Fifty-six Berea College seniors will participate in the recognition service for mid-year graduates on Sunday, Dec. 9. The program will begin at 3 p.m. in Phelps Stokes Chapel.

Candidates being recognized are expected to complete degree requirements at the end of December, 2001 or January 2002.

Dr. Sarah Hamilton Sell, a pioneering bacteriologist and pediatrician who is a 1934 alumna of Berea, will address the candidates for graduation. She also will be awarded an honorary doctorate from the College for her lifetime achievements.

A member of the Vanderbilt Medical School faculty from 1954-78, Sell's research efforts led to the development of a childhood meningitis vaccine. Now part of the routine series of immunizations given to all infants in the U.S., the vaccine has virtually eliminated this disease which, before antibiotics, was almost always fatal. Following her retirement from Vanderbilt, Sell had a second, 13-year career with the Tennessee Department of Health, from which she retired in 1992. She continues to serve her community through a variety of volunteer activities.

Sell was the first woman elected president of the Nashville Academy of Medicine, and the first woman to serve on the admissions committee for Vanderbilt Medical School.

She also has won numerous awards for both her professional and volunteer activities, including Berea College's Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1985.

In addition to a B.A. in biology from Berea, Sell earned her medical degree and a master's degree in bacteriology from Vanderbilt and also has a doctorate in infectious diseases from Louisiana State University.