Posted: April 26, 2019
Andrew J. May will be the student marshal for the biological engineering baccalaureate degree program at the Penn State College of Engineering spring commencement ceremony on May 3. He will receive a bachelor of science in biological engineering with minors in environmental engineering and plant pathology.
Andrew J. May
He has chosen Virendra Puri, distinguished professor of agricultural and biological engineering, to be his faculty escort.
College of Engineering student marshals are selected for their outstanding academic achievement and contributions to engineering student life.
May is the son of Lori and Brian May of Gettysburg and is a 2015 graduate of Gettysburg Area High School.
A Schreyer Scholar, May completed an undergraduate honors thesis titled "Dynamics Associated with Bacteriocin Resistance in Pseudomonas syringae."
He spent a semester abroad during his sophomore year, studying at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, in the spring of 2017.
May was a five-time recipient of the College of Agricultural Sciences Undergraduate Research Award and was named to the dean's list every semester.
Additionally, he was the recipient of the Piekert Scholarship in Agricultural and Biological Engineering, the Rumbaugh Agricultural Leadership Award, the Kjelgaard Scholarship for Agricultural and Biological Engineering, and the Langdon Learning Endowment.
May participated in two research projects as an undergraduate: "Molecular Characterization of Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus Isolates" with the Penn State Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology and "Tree Fruit Disease" with the Penn State Fruit Research and Extension Center. For the first project, May was tasked with the upkeep of viral isolates, documentation of disease symptoms and severity, and viral isolations; for the latter project, he was responsible for field data collection on disease frequency and severity, orchard upkeep, and fungal sample isolation.
His extracurricular activities included membership in the Alpha Epsilon Honor Society for Agricultural, Food, and Biological Engineering (president, 2018-19) and the Plant Pathology Undergraduate Club, (president, 2018; founding member).
Following graduation, May will pursue a graduate degree in agricultural and biological engineering at Penn State.
