Honors Convocation
Awards and Recognition
Laura Minton
Dean's Medal: Biomedical Sciences
Laura Minton will graduate with a 4.0 GPA, summa cum laude with a degree in Biomedical Sciences, with the highest University Honors College Scholar Distinction. Laura received a full-ride Auburn Presidential academic scholarship, in addition to other leadership, academic, and service scholarships.
Under the mentorship of Dr. Douglas Goodwin in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Laura was awarded the Marks Family/GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Scholarship for biochemistry research. She conducted experiments to characterize KatG variants (R418N and H276A) in M. tuberculosis and investigated their roles in Isoniazid antibiotic resistance. She also conducted genomic research in the Auburn College of Veterinary Medicine Department under the instruction of Dr. Ya-Xiong Tao.
Laura presented at the Southeastern Undergraduate Research Conference (SURC) and COSAM research fair, winning monetary awards at both. She is currently co-authoring a chapter in an American Chemical Society textbook. Laura worked as a Resident Assistant for the maximum three years and two summers. She could never “clock out”, since she worked in the dormitory where she lived, where she worked through 24-hour call and crisis response, daily desk shifts, incidents throughout all hours of the night, and programming. Auburn University President Jay Gogue presented Laura with the Student Leadership Award for her intentional impact on Auburn’s campus.
The Auburn Alumni Association awarded Laura with the Be the Creed Award, presented to only 10 students per year who exemplify the Auburn Creed. Laura was selected as the University Housing Quad New RA of the Year. Laura is a four-year member of the Honors College. She has consistently been on the Dean’s List, and was a COSAM Outstanding Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and now Senior. Laura traveled to Brazil and served on a medical service health team, where she tested people for Hepatitis B/C, Syphilis, HIV, and worked at an outdoors eyeglass station.
She volunteers at the Oak Park Nursing Home. Laura has a specific passion for serving the underprivileged, and so she volunteered as a tutor through Project Horseshoe Farm.
She attends Auburn First Baptist Church, where she volunteered through Stop Hunger Now and VBS. She attends Stammtisch German Language meetings. As an initiated National member of Alpha Epsilon Delta, Laura volunteered with the East Alabama Food Bank and the American Red Cross. Laura solidified her life’s passion through shadowing as a medical scribe for multiple years. Prior to attending Auburn, Laura graduated from Gadsden City High School. Following graduation from Auburn, Laura will further her education at UAB School of Medicine.