Daniel E. Giuffra

Though only a freshman, Daniel Giuffra is already impacting the St. Louis community through his exemplary service efforts. As an Annika Rodriguez Scholar and St. Louis native, Daniel has a strong history of community service that pre-dates his admission to Washington University. He is passionate and motivated by service to others, and he seeks to make his efforts sustainable over the long term.

In his short time at Washington University, Daniel has excelled academically as a pre-medicine students while continuing to explore how he can best make positive changes in the world. It was quickly apparent to his nominator, Nick Miller, that Daniel actively applies his academics to philanthropic efforts. “It was clear in my class that Daniel was not only interested in culture studies for academic purposes, but was also thinking about cultural literacy as an important aspect of his service to Latino communities.”

Daniel has been instrumental in helping local Latino communities understand the complex issues surrounding tobacco addiction through his work with smoking cessation and tobacco prevention. As a volunteer for Casa de Salud since 2011, he has taken on the challenge of helping an underserved population face these issues by translating forms and fact sheets from English to Spanish to help Latinos understand steps they can take to be tobacco-free. Daniel is also the co-founder and president of the Tobacco-Free Missouri Youth Advisory Board. Under his leadership, the board has participated in a number of campaigns at state and national levels to improve public health. He has been an invited speaker and trainer in Missouri, Maine, and Washington DC.

Daniel is a strong advocate for student involvement in community service. In his first semester, he recruited a number of his peers to volunteer at Casa de Salud. In the words of his classmate, Yaala Muller, “Daniel’s dedication to service is something you see the moment you meet him. His ambition to help others goes unparalleled to that of any undergraduate student I’ve met.”