About

Ethan Williamson is from Evergreen, North Carolina, and graduated in the spring of 2019 with a degree in chemistry. Ethan worked hard during his time at UNCP and graduated summa cum laude meaning he had a cumulative GPA of 3.85 or higher. Along with working hard in his academics, Ethan conducted undergraduate research, served as the Vice President of Gamma Sigma Epsilon Chemistry Honors Society, and received the Dean’s Fellowship Award. Being a member of the Honors College was rewarding to Ethan in every way, “From seminar classes, having access to amazing mentors, Dr. Milewicz, Dr. Decker, and Gordon, and being a part of a small community at UNCP was very rewarding.” Being a member of the MHC is where Ethan met most of his friends at school and is thankful for all the opportunities the honors college gave him.

For his senior project, Ethan worked with Dr. Storms to research how medicine expires over time on the shelf. Ethan was inspired to conduct this research because of the need for safe medical practices worldwide. Small third world countries do not have access to medicine as people do in other countries. The purpose of this research was to test what effect substandard/counterfeit antimicrobial drugs have on the body. After his research concluded, Ethan submitted his research data to the World Health Organization in hopes that they will help improve safe medicine practices in third world countries.

After graduation, Ethan began veterinarian school at North Carolina State University. He advises honors students to, “begin with the end in mind.” Pembroke was not his first choice of schools after high school, but looking back Ethan said, “Hands down this was the best choice I have ever made.” He encourages students to follow their passions and to not let other people’s opinions stop them. Ethan had several great memories during his time at UNCP, but one of the best ones was when he was accepted to NC State for vet school. Ethan graduated within three years maintaining a high-grade point average and working hard. He said, “It felt so good knowing all of my hard work had paid off and that I knew I did my best.” Ethan wanted to thank Dr. Scott Hicks for all his help proofreading about fifteen different graduate school essays and supporting him throughout the entire application process.

Senior Project

Mentor: Meredith Storms

HPLC Method Validation: A Global Application for the Analysis of Amoxicillin