Dedicated Scientist
In a handful of years, Shauna McGillivray '99 hopes to be teaching at a college like Concordia, sharing her passion for molecular biology with eager undergraduates. For now, the former Goldwater Scholar is finishing her doctorate at the University of California, San Diego, and will start her three-year postdoctorate fellowship at the same institution.
McGillivray credits much of her success to her education at Concordia. She graduated in four and a half years, with a triple major in biology honors, chemistry and German - and that included spending a year studying in Germany. McGillivray says the small class sizes, rigorous courses, research opportunities and caring faculty helped her get the most out of her education.
Some of her highlights at Concordia included a summer research project with a biology professor, co-authoring a research paper, and a Research Experience for Undergraduates supported by the National Science Foundation. By the time she applied to graduate schools, the Moorhead native received full tuition offers and stipends from five major research universities, eventually deciding on San Diego.
"I really had more breadth of education at Concordia than my other peers at graduate school," McGillivray says. "They majored in specific fields, like molecular biology, but in the end I think my liberal arts education helped. And I really appreciated more the interactions I'd had with faculty."
