Students

A Little Help From My Friends

So what’s this about Harvey Mudd being a place where collaboration—rather than competition—thrives, where relationships matter? Well, it’s not just talk. Here to demonstrate just how important relationships are to a Harvey Mudd education are two of the many outstanding seniors from the Class of 2015. In order to excel academically and participate in community service and extracurricular activities, they relied on a broad network of scholars, mentors, friends and family who, they say, are key to their achievements as undergraduates.

Devon Stork ’15

chemistry and biology

Activities: Science Bus; interned at Rice University-Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering; supported by the Shanahan Project fund to build a turbidostat with Andrew Gibiansky ’15

Awards: Brandenburger Prize (biology), Dotty and Art Campbell Prize(chemistry), Phi Lambda Upsilon, department honors in biology and chemistry

Next: Attending the Harvard PhD program “Molecules, Cells and Organisms,” where he looks forward to working in some of the university’s prestigious synthetic biology labs, including David Liu’s.

Professor Karl Haushalter (chemistry and biology), an amazing academic and research advisor, provided me with great laboratory experiences and put me in contact with very important people so I could continue work outside of Mudd. He was my go-to contact for things like internship applications and graduate school interviews. 
Professor Karl Haushalter (chemistry and biology), an amazing academic and research advisor, provided me with great laboratory experiences and put me in contact with very important people so I could continue work outside of Mudd. He was my go-to contact for things like internship applications and graduate school interviews.

Priya Donti ’15

computer science and mathematics

Activities: Homework Hotline, Writing Center, Science Bus, ESW/MOSS, Mudders Making a Difference, DUCK! Improv

Awards: Jean and Joseph Platt Freshman Prize, Udall Foundation Honorable Mention, Computing Research Association Undergraduate Research Award, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, Thomas J. Watson Fellowship (studying smart grid technology), department honors and awards

Next: Traveling to four countries (Germany, India, South Korea and Chile) to study smart grid technology and policy as part of the Watson Fellowship, then on to Carnegie Mellon University on an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to pursue multidisciplinary work using artificial intelligence.

My family—my parents in particular—supported me unfailingly through the ups and downs at Mudd. No matter how often I called or visited home (or didn’t do those things), I knew my family was always there for me.

Priya Donti ’15 and fmaily
Priya Donti ’15 and family