Kiersten Ley Earns College of Science and Mathematics Excellence Award at VSU

Kiersten Sarah Ley of Lakeland, Georgia, is the recipient of the Spring 2025 President’s Award for Academic Excellence for the College of Science and Mathematics at Valdosta State University. She graduates summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Biology (pre-medicine concentration) and a Minor in Chemistry during VSU's 239th Commencement on May 10.

VALDOSTA — Kiersten Sarah Ley of Lakeland, Georgia, is the recipient of the Spring 2025 President’s Award for Academic Excellence for the College of Science and Mathematics at Valdosta State University.

The President’s Award for Academic Excellence is presented to a high-performing graduating student in each of VSU’s six colleges — Harley Langdale Jr. College of Business Administration, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, College of the Arts, James L. and Dorothy H. Dewar College of Education and Human Services, College of Science and Mathematics, and College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Ley will be recognized during VSU’s 239^th Commencement at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 10, on the Main Campus Front Lawn. She will graduate summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Biology (pre-medicine concentration) and a Minor in Chemistry.

“I am deeply honored to receive this award and to represent the College of Science and Mathematics at graduation,” she shared. “Receiving this award reassures me that my dedication has been worthwhile, and it encourages me to continue to strive for excellence in the next stage of my life. Ending my time at VSU with this honor is both humbling and motivating.”

As a student at VSU, Ley was an active member of the Pre-Med Club and Northside Baptist Church, where she faithfully served in the Worship Ministry and Student Ministry. She worked as a Peer Alliance Learning program tutor with the Academic Support Center for a year and a half and volunteered at Faith Hope & Love Christian Ministries Inc., a healthcare clinic in her hometown.

Ley conducted research on modeling and analyzing a predicted protein structure for GCN2 in Arabidopsis thaliana with Dr. Ansul Lokdarshi, a plant molecular biochemist with VSU’s Department of Biology. She presented her findings at the 2024 VSU Undergraduate Research Symposium and the American Society of Plant Biologists’ 86^th Annual Southern Section Meeting.

Her commitment to academic, research, and service excellence resulted in her earning the SGMC Health Foundation’s Jay Shaw Scholarship; the 2023, 2024, and 2025 Martha H. Barnes Scholarship; the 2022 Antonio and Edna Criscuolo Scholarship; the 2022 W.R. and Dorothy Salter Scholarship; the 2022 James Eunice Legacy Scholarship; the 2025 Biology Senior Award; the 2025 Outstanding Undergraduate in Biochemistry Award; and repeated Dean’s List honors. She was also a Zell Miller Scholar.

“After graduation, I will begin the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) program at Mercer University School of Medicine in August,” Ley said. “I plan to specialize in family medicine, with the goal of returning to my hometown to increase the accessibility of healthcare for the families of Lanier County, Georgia, and the surrounding area.”

Her supportive family includes parents Jeffery Ley and Kristen Ley and siblings Asa Ley, Kailin Ley, and Kyleigh Ley.