UTM graduate receives Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship

Lauren Milam, a May 2025 graduate of the University of Tennessee at Martin, was named to a Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship valued at $8,500, according to an announcement made July 22.

Milam was a summa cum laude graduate (a grade-point average of 3.8 to 4.0) with a dual bachelor’s degree in chemistry and cell and molecular biology with a minor in neuroscience. She is a first-generation college graduate, meaning she is the first person in her family to earn a college degree.

She is also a University Scholar, a member of a prestigious program at UT Martin that emphasizes the importance of individual integrity, academic achievement and education that develops intellectual, moral and social responsibility.

Milam plans to attend medical school at the James H. Quillen College of Medicine at East Tennessee State University, but has kept busy this summer.

“I have just come back from a UTM travel study in which I was scuba diving in the Dutch Caribbean to collect data about coral health,” she stated in an email interview. “In addition to publishing some of my previous research work, I will do more of the same.”

Milam is also assisting with research in San Antonio, working with her mentor, former UTM professor Dr. Violet Bumah, writing research publications for the work Milam did as an undergraduate.

Milam’s career goals are based on her chosen field and her own background.

“I plan to become a doctor,” she said in the email interview. “It’s a long way between now and what specialty of medicine I may enter, but I know the type of doctor I want to be.

“Coming from a very rural area with poor health-care access, I want to pursue places and people that need help the most, both here and abroad. I want to be involved in local free clinics and international programs, such as Doctors Without Borders and the Peace Corps. I feel very strongly that medicine should not be a luxury.”

It seemed to be a foregone conclusion that Milam would enter a scientific field of study.

“I have been interested in science for as long as I can remember,” she stated in the interview. “I know that sounds cliché, but science is literally everything. Whether in the form of nature or technology, I have always been excited to understand how things work and all the possibilities once you understand them.

“As for medicine, ultimately, my interest was made more concrete after several serious health problems in my immediate family. The urgency you feel to understand why and how things work and happen is never greater than when a loved one is ill and you are unable to help.”

Milam said she didn’t think she would receive the Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship, so she was surprised when she received the announcement letter.

“When I saw the email, I was shocked and super-excited,” she said. “Graduate school – particularly medical school – can be an overwhelming financial struggle, and since I am a first-generation student, the struggle is even more intense.

“Graduate scholarships like the Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship are extremely important opportunities to relieve some of that hardship, so I am very happy to have been chosen.”

In her spare time, Milam enjoys reading, hiking and cooking new things. She has a long list of books she wants to read, and recently finished reading “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut.

Milam graduated from Frank Hughes School in Clifton, and is the daughter of Aimee Gobbell of Collinwood. For more information about UT Martin, visit www.utm.edu or call 1-800-829-UTM1 (-8861)

PHOTO: Lauren Milam (right) of Clifton, a summa cum laude graduate at UT Martin, is shown receiving her diploma from UTM Chancellor Yancy Freeman at the May 3 commencement exercises. Milam received a Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship valued at $8,500.

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