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As a Baird Scholar at the University of Arizona, Grace has enjoyed an undergraduate experience greatly defined by her commitment to public service and a passion for the sciences. She has volunteered with the Tzu Chi Buddhist Relief Foundation and Chicanos Por La Causa, earning a Volunteer Group of the Year award for her work in overseeing childcare classes for abused youth.
Since her freshman year of high school, she has conducted research in Dr. Mark Haussler’s laboratory in the biochemistry department, characterizing the roles of the vitamin D receptor and its related nuclear receptors as transcription factors.
She has also conducted research at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Dr. Perry Blackshear’s Peptide Hormone laboratory where she developed a surrogate marker protein reporter system to analyze tristetraprolin’s regulatory effects of mRNA degradation. Grace’s research in both of these laboratories resulted in her selection as a Barry M. Goldwater Scholar as well as several co-authorships on publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Currently she is studying axonal migration during neuronal development of Manduca sexta in Dr. Alan Nighorn’s neurobiology lab.
Grace serves as a biochemistry ambassador, biochemistry tutor and biochemistry peer mentor and has volunteered in the Ambulatory Surgery Department and Pediatrics Ward at the University Medical Center. She has also served on the University's Student Health Advisory Committee.
Grace is on the staff of Persona Magazine, the university's undergraduate literary and fine arts journal, and trains in Taekwondo, currently holding a first degree black belt. She is also currently working with the College of Science on developing Nexus, the UA's undergraduate Journal of Science and Technology information database.
She was selected into Phi Beta Kappa as a sophomore, winning the University of Arizona’s Phi Beta Kappa Howard Service Award for her involvement in the community. She is also a College of Science Galileo Circle Scholar and has been named to the All-USA College Academic Second Place Team.
From her four years at the university, Grace has developed her desire and ability to effect change in the community. As a sophomore, Grace founded and has directed InnoWorks at the UA, a non-profit STEM-education initiative aimed at serving local undeserved middle school students. The primary goals of InnoWorks are to (1) provide students from underprivileged backgrounds with an opportunity to explore the real-world links among science and engineering disciplines, (2) promote teamwork, enthusiasm for learning and career interests in science and engineering, (3) utilize cutting-edge neuroscience and educational research to develop mentoring and pedagogical methods that build problem-solving skills and student confidence, (4) harness higher-education expertise to benefit youth and foster the development of synergistic relationships between universities and communities, and (5) develop opportunities to inspire volunteerism, passion for service and entrepreneurship in college students to prepare them as tomorrow’s educators, leaders and role models. The past three years, Grace and over 50 college volunteers have raised over $35,000 collaborating with university faculty, support staff, public schools and participants’ families to run two successful summer programs. Grace has also served as the Chief Curriculum Officer of United InnoWorks Academy to coordinate curriculum development efforts among the national chapters of InnoWorks.
Grace will attend Harvard Medical School’s Harvard-M.I.T. Health Sciences and Technology M.D. Program this fall. She plans to pursue a Master’s in public policy or business administrations and intends to follow a career as an academic physician.
Matthew Hall
Matthew Hall graduates summa cum laude and with honors with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in religious studies.
During his undergraduate career, Matthew has served the University of Arizona in several different capacities. Since his sophomore year, he has been a resident assistant in Apache-Santa Cruz hall and an Arizona Ambassador. For his efforts to recruit and retain students in his junior year, Matthew became the first UA student to be honored with the Peter W. Likins Inclusive Excellence Award.
In addition, Matthew served as president of the Episcopal Campus Ministry for three years and worked as an undergraduate teaching assistant for an upper division mathematics class which earned him the Lusk Endowment Scholarship award.
Matthew has a passion for diversity. He is certified as a SafeZone facilitator which works to foster a safe environment for the UA’s LGBTQ and greater community. He has actively participated in diversity and social justice initiatives such as Put Yourself in Her Shoes, combating violence against women, and the Muslim Student Association’s annual Fast-a-thon. Matthew has also volunteered for the locally-based Zambian Children’s Fund, which helps to provide for orphaned children in Zambia.
Matthew has also served the Episcopal Church in multiple ways. He became the youngest deputy ever to represent Arizona to the triennial national convention of the Episcopal Church. In addition to his national work, Matthew has also worked at the state and local levels, as a counselor for a church camp in Prescott, Arizona and a Sunday school teacher for a Tucson Episcopal church.
Next fall, Matthew will begin a four-year JD/MTS joint degree program at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He eventually hopes to work in either canon law or constitutional law, specializing in cases involving religion, and perhaps one day to earn a doctorate degree.
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