UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Joshua T. Bram, a senior double-majoring in biology in the Eberly College of Science and immunology and infectious disease in the College of Agricultural Sciences, has been named the 2016 recipient of the Eric A. Walker Award.
The award is presented annually to the student who has contributed most to enhancing the reputation of the University through extracurricular activities. Walker was president of Penn State from 1956 to 1970.
More than his 3.99 cumulative GPA and several published research projects, Bram credits his leadership experiences learned at Penn State as the most meaningful aspect of his college career.
“Perhaps my most rewarding experiences have been through the leadership opportunities and service to the University,” said Bram, who began serving as a sophomore as alumni relations director for Science LionPride, an organization that conducts tours for the Eberly College of Science and hosts interactions with alumni, before rising through the ranks to become president of the THON organization Springfield. There he oversaw a board of 11 chairs, working closely with the THON executive committee and creating a vision for the future of the club.
Bram is a contributor in the lab, too. His work on malaria drug resistance led to a published work and will serve as the foundation for his honors thesis. Through Andrew Read’s laboratory and with the Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship program (HESE), Bram worked on projects including health care and solar energy, leading to a publication in review.
“This has allowed me to achieve real impact by working on projects for the underserved and to see the change by traveling to Sierra Leone in 2014 and Zambia in 2015,” said Bram.
A nominator said students like Bram “come around once every 10 to 15 years” and praised his passion for the study of infectious diseases.
Bram plans to enter medical school to further study parasites and the mechanisms used to develop drug resistance.