n Committee, in 1986 the Owensboro Community College was established and in1987 the Alpha Xi Gamma chapter of Phi Theta Kappa was chartered. | am a founding faculty member of both so I have been involved with the life of this college for 32 years. | have had many exceptional students these past 32 years. Many of these former students are now physicians, biologists, teachers, physical therapists, dentists, pharmacists, and optometrists. A current student, Ms. Brooklyn Knight, is one of those exceptional students and easily ranks in the top five percent of this group. However, unlike many of these past students, Ms. Knight is @ high school senior and will graduate in May 2019 with an Associate of Science degree. Ms. Knight and | have had a busy two years. She completed my GEN 140, Development of Leadership, spring of 2018 and Bio 150/151Principles of Biology fall of 2018. She will take Bio 152/153 with me in the spring, She is also a Vice President of the Alpha Xi Gamma chapter of Phi Theta Kappa and a member ‘of my research team exploring the role of caffeine in the cystogenesis of Polycystic Kidney Disease. Based on a working relationship with Ms. Knight, and her assessment in the leadership class, | classify her as a transformational leader. Although Ms. Knight is exceptionally quiet, she is able to inspire fellow students to accomplish great things. She empowers members of the honor society to meet higher standards and they seem to trust her. Recently we needed a survey built on Survey Monkey so Ms. Knight volunteered and created the instrument in twenty minutes. | noticed other students displaying @ mixture of admiration and jealousy, as was | ‘The Owensboro Community and Technical College chapter of Phi Theta Kappa recently held @ conference on genetics and ethics. This conference was the direct result of our Honors in Action study for Phi Theta Kappa. We invited eight regional experts including a physician, attorney, and numerous faculty from the Indiana-Kentucky area. We explored several topics including CRISPR, GINA, and eugenics. These sessions were attended by over eighty community members with nearly 78 percent reporting a high level of satisfaction with the program. This program was the work of a core group of six students. Ms. Knight was a major force behind the success of this project. She was a significant contributor to the brochure, survey instrument, attendance data, and the procurement of speakers. Ms. Knight is an outstanding student, an officer in Phi Theta Kappa, an officer in the Student Government, a member of the PKD research team, a National Merit Semi-finalist, and a high schoo! senior. Ms. Knight will be one of my alltime favorite students and will be highly successful in any profession she chooses. | recommend, without hesitation, that Ms. Knight be seriously considered for this award. Fol OA ye) ( Timothy T. Dick, PhD Professor of Biology