Weighing the merits of colleges in Oregon and California, Zach Chinn ’05 sought his father’s advice. “He told me Occidental is a very prestigious school in the sciences,” says Zach, an aspiring pathologist and soccer-playing biology major from Honolulu. The counsel served him well. “The program has been awesome,” Zach says. “Whether you want to go to med school or grad school, it’s a great experience. The professors really want you to succeed.”

Zach is planning to attend medical school and says Oxy has prepared him well. Small class sizes and labs – the latter taught by faculty and not teaching assistants – swayed him to attend the College. He also was lured by student diversity, the kind he’s used to in Hawaii, and Oxy’s urban location, which affords him the chance to do off-campus research.

A course in histology – the study of the microscopic structure of tissue – especially stirred Zach’s enthusiasm. “You look at slides and it’s the mystery of trying to figure out what cells are and what they’re supposed to be that’s such a rewarding challenge,” he says. In his spare time, Zach worked at the City of Hope, a national cancer research center. He joined with a pair of noted virologists, Drs. John Zaia and Jing-Kuan Yee, trying to identify a mutant protein that could treat HIV. Zach also worked to purify a virus, which could have important implications for gene therapy. “Because the department is such a tight-knit community, I received a tremendous amount of guidance,” Zach says. “And the quality of the equipment and materials were excellent.”

“Oxy has done a great job for me,” Zach says.