Profiles of 2004 Graduating Students

Claudia Bermudez: 'The busier I get ... the more organized I am'

By Emily Posner '04

How many graduating seniors can say they were recruited in college to compete in a sport -- and then turned the offer down to concentrate on their studies?

Senior Claudia Bermudez, a biological and environmental engineering (BEE) major, rides on the BEE float she helped construct for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences centennial parade, May 12. Nicola Kountoupes/University Photography

Like many new students, Claudia Bermudez, a native of Colombia who grew up in New Rochelle, N.Y., anxiously scoured the course rosters until she found a sport to fulfill her physical education requirement. She haphazardly chose Olympic fencing, even though she had never fenced in her life. After only a few sessions, her instructor, Cornell women's fencing coach Al Peters, recognized her talent and asked her to join the varsity team. While the opportunity was enticing, Bermudez declined because of the need to concentrate on her major in biological and environmental engineering (BEE), a joint program between the Colleges of Engineering and Agriculture and Life Sciences.

She has been involved in BEE at all levels. As president of the Cornell Student Chapter of the Institute of Biological Engineering, Bermudez spreads awareness about the BEE major to the Cornell community. She even participated in building an 8-foot-long papier-mâché bumblebee float as a BEE mascot for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences centennial parade on campus, May 12.

Bermudez's career goal after graduation is to "combine medicine, research and business in a way that will improve our lives." Ultimately she hopes to move into management at a pharmaceutical company.

Every summer and winter break since 2001, Bermudez has interned at Bayer Pharmaceuticals in West Hartford, Conn., part of Bayer AG of Germany. She has read annual reports, written package inserts and observed U.S. Food and Drug Administration considerations of new drugs. Her work at Bayer complemented her academic studies at Cornell. "Had I not taken any science courses, I would have been clueless at Bayer," Bermudez emphasized. In the same way, at Bayer she developed public speaking skills for making business presentations in her undergraduate classes.

Away from her studies, Bermudez is a member of the Colombian Students Association, the Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. "The busier I get with clubs, the more organized I am in school," said Bermudez.

One reason that Bermudez loves Cornell is because of the unconditional support she has received from her department's faculty and staff. "Pursue any ideas that you may have," she advises other undergraduates. "You will be surprised at how much Cornell will support you."