A New Memorial Honors Late Alum's Scientific Curiosity

As a student majoring in organismal biology, Graham Derzon-Supplee ’22 was driven by an enormous sense of wonder toward the natural world. His mentors said that he saw science as a series of questions to be asked rather than facts to be known. His fellow students remember how he stood—smiling openly, fully present, encouraging others to be present. Derzon-Supplee’s life was cut short the summer after his graduation; his impact as a Pitzer student has inspired the creation of a new scholarship award. 

The Graham Derzon-Supplee Award will be given annually to a graduating senior who best exemplifies the academic and personal qualities that Derzon-Supplee exhibited during his undergraduate career as a student in the Department of Natural Sciences. These qualities include: a sense of wonder, inquisitiveness, scientific creativity, leadership, and willingness to assist others. 

The award was established earlier this year by Derzon-Supplee’s family. In a message on the Pitzer website, they express their thanks to his classmate, Mikaela Lipsky CMC ’23, for initiating this effort.  

Chosen by members of the Pitzer-Scripps science faculty, the recipient will receive a $1,500 award and something else that was deeply meaningful to Derzon-Supplee: a pair of binoculars. He was a remarkably patient observer who spent hours studying the feeding habits of the roseate spoonbill and other birds. 

The Derzon-Supplee family is collaborating with Pitzer’s fundraising team to build a $50,000 endowment in support of the award. Any earnings raised annually that exceed the $1,500 award amount will be donated to the Department of Natural Sciences’ Summer Science Immersion Program. That program supports first-year students who are interested in studying science and whose high school experience did not provide them with a strong science background. 

Interested in making a gift in support of this endowment? 
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