A new slate of officers will govern the Virginia Tech Graduate Student Assembly in 2016-17. The GSA held elections at its last meeting of the semester at the Graduate Life Center.

Chelsea Corkins, of Hutchinson, Kansas, is the new president; Brett Netto, of New Orleans, is vice president; Omchand Mahdu, of Georgetown, Guyana, is director of finance; Alexandra Hyler, of Lawrence, Kansas, is director of programs; and Samantha Fried, of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, is director of communications; Kisha Gresham, of Stafford, Virginia, is director of events.

Corkins is a biological systems engineering doctoral student. She earned her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree at Kansas State University. She has been involved in several university organizations, including the Interdisciplinary Research Honor Society. She served as GSA Director of Programs in 2015-16.

Netto is a doctoral student in Planning, Governance, & Globalization in the School of Public and International Affairs. He has a bachelor’s degree in International Studies from the University of New Orleans and earned a master’s degree in Public & International Affairs from Virginia Tech. He is a co-advisor for Epsilon Eta chapter of Kappa Alpha Order fraternity and a panelist for the Graduate Honor System.

Omchand is a Ph.D. student in Planning, Governance, and Globalization in the School of Public and International Affairs. His professional work experience includes the oversight of financial and operations management of large U.S. Agency for International Development projects. Omchand holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Guyana, a master’s degree and a Master’s of Business Administration degree from Morehead State University, and a master’s degree from Virginia Tech. He previously co-chaired the Graduate Student Assembly travel fund program.

Fried is a doctoral student in the Department of Science and Technology in Society and in the Remote Sensing Interdisciplinary Graduate Education Program. She was a Graduate Student Assembly delegate for her department. She brings to the position past experience working in communications and as a webmaster.

Hyler is a Ph.D. candidate in biomedical engineering in the School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences and is a member of the MultiSTEPS Interdisciplinary Graduate Education Program. She is studying in Copenhagen on a Fulbright fellowship at the Technical University of Denmark.

Gresham is a doctoral student in the Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health interdisciplinary program. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech. Gresham chair of the Graduate Student Assembly Events and Special Programs in 2015-16.

For more information about the Graduate Student Assembly, visit the website.

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