Winston Turner Earns College of Science and Mathematics Excellence Award at VSU

Winston Blake Turner of Powder Springs, Georgia, is the recipient of the Spring 2023 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 during VSU’s 235th Commencement at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 6, on the Main Campus Front Lawn.

VALDOSTA — Winston Blake Turner of Powder Springs, Georgia, is the recipient of the Spring 2023 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 Humanities and Social Sciences, and College of Science and Mathematics.

Turner will be recognized during VSU’s 235^th Commencement at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 6, on the Main Campus Front Lawn. He will graduate summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Biology.

“I am so thankful for being recognized as a top graduate of the College of Science and Mathematics, and I hope that I can inspire other students to continue to work and study hard on their road to success,” he shared. “I have learned and achieved a lot throughout my years at Valdosta, whether it was in the classroom, in the dorms, or in my clubs, and I am grateful to all my fellow classmates and professors for being there for me as I continued down this path of learning. It is thanks to all the people I have met that I was able to reach this point of my education and succeed beyond my expectations when I first began attending VSU. I will always carry with me all the memories and teachings that I have received while at VSU as I proceed toward my goals.”

As a student at VSU, Turner was a member of the Honors Student Association, Anime and Manga Club, and Valdosta Smash Ultimate Club. He was committed to fighting food insecurity as a volunteer at Reflections of Trinity’s food pantry, VSU’s Blazer Pantry and Closet, and the Honors House food pantry. He worked with Dr. John Phillips, an assistant professor in the Department of Biology, on research analyzing frog acoustic data to determine how environmental changes affect frog call behavior.

Turner’s commitment to academic, research, and service excellence resulted in him being named a Zell Miller Scholar and earning repeated Dean’s List recognitions, the 2022 Mack Varnedoe Greer Sr. MD Biology Scholarship, the 2020-2023 Martha H. Barnes Biology Scholarship, the 2021 Dorothy S. Salter Scholarship, and the 2019-2023 Biology Academic Scholarship.

After graduation, Turner plans to attend medical school and pursue a career as a pediatrician.

His supportive family includes mom Velicia Turner, dad Sherman Turner Jr., brothers Sherman Turner III and Brandon Turner, as well as his grandparents and a nephew.