Twelve Seniors Named as 2014 Syracuse University Scholars

Twelve graduating seniors have been named as the 2014 Syracuse University Scholars, the highest undergraduate honor that the University bestows.

University Scholars will represent the entire graduating class at the May 11 Commencement ceremony. On Thursday, April 24, the scholars will take part in a reception at the Chancellor’s residence hosted by Chancellor Kent Syverud and Dr. Ruth Chen, at which they will receive special medallions to be worn at Commencement.

The Syracuse University Scholars Committee, a University-wide faculty committee, selected the 2014 scholars using criteria that included coursework and academic achievement, creative work, a personal statement and a faculty letter of recommendation.

“This year’s University Scholars are an exceptional group of individuals whose curiosities and passions have taken them to all corners of the globe, and led them inside the smallest particle as seen by an electron microscope,” says Peter Beasecker, associate professor of ceramics in the Department of Art in the College of Visual and Performing Arts and chair of the selection committee.

The 2014 Syracuse University Scholars are:

Timothy L. Cheng

Cheng will graduate with a bachelor of science degree in public relations, policy studies, accounting and finance from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and the Martin J. Whitman School of Management. He is a Newhouse Scholar, Whitman Scholar and a member of Beta Gamma Sigma. Cheng currently serves as president of Orange Appeal, Syracuse University’s original all-male a cappella group, leading a successful $11,500 Kickstarter campaign and recording for a professional album to be released later this year. He is also part of the Renée Crown University Honors Program. After graduation, he will join General Electric’s Communications Leadership Development Program. 

Alysen Leigh Demzik

Demzik is graduating from the College of Engineering and Computer Science with a bachelor of science degree in biomedical engineering and minors in biology and painting. She is a Founders Scholar, College of Engineering and Computer Science Student Marshal, member of Tau Beta Pi and the Renée Crown Honors Program, and a recipient of the Renée Crown Honors Program’s Crown Wise Award. She has conducted bone cement and nerve regeneration research projects in the laboratory of Professor Julie Hasenwinkel of the Syracuse Biomaterials Institute, and investigated the drug delivery of anti-HIV microbicide gels at the University of Kansas. She is captain of the Syracuse Women’s Club Volleyball team and a sister of Kappa Alpha Theta. Demzik will begin her medical studies this fall at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

Dylan George Hsu

Hsu is an aspiring physicist and applied mathematician in the College of Arts and Sciences. When not taking classes or working in the research lab, Hsu enjoys studying classical voice with Jonathan English and playing jazz piano in the Setnor School of Music. 

Alison Margaret Joy

Joy is graduating from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the College of Arts and Sciences with a dual degree in television, radio and film and Italian language, literature and culture. She is a Remembrance Scholar, Newhouse Scholar, Newhouse Class Marshal, Crown Scholar and winner of the Louise Schiavoni Prize for an Outstanding Junior Woman in Communications, Scholarship in Action Merit Award, Susan Bender-Scheer & Perry J. Scheer Award, and the Mark & Pearle Clements Internship Award. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Renée Crown Honors Program, through which she is completing her honors capstone, a feature-length screenplay with production package.

While at SU, Joy worked as assistant multimedia editor at Jerk Magazine, served as a member of the Dean’s Team and the Remembrance Scholar Selection Committee, and helped to found a chapter of the mental health advocacy group Active Minds in her sophomore year, serving as communications chair for three years. Joy has completed internships with film festivals, literary agencies, music agencies and production companies in Syracuse, New York City and Italy. She hopes to pursue a career in television development upon graduation.

Brittany R. Legasey

Legasey graduated in December 2013 with a bachelor’s degree from the College of Arts and Sciences and Maxwell School. She majored in American history, political science and international relations, completing distinction theses for her American history and political science majors. Legasey received the Outstanding Student Research Paper award presented by the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs for the work on her political science thesis, titled “Congressional Media Strategy: House Members, Rhetorical Strategy and Press Releases.”

Legasey was able to integrate her interest in the mass media with her coursework in the social sciences and a number of professional experiences. Legasey completed nine internships, primarily working for media organizations in her home town of Worcester, Mass. She was able to culminate her undergraduate education and professional experiences thus far by working as a press assistant for the International Olympic Committee at the XXII Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, reflecting on the cultural, political and social nature of her experiences in a column hosted on syracuse.com. After relocating back to her hometown, Legasey started work as campaign manager for State Sen. Harriette Chandler’s 2014 re-election campaign.

Molly Katherine Carroll Linhorst

Linhorst will graduate from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School with degrees in international relations and political science, as well as a minor in entrepreneurship. During her studies, Linhorst has developed a strong interest in East Asia and has worked for Professor Stuart Thorson as a research assistant for the US-DPRK Scientific Engagement Consortium and the Korean Peninsula Affairs Center since her freshman year. She has studied Mandarin throughout her undergraduate career. Linhorst studied abroad in Beijing at Tsinghua University, where she completed an independent research project about public risk perception under Tsinghua Professor Yishin Dai. While in Beijing, Linhorst taught English at the BN Vocational School.

Linhorst has interned with the Syracuse mayor’s office, learning about local government and drafting a city civic engagement plan, and spent the summer of 2013 in Miami with the Knight Foundation, researching open government and strategizing Knight’s engagement in the new field. Linhorst is a Remembrance Scholar as well as a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Renée Crown University Honors Program. She is completing her honors capstone project analyzing and visualizing the 2008 North Korean census. Linhorst has continued pursuing her love of dance while at Syracuse, dancing and choreographing for TAP, DanceWorks and Orange Pulse Dance Troupe. She also spent two years with the Alternative Spring Break program, serving the hungry and homeless in Washington, D.C., with dozens of her Syracuse peers. Linhorst seeks to use her education to give back to the world, and has recently been accepted as a 2014-16 Fellow with Teach for China, where she will teach English in rural, underserved Chinese communities.

Yuxiang Luo

Luo is graduating from the School of Architecture, where he studies design as an interdisciplinary platform to incorporate knowledge of economics, sociology, political science, geography and anthropology. He employs design thinking to approach pressing challenges of politics, culture and quality of life, developing architecture as an agent of social change. His undergraduate thesis, “American Picnickers,” funded by the Crown/Wise-Marcus Award, questions the eating behaviors, social relations and spatial productions of the vast commuter population on the American highway. Luo aims to reinvent the interface between the design profession and other constituents that shape our built environment, constantly questioning the current disciplinary and business model of architecture, based on his internship experiences in Beijing and Shanghai. After graduation, Luo will attend the Harvard University Graduate School of Design to pursue advanced study of architecture.

Isaac Clayton Messina

Messina will graduate from the College of Arts and Sciences with a bachelor’s degree in art history and a minor in chemistry. During his time at SU, he has worked as a research intern at the SU Art Gallery and served on the University’s Promotion and Tenure Committee. With an equal passion for oil painting and organic chemistry, he hopes to one day combine his interests and pursue a career in art restoration. As a Coronat Scholar and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program, he received funding for the summer of 2013 to travel to Florence. There, he gained hands-on experience working as the apprentice of an Italian conservator, and conducted research for his capstone project exploring the methods of Italian restoration after the devastating flood of 1966. Messina has recently accepted a fellowship to continue his studies at SU next year in its M.A. program in Italian Renaissance art. This program will bring him back to Florence for the spring and fall semesters of 2015, where he hopes to further his work in conservation.

Kelsey E. Monteith

Monteith will graduate from the College of Arts and Sciences with a degree in biochemistry. She is a Crown Scholar, a Founder’s Scholar and an Ornstein Scholar. She is also a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program and the Beta Beta Beta National Biological Honor Society. For the last three years, she conducted biochemistry research in Michael Cosgrove’s laboratory at SUNY Upstate Medical University. In the fall, Monteith will attend the University at Buffalo School of Medicine.

Ellen Blanche Moore

Moore is a double major in international relations and policy studies in the College of Arts and Sciences and Maxwell School from Elmira, N.Y. As a result of her travels throughout college, she developed a passion for international development. Moore spent a summer volunteering at a nonprofit in Israel and studied abroad in South Africa for a semester, where she truly became interested in fostering collaborations with community partners abroad. This year, she founded a chapter of Nourish International at SU and served as the chapter leader. Moore is a Coronat Scholar and a 2013-14 Remembrance Scholar. She is also a member of Alpha Xi Delta sorority. Moore plans to move to Chapel Hill, N.C., after graduation to take a position at the Nourish International U.S. office.

David R. Wilson

Wilson will graduate from the College of Engineering and Computer Science with a major in biomedical engineering. He has done extensive drug delivery research in the Syracuse Biomaterials Institute under the guidance of Professor Rebecca Bader, including as a National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates student in the summer of 2012 and as a research assistant in the summer of 2013. Additionally, he has served as a research mentor as part of the NSF Research Experience and Mentoring Program and has tutored for three years at the Stevenson Academic Center. Outside of the classroom and lab he has competed on the SU Division I cross country, indoor track and outdoor track teams. Wilson is an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship winner and will be pursuing a Ph.D. degree in biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University this fall.

Zhi Q. Yang

Yang is a double major in information management and technology in the School of Information Studies and finance in the Whitman School of Management. He is a 2013-14 Remembrance Scholar, a Whitman Scholar and recipient of various scholarships and awards. Yang is passionate about empowering young adults in the campus and greater Syracuse communities. While at SU, he served as the president of Beta Gamma Sigma, a project leader in ENACTUS, a peer leader in the WellsLink program and on various University committees. He studied abroad through the SU short-term abroad programs in numerous locations, including Jamaica, Brazil, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Geneva, Munich, Rome, Florence, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Malaysia and Singapore. Since sophomore year, Yang has interned with JPMorgan Chase, working full-time during the summer and part-time during the academic semesters. Upon graduation, Yang will start his career in technology consulting with Ernst & Young.