Tevin Ali, a recent graduate of FAU’s B.S. Biological Sciences degree program, has been awarded a $20,000 Graduate Scholarship from Sallie Mae and Scholarship America. He was chosen from thousands of nominations nationwide. He has posted a special thank you you tube video to all of the educators that helped him along the way and helped him realize his potential to reach his goals. Check out the video
here.
was an actively involved student and received many honors throughout his time at FAU. Ali served as an Elite Owl Red Jacket Leadership & Service ambassador, where he served as a keynote speaker for the ninth annual iLead Student Leadership Conference. He also completed three internships, conducted undergraduate research in the laboratory of Dr. David Binninger in the Biological Sciences Department, and served as president of FAU’s Council of Scholarship & Inquiry. He credits FAU’s Weppner Center for LEAD and Service-Learning, the FAU Career Center and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science for supporting him during his time as an Owl.
During the summer of 2016, Ali was accepted to The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars, where he completed an internship with STEMConnector, a Washington D.C. company whose mission is to promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) involvement in the nation. He was honored to give the closing commencement address to the Washington Center’s class of 2016. “The leadership skills I picked up in D.C. paired with the leadership training I obtained at FAU transformed me into a confident young professional who is able to help others realize their potential,” he said. “It was during this experience that I found my voice and stepped into professional public speaking.”
He was also named the 2017 Student of the Year by the Florida Association of Colleges and Employers (FloridaACE). Each year, FloridaACE recognizes an outstanding student from a Florida university based on their achievements in experiential learning and involvement on their college campus. The prestigious crystal award and $300 check was presented on June 15th during the FloridaACE Annual Conference in Tampa. Later that year, Ali was also named 'Intern of the Year' by the Florida Association for Colleges and Employers.
Ali began graduate school at Johns Hopkins University where he studies biotechnology enterprise and entrepreneurship. He hopes one day to manage his own biotechnology company and become a motivational speaker. “My time at FAU made me realize that my true strength lies not in one, but the many who encouraged me.” Ali credits the Lead & Serve Office, FAU’s Career Center, and staff of the College of Science for believing him and supporting him throughout his journey at FAU. “As a first-generation college student, the support of these FAU resources was critical to my success. Without a team of people pushing me to new heights, I would not have achieved what I did and I wouldn’t have been accepted to my dream school.”
