July 7, 2010

Elise Ottenfeld. Download image.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Elise Ottenfeld fell in love with Germany during a recent internship there, and now the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) senior chemistry major will serve as an ambassador, promoting scholarship and student-exchange opportunities for Germany.

Ottenfeld, who is a member of the University Honors Program, has been named a DAAD Ambassador for the 2010-11 academic year. DAAD stands for Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst, or the German Academic Exchange Service. Its ambassadorial award is highly competitive, granted annually to only about 30 North American college students who have completed an exchange program with a German university or company.

A native of Knoxville, Tenn., Ottenfeld in 2009 completed a three-month summer research internship in the German city of Giessen with the support of a prestigious DAAD-RISE Scholarship. Ottenfeld enjoyed her experience so much, she says, that she chose to apply for a chance to be a DAAD Ambassador.

As an ambassador, Ottenfeld will host information and entertainment events at UAB to promote German culture and academic opportunities. DAAD will fund her planned programs in full.

When not promoting opportunities through DAAD on campus, Ottenfeld will continue her UAB undergraduate research under mentor David Graves, Ph.D., chairman of the Department of Chemistry. Ottenfeld's research focuses on biophysical chemistry experiments related to cancer.

Ottenfeld is the daughter of Lynn and Conrad Ottenfeld of Knoxville, Tenn.

About the UAB Department of Chemistry

The Department of Chemistry produces American Chemical Society (ACS) certified undergraduates that score well above the national average and its graduate programs produce highly-skilled research professionals. It is housed in the UAB College of Arts and Sciences, which is home to academic disciplines that include the arts, humanities, sciences and the School of Education.