P A T R I C K.  J.  N O L E N. '00.

The following feature story appeared in the campus publication Mosaic in March, 2000.

Making the World a Better Place

It is a little-known fact that, at any moment, there are two locations on the equator opposite each other with the same temperature. Also at any point in time, there is a place on the Earth’s surface where the wind isn’t blowing. In his senior seminar on topology, Patrick J. Nolen ’00, a math and economics double major, recently proved these facts by applying fixed-point theorems. "Math is so beautiful," he says. "It’s either right or it’s wrong. There’s no ambiguity. Through math you see that the world acts in very concrete and very definite ways."

Outstanding student

At Trinity, Nolen’s ability to make mathematical sense of the world has earned him a number of prestigious honors. He was named this year’s President’s Fellow in mathematics for his outstanding achievement in his major. He is a past recipient of the Peter J. Schaefer Memorial Prize Award, presented to those who earn the highest grade in introductory economics, and he is a member of the Pi Mu Epsilon (mathematics) and the Pi Gamma Mu (social science) honor societies. His skills as a mathematician are also becoming better known beyond Trinity. Working with Lecturer in Mathematics Philip S. Brown, Jr., Nolen helped create mathematical models from Doppler radar weather data to determine how the size and number of raindrops affect a storm. Their work was presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Association of Cloud and Aerosol Physics last year.

Community service

Yet there is more to Nolen than an impressive academic record. His passion for mathematics is matched by his passion for people and his desire to serve humanity. "There’s no fun in having everything planned and perfect," he explains. "You need to have the variability and surprises that people provide." He sees economics as the perfect bridge between his two interests. "I see economics as a way of understanding people. It uses the rationality of mathematics to examine the seemingly chaotic ways that people interact with each other in society," he says.

He is an active participant in Trinity’s community service program and spent last summer in Ghana as a fellow in the College’s Human Rights Program. While there, he visited many small villages to teach residents about the dangers of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Nolen also taught basic math skills to teenage mothers who were forced out of school because of their pregnancies. "I was able to immerse myself in a culture different from my own while doing meaningful work," he says.

When he returned to campus last fall, Nolen served as a teaching assistant for the director of the Human Rights Program, Maryam Elahi, in her class on "International Human Rights Law and Advocacy." His dedication and interest in the subject impressed students and Elahi.

"Patrick is a very special person and a rare student," Elahi says. "I first got to know him when he applied for the Human Rights Program's fellowship in Ghana last summer. He was clear about his objectives and his commitment to social justice. He certainly made the most out of his experience in Ghana, giving to those with whom he worked and making the best use of his education at Trinity.

"Patrick also was a tremendous asset as a teaching assistant for my class," she continued. "In addition, he took a leading role in organizing the Human Rights Day vigil and chaired one of the panels. Patrick has tremendous leadership qualities; he is principled, compassionate, and articulate. There is no question in my mind that whatever profession he chooses, he will contribute to making the world a better place."

Watson Fellowship

As the eldest of six brothers from Ware, MA, Nolen developed a sense of compassionate responsibility at an early age. The Trinity community first experienced this during Nolen’s freshman year, when he founded the "Adopt a Grandparent" program. Now called "Gambling with Granny," the program engages Trinity students to play bingo and provide companionship to elderly residents from the nearby Trinity Hill Healthcare Center.

Currently, Nolen is co-chairman of Trinity’s Community Outreach Leadership Team (C.O.L.T) and is an active member of the Newman Club, Trinity’s student-run Catholic organization. The Newman Club’s former adviser, Sister Patricia Genz, died of leukemia in 1998, and Nolen and a friend, Julie A. Guilbert ’00, organized the "Have-a-Heart" bone marrow drive in her memory last April. During the event, 152 people were typed and registered as potential bone marrow donors. Trinity recognized his efforts by awarding him the College’s Human Relations Award for his outstanding service to the community.

More recently, Nolen has been nominated for a prestigious Watson Fellowship, which supports a year of travel and independent study following graduation. If selected, Nolen plans to use the insight he’s gained about the elderly in his community service activities to analyze personal values and government policy with respect to aging in Ireland, France, and South Africa. Eventually, he plans to pursue a Ph.D. in economics and help to formulate economic policy by working at the World Bank.

"We must treat each other with dignity and compassion, remembering that everyone is a unique and special individual who deserves our time and effort," he says.

-Simeon Ketchum ‘00

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