News: PSD Spotlights

Our final spotlight of the academic year is Sandra Quarles, Project Assistant in the Department of Computer Science. Sandra hails from Chicago and has worked at the University for 29 years. She has been nominated for exemplifying the PSD core value of holding ourselves accountable and honoring commitments. 

Jonathan Rodriguez is June 2019's PSD spotlight for exemplifying the core value of holding ourselves accountable and honoring commitments.

James Callahan’s hometown is Boston, Massachusetts. He completed a BA in chemistry and physics at Harvard University and then taught high school physics for two years on the North Shore of Boston. Most recently, he worked as a research and teaching assistant at Harvard. He’s now in his second year of pursuing a PhD at the University of Chicago in chemistry.

Emily Smith was born and raised in Kansas City, Kansas. She attended the University of Kansas and earned a BS in physics and computer science. She’s currently in her second year of pursuing a PhD in physics at the University of Chicago.

Sarah Brown was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. Prior to coming to the University of Chicago, she completed a BS in Honours Physics & Chemistry at McGill University. She’s currently a fourth-year student in the Department of Chemistry’s PhD program. We interviewed her via email about her experiences at UChicago.

Tae Kim was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea and moved to the US in 10th grade. Prior to attending the University of Chicago, she studied math and economics at Cornell and worked at an insurance company in Seoul. She is now in her fourth year at UChicago, pursuing a PhD in statistics. We interviewed her via email about her experiences at UChicago.

Launching our PSD Spotlight series is Victor Gavin. Victor is a Building Manager in the Department of the Geophysical Sciences. We interviewed Gavin about his interests and experiences below.

Andrés Moya Rodriguez was born and raised in Puerto Rico. Prior to coming to the University of Chicago, he completed a BS in chemistry at the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez Campus and did a year-long post-baccalaureate program at Yale University. He's currently in his third year of studying biophysical sciences at UChicago. We interviewed him via email about his experiences at UChicago.

Pranav Gokhale was born and raised in suburban Maryland. Prior to coming to the University of Chicago, he worked as a product engineer at Quora. He is now in his second year of UChicago’s Computer Science PhD program. We interviewed him via email about his experiences at UChicago.

Jade Checlair was born and raised in Brussels, Belgium. Prior to attending the University of Chicago, she studied physics at the University of Toronto and spent a summer in Tokyo researching exoplanets. She’s now in her third year at UChicago, pursuing a PhD in the Department of the Geophysical Sciences.

Alan Chang was born in Minneapolis, MN, and grew up in San Jose, CA. He received a BA in mathematics from Princeton and is now in his fifth year of the University of Chicago’s Mathematics PhD program. We interviewed him via email about his experiences at UChicago.

June Wu is from Shanghai, China. Before coming to the University of Chicago, she received her BA in mathematics and MS in scientific computing from the Courant Institute at New York University. She is in her first year of pursuing a PhD with the Committee on Computational and Applied Mathematics (CCAM). We interviewed her via email about her experiences at UChicago.

Petr Panov is from Moscow, Russia. He earned his BSc and MSc in biophysics from Moscow Institute of Technology. He is now a fourth-year student pursuing a PhD in statistics. We interviewed him via email about his experiences at the University of Chicago.

Adina Feinstein grew up in Syosset, New York. She received a BS in Astrophysics from Tufts University and is now a first-year student in the MS-PSD program with a concentration in astronomy & astrophysics. We interviewed her via email about her experiences at the University of Chicago.

Gabriel Vargas grew up in San José, Costa Rica. He received a Licenciatura (Bachelor’s plus professional degree) in microbiology and clinical chemistry and a Master’s degree in microbiology from the University of Costa Rica. He is now pursuing a PhD in geophysical sciences with a concentration on microbiology. We interviewed him about his experiences at the University of Chicago.