ALFRED, NY – Alfred University recently honored AU women's tennis senior Amber Smith (Prattsburgh, NY/Prattsburgh Central) with the University's prestigious Marlin Miller Outstanding Senior Award.
 
The award was established to honor Alfred University alumnus Marlin Miller '54, H '89, H '19, a supporter and Board of Trustees member since 1972. Two recipients are chosen each year based on scholarship, extracurricular achievement, personal character, conduct, and nominations by faculty, students, staff, or alumni.
 
"The Marlin Miller Outstanding Senior award is a true honor," said Smith. "The values associated with this award and the students that have received it before really emphasize the culture Alfred University aims to create and thus how AU is a spectacular place to grow, mature and receive an education."
 
On the court, Smith was a four-year member of the AU women's tennis team. As a senior, Smith spent most of the year at No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles with partner and fellow senior Tori Pellegrino. She tallied 15 overall victories in her tennis career.

Smith's leadership roles on campus include serving the Office of Residence Life for multiple years, as a resident educator for Ford Street Apartments (2019-20), community assistant for the International House (2018-19), and as resident assistant for Openhym residence hall (2017-18); and as a university ambassador for the Office of Admissions. She is involved with the Judson Leadership Center, where she served as a summer intern in 2018, and is a graduate of the Women's Leadership Academy. Through the Academy, she completed a capstone project which established welcome kits for international students.

Smith is a four-year member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and Chemistry Club, serving this year as SWE club president. She is active in research, serving as a Biomaterials Lab researcher in the summer of 2018. She was the recipient of a research grant through the Judson Leadership Center, using funding to investigate the STEM gender equity paradox by collecting and analyzing data from the United States and Kazakhstan. Her findings were presented at the Women and Gender Studies Roundtable. She also received an Applied and Experiential (APEX) Learning Program grant.

Smith's honor gives the AU women's tennis program three Miller Outstanding Senior Award winners in the last three years. Beryl Torthe '18 and Nurila Kambar '19 earned honors in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
 

"Being the third women's tennis player to receive this award says a lot about the bonds you build through athletics while here at AU," Smith added. "I am so lucky to have two wonderful teammates before me who have taken the time to mentor me and be great role models. Both encouraged me, on and off the tennis court and they taught me the value of being involved. Likewise, supported me in my endeavors continuously here at Alfred University and beyond."