'I wanted to be able to help in some way.' Clark's Nick Mathieu begins work on PhD

Clark’s No. 1 singles player Nick Mathieu began collegiately at Colby-Sawyer, but transferred to Clark his sophomore year to play tennis and, most importantly, to study chemistry after his grandmother was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), an uncommon brain disorder that affects nerve cells that control walking, balance, mobility, vision, speech and swallowing.

“It had a direct impact on me and that’s why I moved here, to work on chemistry,” Mathieu said Monday afternoon during a brief break from working on his honors thesis. “I wanted to be able to help in some way. That was my primary source of motivation.”

In the fall, Mathieu will attend the University of Western Ontario in Canada and begin work on his PhD and solving the structure of a protein that ties into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which, like PSP, is a neurodegenerative disease.

Mathieu said his studies at Clark have been “an incredible experience.”

The Cougars closed out their abbreviated 2021 season with back-to-back wins over NEWMAC foes Springfield and Wheaton, a team Clark hadn’t defeated since 2015. Mathieu captured victories at first singles in both matches.

“It was incredible for our team to be able to go out there the last two matches,” Mathieu said, “and to beat Wheaton was a special moment for everyone. We all rallied together. It was a great way to finish my career.”

Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @JenTandG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: 'I wanted to be able to help in some way.' Clark's Nick Mathieu begins work on PhD

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