On Thursday, December 7th at 4:00 p.m., 13 FOSSI scholars got the thrill of a lifetime when they were asked to help ring the Closing Bell® at the New York Stock Exchange.
Nahla Abdul-Hadi, Kendall Cousins, Dieunette Adusei-Peasah, Chelsea Minard, Ambrose Kee,
Elijah Lewis, Kendall Taylor, Zachary McCray, Elissa Johnson, Nyla Baxter, Amira Hamilton, Josiah Moore, and Winter Jones accompanied Darlene Schuster (Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of AIChE) and John Sampson (Senior Vice President, Operations, Manufacturing and Engineering at Dow) on the NYSE platform as they counted down to the market close – on live television!
The scholars enjoy a full day of activities
Before the Closing Bell® ceremony, the group was treated to lunch, a tour of the trading floor, and a brief presentation on the history of the stock exchange and its historic location.
In the evening, scholars joined their FOSSI sponsors AdvanSix, BASF, Dow, and Lubrizol at the 2023 AIChE Gala, celebrating the profession of
chemical engineering and 2023 honorees, Seifi Ghasemi, Air Products’ Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer; Erin Kane, President and Chief Executive Officer of AdvanSix; and Samir Mitragotri, the Hiller Professor of Bioengineering and the Hansjorg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.
FOSSI Chair spotlights scholars at the GALA
FOSSI Advisory Board Chair Jim Fitterling recognized the scholars and asked them to stand, and spoke 
about the profound impact of FOSSI and the energy and new perspectives that these outstanding students are already bringing to the industry.
Following the dinner and program, scholars and other guests enjoyed a dessert bar with a vast selection of treats and confections.
Scholars describe their experience
Scholars described the experience as “remarkable,” “amazing,” “dignified,” and “surreal.” They were grateful not only to be in the exciting Big Apple (some, for the first time), and meet industry leaders, but also to meet each other.
See more photos from the scholars’ visit to NYSE below!
View more photos from the GALA.
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