FOR RELEASE: Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Secondary Education Student Wins 2008 Senior Honor Citation
Jessica Fay and Zach Donnell
The Arkansas Alumni Association recognized University of Arkansas seniors Jessica Fay of Joplin, Mo.,and Zach Donnell of Miami, Okla., with the 2008 Senior Honor Citation awards during a luncheon with the Alumni Board of Directors on May 9 at the Janelle Y. Hembree Alumni House.
Established 43 years ago by the Arkansas Alumni Association, the Senior Honor Citation recognizes a University of Arkansas senior male and female who exhibit outstanding academic achievement, campus and community involvement and leadership. The citation includes a personal memento and a $1,000 cash award, along with permanent recognition on the student Honor Wall at the Alumni House.
Fay arrived at the University of Arkansas as an Alumni Association Legacy Scholar and Silas Hunt Distinguished Scholar. She participated in the Four-Year Honors Scholars Program in Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences. Within three years, she graduated in August 2007 with a bachelor's degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies.
She embraces diversity and has traveled abroad to more than a dozen different countries. The lessons she learned from life experiences will someday guide her own students. Fay is graduating with a Masters of Arts in Teaching and is actively pursuing a career in teaching.
"Now that I have received the Senior Honor Citation, I feel so honored. I always looked up to the past recipients as my mentors," Fay said. "To receive the same award as them means the world. I feel excited about the [award and will use it] to help create engaging learning experiences for my future students."
Donnell, a Chancellor's Scholar and Cherokee Nation Scholar, is graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in both chemistry and biology. He has worked closely with many UA professors performing research. Donnell most recently dedicated much of his academic work to research in the field of molecular phylogenetics, working with Dr. Jeffrey Silberman in the Department of Biological Science.
"Of all the things I'm grateful for from the University of Arkansas, the most important is my opportunity to take part in first-rate scientific research with engaging professors," Donnell said. "With the hands-on laboratory, presentation and scientific writing experience I've garnered over the past three years conducting undergraduate research, I feel fully prepared to begin my graduate studies next year at Princeton."
Donnell aspires to eventually starting his own research lab. He hopes to conduct research that will allow him to uncover fundamental aspects about how pathogens create disease. This knowledge could then be applied to cures for infectious diseases.