Presidential Fellows

CASEY COLE-2015 Scholar
major & degree: Computer Science & Engineering, Ph.D.
hometown: Urbana, OH
contact: coleca@email.sc.edu
What brought you to USC?: I was recruited out of my undergraduate
program to stay here at USC and pursue a Ph.D.
What do you hope to accomplish while you pursue your degree?:
Through my studies and research I hope to gain the needed skills
to continue on into academia in either the role of a researcher or a
lecturer.
Fun fact about yourself: I play a lot of soccer. It serves as both exercise and stress reliever.
Research Key Words: computational biology, bioinformatics, algorithms, neural networks, proteins,
structure, dynamics, NMR
DOT COLLINS-2014 Scholar
major & degree: Sport & Entertainment Management, Ph.D.
hometown: Baldwin, NY
contact: dorothyc@email.sc.edu
I am excited to be a part of the first cohort of Ph.D. students in Sport
and Entertainment Management at USC. I earned my B.A. in Comparative
Religious Studies from Lawrence University, where I was a twosport
varsity athlete. I then went on to earn a second Bachelor’s
in English Literature from Southwest Minnesota State University.
After college, I initially began a career in the communications field but
gravitated quickly toward a full-time swim coaching career, while continuing to do some freelance
sport writing. In 2012, I returned to school at Old Dominion University to pursue a master’s degree
in Sport Management, and found an academic field that I love. My master’s thesis, which examined
the effects of both new media and demographic factors on team identification in non-local NFL
fans, represents my primary academic interests, fan identification and consumer behavior. When not
working, I still enjoy coaching youth sports and teaching children to swim, as well as spending time
with my partner and our three children.
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