Emily Very to Represent Penn State's Eberly College of Science as Student Marshal at Fall Commencement 2016

Emily Very of Murrysville, Pennsylvania, will be honored as the student marshal for the Eberly College of Science during Penn State University's fall commencement ceremonies on Saturday, December 17, 2016, on the University Park campus. Very’s faculty escort for the commencement exercises will be Aimin Liu, associate professor of biology.

Very will graduate with a 4.0 grade point average and a bachelor of science degree in science. She will continue her studies as part of the Eberly College of Science and Smeal College of Business integrated Science BS/MBA program. Very was a member of the dean’s list for all of her semesters at Penn State. She was the recipient of the President’s Freshman Award in 2013, the President Sparks Award in 2014, the Evan Pugh Junior Award in 2015, and the Even Pugh Senior Award in 2016. She also was named the Eberly College of Science Cooperative Education Student of the Year in 2015. During her studies, she received a Balog Scholarship from the Science BS/MBA Program, a Renaissance Scholarship from Penn State, the Meredith M. Gee Scholarship in Science from the Eberly College of Science, and the Smeal College of Business Administration Scholarship.

As part of the Science BS/MBA program, Very participated in three cooperative education work experiences during her undergraduate studies. Following her sophomore year, she joined the external supply team at GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare in Pittsburgh, PA. While there, Very co-managed a technical transfer of an industry-leading, protective oral-care product in order to establish dual-sourcing for cost reduction and risk mitigation. In the summer after her junior year, Very participated in a molecular genetics and developmental biology research internship with the Orwig Lab at the Magee-Womens Research Institute in Pittsburgh, PA. She worked to optimize protocols for immunocyto- and immunohisto-chemistry techniques using Rhesus macaque stem cells. In 2016, Very worked for six months with the project management organization at Johnson & Johnson in Fort Washington, PA, where she furthered her supply-chain knowledge by building and implementing process-improvement strategies to increase efficiency of the labeling process.

In addition to her academic achievements, Very was a member of the Eberly College of Science Student Council, a tutor and a proctor for the Penn State Department of Mathematics, and a co-founder of a mentoring program for Penn State Science BS/MBS students. She is currently a member of the Pennsylvania Lambda Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, the Smeal MBA Association, and the Proof of Relevance team for the Penn State Fund for Innovation.

“I was absolutely surprised upon finding out that I was asked to represent the Eberly College of Science at commencement as the student marshal,” said Very. “It is quite an honor to be selected and it is very rewarding to know that hard work is recognized even in such a large university.”

In addition to continuing her studies in the Science BS/MBA program after graduation, Very will be joining Deloitte Consulting LLP in the summer of 2017 as a Summer Associate in the firm’s Supply Chain and Manufacturing Operations practice. Upon completing her MBA, Very hopes to combine science and business in supply chain management and consulting within the life sciences and/or healthcare industries.

“One of the most influential lessons that I learned during my time at Penn State was to never let an opportunity pass by,” said Very. “As cliché as it may sound, learning to step out of one’s comfort zone and participate in the wide array of opportunities that Penn State offers is something that I truly hope all future graduates benefit from, as well.”

Very, a graduate of Franklin Regional Senior High School in Murrysville, PA, will be joined at commencement by her father, Ronald Very (Penn State College of Medicine ’86); her mother, Lesia Very (Penn State ’82); her brother, Ian Very (Penn State ’10); and her sister, Katie Very (Penn State ’11, ’13).