Samuel Hand is not a typical college student. Hand, a junior majoring in biology, has split much of his free time as a student at The University of Alabama working on medical mission trips in the Philippines and Kenya and volunteering at the Good Samaritan Health Clinic in Northport, Ala.
All of this work has not gone unnoticed. Hand is the recipient of the 2013 John Fraser Ramsey Premier Award. One of the four Premier awards presented to honors students, the Ramsey Award recognizes a junior who has broad humanistic interests and has been a positive influence on their contemporaries, according to the Premier Awards website.
“When I found out that I had been awarded the Ramsey, I was quite surprised,” Hand said. “The two previous Ramsey Award winners are friends of mine, and they are incredible people who are have done much for the University. It was hard to believe, and remains somewhat surreal, that I was given the same award that they received in the recent past.”
Jeffrey Lozier, however, said he was not surprised at all that Hand won the award, after spending time with him in the classroom and the lab. Hand volunteered in Lozier’s lab on campus, helping to determine patterns of gene inheritance and expression in bee species found scattered along the West Coast.
“It’s the way he looks at the world. Students with a strong aptitude may want to go to medical school to be a doctor to make a ton of money,” Lozier said. “Sam’s interests are in doing work that will benefit people. That’s just Sam.”
Currently, Hand is studying abroad in Aix-en-Provence, France. As a French minor, Hand is using his time overseas to learn more about the culture and language, which he hopes will help him in the future. After graduating, Hand said he would like to work as a physician in French-speaking areas of Africa.
Aside from the $6,000 he received for winning the award, he will also be provided with the University’s “Great Ideas Tour,” a trip across Europe. Hand said he plans to take the trip in summer 2014, beginning with the British Isles.
