Biology graduate student Tomalei Vess is the first to laugh as she coughs "seventh" under her breath when asked her year at the University. But when Vess completes her dissertation--on the topic of development and evolution of ladybug spotting patterns--she hopes to continue serving Duke as the next graduate and professional student young trustee.
Over her graduate career, when not in the lab or volunteering at local children's science museums, Vess has worked extensively with the Graduate Professional Student Council, on which she served as president for the 1999-2000 academic year.
Now Vess is looking to translate her experience from GPSC to the Duke Board of Trustees. She said she thinks her knowledge base gained from her work with GPSC, as well as her familiarity with the Board of Trustees as part of the Standing Committee on Student Affairs, would help her in the position.
"[It] was a really rough year in GPSC because we weren't really recognized as a united voice of graduate and professional students, which was a pretty big obstacle since that is the purpose of GPSC," Vess said. "But we came together as a group and went out into the community to ask what individuals wanted and needed to make life better here. We are united now and members are really dedicated, and I think I really helped to keep them motivated."
Zoya Trofimenko, a joint-degree public policy studies and Fuqua School of Business student, worked with Vess as a GPSC representative.
She said she believes Vess is running for young trustee to continue improving living conditions for her former constituents.
"She will provide continuity and history--institutional memory, if you can say that about a person--on a number of as-yet unresolved matters," Trofimenko wrote in an e-mail. "On matters which are new to her and to the Trustees, she will be particularly useful in collecting and synthesizing different viewpoints to achieve a consensus, without losing sight of student priorities."
Jacqueline Looney, associate dean of graduate student affairs, has worked with Vess through GPSC and said she is confident in Vess' dedication and ability to be an advocate for graduate and professional students.
"She has a very knowledgeable perspective on what it means to be a graduate student, and on the Board of Trustees, she would be committed to keeping graduate and professional student issues on the table," Looney said.
Looney added that Vess would be particularly able to advise the Board on issues of space concerns, parking and transportation, subjects on which she focused during her presidency.
Vess said that before the University undertakes additional construction, it needs to evaluate existing space to see if it could be better utilized.
Vess lives with her husband of six years, Todd Preuninger, and her two dogs.
An alumna of James Madison University, she plans to stay in Raleigh, hopefully taking a postdoctoral position at a nearby university for at least the next two years.
She said staying near the University and abreast of the issues it faces are important parts of the young trustee role.
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