George Khoury, alumni

While many NAF alums travel the career path they started in their academies, George Khoury (AOIT ’04) chose to continue his path through education, all the way to a Ph.D. program.

Khoury, a graduate of Louis E. Dieruff Academy of Information Technology in Allentown, PA, is currently a Chemical and Biological Engineering doctoral candidate and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow at Princeton University.

Khoury entered Dieruff’s Academy of Information Technology not knowing what to expect. In the academy, he learned graphic design, programming and how to build and run computers. He also took chemistry and biology, two subjects he excelled in and enjoyed.

The summer before his senior year of high school, Khoury landed an internship at Agere Systems (now LSI Corporation), an integrated circuit components company. During his internship, George had the opportunity to present to top information executives, including the Chief Information Officer. The experience helped mold him into a strong presenter, something he does often in his current work.

Khoury went on to Pennsylvania State University where he got a dual B.A. and M.A. in Chemical Engineering. While at Penn State, he was also elected President of the student government. His major initiative was getting the university’s schedule of courses to update in real-time at every Penn State campus.

“This project was a direct result of learning how to think outside of the box when needing to come up with computer solutions for a large amount of people, clearly instilled in me by the AOIT,” said Khoury.

Khoury published a paper which was featured on the cover of Protein Science, a science journal, and he also designed the cover, calling on the graphic design skills he learned at his AOIT. His research has been presented at several technical presentations and he shared a gold medal with the Penn State team at the International Genetically Engineered Machines Competition hosted at MIT.

At Princeton, Khoury can often be found working long hours. While the work is demanding, he says his advisor works harder than anyone. He admires his advisor’s work ethic and tries to emulate it.

George Khoury is a 2011 NAF Alumni Honoree.