Stephanie Miller

A former Butler High School student is one of four graduate students who will study at a U.S. Department of Energy facility as part of a new fellowship.

Stephanie Miller, a former Butler resident who graduated in 2012, is one of the first recipients of the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration Laboratory Residency Graduate Fellowship, supporting her studies in plasmas and nuclear fusion at the University of Michigan. The program focuses on Ph.D. candidates working in selected areas important to national security.

Fellows will serve at least two 12-week residencies at one or more of four DOE sites. The program encourages students to pursue their thesis research during their stays and to take on additional, extended residencies.

Miller will serve her first residency at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico. Miller received a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering and radiological sciences from Michigan in 2016.

Erika Hiwiller of West Sunbury, was named as one of Thiel College’s October Students of the Month.

Hiwiller, a 2015 graduate of Moniteau High School, is a history major. After graduating from Thiel, she plans to attend graduate school.

She is vice president of Chi Omega fraternity and treasurer of Pi Nu Epsilon musical performing arts honor society. She is also in Alpha Chi national honor society, the Order of Omega Greek leadership society, and Lambda Sigma sophomore honor society. Hiwiller is a member of the Dietrich Honors Institute, the Thiel Tomcat Marching Pride, the flute choir, and the environmental club.

Hiwiller conducted surveys for a unique recycling convention in order to develop the event further. She has led stations at Pymatuning Field Day for Greenville High School’s ecology class and been involved in the Earth Day activities that Thiel conducts each spring.

Hiwiller is the daughter of Angela Smith, of West Sunbury and the late Eric Hiwiller.