Dartmouth Students Named NH/VT Schweitzer Fellows, Promote STEM

Madeleine Yi ’18 and Juergen Buchsteiner ’18 are 2015–16 NH/VT Schweitzer Fellows.

Thayer School congratulates Madeleine Yi ’18 and Juergen Buchsteiner ’18 on receiving a joint 2015–16 New Hampshire/Vermont Albert Schweitzer Fellowship. The two first-year undergraduates plan to help 6- to 9-year-old students at the Marion Cross School in Norwich, Vermont develop an interest in engineering and science through participation in Junior FIRST® LEGO® League (Jr.FLL®). They are continuing a project started last year by previous Schweitzer Fellow Rachel Glikin ’17.

Planning to study engineering themselves, Yi and Buchsteiner bring personal enthusiasm for LEGO League to their fellowships.

“I joined Junior FIRST LEGO League because I know science can seem intimidating, especially to kids, and I wanted to show them how fun it can actually be!” says Yi.

“Some reasons I went into FIRST LEGO League were that I have always loved working with kids, and when I was a kid, I loved Legos!” says Buchsteiner.

According to the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship organization, Fellows implement service projects and develop lifelong leadership skills. “In doing so,” the organization states, “they will follow the example set by famed physician-humanitarian Albert Schweitzer, for whom their Fellowship is named.”

Yi and Buchsteiner are among 30 New Hampshire/Vermont Fellows for 2015–16, including 10 from Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. The two, like Glikin before them, are younger than most fellows. In fact, most fellows are graduate students.

Since 1996, the New Hampshire/Vermont Schweitzer Fellows Program has supported more than 450 Schweitzer Fellows in delivering more than 70,000 hours of service.