Wilaysha Evans receives Academic Achievement Award

2018 May 3

Wilaysha Evans of Bronx, NY, was one of more than 50 outstanding SUNY Oneonta students selected to receive a 2018 Academic Achievement Award this spring. Each academic department or program selected one to three outstanding seniors to receive the award.

Evans received the Chemistry and Biochemistry award.

To be considered for the award, a student must have a minimum grade-point average of 3.5 in his or her major and must demonstrate exceptional academic improvement over four semesters, as well as excellence in research; leadership and involvement in department, campus and community activities; and/or participation in academic and/or professional situation outside the college.

In addition to Evans’ excellent work in her academic classes, she has excelled at high-level scientific research. In March, she gave her third presentation at a national American Chemical Society Meeting. She gave an oral presentation in a regular session on chemical synthesis using green solvent systems. She has done research with Drs. Bennett, Odago and Gallagher and was accepted into a competitive National Science Foundation summer research program at UNC-Chapel Hill. Her work at UNC led to a peer-reviewed publication in the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. Evans has won numerous grants and awards both locally and nationally.