Hunter graduates snagged three out of the eight prestigious Jonas E. Salk Awards, which CUNY bestows each year to outstanding STEM students who have been accepted into medical schools or biomedical graduate programs.
The $8,000 scholarship honors Jonas E. Salk CC ’34, who developed the first polio vaccine in 1955. Salk turned down a ticker tape parade in honor of his discovery and asked that the money instead be used for scholarships for CUNY STEM graduates.
Every year since, CUNY has selected eight recent graduates, based on original research papers produced under the guidance and mentorship of CUNY professors and other prominent scientists. The university awarded the scholarships this year at a May 17 ceremony at John Jay.
The three Hunter graduates are:
- Syeda Jannath ’23
- Alexis Mitelman MHC ’23
- Pooja Suganthan MHC ’23
Of the five other winners, three attended City College and one apiece attended Brooklyn and Queens colleges.
“In their personal stories and academic achievements, these scholars are a testament to CUNY’s mission to provide a first-rate education to all students regardless of means or background,” said CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “I want to congratulate them on their hard-earned success as they prepare to bring their unique talents and insights to new challenges and endeavors.”
The awards show Hunter’s continuing strength as a producer of STEM degrees. Fully a quarter of the student body now graduates with one.
Hunter students have racked up a panoply of prestigious science fellowships and awards in recent years, including Barry Goldwater Scholarships and National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships.
