Investiture 2021: Class Marshals

The Marshals carry specially commissioned batons engraved with the crest of the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies as they lead their peers in the Investiture procession. This year, we are highlighting their selection as Marshals for the virtual ceremony, and when they lead their peers in Dartmouth commencement exercises.

For the 2021 Investiture ceremony, we are delighted to recognize Wei Yan, PhD, Amanda Gokee, MALS, and Aarish Ravikumar Iyer, MS, as Investiture Marshals.

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Wei Yan

Home: Dalian, China
Degree: PhD in Physics and Astronomy, with a focus on extragalactic astronomy and high-energy physics, more specifically the evolution of active blackholes and galaxies

When we asked Wei her reason for choosing Dartmouth, she said "To study from the most brilliant minds, while living in a peaceful environment with beautiful natural scenes and loving communities." During her time at Dartmouth, Wei Yan has both benefitted from and given back to each of these components of graduate life at Dartmouth. She joined with a BSc from the School of the Gifted Young at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), and has developed an incredibly strong portfolio of academic research and outreach, including serving as teaching assistant (TA) on undergraduate courses and as a TA facilitator for courses run by the Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning (DCAL). Her efforts have extended beyond campus and Wei has participated in a number of community outreach programs, including Dartmouth's Science Olympiad, Science Day, and working as a volunteer at the Upper Valley Haven – a local organization providing support for people experiencing homelessness.

Wei will be joining Penn State University this summer in Professor Neil Brandt's research group where, she says, she will "continue to uncover mysteries of the universe, in particular, of hidden black holes and galaxies."

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Amanda Gokee

Degree: Master of Arts in Liberal Studies, creative writing concentration

Amanda chose Dartmouth because of the strong Native American Program, "I knew I would have the chance to study alongside other indigenous students, as well the amazing indigenous faculty," she says. The flexibility of the MALS program allowed her to pursue a broad range of scholarly investigation that was integral to her final thesis: a novel examining threads of identity and belonging through agriculture, specifically the path of indigenous corn, tracing the nearly 5,000 years of its history. With a BA from Harvard, Amanda embraced intellectual life at Dartmouth, serving as editor-in-chief of the MALS Journal: Clamantis, working as a teaching assistant for the undergraduate writing program, as well as embracing all the opportunities afforded by the natural outdoors.

Amanda has taken a position as a reporter for the newly founded non-profit news outlet, the New Hampshire Bulletin. The Bulletin, based in Concord New Hampshire, provides coverage of the statehouse and state policy. Amanda writes about how policy impacts NH residents. 

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Aarish Ravikumar Iyer

Home: Mumbai, India
Degree: MS, Computer Science

The combination of financial aid and the caliber of faculty in the Computer Science department were what attracted Aarish to Dartmouth. "Being accepted to Dartmouth is one of the proudest moments of my life," he says. Working with Professor V.S. Subrahamanian, Professor Soroush Vosoughi, Professor Prasad Jayanti and Professor Charles Palmer enabled Aarish to develop his computer programming skills, leading to an award in the Style Change Detection Challenge held by PAN at the Conference and Labs of the Evaluation Forum (CLEF). The flexibility offered by the program also allowed Aarish to take classes in quantitative social sciences and government. While at Dartmouth, Aarish served as a resident fellow at School House.

Aarish will be taking a position as a software engineer at Amazon.