[476] MTSU Graduate Will Climb Heights Carrying Honors, Positive Memories

May 20, 2010
CONTACT: Tom Tozer, 615-898-2919


MTSU GRADUATE WILL CLIMB HEIGHTS CARRYING HONORS, POSITIVE MEMORIES

MURFREESBORO—If Shannon Murphy, recent graduate at Middle Tennessee State University, had been required to carry all her accolades and honors with her across the stage to receive her diploma during the May 8 commencement, she would have needed a wheelbarrow.
“MTSU has been an amazing experience,” Murphy, biology major and chemistry minor, says. “Being part of the biology department and the University Honors College has given me the opportunity to do so many things that I otherwise would not have been able to do.”
When Murphy came to MTSU, she had already accumulated a long list of awards at Oakland High School, including membership in the National Honor Society, Beta Club, Beta Epsilon Honor Society, Excaliber science honor society—and she was in the top six in her graduating class of 300 students.
At MTSU, she added to the wheelbarrow. She was the recipient of the MTSU Academic Service Scholarship, Clay M. Chandler Outstanding Freshman Biology Award, Ralph E. Sharp Outstanding Sophomore Biology Award, and the Phillip M. Mathis Outstanding Junior Biology Award. In two separate years, she was a nominee and an “Honorable Mention” for the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, and she was the 2009 recipient of the Paul W. Martin Scholarship. She completed her Honor’s Thesis in April of 2009, and she’s listed in the January 2010 Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. Murphy also served as secretary of the newly formed honor society at MTSU, Omicron Delta Kappa.
This spring she received the MTSU Provost’s Award, one of the top academic awards presented by the university. The Provost’s Award is given to a student who best demonstrates outstanding academic achievement. The undergraduate student must have completed at least 90 credit hours, have a minimum 3.5 GPA and have provided evidence of involvement in scholarly activities.
Murphy’s most recent scholarly activity took her and classmate Merranda Holmes to Washington, D.C., where they both presented their research at the Posters on the Hill event. They were two of only 75 students selected from across the United States. Their research project was one of more than 300 separate research entries.
Majoring in biology and minoring in chemistry, Murphy plans to go to medical school in the fall. As a physician, she wants to participate in clinical research and go on medical missions throughout the United States and around the world.
“If I had to choose an outstanding attribute of MTSU, I would say ‘personal attention,’” Murphy said. “I initially came to MTSU because I had heard they had a good pre-med program. Often the teachers would stop me in the halls and ask, ‘How’s it going?’ They go out of their way and take their time. They do what it takes to help you.”
Murphy is the daughter of George and Kim Murphy of Murfreesboro.

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With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.


For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.