2026

Sep 13: Fall Membership Meeting, 4-7 pm, home of Amy Mykityshyn

Nov 5: SAR, 6:30 pm, National Academy of Sciences

Dec: Holiday Party, TBD

2027

Mar 9: Visit at University of Maryland

Mar 24: Visit at University of Virginia

Mar 31: Visit at Johns Hopkins University

Week of Apr 12: Visit at Georgetown University

Apr 22: Visit at George Washington University 

Dear ARCS MWC Members,

As summer begins to wind down, board members have been hard at work preparing another exciting year for ARCS Metro Washington. We have been planning our upcoming events, including this fall's Scholar Awards Reception (SAR) on Nov 5, while also beginning preliminary planning for our 2027 Eagle Award Celebration. We are looking forward to another year of supporting outstanding scholars.

We’ll kick off the new year with our Fall Membership Meeting on Sept 13, where we will announce our newest ARCS Light recipient. Each year, every ARCS Chapter selects an annual ARCS Light from its active membership to recognize an individual who has provided exceptional service and leadership in support of the Chapter. As we prepare to pass the torch, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to Elli Nesbitt, whose dedication, enthusiasm, and unwavering commitment have made her a truly inspirational ARCS Light throughout the past year. Thank you, Elli, for everything you do to support our Chapter and our mission.

A special thank you to Amy Mykityshyn for graciously hosting the Fall Membership meeting, Robyn Smith for coordinating the event logistics, and to our amazing Activities Committee for their planning efforts. We appreciate all of the time and effort that goes into making these gatherings so welcoming and enjoyable.

We look forward to seeing everyone this fall as we kick off another wonderful ARCS year together!

~ Julie Hohl and Jane Riddle, ARCS MWC Co-Presidents

Our Fall Membership Meeting and Social is Sun, Sept 13 from 4-7 pm at the beautiful home of Amy and Mark Mykityshyn.

It's an “End of Summer” potluck dinner that begins with appetizers and social at 4 pm. Enjoy catching up with old and new friends! Dinner begins at 5 pm followed by the ARCS business meeting at 6 pm. Significant others and guests can enjoy Amy and Mark's lovely home while ARCS members conduct the business meeting, including the announcement of the new ARCS Light. Click here to register.

There is plenty of street parking. Guests who need accessible parking may park in the driveway. Amy's home, patio and restroom are wheelchair accessible and mobility friendly.

Questions? Contact Mary Jo Ruane at mwcvpactivities@arcsfoundation.org or Julie Hohl and Jane Riddle at mwcpresident@arcsfoundation.org.

One of the highlights of the year is the ARCS MWC University Visits, to meet with our ARCS Scholars and their mentors and hear about their research. We're already planning for next year, so mark these dates on your calendar. We encourage all members to participate in at least one University Visit!

University of Maryland - Tues, March 9, 2027

University of Virginia - Wed, March 24, 2027

Johns Hopkins University - Wed, March 31, 2027

Georgetown University - Week of April 12, 2027

George Washington University - Thurs, April 22, 2027 

For a taste of our University Visits, click here to view the recording of the George Washington University visit on April 23, 2026!

Each year, all fifteen regional chapters of ARCS Foundation are invited to participate in the annual Chapter Challenge, a friendly competition to raise funds for ARCS National. Winners are determined by the total dollar amount of donations made to ARCS National by participants who contribute at least $50 on behalf of the chapter. Awards are given both for total contributed and chapter participation. This year's Chapter Challenge ended May 31. We are thrilled that ARCS MWC won First Place for the most donated by a chapter! With your help and generosity, we won a $1,500 Scholar Award Champion Grant. Thank you to all who participated!

We welcome our newest member, Dr. Natalie Gogotsi, who joined in June and is sponsored by Melissa Rhoads-Simpson. Melissa knows Natalie through their work together at Lockheed Martin and describes her as an outstanding talent and person, who today serves as the Technical Assistant to the CTO.

Natalie has been interested in STEM from a very young age and always knew she wanted to go into research and develop new materials. She earned her undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering at Drexel University, where she had opportunities to work in industry, a national lab, and academia during co-ops and then decided to go to graduate school for a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. Halfway through that degree, she realized she didn’t want to stay in academia and so found a position at Lockheed Martin afterwards, where she spent 6 years doing materials research before shifting to focus more on strategy development.  

A large part of Natalie's interest in STEM came from the fact that she was exposed to it from a young age and was shown how exciting and fun it can be. Because of that, some of her favorite ways to volunteer are at Science Festivals and Engineers Week events where she can do demos for kids and young students and get them excited about STEM and all the interesting possibilities there. 

Natalie views joining ARCS as a great way to give back and to support both undergraduate and graduate students in STEM. With the changes in the world and this country that we’ve seen in the past years, she thinks it’s more important than ever to support science and technology in the US and the students who are going to be the future leaders driving this country forward. 

Natalie attended the Eagle Award Celebration in May as Melissa’s guest and actively engaged other members during the evening - even committing to a donation! She says that hearing one of the students speak about how they were able to use their funding to help pay their rent and move closer to campus solidified her interest in joining ARCS. While there are many opportunities for scholarships out there, most of them are tied to tuition or fees or something else directly related to the student’s research. There are so many aspects of a student’s life, however, that are commonly overlooked but that play a massive role in their physical and mental wellbeing. Natalie views the fact that the Scholars funded by ARCS are given the flexibility to decide what would be best for them as a fantastic aspect of this organization. 

ARCS MWC Chapter Scholars for 2026-27 were announced at the Spring Membership Meeting - 15 Chapter Scholars and two Endowment Scholars. We are thrilled to have five Undergraduate Scholars this year, one at each of our partner universities! Undergraduate Scholars will be announced in the next few weeks.

We look forward to welcoming all our ARCS MWC Scholars this coming year!

Submit articles, pictures, pdfs, and website links by the 25th of each month for publication the following month to Helen Miller at mwcnewsletter@arcsfoundation.org. 

ARCS^® and its logo are registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

ARCS MCC

P.O. Box 60868

10221 River Road

Potomac, MD 20859-0868