The Health and Human Sciences Department hosted its annual Commencement Day Brunch for HHSC graduates and their guests.
The brunch was an opportunity to celebrate the students and for students, parents, faculty, and staff to gather and share fond memories over the past four years.
This semester, HHSC graduated 41 seniors – a resilient group of individuals who started college just before COVID and had to endure the disruption of the pandemic throughout their college career.
In addition, the department honored a few of the many outstanding graduates from the class of 2023.
Professor Yong Woo An presents Jules Abella the HHSC Program Scholar of the Year award. 
Professor Hawley Almstedt presents graduate Ella Krauss with the Co-Researcher of the Year award. 
Professor Rob Musci presents HHSC graduate Amira Mahomed the Co-Researcher of the Year award. 
Professor Chris Capelli presents graduate Sami Kuhns with the HHSC Service Award. 
Department Chair Todd Shoepe awarding graduate Jake Laubach the HHSC Senior Leadership Award.
Jules Abella won the Program Scholar Award for the highest GPA in the graduating class of 2023.
Ella Krauss and Amira Mahomed won Co-Researchers of the Year for their work with Hawley Almstedt, professor of health and human sciences; and Maxellende Ezin, assistant professor of biology. Krauss worked with Almstedt investigating the relationship between the nutritional quality of someone’s diet, their cognitive ability, and mental health. Mahomed was in Ezin’s lab in the Biology Department investigating the effects of cannabinoid overstimulation on neural development.
Sami Kuhns won the Service Award for her stellar service with the LMU Emergency Response Team. Throughout her college tenure, Kuhns logged over 800 volunteer hours with the Emergency Response Team.
Jake Laubach won the Leadership Award in the HHSC Department. Jake was a research manager for Department Chair Todd Shoepe’s research study, a resident advisor at LMU, an athletic training student manager for Campus Rec, and an integral component to the student community in the HHSC community.
The graduating seniors also had their own awards to administer—faculty superlatives! Scroll through the gallery below. Not pictured are the awards for laboratory support associate Suchandra Ghosh (“CPR instructor extraordinaire”) and senior administrative coordinator Danielle Ghosh (“the GLUE of the department”).
Almstedt and Shoepe receive the “Most Likely to Perform a One-Arm Push-up” and “Most Likely to Rip Pants in Class” awards, respectively. 
Musci receives the “Most likely to arrive sweaty from a bike ride” award. 
Professor Caio Sousa receives the “Most likely to be seen with a smile” award. 
An receives the “Most likely to perform a pull-up in class” award. 
Capelli receives the “Most Likely to go on a Tangent with No Return” award. 
Prof. Jen Roper receives the “Most Likely to Become Southwest ACSM President.”
Congratulations to all of the seniors! We are so excited for what the future has in store for you!
