LOS ANGELES,CA-Sulekha Ramayya has been named the University Valedictorian for the University of Southern California. She has earned this top honor out of a class of 6,500 students and will be addressing 40,000 people during her commencement speech on May 13. She is the first engineer from Viterbi School to achieve this honor in 20 years and the first Indian woman engineer ever to achieve this distinction.
When Ramayya graduates with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering and business finance minor from the Marshall School of Business, she hopes to change the world — in a big way.”My long-term goals include launching a healthcare social enterprise to combat the global malaria epidemic,” she said. “My ambitious goal starts with eradicating malaria and ultimately includes making life-saving drugs more affordable for indigent populations.”
That’s no small task, but Ramyya has already paved a path toward this dream at USC. She worked to develop anti-malarial and other drug treatments. And in 2012, she became a social entrepreneur, raising more than $35,000 to establish Mylaria, a non-profit organization dedicated to combating malaria.
Ramyya’s first step after graduation is to head to New York City to join Goldman Sachs as an investment banking analyst.She believes the skills she developed at USC will take her far. “The art of the perfect presentation, which was honed over my four years, is the best skill I can take away, as effective communication is key to any initiative,” she said.
Being a Valedictorian is nothing new to Sulekha. She has been a Valedictorian of her middle school and high school, graduating from Peninsula High in 2012. She is a Coke Scholar and was the Student of the Year for the State of California in 2012. She was named Nestle Best in Youth in 2013. She credits her family, teachers, and closest mentors for not only teaching her about academics, but also about life. “Professor Harry DeAngelo and Professor Julia Plotts are fantastic teachers, but more importantly they have been incredibly supportive over my USC journey,” Sulekha said. “Rarely do you get to experience an academic environment which is both academically challenging and emotionally nourishing. I am so lucky to have had this opportunity.”
That’s no small task, but Ramyya has already paved a path toward this dream at USC. She worked to develop anti-malarial and other drug treatments. And in 2012, she became a social entrepreneur, raising more than $35,000 to establish Mylaria, a non-profit organization dedicated to combating malaria.
Ramyya’s first step after graduation is to head to New York City to join Goldman Sachs as an investment banking analyst.She believes the skills she developed at USC will take her far. “The art of the perfect presentation, which was honed over my four years, is the best skill I can take away, as effective communication is key to any initiative,” she said.
Being a Valedictorian is nothing new to Sulekha. She has been a Valedictorian of her middle school and high school, graduating from Peninsula High in 2012. She is a Coke Scholar and was the Student of the Year for the State of California in 2012. She was named Nestle Best in Youth in 2013. She credits her family, teachers, and closest mentors for not only teaching her about academics, but also about life. “Professor Harry DeAngelo and Professor Julia Plotts are fantastic teachers, but more importantly they have been incredibly supportive over my USC journey,” Sulekha said. “Rarely do you get to experience an academic environment which is both academically challenging and emotionally nourishing. I am so lucky to have had this opportunity.”