YOUNGSTOWN — A Youngstown State University graduate and Girard native was recognized by a regional scientific society.

Alexis Marsico received a College Chemistry Award from the Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh, which will hold its annual banquet tonight at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.

The award, which comes with a $500 prize, is presented to students who have demonstrated excellence and high achievements in the field of chemistry, with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Students are nominated by the advisers in the chemistry departments at their respective institutions.

Marsico, who graduated earlier this month with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, was a member of YSU’s Honors College and the student chapter of the American Chemical Society at YSU. She also has received the Dr. Eugene Scudder Physical Chemistry Award and the Anthony, Elizabeth, and Dr. Janet Del Bene Scholarship in chemistry.

“It’s a lot of hard work having chemistry as a major, and I was able to do it with the help of faculty and staff,” Marsico said. “I feel I’ve learned a lot from my studies. I took a lab with every course I took and earned a 4.0 GPA.”

Marsico said she plans to attend the pharmacy program at Northeast Ohio Medical University in the fall, and plans to become a pharmacist.

“I’m really interested in the chemistry that occurs in our bodies, especially when we take drugs and medications,” she said.

Ronald Busch, spokesman for the society, said the society, founded in 1942, usually presents about 25 of the awards annually to students from schools in the Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia region.

He said, in addition to the College Chemistry Award, the society provides money for newly hired college professors, in the form of starter grants to get their labs up and running. It also sponsors a middle school and high school essay contest, the winner of which is also recognized at the banquet.

Funds for the prizes are generated from Pittcon, the society’s annual Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, which was held in February in San Diego.

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