Anand Srinivasan Selected as Student Marshal for Penn State University's Eberly College of Science

Anand Srinivasan of Ontario, Canada, will be honored as the Eberly College of Science student marshal during summer commencement ceremonies on 9 August 2003 at the Penn State University Park campus.

A graduate of the University of Toronto Schools, Srinivasan will be accompanied at graduation by his parents, Anuradha and Nerur Srinivasan. He has selected Robert Mitchell, Professor of Biology, to be his faculty escort for the commencement exercises.

Srinivasan is a student in Penn State's 6-year, accelerated Premed-Med Program. Outstanding students are selected when they are high-school seniors for this special program, in which they earn both the B.S. and M.D. degrees in six years. They first complete two academic years and two summers at Penn State, followed by four years at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. Srinivasan is considering a career in otolaryngology, a specialty involving the ear, nose, and throat.

He was selected to represent his class because of his impressive academic record while earning his B. S. degree. Mitchell says, "Anand had an outstanding GPA of 3.98 after completing his two years at Penn State in the Premed-Med Program, and he continues to do well now that he is in medical school." In recognition of his stellar academic performance, Srinivasan was awarded the Evan Pugh Scholar Award in 2000.

At Penn State, Srinivasan was involved in varied extracurricular activities. He was a participant in the Penn State Racquetball and Intramural Racquetball programs. He also was selected to serve as a supplemental instruction leader for introductory science courses. As a member of the Undergraduate Student Government, he was an East Halls Senator for a year. He loves to play tennis and softball. He also has been helping out at a student-run health clinic (JEFFHOPE) for the homeless in Philadelphia.

Srinivasan says that he is very flattered to be selected as student marshal. "My two years at Penn State were great and prepared me for the world at large, both academically and socially. I was thus thankful that the institution that had given me so much had recognized me." He goes on to say that, "at medical school we learn not only about curing the disease itself, but about healing the person as a whole. We recognize--as all future leaders must--that while each occupation has some technical component learned through classes and countless lectures, there is also an equally important 'human' quality to everything. Penn State, with its diversity and size, prepares the student for this wonderful aspect of life."