TRAFFORD, Pa. – On Friday, the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) announced its Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Scholar Athletes of the Month for the month of April. Taking home the award for the female side was Chatham senior Syba Ismail.

Each month, the SAAC groups at PAC member institutions are asked to nominate one male and one female student-athlete for PAC SAAC Scholar-Athlete of the Month consideration based on academic and athletic accomplishments. Nominees must be varsity team members in their respective sport and in their junior or senior year. Scholar-Athlete of the Month nominees must also have a cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher and be actively involved within their campus communities.

Ismail started all 18 games for Chatham Women's Lacrosse this spring, racking up five points on three goals and two assists with 24 ground balls, six caused turnovers and six draw controls.

Off the field, Ismail serves as the lead office of Chatham's Chemistry Club and is a supplemental instructor for general chemistry. She was also a physics lab teaching assistant this past fall.

In April, Ismail was awarded a fellowship from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program. She and teammate Sam Beall-Dennell became the first Chatham students to receive the honor. Only 200 students nationwide received this offer from the NSF out of approximately 13,000 applicants, which included both graduate and undergraduate students. The purpose of the program is to help ensure the quality, vitality, and strength of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States.