Marco Allodi '08, a chemical physics major, has been named to USA Today's 19th annual All-USA College Academic Team third team. Each February, USA Today honors 20 undergraduate academic all-stars as its All-USA College Academic Team, plus 60 students who are selected for the second and third teams and honorable mention. The newspaper recognizes full-time undergraduates who not only excel in scholarship but also extend their intellectual abilities beyond the classroom to benefit society. More than 500 students nationwide are nominated by their colleges.
Allodi, who conducts research with George Shields, the Winslow Professor of Chemistry, was first author on a paper published in Journal of Physical Chemistry A (2006) "Do Hydroxyl Radical-Water Clusters, OH(H2O)n, n=1-5, Exist in the Atmosphere?"
He is the recipient of a Goldwater Scholarship, the premier national undergraduate award in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. Allodi has presented research at the Sanibel Symposium in Florida; the MERCURY conference, a national undergraduate computational chemistry conference held each year at Hamilton; and at the Hamilton chapter of Sigma Xi's poster session for student research. He has spent the last three summers at Hamilton conducting research with Shields and Karl Kirschner, co-director of the Center for Molecular Design.
Allodi is the son of Janet and Federico Allodi of Oriskany, N.Y. A Dean's List student, he is a member of the Hamilton College Chemical Society, the Choir and the Spanish club. He also volunteers as a soccer coach for inner-city children from Utica's Cornhill area. Allodi is actively involved in the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, having served as rush chair and chaplain. After graduation from Hamilton he plans to pursue a Ph.D. in chemical physics.
Allodi is the second Hamilton student in two years to be recognized by USA Today. Mary Beth Day '07 was named to the first team in 2007.
