Alexandra "Lexie" Adams

Cincinnati, Ohio | Chemical Engineering Major

Lexie Adams first contacted her nominator during the fall of her first year at Miami, causing him to take a risk he usually avoids - bringing a first-year student onto his research team. He wrote that, since then, “Lexie has grown from a research novice to a published author who has been interviewed by National Public Radio and renowned print publications such as Scientific American.” Her research focuses on the production of psilocybin for potential use in new pharmaceutical drugs. Psilocybin is known for its hallucinogenic properties, but it is also a promising candidate for treatment of neurological disorders, including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. The possibilities of this research led to Lexie being featured in over 60 news articles and the co-author on a patent that led to a $1 million sponsored research grant, the largest privately sponsored research project in Miami’s history.

Lexie’s also been an active member of Theta Tau professional engineering fraternity, served as a first grade Spanish teacher in the Talawanda Foreign Language Program and an English Teaching Assistant in a first grade classroom while abroad in Madrid, Spain. The President’s Distinguished Service Award is far from the first recognition of Lexie’s many contributions. She was the 2019 Student Leader of the Year on campus, received the Provost’s Student Academic Achievement Award in 2020, and is both a Goldwater Scholar and Astronaut Scholar.