Wharton sees forensics as perfect fusion of

chemistry and political science

Lora Wharton was considering law school when she landed a summer internship in the Virginia Attorney General’s Office in 2003.

A double-major in chemistry and government with a minor in mathematics, Wharton’s academic interests kept pulling her in opposite directions. Would she go to med school or law school?  But during the early days of her internship, Wharton took a visit to the state forensics lab in Richmond that helped her sharpen her career focus with laser precision.

“When I visited the forensics lab, everything just fell into place,” Wharton said. “I understood the chemistry at work in the lab and learned how it was critical to law enforcement efforts.”

In the fall, Wharton will begin a two-year master’s program in forensic science at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. “After I complete my master’s, my goal is to work for the FBI,” Wharton said. “My degree, which has an emphasis in forensic chemistry, will give me a lot of options, like working with ballistics or toxicology.”

For Wharton, becoming a forensic scientist is a way to make a difference.  “I believe very strongly in justice and I think that’s why I like forensic science,” Wharton said. “You’re working blind and just answer the questions that are in front of you.  Hopefully my efforts can help bring justice or truth to the situation.”

Wharton, a magna cum laude graduate, maintained a near-perfect GPA at UVa-Wise while also working as a waitress at a local restaurant and in the College’s Department of Natural Sciences as a lab assistant. She was also an extremely active member of the UVa-Wise campus. She served as president of both the Baptist Student Union and the Darden Society, the College’s oldest honor society. She also chaired the College’s Honor Court for three years, implementing creative ideas to make students and faculty more aware of the important role the Honor System plays on the Wise campus.

“I want to work hard in anything that I do,” Wharton said.  “I always try to do everything to the best of my ability.  I’m not willing to stop when something is just okay.”

Attending UVa-Wise is practically a prerequisite for Wharton’s family.  Her parents, Sam Wharton and Debra Bledsoe Wharton, and brothers Samuel and Adam are graduates.  Her aunt, Connie L. Parsons Nunley, and her daughter, Stephanie Nunley Druschel, are alumnae and her maternal grandmother, Shirley Bledsoe Pearson, attended the College in the early 1970s.

The recipient of several merit scholarships, Wharton is confident the instruction she received at UVa-Wise has been good training for graduate study.

"Faculty in the Department of Natural Sciences taught me to problem-solve and think critically and take different approaches to the questions I was asked,” Wharton said.  “I learned to be more investigative and inquisitive, skills I think will definitely help me in the future.”