UAB Student Wins Prestigious Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship

University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) senior Joyce Hsu, 22, of Huntsville has been selected to receive a Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellowship Award for the academic year 2003-2004. She is one of 52 students across the nation and the only Alabama student awarded a fellowship this year.

April 28, 2003

BIRMINGHAM, AL — University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) senior Joyce Hsu, 22, of Huntsville has been selected to receive a Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellowship Award for the academic year 2003-2004. She is one of 52 students across the nation and the only Alabama student awarded a fellowship this year.

Students are selected based on academic merit, campus and community activities, graduate study prospects, an essay and letters of recommendation. The fellowship award of $8,000 covers the first year of graduate or professional study.

“It was very exciting to be selected as the university’s nominee,” Hsu said, “and I was thrilled to be awarded the fellowship.”

Hsu, who has a 3.90 GPA, is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in biology. She is a student in the UAB Honors Program. She will attend medical school following graduation in May. Hsu plans to seek a career in academic medicine, combining clinical practice with laboratory research.

Hsu, under the guidance of Professor Max Cooper, M.D., in the Department of Clinical and Developmental Immunology, has conducted immunology research. Her projects have focused on a recently discovered family of cellular receptors that may play a role in modifying and controlling various aspects of the human immune response.

She also assisted UAB philosopher and bioethicist Gregory Pence, Ph.D., on his 2002 book Designer Foods: Mutant Harvest or Breadbasket of the World, which deals with the growing debate over genetically modified food.

“I have had so many spectacular and caring teachers throughout my education,” Hsu said. “I would not be here today without their enthusiasm and support.”

Hsu has earned numerous other awards. She is a National Merit Scholar, a recipient of the Charles Ireland Presidential Scholarship and the UAB Student Research Award. She also was accepted into the Early Medical School Acceptance Program (EMSAP) at UAB.

In addition to her academic studies, Hsu has held leadership positions in the UAB Honors Program. She has been a volunteer at the Bread and Roses women’s shelter and for the Into the Streets project.

Hsu is a 1999 graduate of Grissom High School in Huntsville. She is the daughter of Tai and Sunny Hsu of Huntsville.

The Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellowship Program, established in 1932, draws from a broad range of disciplines, including the sciences, engineering, political science, mathematics and psychology. In addition to 52 fellowships, the program presents 30 Awards of Excellence of $1,500 each for post-graduate study at accredited colleges and universities. All nominees receive a five-year membership in Phi Kappa Phi.

Four Alabama students received Awards of Excellence from Phi Kappa Phi. They include students from the University of Alabama, Auburn University, Samford University and Troy State University.