Alexander Gomez Named Top College of Science and Mathematics Graduate at VSU

Alexander “Alex” Gomez of Cairo, Georgia, is the recipient of the Fall 2021 President’s Award for Academic Excellence for the College of Science and Mathematics at Valdosta State University. He will graduate summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Minor in Chemistry during VSU’s 232nd Commencement.

VALDOSTA — Alexander “Alex” Gomez of Cairo, Georgia, is the recipient of the Fall 2021 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 the graduating student with the highest grade point average 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 Humanities and Social Sciences, and College of Science and Mathematics.

Gomez will be recognized during VSU’s 232^nd Commencement at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 11, on the Front Lawn. He will graduate summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Minor in Chemistry.

“I am honored to be receiving this prestigious award,” he said. “VSU has immensely impacted my academic career and has made me grow as a student. My hard work has paid off, but it is bittersweet leaving the Blazer family. I could not have done it without help and support from my family, friends, and professors. To any first-generation LatinX student, ‘¡Si Se Puede!’”

As a student at VSU, Gomez was an active member of Student Members of the American Chemical Society and the Latin American Student Association, where he served as parliamentarian and treasurer. He volunteered with Halcyon Hospice, Emory University’s South Georgia Farmworker Health Project, The Salvation Army of Tallahassee’s COVID-19 Relief Center, Repeat Boutique, the Blazer Pantry and Closet, and the Partnership Health Center.

Gomez conducted research titled “Sulfur Mixed in Synthetic Fungicides: An Application to Suppress Sporulation after Fungal Infection” under the direction of Dr. Emily Cantonwine, a professor in VSU’s Department of Biology. That work earned him the Biology Best Poster Award at VSU’s 2021 Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Gomez’s commitment to academic, research, service, and leadership excellence resulted in him being named a Zell Miller Scholar and earning repeated Dean’s List honors, the 2020 Mack Varnedoe Greer Sr. M.D. scholarship, the 2020 and 2021 Martha H. Barnes Award, and the 2021 Biology Senior Award.

Gomez earned a spot in the 2021 Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center Pathway to Med School Program, a four-week residential experience designed to address the critical need for primary care physicians in the region. This experience allowed him to earn 50 hours of clinical shadowing in a primary care setting and 75 hours of community-based research to include data collection, interpretation, and presentation.

“After graduation, I plan on getting ready to apply to medical schools in the summer of 2022,” he said. “My career goal is to become a primary care physician, so I can practice in rural and medically underserved areas in Georgia.”

Gomez’s supportive family includes parents Ana and Vicente Resendiz and siblings Elian Gomez, Angel Resendiz, Alan Resendiz, Vincent Resendiz, and Naret Resendiz.