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NSBE Golden Torch Honorees
JANICE A. LUMPKIN EDUCATOR
OF THE YEAR
Vassie C. Ware, Ph.D.
Professor of Molecular Biology, Department
of Biological Sciences
Lehigh University
Vassie C. Ware, Ph.D., has been professor of molecular biology
in the Department of Biological Sciences at Lehigh University
since 1985 and is co-director of the Howard Hughes Medical
Institute (HHMI) Program at Lehigh. She previously served as
a postdoctoral research fellow in molecular biology at Brown
University with Susan A. Gerbi, Ph.D., of Brown's Division of
Biology and Medicine. Her focus areas of research since arriving
at Lehigh have included molecular biology of ribosome biogenesis in eukaryotes; nuclear structure and function; tissue-specific expression and functional diversification of ribosomal protein
paralogues in Drosophila; ribosome gene expression; and phage
genomics. She is also the inaugural director of the HHMISponsored SEA-PHAGES Program at Lehigh and co-director of
the distance education Master of Science degree program in
molecular biology.
Dr. Ware's love of scientific research, and her proficiency in
that work, are matched by her accomplishments as an educator
and a mentor. Having endured gender discrimination during her
own higher education, she has worked tirelessly and effectively to help female science students and students from other
underrepresented groups reach their full potential. She has
received numerous honors for those efforts, among them the
Lehigh University Teaching Award, in 1989; the Lehigh University
Women's Center's "25 Impressive Women Who Have Changed
Lehigh" Award, in 2016; and the INSIGHT Into Diversity "Inspiring
Women in STEM" Award, also in 2016. This past December, the
American Society for Cell Biology selected Dr. Ware as an ASCB
Fellow.
Dr. Ware received her Bachelor of Arts in human biology from
Brown University; an M.Phil. degree from Yale University and a
Ph.D. in biology, also from Yale.
GRADUATE STUDENT OF THE YEAR
Aramide Akintunde
Ph.D. Student, Environmental Engineering
Texas A&M University-Kingsville
Aramide Mistura Akintunde, a native
of Osun State, Nigeria, obtained both a
Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in chemical engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, in Osun State.
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NSBE MAGAZINE * CONVENTION 2020

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Her continued interest in engineering led her to enroll in the
environmental engineering doctoral graduate program at Texas
A&M University-Kingsville in Spring 2018, which was also when
she joined the National Society of Black Engineers.
Akintunde's master's work led to published research articles
on novel use of ornamental oilseeds for biofuel production as
an alternative to conventional energy from fossil fuels, and she
has presented her Ph.D. topic on the novel use on membrane
technology in the air pollution field at several conferences,
symposiums and seminars. She is a coauthor of two books that
address environmental-related issues.
Akintunde has contributed to the engineering discipline in
both industry and academia. Before joining Texas A&M, she
worked with Unilever Plc in the Research and Development
Function and won several awards. She has also contributed
to her field through research and mentorship. She has served
as a graduate research assistant in Texas A&M's Department
of Environmental Engineering and has helped more than 200
students achieve success. With a perfect 4.00/4.00 grade point
average in her doctoral program, she has dedicated her energy
to excelling academically while also assisting fellow students in
various programs.
INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC
LEADERSHIP
Nicholas M. Weddington
Undergraduate in Robotics Engineering
and Electrical and Computer Engineering
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Class of 2020
NSBE member Nicholas Weddington's stellar work at
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), in Massachusetts, has
taken him across the U.S. and to the other side of the globe. A
dean's list honoree in his spring 2018 and 2019 semesters, the senior majoring in robotics engineering and in electrical and computer engineering spent his first three years at WPI creating six
robots from scrap materials, working on the master's students'
Robotics Project Team to compete in NASA's Simulated Robot
Competition. He is now working on his senior Major Qualifying
Project: a fault-tolerant robotic arm with real-time detachable
joints.
In the spring of 2019, Weddington completed his Global
Projects Program's Interactive Qualifying Project in Bangkok,
Thailand, where he spent seven weeks with his colleagues to assess renewable energy alternatives for a rural orphanage housing children affected by HIV. This past summer, he had a paid
internship at TE Connectivity in Fremont, Calif., an opportunity
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NSBE - Convention 2020

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