April 10, 2006

NORMAN – James Dizikes, of Edmond, is this year’s recipient of the Clayton Fever Scholarship, given to the outstanding senior in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Philosophy at the University of Oklahoma. Micah Sielert, also of Edmond, is the 2006 Wade Scholarship recipient, which is given to the outstanding junior in the department.

Dizikes, who is majoring in philosophy and physics, is a 2001 graduate of Edmond North High School. He decided to minor in philosophy early in his OU career, but after studying ancient philosophy during his first summer, he became a full-fledged philosophy major. His current interests are in epistemology and metaphysics, specifically the fundamental questions about physics and mathematics. After taking a break from his studies at OU, Dizikes is considering attending graduate school.

Sielert, the 2006 Wade Scholarship recipient, graduated from Edmond Memorial High School in 2001. He came to OU after beginning his college career at the University of Central Oklahoma. Sielert’s main interests concern the self and identity, and social and political philosophy. He also has focused on classes in the social sciences, literature and German. Sielert is spending the spring 2006 semester studying German at Karl-Franzens University in Graz, Austria, as part of the OU Study Abroad Program. After graduation, he hopes to return to Europe or go to Japan to teach English, while deciding on plans for graduate school.

The Feaver Scholarship was established in 1988 by Audrey Maehl, now of Santa Fe, N.M., to honor J. Clayton Feaver, a longtime faculty member in the philosophy department. Feaver was one of the department’s most popular teachers and was a well-known speaker around the state. He held the department’s Kingfisher College Chair in the Philosophy of Religion and Ethics from 1951 until his retirement in 1981. Maehl received her master of arts degree in philosophy from the University of Oklahoma in 1955 and was the first Kingfisher Fellow.

The Wade Scholarship was established in 2001 by Larry R. and Mary Jane Wade of Elk City in honor of their daughter, Mary Elizabeth Wade. She was the recipient of the 2000 Feaver Scholarship and received her philosophy degree from OU in 2001. The Wade Scholarship, offered to the department’s outstanding junior with a preference for students who have an emphasis in logic, helps support the student’s studies during the senior year.