Leah Payne

Leah Payne of West Milford, N.J. is a Bioinformatics major pursuing a minor in Chemistry. She has a 4.0 GPA and has been on the Dean’s List every semester. She was also awarded the Presidential Scholarship and is part of the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society.

At Ramapo, she has been a TAS tutor for Computer Science and is currently conducting research with professors J.R. Carreon and S. Dutta. to help future students.

In the future, Leah hopes to apply her bioinformatics skills to become a Medical Researcher and discover new treatments and cures for diseases.

Awarded Scholarships

2024

Judith M. and Francis J. Rodriguez Bioinformatics Scholarship

Judith and Frank Rodriguez were members of the Friends of Ramapo for many years. Their strong involvement in civic and community service was well-acknowledged by several organizations, and their dedication to the College played an important role in the establishment of several endowed scholarships.

Mrs. Rodriguez, a registered pharmacist, and Mr. Rodriguez, whose career included management and consulting positions, resided in Midland Park, N.J. Mr. Rodriguez passed away in March of 2018 while Mrs. Rodriguez died in 2020.

The intent of the Judith Martinez Rodriguez and Francis J. Rodriguez Bioinformatics Scholarship is to recognize students pursuing a degree in Bioinformatics in the School of Theoretical and Applied Science.

“Bioinformatics is a job that will become more and more important in the future,” said Mr. Rodriguez at the time he set up the scholarship. “Because it has as its base biology, computer knowledge and mathematics, it will set the person up not only for work in bioinformatics but a host of other career paths and disciplines.”