Alumni Profiles and News

Jackson Boyar

During his junior year of high school, Jackson lived in Beijing with a Chinese host family, speaking only Mandarin. Since then, Jackson has embraced Chinese culture; he devoted his undergraduate studies to becoming a “中国通” (a China expert). In 2010, Jackson represented Indiana University at Princeton in Beijing, and placed 3rd in a Beijing-Tianjin Mandarin speech contest. During the 2010-2011 academic school year, Jackson completed his Flagship Capstone year by studying business-related fields at Nanjing University, and interned at a Shenzhen-based logistics firm. After nearly four years of intensive "China study", Jackson has developed entrepreneurial aspirations which he hopes to pursue in his post-Flagship years. Presently, he is an associate at strategic management consulting company in Boston that works with Fortune 500 and middle market companies to help them strategically engage in environments around them. The company has 20 offices across the world, including one in Beijing and one in Shanghai.

Abraham Gerber

Abraham graduated from IU with majors in Political Science and East Asian Languages and Cultures, as well as a minor in Linguistics. Abraham has been fascinated with China ever since his freshman year at IU, and served as a research assistant to East Asian Languages and Cultures Department faculty for four years. Currently, he is a second years Masters student in Political Science at National Taiwan University (NTU), working on a thesis relating to the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) policy toward the United States. He is on a 'full ride' scholarship for tuition and living expenses from the Taiwanese government. In his spare time, he is typically found playing the piano or studying Classical Chinese.

Zach Grammel

Zach is a local Indiana resident who majored in Marketing and Public Policy at the Kelley School of Business. During his time as an IU Flagship student, he completed a Chinese paper on the herding industry and its effects of desertification in Inner Mongolia, as well as a paper looking at green packaging trends in the Chinese food industry. He was fortunate to study abroad at the National Taiwan Normal University Mandarin Training Center and the Capital University of Economics and Business Associated Colleges of China during the summer of 2008 and 2009, respectively. In addition to everything Chinese, he enjoys swimming, Star Trek, creative design, Japanese, and emerging policy trends.

Roy Hooper

Roy completed his Flagship Capstone at Nanjing University.  His majors included: East Asian Language and Culture (Chinese), Near Eastern Language and Culture (Arabic) and International Studies. He completed an honors thesis through the International Studies Department entitled "Playing Different Games: Chinese and American Foreign Policy in the Middle East and North Africa". Roy also attended the Flagship Chinese Institute at Indiana University and completed the summer session of Associated Colleges in China's Intensive Chinese program.  In his free time, he enjoys cooking, reading, tinkering with computers and playing soccer.

Patrick Johndro

A native Texan, Patrick hails from Fort Worth and graduated from Indiana University where he majored in East Asian Languages and Cultures (read: Chinese). A prolific reader, at the age of fourteen Patrick first nurtured his enthusiasm for all things China-related when he read Luo Guanzhong’s ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’. This kicked off a series of events that ended with Patrick choosing IU to study Chinese. Besides Chinese and reading, Patrick's hobbies include creative writing, playing the piano, watching and playing soccer, and traveling.

Luke Martineac

Luke is recent graduate of the Kelley School of Business, majoring in Business Economics and Public Policy. As an F-16 pilot's son and having lived in over 10 States, he has developed a love for travel and adapting to new environments. After his first semester at Indiana University and meeting several Chinese friends, he realized his path in life was leading him to China, and began 1st year Chinese in the fall of 2007. Luke is currently working at an Investment Immigration Consulting agency in Shanghai. He is the GM for their Shanghai operations, and his duties include office management, marketing and project development and analysis, seminars and presentations for Chinese immigration agencies, group and individual consulting for investments and immigration, and creating manuals for the immigration process. All of his duties are performed in Chinese.

Owen Mason

Owen majored in Economic Consulting and Operations Management at IU. He became interested in Chinese language and culture in high school and he is currently interested in the development of social media in China. Owen's goal after graduation is to work in China as a consultant in the social media/telecom sector. His hobbies include backpacking through China, keeping up-to-date on international issues, and drinking bubble tea. Studying Chinese is a challenging but gratifying experience for Owen. His advice to new or future "Flagshipees" would be to have fun while learning the language and culture, it will take you far!

Adam Molon

Adam graduated with a degree in East Asian Languages and Cultures and Finance. He was inspired to pursue Chinese studies after reading Thomas L. Friedman's The World Is Flat, and completed Indiana University's first-year Chinese language courses during the 2006-07 academic year. Since then, he has interned at SouFun Holdings Ltd. in Beijing, Far East Energy Corporation in China's Shanxi province, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Suzhou. He also completed a year of study at National Taiwan University and received intensive Chinese language training under the U.S. Department of State. After studying finance and Chinese law at Nanjing University during his Capstone year, Adam decided to remain in China to pursue various professional opportunities.