Biology undergraduate student, Dave Young, was named the Dean's Medalist in Natural Sciences for 2025. The Dean’s Medal is awarded by the College of Arts & Sciences each spring to four graduating seniors — one from each of the College’s four divisions — based on academic performance and faculty recommendations.
Dave is a double major in Psychology and Biology, with a minor in Global Health. Dave was featured on the College's Perspectives newsletter, excerpt here:
Dave Young excelled academically at the UW, worked in multiple research labs, volunteered at free clinics, and held health education sessions at homeless shelters. He also found time for leadership roles on several committees, including the Biology Department Diversity and Equity Committee, the American Medical Student Association of Seattle, and the TriBeta Biological Honor Society.
“David doesn’t do these things to pad his resume,” writes Geoffrey Boynton, professor of psychology. “His involvement is driven by genuine intellectual curiosity, compassion, and a strong sense of civic responsibility.”
As president and peer coach for TriBeta, an honor society for students in the biological sciences, Young worked with TriBeta’s tutoring staff to translate complex information into a digestible format for students. He did the same as a teaching assistant in PSYCH 101, taking the initiative mid-quarter to develop an Academic Skills Toolkit.
“His toolkit reflected a deep understanding of student learning needs,” notes Tabitha Kirkland, associate teaching professor of psychology, who taught the course.
Research was an important part of Young’s UW experience. As a research assistant at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, he looked at the role of tRNAs (molecules involved in protein synthesis) in the development of drug resistance in prostate cancer. In the Vision & Cognition Group at the UW Center for Human Neuroscience (CHN), he completed an honors thesis studying whether Deaf individuals have different visual spatial attention mechanisms than hearing individuals.
“Dave has a natural intuition for understanding what makes a good or interesting experiment — a critical first stage for being a successful scientist that even graduate students often struggle with,” says Ione Fine, CHN co-director and professor of psychology.
All of Young’s efforts have been noticed. He received twelve scholarships and awards while at the UW, had four publications (three of them first-author), and shared his research in sixteen poster presentations.
“I’ve never met such an accomplished yet unassuming student,” notes Karen Petersen, teaching professor emerita in the Department of Biology. “I have watched him seek both new personal challenges as well as find additional ways he can help improve the education and experiences of his fellow students.”
This fall, Young will join Stanford University School of Medicine as a first-year medical student.
“Dave is driven to make every moment count to achieve the goals he wants to achieve,” says Fine. “And that goal is less about himself than his desire to serve the community.”
Congratulations, Dave!
Read the full article on the College of Arts and Sciences website.