Samantha Knepper was one of the first Abele Scholars at Ursinus College. The scholarship, supported by the generosity of Joan and Will Abele ’61, helped forge Samantha’s path to Collegeville, Pa, and onto the field of drug development where she hopes to advance and democratize medicine.
by Tommy Armstrong ’20
“As soon as I got the phone call that I was accepted into the Abele Scholars program, I knew Ursinus was where I was going to be where I spend the next four years.”
Knepper discovered her passion in chemistry, where she endeavored to create better medicine for her father, who has cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder affecting around 35,000 people in the US. “I wanted to be able to find that next drug [my dad] could take to help him every day.”
During the Abele Scholars program, she found various opportunities to expand her chemical expertise. “I just attended the American Chemical Society Conference in Chicago this past summer because of the program,” she said.
A chemistry major and Spanish minor, Samantha unlocked her entrepreneurial side by also taking courses in business and American history, two areas of study that are built into the Abele Scholars program. Meanwhile, the scholarship allowed her to pursue her personal interests in science. Equipped with industrious mental toolset of an Abele Scholar, she plans to create medicine that changes lives.
