Virginia Tech has named Nicole Reynolds of Stephenson, Va., Woman of the Year for 2003-2004.

Virginia Tech’s Woman of the Year Award is the most prestigious award for female undergraduate students at the university and is selected by an application and interview process. The award winner is chosen for her scholastic achievements, service to the university, leadership, and involvement in student activities.

The award is given in conjunction with the university’s Founders Day celebration held this year at 3 p.m. Friday, April 23, in the Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center Auditorium.

First taking place in 1972, Founders Day Convocation is Virginia Tech's annual celebration of the academic and professional achievements of the university and recognizing service to Virginia Tech.

Reynolds, an honors biology major and chemistry minor in the College of Science, has taken on numerous leadership roles with the university. Her overriding leadership contribution to the university has come through her service as president of the Class of 2004. She has been instrumental in instituting changes that benefit class activities. She was successful in creating a team of officers dedicated to their classmates and to Virginia Tech, and she also helped design the Class of 2004 ring.

She has served as a senator in the Student Government Association, a student in the Residential Leadership Community, and a member of LEAD (Leadership Experience of Achievement Development). She also has actively participated in the Residence Hall Federation, the Student Alumni Associates, the Commission on Student Affairs, and the Commencement Committee.

In addition to her leadership activities, Reynolds has achieved at the highest level of academic scholarship. She is a member of the Virginia Tech Order of the Gavel Leadership Honorary, Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society, Who’s Who in American College and Universities, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Golden Key International Honor Society, and Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

“I feel extremely blessed to have been chosen for this award,” Reynolds said. “I have had so many amazing opportunities at Virginia Tech, and I only hope that I have given back to the university in some proportion compared to what Tech has given to me these past four years.”

Reynolds has put her course of study in biology to work by actively participating in undergraduate research, both at Virginia Tech and during an internship with the National Institute of Health. She is co-author of a paper published in the “Journal of Immunological Methods.”

Reynolds plans to put these experiences and her dedication to work when she attends medical school after graduation. She is the daughter of James and Marianne Davis.

The College of Science at Virginia Tech gives students a comprehensive foundation in the scientific method. Outstanding faculty members teach courses and conduct research in biology, chemistry, economics, geosciences, mathematics, physics, psychology, and statistics. The college is dedicated to fostering a research intensive environment and offers programs in nano-scale and biological sciences, information theory and science, and supports research centers—in areas such as biomedical and public health sciences, and critical technology and applied science—that encompass other colleges at the university. The College of Science also houses programs in pre-medicine and scientific law.

Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become the largest university in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top 30 research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 170 academic degree programs.

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