Laura E. Loder Selected as Student Marshal for Eberly College of Science
31 July 2001 -- Laura E. Loder, of Deer Lake, Pennsylvania, has been selected as the Eberly College of Science student marshal for summer commencement exercises at Penn State on 4 August.
A biology major, Laura was selected to represent her class because of her outstanding academic record. During her undergraduate years at Penn State, she earned a 3.9 grade-point average. She also conducted research in the laboratories of Sarah Assmann, professor of biology, and Daniel Royse, professor of plant pathology.
Along with those achievements, Laura earned numerous awards and honors during her undergraduate career. She was honored as an Evan Pugh Scholar as a senior and junior, earned the Kramer Scholarship, and was named a member of Phi Beta Kappa honor society.
She also worked for the University Police Security and Traffic Unit, often directing traffic for events on campus. She will not have to work during her graduation weekend, though.
After graduating from Blue Mountain High School and starting her career at Penn State Schuylkill, Laura transferred to the University Park campus. She believes the variety of educational experiences, with a mix of small and large classes, provided important challenges that helped her as a person and shaped her success as a student.
"It's really hard to believe when you're selected as student marshal," Laura says. "It's just not something you set out to achieve. There are so many strong students on campus and within our college that you could never start to consider the honor a possibility."
At the same time, she does know exactly when her intense interest in biology, specifically plant biology, took root.
"Professor Rod Heisey at the Schuylkill campus was an inspiration," she says. "He was always so excited about plants, and he passed that enthusiasm along to his students. He's the reason for my interest in the biology of plants more than the biology of animals."
She has selected Barbara De Hart, an instructor of biology, to be her faculty escort for commencement.
Laura will be accompanied to the ceremony by her parents, Linda and Wes Loder, the librarian at the Schuylkill campus, and her brother Scott and sister Lisa , students at the University Park campus.