Ryan Walvoord, Assistant Prof. of Chemistry Receives First-Year Advising Award
Advisers to our first-year students help them transition to college life at Ursinus before declaring their major. First-year advising begins during the summer orientation when students begin the process of selecting courses for their first semester.
First-year advisers meet with students throughout the semester to develop a rapport to help with personal and academic issues of adjustment, monitor their progress, and offer guidance to help first-year students adjust to the college experience.
The award is based on nominations from students and the winner is selected by a committee of past recipients. The recipient of this year’s Award for Excellence in First-Year Advising is Dr. Ryan Walvoord. Missy Bryant, Interim Dean of Students and Co-Director of the Institute of Student Success, presented the award to Dr. Walvoord at the Ursinus Day Academic Convocation (UDAC), Dean Bryant spoke about the award and Ryan saying,
“Dr. Walvoord holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the Rochester Institute of Technology and a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Walvoord’s research interests include synthetic modification of fluorophores and chemical sensors. His work has appeared in various chemistry journals such as Journal of the American Chemical Society and Organic Letters.”
Dean Bryant also shared some thoughts about Ryan from the student nominators. One such student wrote,
“Dr. Walvoord is very deserving of this award. He is extremely enthusiastic and is always willing to help his advisees if we have any questions. He encouraged me to take classes that I wanted to take and helped me change classes last minute at the beginning of the semester. Dr. Walvoord not only explained the classes I need to take for my intended major (chemistry) but the core requirements for Ursinus. He also helped me explore times when I could study abroad.”
Ryan Walvoord joins other faculty from the chemistry department who were previously awarded this honor – Amanda Reig in 2016 and Ronald Hess in 2015. Congratulations to Dr. Ryan Walvoord!