Contact: Laurie Mellas-Ramirez, 277-5915

March 19, 2002 MACE PURSUES DOUBLE SCIENCE MAJOR AT UNM While many college youth romped in the surf and sun or slept late during Spring Break, University of New Mexico senior Jacob Mace hung out in a biology lab. He defends this non-traditional behavior. "I have been going to graduate school interviews around the country so I was spending my time doing a little research as a change of pace," said Mace, a 1999 Farmington High School graduate. "Since I have been in a different state for the past four weekends, I wanted to stay in one place for my vacation." In May, Mace will earn bachelor's degrees in biology and chemistry. "Originally, I only planned to get a degree in biology because I did the best in it during high school," he said. "Now, it's different. I am truly interested in the sciences. My interests came to fruition last summer when I was on a fellowship in Iowa researching Varicella-Zoster virus - the cause of chickenpox and shingles. While I was there, I learned how exhilarating it is to discover entirely new information and realized that my life needed to be focused on research." Mace attends UNM on a prestigious Scholars Scholarship, awarded to New Mexico students who have a 3.3 grade point average or above, among other criteria. The scholarship paid for tuition and some fees. He said he has held various full-time jobs all through college while taking 18 credit hours a semester, the maximum allowed. He continually achieved the dean's list, was named to the UNM College of Arts and Sciences honor roll and was inducted into the academic excellence organization Phi Kappa Phi. Mace has settled on a Ph.D. program at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. "I plan to work in an academic institution as both a professor and a research scientist so that I can pass on my own enthusiasm for science to others, and hope that they will follow in my footsteps," he said.

The University of New Mexico
Public Affairs Department
Hodgin Hall, 2nd floor
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0011
Telephone: (505) 277-5813
Fax: (505) 277-1981