April 07, 2016

Millersville University student wins 16th annual Ali-Zaidi Award

Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu

Harrisburg – Mervin Fansler, a senior at Millersville University of Pennsylvania from Columbia, has been named the 2016 winner of the Syed R. Ali-Zaidi Award for Academic Excellence. He received $1,000 and was presented with a commemorative medallion for his achievement during a Board of Governors' meeting today.

Fansler will graduate in May with bachelor of science degrees in computer science and mathematics and a minor in molecular biology and biotechnology. He has a 3.97 grade-point average.

The Ali-Zaidi Award is presented annually to a graduating senior at one of the 14 universities that comprise Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education. It recognizes outstanding academic achievement and participation in extra- and co-curricular activities.

This is the 16th year for the award, which was established in 2001 by Syed R. Ali-Zaidi, a founding member of the State System’s Board of Governors.

Candidates for the award are recommended by their university president at the conclusion of a campus application and selection process. Selection criteria comprise academic scholarship, including prizes, honors and membership in honorary societies; participation in extra/co-curricular activities; and a two-page essay by the nominee addressing how the university has prepared him or her for the next career step.

Fansler has participated in a variety of research projects in both of his major fields of study while at Millersville. He was selected from a national pool of applicants for a summer program funded by the National Science Foundation at DePauw University in which he led the design and implementation of a software library used to support teaching functional programming concepts. He later worked on a separate NSF-funded Explore Science, Technology and Health project performed in collaboration with scientists from the University of Delaware, working as a member of a three-student team to develop a WebGL game to educate and engage users on biochemical concepts relevant to drug design.

Fansler is working toward a Departmental Honors Thesis in computer science, in joint collaboration with the Biology Department. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. in the area of bioinformatics with applications in genetic analysis after his graduation from Millersville.

Outside of the classroom, Fansler is a member of the Mathematics Club and the Millersville Programming Team, leading the team to a first place finish in the 2015 Pennsylvania Association of Computer and Information Science Educators contest.

He is the recipient of numerous university awards and scholarships, including the Lee E. and Laura H. Boyer Awards in both mathematics and computer science and the Edna Myers and Donald Fergusson ’70 scholarships. He has worked as an IT consultant and freelance web developer while attending college.

In addition to being recognized by the Board of Governors, Fansler also received congratulatory citations from the state House of Representatives and state Senate, signed by Rep. David Hickernell and Sen. Ryan Aument, his hometown legislators.

The State System universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The universities also operate branch campuses in Oil City (Clarion), Freeport and Punxsutawney (IUP), and Clearfield (Lock Haven), and offer classes and programs at several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and in Center City in Philadelphia.