Congratulations to all of our graduates from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry!
Erin Boyd
Departmental Scholar of Chemistry—Biochemistry Emphasis: Summa Cum Laude
Minor in Math
Thesis Title: Growth, Incubation, and Image Processing of Fluorescence of Anabaena flos-aquae and Microsystis aeruginosa
Thesis Advisor: Ingrid Fritsch
Abaigeal Brady
Departmental Scholar of Chemistry—Biochemistry Emphasis: Summa Cum Laude
Additional Major in Biology
Thesis Title: Effects of heparin and SOS on the aggregation of Wild Type Fibroblast Growth Factor-1 induced by SDS
Thesis Advisor: T.K.S. Kumar
Zackery Brown
Departmental Scholar of Chemistry: Cum Laude
Minor in Biology
Thesis Title: HfUiO-66 Thin Films Enable Rapid CO2 Fixation Via Epoxide Ring Opening
Thesis Advisor: Hudson Beyzavi
“Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s troubles is enough for today.” – Matthew 6:34
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted” – Luke 14:11
Davis Campbell
College Scholar of Chemistry—Biochemistry Emphasis: Summa Cum Laude
Additional Majors in Physics—Computational Emphasis, Mathematics—Applied Emphasis
Thesis Title: Mechanism of Action of Urushiol and Other Catechols with Proteins
Thesis Advisor: Wesley Stites
Amy Eggers
Departmental Scholar of Chemistry—Biochemistry Emphasis: Summa Cum Laude
Thesis Title: Analysis of Sugar Reduction Efficiency in Chicken Feed to Increase Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR) using Mobile Enzyme Sequestration Platforms
Thesis Advisor: Michael Ceballos
Carson Ercanbrack
College Scholar of Chemistry—Biochemistry Emphasis: Summa Cum Laude
Thesis Title: Genome-Wide Screening for Anti-Oxidative Stress Genes in Escherichia coli
Thesis Advisor: Chenguang Fan
Jacob Grygus
Departmental Scholar of Chemistry: Cum Laude
Minor in Mathematics
Thesis Title: Visible-Light-Induced Alkynylation of Strained Cycloaminals Using Hypervalent Iodone Reagents
Thesis Advisor: Nan Zheng
Mollie Henry
College Scholar of Chemistry—Biochemistry Emphasis: Summa Cum Laude
Thesis Title: A Generalized Understanding for the Galvanic Replacement Reaction on Cuprous Oxide
Thesis Advisor: Robert Coridan
It’s never too early to join a research lab, take a colloquia, or start writing your thesis! The feeling you get when you have finished your honors degree with months to spare is worth it. The effort you give in the beginning will be worth it in the end!
John Marrufo
College Scholar of Chemistry—Biochemistry Emphasis: Cum Laude
Additional Major in Psychology
Thesis Title: Design of a Culture Media for Optimal Cell Growth
Thesis Advisor: T.K.S. Kumar
Clay Martin
College Scholar of Chemistry—Biochemistry Emphasis: Magna Cum Laude
Minors in Spanish for the Professions, Medical Humanities
Thesis Title: Understanding the Non-Classical Secretion Mechanism of Interleukin 1 Alpha
Thesis Advisor: T.K.S. Kumar
Plan ahead for your thesis project, classes, and everything else you can! Start your research early so you can get the most out of it!
Samuel Massey
Departmental Scholar of Chemistry—Biochemistry Emphasis: Magna Cum Laude
Thesis Title: Applications and Syntheses of Vitachrome; A Literature Review
Thesis Advisor: Matt McIntosh
Great things come from hard work and perseverance. Working with the honors college and the advisors has set me up for success during my time at the U of A. I am so grateful to be a Razorback!
Sarah Mitchell
College Scholar of Chemistry—Biochemistry Emphasis: Magna Cum Laude
Minor in Medical Humanities
Thesis Title: Optimizing the Conductivity and Sensitivity of Radio Frequency Identification Tags for Biological Sensing
Thesis Advisor: Ryan Tian
Never be afraid to reach out to your professors! They are always super helpful and willing to share their knowledge with you.
Benjamin Moore
College Scholar of Chemistry—Biochemistry Emphasis: Summa Cum Laude
Minor in Medical Humanities
Thesis Title: Characterization of the Structure and Stability of the Human Interleukin 1-alpha Dimer
Thesis Advisor: T.K.S. Kumar
Clara Puente
Departmental Scholar of Chemistry—Biochemistry Emphasis: Cum Laude
Minors in Latin American and Latino Studies, Medical Humanities, Psychology, Spanish
Thesis Title: Divalent Metal-Crosslinked Alginate Fibers: Towards Fibrous Drug Delivery Scaffolds
Thesis Advisor: Ryan Tian
Samuel Raney
Departmental Scholar of Chemistry—Biochemistry Emphasis: Summa Cum Laude
Minors in Biology, Business Marketing and Logistics
Thesis Title: Structural Studies of Rubredoxin from Pyrococcus furiosus
Thesis Advisor: T.K.S. Kumar
Take pride in how far you have come, and have faith in how far you can go.
Emily Richey
College Scholar of Chemistry—Biochemistry Emphasis: Summa Cum Laude
Thesis Title: Effect of Proline on the Formation of Human Acidic Fibroblast Growth Factor-1 (hFGF-1) Amyloid-like Fibrils
Thesis Advisor: T.K.S. Kumar
My biggest piece of advice would be to reach out to older students in your major for help! As a freshman and sophomore, I got so much valuable advice and mentorship from students who had already walked through the season of college that I was in. On the flip side, as a junior and senior, I loved meeting up with freshmen and sophomores to talk to them about their classes and plans! Older students are so willing to help, and they are such great resources. Reach out to them!
Grant Robinson
College Scholar of Chemistry—Biochemistry Emphasis: Summa Cum Laude
Additional Major in Physics—Biophysics Emphasis
Thesis Title: Isolation and Quantification of Antimicrobial Peptide, LL-37, from Macrophages Activated by Bacterial Biofilms
Thesis Advisor: Julie Stenken
Ashton Rogers
Departmental Scholar of Chemistry—Biochemistry Emphasis: Summa Cum Laude
Minor in Food Science
Thesis Title: A comparative study of volatile versus phenolic compounds of black elderberry and their effects on phi 6 enveloped virus surrogate
Thesis Advisor: Luke Howard
My greatest advice about my time in Fulbright Honors is to choose a thesis project you are passionate about and is relevant to current issues. Then, surround yourself with mentors and staff who push you to not just graduate with honors, but to gain a better understanding of research and scientific thinking.
Aisha Soliman
Departmental Scholar of Chemistry—Biochemistry Emphasis: Cum Laude
Additional Major in Biology
Thesis Title: Glucose Sensor Using Electro-Generated Oxygen
Thesis Advisor: David Paul
Ryan Sorensen
College Scholar of Chemistry—Biochemistry Emphasis: Summa Cum Laude
Minor in Mathematics
Thesis Title: Engineering a Mutation in the Heparin Binding Pocket of the Human Fibroblast Growth Factor
Thesis Advisor: T.K.S. Kumar
Sara Swank
Departmental Scholar of Chemistry—Biochemistry Emphasis: Summa Cum Laude Additional Major in Psychology
Thesis Title: Delineating the Structural Forces Responsible for the High Stability and Enhanced Activity of superFGF (R136E/K126N/Q54P)
Thesis Advisor: T.K.S. Kumar
Juan David Vargas
Departmental Scholar of Chemistry—Biochemistry Emphasis: Summa Cum Laude
Thesis Title: Local Leukocyte Infiltration in Response to Intradermal Injection of Liquid Silicone in Avian Model
Thesis Advisor: Gisela Erf
