AHS Undergraduate Claims National Study Abroad Award

Lance Williams, a Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences undergraduate, received the McKenzie Study Abroad Award from the National Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. In 2024, Phi Kappa Phi provided awards to 125 exceptional college students across the country to offset the cost of studying abroad. Wendell H. McKenzie and his wife Georgie McKenzie established the McKenzie Study Abroad Award. McKenzie is a past president of the Society, and the award is given annually to NC State’s most outstanding study abroad applicant.

Williams was nominated for the award by Joseph Donaldson and Mary Kate Lanier. Donaldson expressed in his nomination letter: “It gives me great satisfaction that Williams embodies the Phi Kappa Phi Code of Ethics. I have known him to pursue excellence in everything he does.” Mary Kate Lanier, his academic advisor, noted, “Lance sets lofty short-term and long-term goals for himself and works hard to achieve them, scheduling regular check-ins to evaluate his progress. One of these goals Lance set for himself was to study abroad and to use the international experience to further his career as a future Extension professional. I have no doubt he will use this study abroad experience to make an impact in his chosen career.”

Williams, along with 19 other NC State students, recently completed the Science, Education, and Extension (SEE) Inside Greek Agriculture study-abroad course. Williams is from Zebulon, North Carolina, and is a Park Scholar majoring in agricultural science with minors in extension education and horticultural science. At NC State, he is active in various organizations, including student government and AHS Ambassadors.