Graduating senior Zachary Goad of Colchester, V.T., received the Levinus Clarkson Award during Clarkson University’s spring 2023 commencement ceremony on May 13. He was selected for the $1,000 award by a vote of the full University faculty based on his scholarship and promise of outstanding achievement.
The award was established by University founders Elizabeth and Frederica Clarkson in memory of their brother, Levinus, and was first awarded in 1909. This award and the Frederica Clarkson Award are traditionally given to the two top students in the graduating class.
Goad earned a bachelor of science degree in chemistry, finishing off his undergraduate years with a 3.97 cumulative GPA. He has been honored as a Presidential Scholar nearly every semester, and he has taken several graduate cross-listed courses that will go toward his pursuit of a master’s degree in chemistry.
During his time at Clarkson, Goad has earned at least one department-level award each academic year. He has earned the Department of Chemistry & Biomolecular Science Freshman Award, the Egon Matijevic Endowed Chemistry Scholarship, The Gamma Sigma Epsilon George L. Jones, Jr., Award, the Stig E. Friberg Award for Undergraduate Research, and he has earned the University Recognition Award twice.
Goad has taken 2 or 3 credit hours of undergraduate research every semester and has received several awards at research symposiums. He has earned Best Undergraduate Poster Presentation in Chemistry & Electrochemistry at Clarkson’s Research and Project Showcase (RAPS), and across his two times attending the Northern New York American Chemical Society “Chemistry Meets Biology” Research Symposium he has received the First Place Undergraduate Oral Presentation and the Best Undergraduate Poster Presentation awards.
For his senior year, Goad received a CAMP Graduate Fellowship, which, as the name implies, is rarely awarded to an undergraduate student. He has been working on his independent research project to further develop a metal-organic framework-based biosensor for the genetic detection of viruses such as SARS-CoV-2.
Goad has served as the President of Brothers and Sisters in Christ for two years, and in the past, he has been on the leadership of Arnold Air Society and Clarkson University College Republicans. He is a cadet in Air Force ROTC, leading his peers and preparing for future service as an officer of the United States Air Force.
After graduation, Goad will continue on at Clarkson for one year in pursuit of a master’s degree in chemistry, after which he will enter active duty as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force.
