Dana and Carlton Jewers, Altoona, Iowa, announce the birth of their son, Beau Daniel Jewers, on April 1, 2009, at Mercy Medical Center, Des Moines.

Beau has two brothers, Jake, 4, and Kale, 2.

His maternal grandparents are Darrel and Leah Rurode, Eudora; paternal grandparents are Tom and Judy Jewers, Independence, Kan.; and great-grandmother is Mary Stong, Independence, Kan.

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Nicholas Shears, son of Dirk Shears, Lawrence, and a 2008 graduate of Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla., was awarded the Fulbright Award for study and research in Finland. His research will focus on the impact of the Chernobyl nuclear accident on Finnish conceptions of land, wilderness and the environment.

Shears will work with a research team at the University of Turku under the direction of Dr. Timo Myllyntaus, a leading authority on the economic, social, and environmental history of the country.

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Molly and Carlos Chavez, Wichita, announce the birth of their son, Quinten Gabriel Chavez, on April 12, 2009, at Wesley Medical Center, Wichita.

Quinten has a brother, Garrett Dennis Chavez, 3.

His maternal grandparents are Bruce Meyer and Sara Feeney-Meyer, Wichita, and the late Dennis Feeney; and paternal grandparents are Gabriel and Amy Chavez, Lawrence.

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Hope Atchison and Jason O’Bryon, both of Lawrence, were named members of Sigma Alpha Lambda, a national leadership and honors organization, at Kansas University. The organization is dedicated to promoting and rewarding academic achievement and providing members with opportunities for community service, personal development and professional fulfillment.

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Washburn University’s annual mass media department banquet honored area students receiving scholarships and outstanding student awards April 14 in the Washburn Room in the Memorial Union.

Derek Huff, Lawrence, and Jessyka Coulter, Linwood, both received Zula Bennington Greene Endowed Scholarships, and Joshua King, Overbrook, received the Thad M. Sandstrom Memorial Scholarship. Danielle White, Berryton, was named outstanding student in advertising.

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Zachary Moore, Langston Hughes School, Lawrence, received an honorable mention in the Kansas University 2009 Mathematics Competition on April 4.

More than 221 students in third through 12th grades from Lawrence, Olathe, Overland Park and Kansas City area schools, participated in the event.

The exams consisted of five questions that took 40 minutes to complete. Jack Porter, professor of mathematics, coordinated the competition, which was in conjunction with the mathematics department’s Mathematics Awareness Month (MAM) activities. The theme for this year’s celebration is Mathematics and Climate. Bozenna Pasik-Duncan, professor of mathematics, coordinates the MAM activities.