Mandy L. Maneval, a top graduating senior majoring in Biology and Chemistry, was named winner of a Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellowship, one of 50 awarded by the national honor society in 1999 to help finance up to $7000 of the first year of graduate study.

As a member of Lock Haven University's chapter of Phi Kappa Phi, which chooses members from academically high-ranking juniors and seniors, Maneval was selected to represent the local chapter in the national competition. Last year's candidate, Manda J. Williamson, won a $1000 Award of Excellence.

After graduating Summa cum Laude from LHU in May 1999, Maneval plans to attend The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in Hershey to pursue a career in pediatrics and microbiology/ immunology. Accepted as an Early Decision candidate into the M.D. program at Hershey, she has been selected as one of six students for a special program funded by The National Institutes of Health to provide tuition and living expenses for 7 years of study toward both the M.D. and Ph. D.

Last summer Maneval participated with a select group of students in The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine's Whittaker Scholar Program. Their research focused on the roles of iron in the human brain and led to the isolation of several novel gene sequences responsive to varying levels of iron in human astrocytoma cells.

Describing her summer research experience in her application for the PKP Fellowship, Maneval wrote: "Never before in my academic career have I been so intellectually challenged and fulfilled. I began to realize that the same fascination that I have with the field of medicine is not limited to clinical care but also has grown to include the field of biomedical research."

In support of her application, Dr. Joseph P. Calabrese, Assistant Professor of Biology, wrote: "Her passion for scientific inquiry through traditional coursework as well as applied research is unparalleled and her overall impetus for excellence places her far above her peers at the level I feel is more indicative of a doctoral graduate student."

Dr. James T. Knauer, Director of LHU's Honors Program and Professor of Political Science, ranks Maneval "among the top half dozen students, in all majors" he has worked with since the inception of Honors in 1988. "She has in fact set an academic standard few students can match, including a variety of independent research efforts and internships," Knauer writes. "Mandy has an incredible reservoir of determination, an unflagging inquisitiveness and cheerful optimism in the face of stress."

As a member of the university's Honors Program, Maneval was elected vice president and then president of the Honors Club. She was a leader of freshman study and discussion groups and initiated a reading group to discuss fiction and poetry. She also helped organize "The University in Your Life," an extra-curricular support activity for non-honors freshmen. In her final Honors year, she created a faculty and student group to advise LHU students applying to medical school.

Among her extra-curricular activities at LHU, Maneval has been a member of the Student Advisory Committee to the Provost, volunteer tutor, assistant to Elder Hostel Computer Camp, and a Clinton County Big Sister.

Poster presentations of both her iron research project and her analysis of soil from the Drake Superfund Site recently received first place awards at a conference of PA University Biologists from the SSHE schools, hosted by Lock Haven University.

Maneval's PKP Graduate Fellowship caps a list of numerous scholarships earned in her career at LHU, including The Leah and Freida Fromm Memorial Scholarship, Croda, Inc., Internship and Scholarship, Paul F. Klens Biology Scholarship, Whittaker Foundation Scholarship and Internship, and LHU Honors Program Scholarship.