Student accomplishments
The Division of Academic Affairs highlights recent accomplishments of some of Binghamton’s outstanding undergraduate and graduate students.
Harpur College
• Delaal Aydin, a graduate student in sociology, has won a Mellon International Dissertation Research Fellowship (IDRF), which offers on average $20,000 for nine to 12 months of support to graduate students in the humanities and humanistic social sciences who are enrolled in PhD programs in the United States and conducting dissertation research on non-U.S. topics. Only 80 are awarded annually.
• Geological sciences major Benjamin Campanaro took first place out of 188 posters at the March 2014 Northeastern Geological Society of America meeting in Lancaster, Pa.
• James Hundley, a graduate student in sociocultural anthropology, received the Wenner Gren Foundation Grant for his current PhD research on post-9/11 border securitization and transnational governance. Past grants and awards received include the Whatcom Museum Foundation Research Grant, the Canadian Studies Doctoral Student Research Award and the Border Policy Research Institute Thesis Fellowship.
• Dorothy Manevich, a triple major in history, political science and french, has received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant grant to teach English in the nation of Georgia. During her time at the University, she has also received the Binghamton University Annette Van Howe Award for Highest Academic Achievement by a Junior Woman and the Rosefsky Language and Culture Scholarship. She has also served as an undergraduate teaching assistant, volunteered with the English Conversation Pairs Program and is president of Binghamton Dorm Room Diplomacy.
• Tasfia Rahman, a triple major in anthropology, Latin and medieval studies, has received the Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence, the President’s Award for Undergraduate Student Excellence, the Jordan M. Greenwald Scholarship for Excellence in Classics and the Sharon S. Brehm Scholarship for Excellence in Arts and Sciences. During her time at the University, she was an undergraduate teaching assistant, editorial intern for the Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies, and editor of both the Binghamton University Undergraduate Anthropology Journal as well as the student-run Prospect Magazine. In summer 2012, she received a Fulbright Commission Summer Institute scholarship to an archaeological field school in the UK, while summer 2014 will see her in Bangladesh through a Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. State Department.
• Anthropology major Lauren Ross-Hixson has received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant grant to teach English in Turkey. During her time at the University, she volunteered with the English Conversation Pairs Program, and played with the Binghamton University Wind Symphony and Saxophone Quartet.
• Jillian Shotwell, a double major in environmental studies and geography, was presented with the President’s Award for Undergraduate Student Excellence and the 2014 Council/Foundation Award. During her time at the University, she was co-president of Gamma Theta Upsilon, a research intern for the Broome County Health Department and president of the Binghamton University Nicaragua Service Initiative. She also established the Binghamton University Acres Cooperative Farm, co-founded the University’s Student Culinary Council and coordinated Habitat for Humanity trips to New Orleans.
• Michael Snow, a double major in English and philosophy, has received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant grant to teach English in Germany. During his time at the University, he was vice president of the Chabad Center for Jewish Life, the opinion editor for the student newspaper, Pipe Dream, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science
• Brandon Evans, a computer science major, was extremely active with Binghamton’s Speech and Debate Team and won numerous awards, including National Debate Scholar (summa cum laude), All-American Debate Squad and the National Public Debate Award (second place). He also applied his computer science skills to developing and maintaining a high-profile web page for the team.
• Computer science major Dan O’Connor was very active with Pipe Dream, but his greatest achievement was organizing the HackBU Hackathon in six weeks. He raised over $15,000 for the event, which had over 250 participants, many from other campuses, coming together in teams with the intention of creating the best type of program or hardware in a limited timeframe. He also mentored a great team of undergraduates to continue HackBU next year.
• Edward O’Brien entered the Watson School’s electrical engineering program as a full junior after graduating with high honors from SUNY Broome Community College. He was admitted to the highly selective 2013 summer research program at the National Institute for Standards in Technology (NIST) in Maryland. In his senior year, he worked as a research assistant in the area of network security. He graduated magna cum laude in May 2014, accepting a second invitation for NIST research in summer 2014. He will return to campus in fall 2014 to continue his studies in the Watson School’s accelerated graduate program in electrical engineering.
• Chao Ren Lin earned a double degree in mathematics and computer science and will be joining Google this summer. He won the national mathematics Waldemar J. Trjitzinsky Award. In addition, he has worked on research with two faculty members on two completely different topics, which culminated with him being a co-author on two papers.