Margaret Dedloff

POTSDAM – Graduating senior Margaret R. Dedloff of Lake View, N.Y., has been awarded the Levinus Clarkson Award for the 2019-2020 academic year. Formal recognition will take place at commencement, which is currently planned for August 15.

She 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.

Dedloff, a member of the Honors Program and a McNair Scholar, earned both a bachelor of science degree in biology and a bachelor of science in history. She was a presidential scholar for all of her semesters at Clarkson. She is a member of the American Society for Microbiology, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and Beta Beta Beta biological honor society.

In 2019, she received the Goldwater Scholarship, the most prestigious award in the United States given to undergraduates studying in natural sciences, mathematics, who demonstrate outstanding potential. She was recognized by Clarkson’s highest honor society, Phalanx, with the Commendable Service Award. She was also a recipient of the New York State Academic Excellence Scholarship and a Clarkson ASPIRE Grant.

Dedloff has co-published in four academic journals, Frontiers in Microbiology, Applied Sciences, Developmental Biology, and Materials, with two more articles currently under preparation.

Her research experience includes being selected for a very competitive NSF REU at the University of Georgia Department of Infectious Diseases, investigating Bordetella spp. and its ability to manipulate the host innate immune response; and as a Clarkson Trudeau Biomedical Scholar, performing cutting-edge biomedical research at the Trudeau Institute in Saranac Lake.

Dedloff also performed research at the University of Georgia Department of Infectious Diseases, investigating Bordetella bronchiseptica and its interaction with eosinophils, an innate immune cell, and in the Clarkson Biology Department, investigating subspecies of Mediterranean mussels and looking for genetic connections, and investigating the development of the intestinal stem cell niche of zebrafish. She also served as an undergraduate research assistant there, investigating the role HPV plays in cervical cancer.

She gained experience as an undergraduate teaching assistant in several classes, including microbiology lab and ecology lab, and as a tutor in general biology, general chemistry and genetics.

Dedloff also served as president and secretary of the Circle K International Clarkson chapter, a student contributor to the Department of Biology New Faculty Hire Committee, president and secretary of Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society Eta Omicron Chapter, business manager of the Clarkson Pep Band, Sophomore Honors Class service representative, new student mentor, and First-Year Seminar peer educator.

After graduation, Dedloff will pursue a Ph.D. in immunology and microbiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

As a private, national research university, Clarkson is a leader in technological education and sustainable economic development through teaching, scholarship, research and innovation. We ignite personal connections across academic fields and industries to create the entrepreneurial mindset, knowledge and intellectual curiosity needed to innovate world-relevant solutions and cultivate the leaders of tomorrow. With its main campus located in Potsdam, N.Y., and additional graduate program and research facilities in the New York Capital Region, Beacon, N.Y., and New York City, Clarkson educates 4,300 students across 95 rigorous programs of study in engineering, business, the arts, education, sciences and health professions. Our alumni earn salaries that are among the top 2.5% in the nation and realize accelerated career growth. One in five already leads as a CEO, senior executive or owner of a company.