Saryet Kucukemiroglu to Represent Penn State's Eberly College of Science as Student Marshal at Summer Commencement 2012
Saryet Kucukemiroglu of York, Pennsylvania will be honored as the student marshal for the Eberly College of Science during Penn State University's summer commencement ceremonies on Saturday, 11 August, at the University Park campus. Saryet's faculty escort for the commencement exercises will be Durland O. Shumway of the Department of Statistics.
Saryet will graduate from Penn State with a 3.86 grade-point average and bachelor's degrees in life science and biostatistics with a minor in business. She is a recipient of a research award for Best Paper at the 2011 Conference of the International Academy of Business and Public Administration Disciplines; a service award, which she was granted for being a session discussant at the 2011 Conference of the International Academy of Business and Public Administration Disciplines; a Keystone Honor Society Award in both 2010 and 2011; a Campus Academic Honors Award in both 2009 and 2011; and a Penn State University Honors Scholarship, which she was awarded in 2007. She has been on the Dean's List every semester during her years at Penn State.
In the laboratory of Robert Farrell, a Penn State associate professor of biology, Saryet experimented with Vero cells --- experimental lineages of cells that are sometimes used to make vaccines -- and HT-1080 tumor cells -- experimental lineages of fibrosarcoma cancer cells that are used extensively in biomedical research. She analyzed how these cells react to novel bioactive compounds. In addition, she has studied the relationship between various factors of wellness and customer satisfaction in dental care with Ali Kara, a Penn State professor of business administration, and she presented her research findings at the International Academy of Business and Public Administration Conference.
In her free time, Saryet enjoys listening to music, visiting art museums and ancient historical sites, playing the piano, watching movies, and traveling. After she graduates, she plans to enter a doctoral-degree program in biostatistics at Florida State University.
Saryet said that she feels very honored to have been selected as a student marshal. She added that "the most important memory I will take with me from my time at Penn State is how many wonderful friends I had and how I learned so much from the people I met."
Saryet, a graduate of York Suburban High School, will be accompanied at commencement by her father, Orsay Kucukemiroglu, who earned master's of science and master's of art degrees at Penn State; her mother, Alexa Kucukemiroglu, who earned a bachelor of science degree at Penn State; and her sister, Setenay Kucukemiroglu, who currently is majoring in marketing at Penn State.