Young Professional Achievement Awardee

The Young Professional Achievement Award honors an alumnus/a who exemplifies extraordinary commitment and growth in their field and is under 35 years of age.

CAROLYN STRAUB
BA, Chemistry '17
Graduate Researcher, University of Illinois Chicago
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Carolyn is deeply motivated to leverage her professional and interpersonal skills in a way that benefits those who have not yet found the freedom that sobriety brings. Driven by this conviction, she is pursuing a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Carolyn is researching new pharmacological treatments for substance use disorders. She also facilitates a weekly peer support addiction recovery group rooted in evidence-based SMART Recovery principles, which complements the research through a boots-on-the-ground approach. She enthusiastically seizes opportunities to share her research with both scientific and non-scientific audiences. Carolyn won a second-place award for a poster presentation of her research at MIKIW 2021 and was voted Peer Tutor of the Year 2017 at Roosevelt University for excellence as an organic chemistry tutor. She has served as an ACS Science Coach since 2020 where she develops high school chemistry curriculum.