Annette Salmeen ’97

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Gold Medal Olympian, honors student in chemistry, Special Olympics volunteer, Rhodes Scholar – this is but a partial description of Annette Salmeen. Assistant Dean of Honors Jennifer Wilson said of Salmeen, “[S]he inspires a sense of awe because her approximation to the Aristotelian ideal of the whole human being, sound in body, mind, and character, is as close as anyone could hope to find.”

Salmeen is both a four-time All-American and Academic All-American. As a member of the 1996 United States Olympic swimming team, Salmeen won her Salmeen Gold Medal as part of the 800 freestyle relay team. Her UCLA teammates voter her team captain, and she was also chosen the 1996 All University Female Athlete of the Year and the NCAA’s 1996 California State Woman of the Year.

Given the demands of swimming and academics, it is amazing Salmeen found time to give back to the community. A featured speaker at numerous youth outreach camps and educational clinics, she has volunteered at the state Special Olympics each June, served as a counselor for UCLA KidSports program and volunteered with Habitat for Humanity. Through Mortar Board, she’s also volunteered in Christmas in April and activities at Grammercy Shelter.

Salmeen’s work as an undergraduate researcher in the UCLA-DOE Laboratory of Structural Biology and Molecular Medicine has proven invaluable to the professor studying the structure and action of proteins. In one instance, she carried out a suggested method of chemical modification which resulted in the first crystals suitable for structure determination of one particular protein. As an undergraduate, Salmeen has shown professional-level talent in biochemical research. Despite 25 hours per week invested in swimming, plus five to 10 hours in team meetings, travel and recruiting, she takes the most demanding chemistry courses, earns the highest grades and performs excellent work in the research laboratory.

Salmeen is a member of Golden Key National Honors Society, the College Honors Program and has been a member of the Dean’s Honor List since her arrival at UCLA. She has received the Dunn Prize for Excellence in Biochemistry and the McCoy Award for Excellence in Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Salmeen is the first woman from UCLA to be named a Rhodes Scholar, as well as the first Rhodes Scholar from UCLA in 23 years. At Oxford University, she will pursue her doctorate in biochemistry, conducting her post-graduate research in three-dimensional protein structures.