Hilary Smith Uyhelji of Oklahoma City receives Ripon College Outstanding Young Alumni Award

Research geneticist with FAA recognized for contributions to science, environment and more

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RIPON, WI (06/27/2017) Hilary Smith Uyhelji of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award from Ripon College Friday, June 23. She is a 2007 graduate of Ripon College.

Smith Uyhelji is a supervisory research geneticist with the Federal Aviation Administration. She received a Ph.D. in biology from the Georgia Institute of Technology and previously was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Notre Dame.

At Ripon College, she participated in forensics; two Maymester programs, Oceanography and Ecology of the Boreal Forest; was an undergraduate laboratory assistant in the biology department; a mentor for Communicating Plus; and a research intern at Miami University of Oxford, Ohio. At Notre Dame, she did post-doctoral research on mosquitos and their spread of malaria and other diseases aroudn the world. She also led and designed workshops to expose middle school girls to the STEM fields. At Georgia Tech, she guided freshmen undergraduate teams in service-learning projects and studies of wetlands. She is a member of the honor societies Tri Beta and Phi Beta Kappa; and AAAS, a scientific society; and has 17 publications.

Smith Uyhelji is a native of Mishawaka, Indiana.