Alexandra Izydorczak

Alexandra Izydorczak is a native of Holland, New York, and graduated in May with a major in chemistry and a minor in mathematics.

An honors graduate, she earned the American Institute of Chemists Award and several American Chemical Society (ACS) honors, including the Penn-York Section Excellence in Chemistry Award, an undergraduate research poster award, and the Chemistry Promise Award.

Izydorczak learned of the “Discovery Within Community” grant program as a senior in high school and said the award helped cement her decision to attend St. Bonaventure.

She served as a student assistant in the Department of Chemistry, conducting research on amino acids under the tutelage of Dr. Scott Simpson, assistant professor of chemistry. They co-published an article in the Journal of Chemical Education.

Izydorczak also presented at conferences, including the American Chemical Society’s 2018 national fall meeting and a national ACS conference in Boston. She also served a summer chemistry internship at the University at Buffalo.

Izydorczak was a member of the women’s ice hockey team and co-captain of the women’s field hockey team. She participated in the Freshman Leadership Program and was a student worker for the Office of Admissions.

She completed the Competitive EDGE program and was inducted into Phi Eta Sigma, the national honor society for first-year college students.

Izydorczak will attend the Ph.D. chemistry program at the University at Buffalo in the fall.

“I plan on becoming a researcher in a lab, whether in government or industry, and the research experience I gained at SBU, along with being a lab assistant, has helped prepare me,” she said. “The opportunity to attend conferences through the grant program has been very beneficial.”