Chowan University Athletics

Dr. LaChelle Waller came to Chowan in the fall of 1997 from Chester, Virginia. The Thomas Dale High School graduate was a basketball star in the making before coming to Chowan. She wasted no time making a name for herself on the court and in the classroom during her four years at Chowan.  Waller developed into a force to be reckoned with on the basketball court and reached new heights in the classroom. Waller became the first four year player to ever notch 1,000 career points. To top that off, she is the only Chowan women’s player to ever reach the 1,000 rebound plateau.
 
At Chowan, Waller met many goals. She maintained Dean’s List and President’s List membership each of her four years.  On the court, Waller ranked in the nation’s top two players in rebounding per game her junior and senior season. She totaled 30 double-doubles in her career and holds a single-season record of 28 rebounds. She was named All-USA South, First Team in her senior season. She still holds three Chowan rebounding records (rebounds in a single game, rebounds in a single season, and double-doubles in a season).
 
Waller’s experiences at Chowan prepared her for the career path that she is currently on. After graduation from Chowan in 2001, Waller taught in the Richmond Public School system, near her hometown of Chester. She taught Biology, Chemistry, and Anatomy while also attending Virginia Commonwealth University.  She coached part time in the community and helped with outreach programs, like G.E.A.R. Up and the Summer Residential Governor’s School for Life Sciences and Medicine at VCU.
 
Waller decided to pursue her Ph.D  at Virginia Tech. In 2003, she accepted a position as a Graduate Research Assistant at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech. Throughout her Ph.D journey Waller received numerous awards in which she was recognized for academic, education, and outreach endeavors, culminating in her being selected as the spring 2010 VT graduate student commencement speaker. Additionally, she was the graduate student chosen to meet the Queen of England during the 2007 VT tragedy. In 2008, she was named VT Graduate Woman of the Year and also in 2008 received the Chowan University Young Alumni Award. In 2010, she was the recipient of the Woman in Leadership Award from VT Women in Leadership and Philanthropy Council.
 
Currently, Waller is an Assistant Professor in the Center of Genomics and Personalized Medicine at the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, with a shared primary appointment in the Transitional Science Institute.  In 2008 her life changed significantly when her daughter joined her family.
 
Waller is a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and Women and Leadership Philanthropy Council.