Rockville University Students Earn Academic Distinctions

ROCKVILLE, MD — To shine a light on the accomplished of college students from Rockville, Patch shares information provided by the students' families and Merit News.

Rory Sullivan of Rockville performed in the Nov. 17 Student African Drum Ensembles in Baker Memorial Chapel at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland.

Danielle Carter of Rockville performed in the annual College Choir Concert on Nov. 20, in Baker Memorial Chapel at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. The performance was titled "Music Matters."

Dk Kim of Rockville was awarded a degree from The Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta at the conclusion of the school's summer semester.

Ella Pickell of Rockville, who majors in chemistry and is a member of Rabinowitz Honors College at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, worked over the summer with Deborah Silva, assistant professor of chemistry and director of the Forensic Science Program, to research how swabs are used in the extraction of DNA.

"When DNA is collected, the swab is typically discarded and thought to have no further value," said Pickell, who is a member of Hofstra's Class of 2024. "Our research is focused on attempting to extract DNA from swabs multiple times to test whether additional DNA can be acquired. By gathering a larger amount of DNA more tests can be done on the sample, better quality data can be obtained, and the likelihood of a DNA profile being generated is increased."

Vickye Hayter of Rockville was recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society, at George Mason University.

Gordon Green, a graduate of Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, earned a dean's award with distinction for the spring semester at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York. To earn a dean's award with distinction, a student must receive a term grade point average of 3.6 or higher while completing at least three courses for a conventional letter grade during the semester.

Don't see your award-winning scholar among those appearing in this academic honors list? Send the details to Patch editor Michael O'Connell at [email protected] and Patch will include them in a future post.