Patrick Kasl, a 2020 graduate in biomedical engineering, is one of two recipients of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Herfurth-Kubly Awards for Comprehensive Undergraduate Excellence.
The $2,000 awards are among the oldest and most prestigious honors on campus and are given annually to seniors who have made the most effective use of their time at UW-Madison.
Kasl, of Wyoming, Minnesota, is the winner of the 2020 Theodore Herfurth Award for Comprehensive Undergraduate Excellence. He has spent time researching in three labs at UW-Madison. His projects have been diverse, although a unifying theme has been the development of cellularly inspired therapeutics.
He was an offensive lineman for the football team on a full-ride scholarship for two years and a peer mentor in the College of Engineering. In fall 2020, he will be attending the University of California San Diego to pursue a Ph.D. in bioengineering.
A committee comprised of faculty and staff, a former award recipient and a representative of the donor’s family selects recipients based on high academic achievement, effective communication skills, leadership in significant extra-curricular activities, financial self-support and personal initiative.
This year, 311 students were nominated by faculty and staff. The committee selected 13 finalists and made two awards, with two honorable mentions.
Claire Evenson, a biochemistry and mathematics major, received the Teddy Kubly Award for Comprehensive Undergraduate Excellence. Joseph Kern, a materials science and engineering and computer science major, was one of the two honorable mentions, receiving a $500 award. Biomedical engineering students Kristina Geiger and Maura McDonagh were finalists.
The award is made possible through the generosity of Theodore Herfurth, a member of the class of 1894, and his daughter, Theodora (Teddy) Kubly.