SUNY Students Garner Top National Awards

Albany – From agriculture and the environment to education, medical research and foreign languages, State University of New York graduate and undergraduate students have been awarded some of the most prestigious national scholarships during the 2007-08 academic year.

 

The Morris K. Udall Undergraduate Scholarship, the David L. Boren Graduate Fellowship, the Howard Hughes Medical Institution & National Institute of Health Research Scholars Program or Cloister Scholars and the Fulbright Scholarship Program have all recognized SUNY students.

 

“SUNY students are among the world’s most talented and accomplished,” said SUNY Interim Chancellor Dr. John B. Clark. “In addition, the wide range of academic discipline and level recognized well reflects the more than 7,500 programs offered at SUNY, the high quality of the education available at our campuses and the talent of SUNY students.  I congratulate our students for their accomplishments, the campus presidents, faculty and staff who mentored and advised them and their families for supporting and nurturing them.”

 

“These prestigious scholarships and fellowships are further evidence that SUNY has great strengths in many programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels,” said SUNY Provost Risa I. Palm.  “Not only do these awards recognize the outstanding achievements of these students but they also support important research that will advance our knowledge in many fields.”

 

“Quality higher education is the starting point in the innovation pipeline – the progression of ideas and research to discoveries and new products,” said SUNY Senior Vice Provost for Research Dr. James A. Weyhenmeyer. “SUNY’s ability to attract the best and brightest faculty and students in such far-ranging fields as foreign language, education and medical research helps New York State to compete successfully in a global knowledge-based economy.”

Morris K. Udall Undergraduate Scholarship – Aaron M. Krolikowski - UB

University at Buffalo junior Aaron M. Krolikowski, 21 of Glenwood, NY was named a recipient of the Morris K. Udall Undergraduate Scholarship, which awards students for their commitment to careers related to the environment. He established a farm and irrigation project in rural Tanzania and he is involved with various environmental action groups around Buffalo. One of 80 scholarship winner from around the country, Krolikowski also is an award-winning arranger and a member of the UB a cappella group, the Buffalo Chips.

 

David L. Boren Undergraduate Scholar – Paul Anderson – Binghamton University

Paul Anderson, 23 from Greenlawn, NY undergraduate at Binghamton who is double-majoring in Arabic and Linguistics, has been  awarded the National Security Education Program Boren Fellowship.

 

The fellowship of up to $24,000 will fund overseas study. Anderson plans to study at the American University in Cairo, Egypt.

 

R. Kevin Lacey, associate professor and chair of Classical and Near Eastern Studies and director of the Middle East and North African Studies Program, supported Anderson's application for the fellowship.

 

In accepting the award, Anderson agrees to work for the federal government for a year.  The service requirement states that an award recipient work in the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, State or the Intelligence Community. Under some circumstances, an award recipient may work in any U.S. federal department or agency with national security responsibilities.

 

David L. Boren Graduate Fellowship – Matthew August Olexa – Binghamton University

Matthew August Olexa, 22, of Burlington Conn, who graduated from Binghamton last year with a major in Arabic Studies, has been awarded the National Security Education Program Boren Fellowship.

The fellowship award of up to $24,000 will fund overseas study. Olexa, now a graduate student at the University of Connecticut, plans to apply to the Center for Arabic Study Abroad as well as other programs that offer intensive Arabic language courses. In accepting the award, Olexa agrees to work for the federal government for a year.  He plans to enroll in a two-year master’s program.

R. Kevin Lacey, associate professor and chair of Classical and Near Eastern Studies and director of the Middle East and North African Studies Program, supported Olexa’s application for the fellowship. He said Olexa’s award reflects the growing popularity and importance of Arabic as well as the quality of Binghamton’s students.

 

Fulbright Scholarships – Apostolos Hatzigiannidis – SUNY Brockport

Apostolos Hatzigiannidis, 25, from Rochester, who graduated this spring from SUNY Brockport has accepted a grant from the Fulbright Commission. Hatzigiannidis is a recipient of the Padagogischer Austauschdienst Teaching Assistantship/Fulbright Grant for 2008-09. A double major in international business and Spanish, Hatzigiannidis is one of only140 candidates receiving this award and the first Brockport student to travel overseas as a Fulbright scholar. During the 10-month grant period, he will serve as an English teacher’s assistant in Germany.

 

A double major in International Business and Spanish, Hatzigiannidis played two years for the Golden Eagles Lacrosse team, where he played eight games as a goalie and made 15 saves.

 

Howard Hughes Medical Institute – Lillian M. Guenther – SUNY Downstate Medical University

Lillian Guenther, 25, of Pelham NY, who has completed her second year of medical school, will have the opportunity to pursue a year of research at the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland, fulltime for one year.  Ms. Guenther, whose primary research interests are in the fields of genetics and molecular biology and who anticipates specializing in pediatric hematology-oncology, is interested in studying how cancer develops. Her goal is to integrate basic research with clinical care, and to pursue a career as a clinician-scientist. At Downstate, Ms. Guenther was instrumental in founding a student-run free clinic for area residents without insurance.
 

This year, 42 students—from 26 medical schools, three veterinary schools, one dental school, and one osteopathic school—will participate in the HHMI-NIH Research Scholars Program, which brings top medical students to the National Institutes of Health campus to participate in hands-on biomedical research. Students in this program are also known as Cloister Scholars because they live in apartments and dormitory-style rooms at a refurbished cloister on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Md., during their training. They visit several NIH labs before choosing the research project they will pursue with an NIH mentor.

 

For the 2008-2009 program year scholars will receive annual compensation of $27,000, health insurance and numerous other benefits.

 

Howard Hughes Medical Institute – Wee-Tin (Katherine) Kao – Stony Brook University

Katherine Kao, 23, Stony Brook, just finished her second year of med school is planning to work in a neuroscience laboratory and her fields of interest include epilepsy and plasticity/remodeling of the nervous system.

 

This year, 42 students—from 26 medical schools, three veterinary schools, one dental school, and one osteopathic school—will participate in the HHMI-NIH Research Scholars Program, which brings top medical students to the National Institutes of Health campus to participate in hands-on biomedical research. Students in this program are also known as Cloister Scholars because they live in apartments and dormitory-style rooms at a refurbished cloister on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Md., during their training. They visit several NIH labs before choosing the research project they will pursue with an NIH mentor.

 

For the 2008-2009 program year scholars will receive annual compensation of $27,000, health insurance and numerous other benefits.

 

About the State University of New York

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating more than 427,000 students in 7,669 degree and certificate programs on 64 campuses. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu 

 

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