Senior profile: Andy Placido

RELEASED: March 29, 2007

[Editor's Note: Erin Menard '09, of LaGrange, Ky., wrote this feature.]

DANVILLE, KY—Senior Andy Placido of Nicholasville, Ky., is looking at Centre "almost from the other side." As shortstop and pitcher for Centre's baseball team, a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and world traveler, Andy has enjoyed all four years of his "Centre experience."

Placido, a Jessamine County Athlete-of-the-Year his senior year in high school, continued his multi-sport career at Centre, playing soccer his freshman year, basketball sophomore year and baseball all four years.

In January 2007, Placido traveled to Indonesia on a CentreTerm trip. "It was one of the best experiences of my life," he says. "I got to see how a lot of people around the world live. Many live in tiny shops and barely make enough money for food. Reading about places like that in textbooks is nothing like experiencing the real thing."

Last summer, Placido received a research position at the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research. "The job had been filled already, but because I was a Centre student he brought me in for an interview anyway, and I got the job.

"The experience there last summer, where I actually got to blow up bombs as my job, made me decide that research is definitely what I want to pursue," he says.

This research helped Placido determine his career goal: he's applying to graduate schools to earn an advanced degree in chemical engineering.

Jeff Fieberg, assistant professor of chemistry, could tell how excited Placido was after completing his summer research position at UK.

"Andy became very animated as he described his work (assembling and detonating bombs)," Fieburg says. "As someone who enjoys 'blowing stuff up' myself, I can see how his summer job motivated him for graduate work."

Placido had one bit of advice for prospective students.

- end -

Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.