An international student from Lyon, France, Emmanuel Smadja (above) crossed many borders to come to the University of Virginia and in his six years here, he has traversed many more. Passionate about ethics, different cultures, technology and computer science from a young age, Smadja has put his knowledge to use, not only evident by the degrees he’s earned, but also by his outstanding community service record. After receiving a master’s in systems engineering on Sunday, Smadja will waste no time in crossing more borders — visiting a Nicaraguan orphanage before going to work for a chemical corporation. Full story.

U.Va. News Services/Photo: Dan Addison

During her first year at the University of Virginia, Gwen Archard (above) dealt with being far from home and trying to fit in, in addition to people’s assumptions about her. Archard has cerebral palsy and gets around in an electric wheelchair. Instead of complaining, Archard chose to change minds, open eyes and smash stereotypes with meaningful research into the history of people with disabilities at U.Va. On Sunday, the foreign affairs major will graduate with a double concentration in East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. After a stint working for
the Department of Defense, she will travel to South Africa to teach English in the townships. Full story.

U.Va. News Services/Photo: Dan Addison

University of Virginia graduate student Bill Gilhooly’s research has taken him to depths known to only a few hundred people in the world. Five dives in two research submarines at depths of as much as two miles below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean have brought Gilhooly face-to-face with large dynamic communities of organisms that are
thriving in zones of absolute darkness and toxicity. After graduating on Sunday, Gilhooly will begin a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of California-Riverside where he will conduct research and participate in deep-sea dives off the coasts of California and Oregon. Full story.

U.Va. News Services/Photo: Dan Addison