Dr. Susan Daneman Richardson, ’84, and Andy Richardson, ’83, are each on a mission. Susan’s striving to make drinking water safe, and Andy’s offering scholarships to Georgia College & State University (GCSU) chemistry students. Susan’s been the recipient of several national awards and international recognition. She developed an interest for chemistry in high school, which grew from there and matured at Georgia College. Dr. John Hargaden helped inform that growth. He taught physical...
Georgia College’s Young Scientists Academy (YSA)—a six-week program that gives high school youth from disadvantaged, rural areas a crack at university-level research—returned this summer in a big way. It was the first YSA since the pandemic and, because of COVID, its seven high school participants had little or no lab experience. They’d only taken chemistry online. Their first real lab experience was in Georgia College’s state-of-the-art Integrated Science Complex (ISC) with everything...
Carlos Lopez Blackwell of Columbus wants to be the kind of doctor who finds a way to help each and every patient. His caring nature already hints at an impeccable, future bedside manner. Lopez is entering the university’s 2026 class as a chemistry major with a premed path. He’s looking for academic toughness, and his high school friends told him Georgia College is the place to be. “I like the smaller nature of this school. It’s more like family, a family environment,” Lopez said. “I...
Sarah West Where are you from? Dalton, Georgia Why did you want to major in chemistry? I love any kind of puzzle. Chemistry is like a puzzle, and I love putting together the pieces. As the formulas and problems are put together, each piece acts like puzzle pieces, creating something bigger, like the reaction or the solution to an equation. Sometimes things fall into place, but sometimes the pieces don't quite fit together, and I like that challenge; it keeps me on my toes. ...
Four physics alumni took part in the Shades of Green “Sustainability for the Future” panel held at Georgia College in November. We caught up with three of them to learn more about how Georgia College helped them set a foundation for their career success and the advice they offered other students. Ryan Agnew, ’20, enrolled as a physics student at Georgia College after watching the Netflix show “Cosmos.” “I had no interest in physics until after high school,” Agnew said. “But that summer,...
From an early age, Martin Alcantar, ’18, has always been fascinated by the sciences. As he grew, he realized that one of the most interesting branches of science was studying biological processes and the chemistry that drives them. Later, he would find that his work could help alleviate food insecurity. “My specific career path was not chosen with a job in mind, but rather from a want to further my education and gain a higher level of understanding of what drives life,” Alcantar said...
As intergalactic zombies––that eat their sister stars and wander galaxies like the walking dead––neutron stars and black holes have all the makings of a hit movie. Now, there’s a “first-of-its-kind” map showing exactly where these roaming corpses of stars were born and how far they’ve traveled, thanks to a Georgia College professor and a string of physics students over the past seven years. “This type of research is typically done at Harvard or UC Berkeley. So,” Bodaghee said, “it’s...
Its triangular spikes are what make coronavirus such a formidable foe. But they could also be its Achilles’ heel. Georgia College Assistant Professor of Chemistry Dr. David Zoetewey and three students are working to expose this weakness and prevent the virus’ spear-like mechanism from harpooning into human cells. This research could someday result in a medicine that prevents coronavirus from attaching. “Spike proteins are very important for the virus and its ability to cause infection,”...
As a youth from Lahore, Pakistan, senior Nash Sultan originally looked at universities in the Atlanta area where his uncle lived. Then, he saw photos of Georgia College’s “beautiful” campus and learned of its “great scholarships” for international students. Sultan applied for the dual-degree program that provides a 3-year physics degree from Georgia College, which he’ll receive in May, and an engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology that he’s on track to also get...
Sophia Bonser grew up exposed to the medical field through her mom who is an OBGYN. She always had an interest in healthcare. Initially, she wanted to be a nurse, then a physical therapist. But everything changed when she took her first chemistry class at Georgia College. “I was very nervous about it because my whole experience with chemistry in high school was bad,” she said. Instead of a challenge, Bonser found she did well in the course. So well, she even caught the attention of...
