Jameson Graber ('08)

Jameson Graber graduated from W&L in 2008, earning a number of distinctions: he was class valedictorian, he graduated with honors in mathematics, and he was the recipient of the Williams Prize in Mathematics as well as the Robinson Award in Mathematics and Science. Now a Jefferson Fellow in the University of Virginia's graduate mathematics program, the high quality of Graber's work continues to be recognized. He has been awarded a graduate research fellowship from the Virginia Space Grant Consortium, which will support his research with UVA Professor Irena Lasiecka. The mathematical focus of his work with Lasiecka involves the theory and application of partial differential equations.

Even though Graber knew he would pursue a Ph.D. in mathematics after earning a bachelor's degree, he chose to attend a liberal-arts college.

"When I was applying to colleges, I already knew that I would go on to pursue a doctorate in mathematics. I wanted a college that would allow me to reach that goal without stifling my other interests. I wanted a liberal arts education, which for me means more than just taking classes in a variety of departments. For me, a liberal arts education means learning to enhance all aspects of your life, from academic to social to spiritual, by allowing all of these aspects to influence each other.

"W&L got me where I wanted to go. The growth I experienced in every major aspect of my life is exactly what I was looking for. I picked the right school."