by Marci E. Hersh

Elijah Petersen, a Case Western Reserve University senior undergraduate student in the department of civil engineering and the department of psychology, credits his academic achievements to his ability to visualize success and the CWRU faculty mentors who supported him.

Elijah Petersen and his mentor Aaron Jennings

Petersen has been awarded a prestigious $27,000 graduate research fellowship from the National Science Foundation (NSF). He also received a highly competitive $2,000 foundation fellowship from the Mortarboard National Honors Society, where he has served as president, to support his graduate education.

This year, Petersen will earn a bachelor's degree in the arts with honors and a bachelor's of science and engineering from CWRU.

"I'm very proud to be graduating from CWRU and honored to receive the NSF fellowship and the Mortarboard fellowship, which will help me make the transition from CWRU to graduate school next year," he said.

Petersen received the NSF fellowship in response to his outstanding academic record, which includes a 4.0 grade point average. This year, he also was named to the All-USA College Academic First Team sponsored by USA Today when the national newspaper honored outstanding college students from around the country.

He credits many of these achievements to what he calls the consistent and generous support of Aaron Jennings, professor in the department of civil engineering; Douglas Detterman, professor in the department of psychology; and Ignasio Ocasio, assistant professor in the department of chemistry, with whom Petersen worked as a supplemental instructor for an introductory level chemistry course.

Petersen said Jennings, in particular, has written more than 10 letters of recommendation for him over the last two years and that he has been a student in four different civil engineering courses taught by Jennings. He also conducted civil engineering research with Jennings during his junior and senior years at CWRU.

"Professor Jennings has been a true mentor for me both inside and outside the classroom," Petersen said. "I have been very fortunate to co-author articles with him in the field of environmental engineering and am in the process of preparing an article in the field of psychology with professor Detterman."

The NSF fellowship provides Petersen with a three-year stipend to support his graduate study in the environmental and water resources engineering group in the department of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The fellowship begins in September. He will spend the summer at CWRU to complete his master's degree in civil engineering.

In addition to his academic achievements, Petersen also has been a leader in his extracurricular activities. He has served as a member of the University Undergraduate Faculty Executive Committee, played on the CWRU varsity soccer team and held several top positions in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity including rush chairman, house manager and pledge trainer.

Petersen said he believes the first step toward any success begins with the imagination and visualization. He refers to the commitment he made as a freshman to explore every opportunity to make CWRU his undergraduate home.

"I think CWRU has something for every undergraduate student who comes here if you take the time to focus on finding the activities that you enjoy and commit yourself to them," Petersen said. "I am also convinced that faculty mentoring and fraternity involvement played a huge role in my success here."

Petersen said he plans to use his success to be socially responsible, and adds one more University mentor to his list of those who have helped him along the way.

"I think it is really important to use my personal success to better the world I live in, and I can do that through my graduate work in environmental engineering," Petersen said. "The University community has given me tremendous opportunities in research, teaching and extracurricular activities. I have to thank the office of undergraduate studies, where I was inspired as a sophomore to visualize academic excellence and where Dean Margaret Robinson has supported me through my applications for numerous scholarships and fellowships."

 

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