Spring 2022 Chemistry Commencement
The Department of Chemistry held a commencement reception for the Spring 2022 undergraduate class on May 8th. The reception included refreshments, photo opportunities, welcoming remarks from teaching professor Kate Masters, a presentation of the Priestley Prize to Dr. Joe Houck, student awards, motivating comments from Department Marshal Carolyn Telfer, and individual recognition of the graduates.
This was the first in-person reception since before the pandemic, and many were in attendance. The Willaman Bridge, which connects the Chemistry and Life Sciences buildings, was filled with students, parents, grandparents, siblings, faculty, and staff. Some family members traveled as far as India to celebrate their graduate! Transfer student Abigayle Ward was given a surprise visit by her Lehigh Valley campus faculty advisor, Dr. Julie Ealy, who presented Abigayle with the L. Peter Gold Scholarship. And those who could not travel still had the chance to ZOOM into the reception; All the way from China, family members of Zhijie (Steve) Wang watched Dr. Paul Cremer present Steve with the Peter Breen Scholarship.
The graduates were individually recognized by a faculty member who inspired them the most during their four years in the chemistry undergraduate program. The faculty shared fond memories and future plans of their graduates. Some had defined plans for graduate school while others were waiting to hear back from interviews with industry companies. As a token to remember their time with Penn State Chemistry, each graduate was given a department pen, mug, and a 3D print of the Lion Shrine engraved with their class year. The 3D print was created by fellow graduate, Alaina Kiffer. To top off the celebration, the graduates stood in a group holding their mugs with dry ice seeping out. This allowed for fun photo opportunities.
Congratulations to all our graduates!
Fall 2021, Spring 2022, and Summer 2022
Ameen Bader
Zihan Geng
Jincheng Han
Shea Hicks
Taylor Hufnagel
Sinhee Hwang
Christopher Jameson
Kavisha Kharawala
Alaina Kiffer
Jihyun Kim
Timothy Lou
Elizabeth Lunney
Stephanie Reyes Munoz
Nicholas Secosky
Jonathan Seymore
Yacun Shen
Mitchell Stry
Devon Sweeder
Olivia Tancredi
Carolyn Telfer
Emily Thompson
Hannah Venturini
Zhijie Wang
Yuanhang Wang
Max Weissberger
Tanner Wolf
Hannah Yang