forget to let us know about Baker alumni stories we need to
tell. Contact Doug Barth, '91, to recommend more alumni stories at doug.barth@bakerU.edu.

http://www.facebook.com/BakerUniversityAlumniAssociation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Baker Proud Fall 2017