Alexiades Takes Home Fay Prize

A Dudley House senior has won this year's Fay Prize--the highest honor bestowed on an undergraduate by Radcliffe College.

Macrene R. Alexiades '89, a biology concentrator from Jamaica Estates, N.Y. was given the award by Radcliffe President Matina S. Horner in a ceremony yesterday afternoon in Radcliffe Yard.

In addition to a monetary prize, Alexiades will take home a unique Latin diploma along with her normal one at Commencement Thursday.

"Macrene is a rare individual: scholar, humanitarian and linguist with a genuine pride in her family background," said Horner during the ceremony. "Not only has she demonstrated superior intelligence, as evidenced by her academic record and the comments from her professors, but she also possesses a compassion for people that has led her to choose a demanding career in medicine."

Alexiades will enter Harvard Medical School after spending a year in Greece on a Fulbright grant. The Westinghouse award winner has conducted biology research for several professors. Her thesis was on the "transcriptional and translational photoregulation of nuclear and chloroplast genes in two strains of rice and their progeny," according to a Radcliffe news release.

"Her love of science, which began at age three when she started tracing the paths of ants in her garden," reads the release, "became an intellectual endeavor when she spent seven years on insect endocrinology projects at Queens College and St. John's University in New York City."

Despite her demanding academic load, Alexiades has found time for a wide variety of extracurricular activities, including being a phone counselor for RESPONSE and serving as a tutor supervisor for the Bureau of Study Counsel.

Alexiades, who is fluent in Greek and Spanish, has also served as a foreign language tutor for the last ten years.

In addition, Alexiades, whose ancestors were Greek, served for a year as Miss Greek Orthodox Youth Association (GOYA). She oversaw fundraising measures, cultural events and the GOYA Olympics.