Lauren Ulsh of Rochester, Minnesota, will be honored as the student marshal for the Eberly College of Science during Penn State’s fall commencement ceremonies on Saturday, Dec. 19, on the University Park campus. Ulsh’s faculty escort for the commencement exercises will be James A. Strauss, senior lecturer of biology at Penn State.
Ulsh will graduate with a 4.0 grade point average and a bachelor of science degree in biology with a focus on neuroscience. She received The President’s Freshman Award in 2013, the President Sparks Award in 2014, and the Evan Pugh Scholar Award in 2015.
While at Penn State, Ulsh worked in the Addiction, Smoking, and Health Lab in the psychology department as a research assistant. Ulsh recruited, coordinated, and ran participants through a variety of studies to examine impulsiveness and self-control in the general population.
Ulsh also performed research at the Applied Neuroradiology Laboratory of David F. Kallmes in Rochester, Minnesota, during the summer of 2013. As a result of her work, she co-authored a paper, titled “Smoking is not associated with recurrence and retreatment of intracranial aneurysms after endovascular coiling,” which was published in the Journal of Neurosurgery in January 2015.
In addition to her academic achievements, Ulsh was active in organizations on campus and in the community. She was the 2015 Penn State Homecoming Donor Relations Director; a member of the Club Water Polo team; a THON committee member in 2014 and 2015; and a volunteer at the Mount Nittany Medical Center.
“I was extremely honored when I received word that I was selected as the Eberly College of Science Student Marshal. Not only was it heartening to know that my hard work did not go unnoticed, but I also am proud to represent the college that fueled my intellectual curiosity and love for learning,” Ulsh said, “I will never forget the support and opportunities that I received from friends, faculty, and staff at Penn State who helped me live in the present and prepare for the future.”
“After graduation, I plan to continually extend my own support to the undergraduate students of Penn State,” Ulsh said. She plans to attend medical school.
Ulsh is a graduate of Mayo High School in Rochester, Minnesota. She will be accompanied at commencement by her parents Gregory and Kristen Ulsh, two brothers Matt and Jeff Ulsh, sister-in-law Faith Ulsh, Uncle Arn Caddick, and Aunt Deb Caddick.