Pitt Chancellor's Scholar Named Emma Locke Award Winner

PITTSBURGH-University of Pittsburgh Honors College senior Kamesh Krishnamurthy-a Chancellor's Scholar and a bioengineering major in the Swanson School of Engineering and a political science major with minors in neuroscience and chemistry in the School of Arts and Sciences-was named 2010 Emma Locke Award winner at Pitt's Honors Convocation in February.

Established in 1946 by Charles A. Locke in memory of his mother, the Emma W. Locke Award is presented annually to a graduating senior in recognition of high scholarship, character, and devotion to the ideals of the University. The student must have at least a 3.85 GPA and plan to continue his or her education after graduation.

Krishnamurthy will pursue a combined MD/PhD degree at Duke University; the PhD will be in neurobiology.

Since his freshman year, Krishnamurthy has been involved in undergraduate research, most recently with Pitt's Zeringue Research Group, whose purpose is to develop engineering tools for neurobiology research. He has given presentations on his research at the National Biomedical Engineering Society Conference in Pittsburgh and the Northeast Bioengineering Conference in Boston in 2009 and at the National Biomedical Engineering Society Conference in Los Angeles in 2007.

While at Pitt, Krishnamurthy completed the Fessenden Honors in Engineering Program, earning a Fessenden Honors in Engineering certificate. He is a recipient of an E.J. Slack Engineering Scholarship and a Freshman Chemistry Achievement Award and is a member of Alpha Eta Mu Beta, a national biomedical engineering honor society. He has been on Pitt's and the School of Engineering's deans list every term.

Involved in many leadership roles, Krishnamurthy has served as an Honors College ambassador and orientation leader, Alpha Epsilon Delta secretary and business manager, the Asian Students' Alliance business manager and political actions chair, and "Pitt Political Review" copy editor. He also was a member of the Students Taking Action Now in Darfur divestment task force.

Krishnamurthy has extensive volunteer experience, including assisting nurses in UPMC Presbyterian Hospital's emergency room and Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC's ICU and transplant floor care rooms, working for Child Survival India in New Delhi, serving as an America Votes Campaign volunteer, and completing a service-learning project for Pitt's Office of Disability Resources and Services.

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