An ophthalmic technician at Charlotte Optometric Clinic, Donnie Rhett Koonce, has a decade of experience in the field. A member of many nonprofits around Charlotte, North Carolina, and beyond, Donnie Rhett Koonce is a member of Lambda Alpha National Anthropology Honor Society (shortened to Lambda Alpha).
Founded in 1968, Lambda Alpha recognizes students’ scholarly work in anthropology and its subtypes, particularly cultural, linguistic, and biological, alongside archaeology. Open to undergraduate and graduate students; Lambda Alpha utilizes several measures to decrease operating costs and increase student access to their organization. They primarily maintain the one-time $25 application fee set upon Lambda Alpha’s founding; they also handle logistics via a virtual office.
Lambda Alpha runs a peer-reviewed journal to recognize student work and awards annual research grants. The Journal of Man, created in 1969, accepts both student-written and external content. The scholarships and research grants total about $17,000 annually, consisting of a $5,000 scholarship to a senior student chosen by the executive council and three pairs of $2,000 grants for archaeology, bio-anthropology, cultural and linguistic anthropology. Members of each Lambda Alpha chapter nominate grant recipients and submit them by March of the given award year.
