Joint Major: Chemistry and Biology
Awards: Campbell and Sly Prize Recipient
High School: Canadian Academy, Kobe, Japan 

The William G. Sly Prize was donated by friends to honor Professor Bill "The Snowman" Sly. Throughout his 34 years of understanding and love of learning that were an inspiration to colleagues and students alike. This prize honors a junior chemistry who exemplifies the curiosity, intellectual integrity and enthusiasm that Bill brought to his teaching and research.

According to Chang:
Mudd provided me with so many assets that I cannot fully express in mere words. To name a few, it was through the coherent horizontally-integrated program at Mudd that I acquired the knowledge and the mindset necessary to engage in recent scientific studies that are increasingly becoming interdisciplinary in nature. The unusually high degree of academic rigor that Mudd places on the students encouraged me to expand my intellectual potential. However, what I truly came to love the most about Mudd was the people. The interaction that I experienced day to day with my professors and my peers not only molded me into a better scholar, but also into a better person. And I owe this especially to the chemistry department at Mudd.

I started doing research as a sophomore on DNA repair enzymes under the guidance of Professor Haushalter. My research interest lies in analyzing the structural conformation of the transient complex of the DNA repair enzyme hOGG1 binding on to nucleosomal DNA for base excision. I loved the hands-on experience and the enjoyment I received from research under Professor Haushalter. Mudd has a sense of synergistic atmosphere that allows its students to be highly competitive and equally cooperative at the same time. And such is the atmosphere that gave me more than enough room to grow as a scholar, as a research scientist and as a person.

From the implementation of its recent joint chemistry and biology major to the construction of the Hoch-Shanahan Dining Commons, I must say that Mudd is rapidly growing in so many levels. At the same time, Mudd encouraged me to grow as well.