Campus News

SUNY Chancellor Honors Top Students with Awards of Excellence

by Greta Petry

State University of New York Chancellor Robert L. King recently recognized the University�s most outstanding students with the Chancellor�s Award for Student Excellence. In all, 245 students from 61 State University campuses, representing five foreign countries and nine states with an average GPA of 3.74 were honored.

Eleven students from the University at Albany were honored. They are:

• Akintokunbo Akinbajo of Rosedale
• Lindsey Booth of Hyde Park
• Peter Calabria, III of Albany
• Victor Camacho of New York
• Betsy Cherian of East Meadow
• Jason Gitter of Centereach
• Tania Petrina of Yonkers
• Timothy Quill, Jr. of Cayuga
• Kimberly Shalvey of Cutchogue
• Lisabeth Sore of Plymouth, Mass.
• Mallelin Torres of Bayshore

�These students are among the State University�s best and brightest,� said King. �Their commitment not only to academic excellence, but also to serving the wider community, indicates they are likely to emerge as New York�s future leaders. I am enormously proud of these students and very pleased to be able to recognize their accomplishments.�

Chancellor�s Award nominees were screened through a rigorous selection process. First, a campus selection committee reviewed outstanding graduating students. The surviving nominations were then forwarded to the Office of University Life in Albany for a second round of review. Finalists were then recommended to the Chancellor.

In addition to grade point average, candidates for the Chancellor�s Award must have demonstrated significant contributions to the greater campus community.

While most of the honorees are New York State residents, several are international students who come from Greece, Germany, India, Japan, and Dominica. Other SUNY students honored come from Pennsylvania, Georgia, Massachusetts, California, Ohio, West Virginia, New Mexico and Illinois.

�Good students from all over the country and all over the world recognize the quality of the education available at the State University of New York,� noted King.

The awards were presented at a ceremony at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany. Each student received a framed certificate and a medallion that may be worn at commencement.

Campus presidents, legislators, State University trustees, Student Assembly President Stephanie Gross, Officer-in-Charge at Rockland Community College William J. Murabito, and Assistant Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management Joiel Ray-Alexander joined King at the ceremony.

More than 1,500 friends and family of the student award recipients attended this prestigious event.

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, with 410,000 students enrolled in 6,688 fields of study on 64 campuses.