In the summer of 2005 Luay Hammami was immersed in Arabic language studies at the University of Damascus in Syria. The Columbia, South Carolina native and USC student has family ties to the region and a great interest in the history and culture of the land of his parents, Ifran and Ena Hammami (also of Columbia). He plans to return to Syria in the spring of 2006 to more fully embrace his language studies in the land of his ancestors. Given his interests in language and the extent to which he has traveled to study it, one might not suspect that Luay is a senior physics major in the College of Arts and Sciences working with a high energy physics group headed by Dr. Sanjib Mishra of the Department of Physics at USC. As of the Spring of 2005, Luay has also added History as his second major. He feels a strong intellectual attraction for Physics and History, as both represent chances to search for universal relationships in different ways, one through people and events, and the other through particles and forces.

It is this desire for finding unity in diversity in his undergraduate program, and insights into the sciences and humanities that sets him apart, both as student and person. Ultimately his choices reflect on the very nature of the mission of the College of Arts and Sciences itself, which is to promote and support opportunities for all its students over the widest range of inquiry possible. As a student in our College, a Carolina Scholar and a member of the Honors College, Luay has a multitude of avenues to engage in his intellectual and personal development. He has followed one of those paths in research, in which he has been supported this year with a research fellowship from the Honors College to continue his studies in Physics. Other paths lead back to places far from home.

As Luay prepares to return to the University of Damascus in the spring to extend his command of the Arabic language, he takes the experiences and skills he has developed at USC abroad with him once again. He takes a little of us to the far corners of the world and brings back new experiences from which we all can grow. While he may not yet know where his degree will ultimately lead him, his academic preparation in the College of Arts and Sciences provides him with the intellectual tools and communication skills needed to be successful in whatever he may choose to do. We are proud to have him as our student of the month.

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