Elon Volleyball’s Deatsch Named Youth Trustee

ELON, N.C. – Former Phoenix volleyball player and recent Elon graduate Ali Deatsch was recently elected to the Elon University Board of Trustees for a two-year term as a youth trustee. She will begin her service on the board this summer.

“I’m really excited about being the youth trustee,” said Deatsch. “I think it will be a great way to give back to a university that has given me so much.”

Deatsch was a four-year starter at the libero position and a two-year captain for the Phoenix volleyball team, earning MVP honors for the 2012 season. The Elmhurst, Ill., native finished her career in the maroon and gold as the program’s all-time Division I leader in career digs and set the single-season aces record.

In May, Deatsch graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physics with minors in applied mathematics, astronomy and psychology. She is a member of Sigma Pi Sigma academic honor society and Omicron Delta Kappa leadership honor society. She was also a three-time Southern Conference Academic All-Conference team honoree.

Deatsch was the first Elon student-athlete to earn the Lumen Prize for her research proposal, “Optimizing heating efficiency of magnetic microspheres for magnetic hyperthermia treatment of malignant tumors.”

The North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Research Program recognized Deatsch for her outstanding work in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Active in the community, Deatsch served as a Habitat for Humanity leader and participated in Elon’s service-learning programs.

She was awarded one of two Bob McCloskey Insurance Graduate scholarships by the SoCon and is currently pursuing a doctorate in physics at the University of Notre Dame.