AAUW Presents Academic Award to Florida Tech Senior

MELBOURNE, FLA.—The American Association of University Women (AAUW), Melbourne Branch, recently presented the organization’s Academic Award for Excellence for Women to Teresa Esposito. She is physics major with a minor in biology at Florida Institute of Technology. A resident of Long Branch, N.J., Esposito graduated from the Academy of Allied Health and Science in Neptune, N.J. in 2009. She also was swim team captain in grades 11 and 12 at nearby Long Branch High School.

Esposito’s Florida Tech research experience included scanning tunneling microscopy on tryptanthrins in the laboratory of Chemistry Professor Joel Olson.

Among her many awards was the James A. Potter Award for Excellence in Physics in 2011. She is also a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society at Florida Tech. She was in the senior mentorship program in the Radiation Oncology Physics Department at Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank, N.J., 2008-‘09, and was employed by the West End Family Pharmacy in Long Branch, N.J., 2007-‘10.

Susan Earles, Florida Tech associate professor of computer and electrical engineering, and an AAUW member, presented the award. She said, “Teresa received the award for her exceptionally high GPA, which she earned completing many technically rigorous courses at Florida Tech.”

Founded in 1881, AAUW promotes equity for all women and girls, lifelong education and positive societal changes. The organization, including the Melbourne Branch, is open to all graduates who hold a bachelor’s or higher degree from an accredited college or university. The AAUW, through its Educational Foundation, provides scholarship and fellowship funding to support women in graduate school and in research.