Sophie Wenzlau of Bainbridge Island has been recognized as an Outstanding Graduate in the University Honors program at Western Washington University.

Faculty members from each academic department select one graduate to honor as the Outstanding Graduate of the year. Selection is a high honor based on grades, research and writing, service to the campus and community, and promise for the future.

Wenzlau was one of approximately 40 Outstanding Graduates honored at spring Commencement Saturday, June 9.  “Outstanding,” “well-rounded” and “truly exceptional” are some of the words faculty members use to describe her as an Outstanding Graduate. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in politics, philosophy and economics as well as a minor in French.

A magna cum laude graduate, Wenzlau was also the Presidential Scholar for the College of Business and Economics. She was one of seven students at the university to earn the honor.

In addition to her academic work at Western, she has distinguished herself through significant study abroad and international-service experiences.

In summer 2011, Wenzlau was a research intern in India and studied water security in the Thar Desert for the Jal Bhagirathi Foundation. Some of her research work was published in the Times of India.

During the fall quarter of 2010, she was an exchange student in Geneva and studied international relations and Swiss agricultural security. And in summer 2007, Wenzlau volunteered in Madagascar, where she conducted rural field interviews in French and taught English.

She has also been active in local service organizations; Wenzlau is the vice president of the university’s Economics Association and is an intern for the local Sustainable Connections nonprofit group.

After graduation, Wenzlau will spend the summer as a research intern in agricultural security at the Worldwatch Institute in Washington, D.C.

A graduate of Bainbridge High School, she is the daughter of Charlie and Vicky Wenzlau.