Miss Next Century 2015 | Kara Wilke

Kara Wilke (left) with her sisters Caitlyn and Bryn (more about her sisters below). Image credit: Christy Tyler Photography.

Kara Wilke is an American mechanical engineer, former championship level Irish Dancer, and certified Irish Dance Instructor (T.C.R.G.) through the An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG). Some might say she lives in two “worlds” – one that involves metal properties, mechanics, and lots of math – and another that involves rhinestones, curly wigs, fancy dresses, and crazy fast feet!

Wilke received her BS in Mechanical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2009, graduating with cum laude honors. Throughout her college career, she was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honors Society, Senior Design Project Leader, and has since acquired her Engineer in Training (E.I.T.) license and Six Sigma Green Belt Certification. Her work with designs, testing, systems, processes, manufacturing plants, and customers have allowed for packaging improvement and innovations in the field to take place leading to new designs and several million dollars of savings.

Kara Wilke, 2007
Wilke started Irish Dance at the age of 11 and continued to dance throughout college, advancing to the Open Championship level in competition. She has competed and placed at the national level, and at 17 began to assist in classes to help the younger dancers. After retiring from competition, she pursued her dream of becoming a Certified Irish Dance Teacher, TCRG (Teagascóir Choimisiúin le Rinci Gaelacha), all the while working as a Project Design Engineer.

Wilke with one of her dancers,
Caroline, at 2014 regionals.

Wilke is an instructor at the Mayer School of Irish Dance and has been the the leader of the Mayer Performance Team for the past three years. The performance team gives the dancers opportunities to perform on television, in parades, as well as in nursing homes around St. Patrick’s Day (those are her favorite!). Her passion and talent has helped others hone their skills, and brought several dancers to compete at Regional, National, and World competitions all over the United States, Ireland, England, Scotland, and Canada. The ability to take her knowledge as an Engineer and also her talent as an Irish Dance instructor by crossing over the learning potential in both fields, has led Kara to become innovative at work and a great motivator with both coworkers and dancers.

Wilke and her Mother at 2009 Nationals

Throughout all of these accomplishments, there’s one thing that has kept her sane and striving for more – Kara’s family. Her parents and four siblings have provided support and guidance throughout her life, and continue to do so, due to the fact that they are all in the STEM fields as well (3 with their Bachelors in Computer Science, 2 with their Masters, one with her PhD, and a partridge in a pear tree). Her mother, as one of the first females to graduate from her school with Bachelors in Computer Science, and along with her sisters – Caitlyn with her PhD in Pharmacoeconomics and Bryn with her Masters in Chemistry – especially provide inspiration and motivation to push for bigger and better.

Wilke was named as our fifth Miss Next Century in 2015.

Design Idol, Culture Icon | Majora Carter

Majora Carter is an American social entrepreneur, environmental justice activist, urban revitalization strategist, real estate developer, and radio host.

Carter graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and later received a BA at Wesleyan University. She then completed her MFA at NYU in 1997 and has received multiple honorary doctorate degrees from universities including Wesleyan, Knox, and The New School.

Carter founded Sustainable South Bronx in 2001, a nonprofit organization created to provide environmental justice solutions to challenges facing the community. Her initiatives have included multiple green-infrastructure projects and urban revitalization policy development, as well as diversity-focused green and technology industry development in inner-city areas.

Carter's TEDtalk in 2006 was one of the initial six presentations that launched the TED website. Other accolades include: the Goldman Sachs' "100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs", a Peabody Award from the University of Georgia, the Liberty Medal for Lifetime Achievement from the NY Post, the Rachel Carson Award from the National Audubon Society, the Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Humanitarian Service from NYU, and the Environmental Advocate of the Year from NRDC. Carter is also a McCarther Genious Fellow.

Carter is a Board Member of the US Green Building Council and the Andrew Goodman Foundation.

Carter was added to our PISA List in 2014.

Twitter: @majoracarter

Culture Icon | Adrienne Keene

Image credit: Melanie Rieders via Harvard Gazette
Adrienne Keene (Cherokee) is a Native American researcher and blogger. Keene received her BA in Cultural & Social Anthropology and Native Merican Studies from Stanford University in 2007 and earned her Doctorate in Education from Harvard in 2014. Keene's graduate research focused on Native (American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian) access to higher education and the role of pre-college access programs in Native student success. Keene was a recipient of the Harvard University Presidential Scholarship and her dissertation was selected for the 2013-2014 National Academy of Education/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship. She was also the first recipient of the Harvard Graduate School of Education Kolajo Paul Afolabi Award for Educational Justice in 2013.

Keene has volunteered with College Horizons, a nonprofit organization that assists Native students with college applications for over 10 years.

Keene's website and blog, Native Appropriations is a forum for discussing representations of Native peoples. Keene and Native Appropriations have received international praise for challenging stereotypes, misrepresentations, and cultural appropriations of Native peoples in fashion, media, and popular culture. Keene has also written for Racialicious, Sociological Images, Bitch Magazine, Indian Country Today, as well as other print and online media outlets.

Keene was added to our Citizens of the Next Century List in 2013 and was named as our fourth Miss Next Century in 2014.

>> Facebook: Native Appropriations
>> Website/Blog: Native Appropriations
>> Twitter: @NativeApprops

Sceleb | Feryal Özel

Feryal Özel is a Turkish astrophysicist. Özel completed her BS in Physics and Applied Mathematics at Columbia in 1996 and her MS in Physics in 1997 at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen. She received her Phd in Astrophysics from Harvard University in 2002. Özel is currently an Associate Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Arizona. She is the recipient of many awards and fellowships and published numerous articles on a variety of topics. Özel is also very interested in sustainable energy and participates in the Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy (ARISE).

In addition to her academic work, Özel has written articles for mainstream press and appeared on CNN International and several TV shows including the Universe series on History Channel and Big Ideas on PBS. Özel also worked with Louis Vuitton as a spokesperson to support women's literacy in the Middle East. In 2010, Özel also served as a spokesperson for a Louis Vuitton women's literacy campaign. 

Özel has been on our Stylish Scientist List since 2012. She was also added to our PISA List and Citizens of the Next Century List in 2013.

Sceleb | Diane Nalini de Kerchkov

Diane Nalini de Kerckhov is a Canadian physicist, Rhodes Scholar, and jazz singer. She received her PhD in Materials Science from Oxford in 1999, completed post-docs at Oxford from 1999 to 2002, and was an Assistant Professor in the physics department at the University of Guelph from 2005 until 2011 when she joined Environment Canada as a policy analyst.

De Kerchkov's career as an international jazz singer was rooted in her training in ballet, jazz, and modern dance. In 2001, she was one of two finalists for the UK's Young Jazz Vocalist of the Year awards and was nominated for the Grand Prix de Jazz General Motors at the 2002 Montreal International Jazz Festival. De Kerchkov writes and sings in four languages and has released four CDs. Her most recent collection, Kiss me Like That, was inspired by her work in physics and astronomy. She performed at events around the world including events for President Bill Clinton and Sir Paul McCartney.

Below is her May 2013 talk and performance at TedxDawsonCollege:

Sceleb | Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin is an American professor, author, and advocate for animal rights and autism. She was born in Boston, MA, to Richard Grandin and Eustacia Cutler. Grandin was diagnosed with autism at the age of 4 in 1951 which made her school years quite challenging but it also became a motivating element of her life, research, and advocacy work.

Grandin received her B.A. at Frankin Pierce College in 1970, her M.S. in Animal Science at Arizona State University in 1975, and her Ph.D in Animal Science from the University of Illinois in 1989. Grandin has also received honorary doctorates from the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph and Duke University. She currently teaches livestock behavior and facility design at Colorado State University and consults with the livestock industry on the same topics. Grandin's work in animal behavior has revolutionized the livestock industry around the world by changing the way livestock are handled in order to reduce stress. Grandin's work also proved valuable in human behavior and she is also well known as the creator of the squeeze machine used to calm hypersensitive people.

Grandin has appeared on many TV shows including 20/20, 48 Hours, Larry King Live, PrimeTime Live, the Today Show, as well as being featured in dozens of newspapers and magazines that include Discover, Forbes, People, Time, the New York Times, and U.S. News and World Report. In 2010, she was a TED speaker and Time Magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Grandin herself has authored over 400 articles in both scientific journals and livestock periodicals and eight books with Animals in Translation and Animals Make Us Human both making the New York Times best seller list.

>> 2010 TED Talk - The world needs all kinds of minds
>> Wikipedia - Temple Grandin

Design Idol | Summer Rayne Oakes

A woman of both brains and beauty, model, activist, tv personality, and entrepreneur, Summer Rayne Oakes, is a true Future-ish "it girl". With degrees in environmental science and entomology from Cornell and lots of time in front of many cameras she speaks eloquently and energetically about her passion for people and the planet. Her audiences range from students and CEOs to producers and politicians making her truly a force of and for nature. Not confined to just social and environmental issues, in public settings Summer refers to herself as a "cause model" and explains that it is a role we all can take up when we find something we're passionate about.

One of her most recent accolades is winning the 2011 Cartier Women’s Initiative Award with co-founder Benita Singh for Source4Style, an online marketplace and community for sustainable textiles and other materials.

Oakes is one of our favorite Design Idols, was called out as one of our Emerging Minds in 2006, was one of the first individuals added to our Citizens of the Next Century List, and - in 2012 - was named as our second Ms. Next Century.

Learn more about her work at www.summerrayne.net or follow her on Twitter.