Student kudos
Office of External Scholarships/Research
Binghamton University has six Fulbright finalists for 2018-19. Erica Cheung ‘18, Benjamin Chen ‘18, Alexander Resnick ‘18, Samantha McManus ‘18 and Kaitlin Biagiotti ‘17, MAT ‘18, will be teaching English across Europe and Asia, including in The Netherlands, Moldova and Taiwan. Jeffrey Youn, a doctoral student in art history, holds a Fulbright to pursue his research on a ancient city in South Korea.
Two undergraduates are winners of prestigious national awards to support scientific research: Michelle Crook ‘18 won the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to pursue a doctorate in synthetic inorganic chemistry at UC Berkeley and Rebecca Mancusi, a junior majoring in biomedical engineering, won the Barry Goldwater Scholarship for her demonstrated excellence and potential for a research career.
College of Community and Public Affairs
Justine Lewis, a doctoral student in community and public affairs, was officially recognized by USAID for her efforts in the creation of the “Out Hands Tell a Story” campaign, winning the silver award for Best Use of Digital at the 2017 Middle East Public Relations Association Awards despite tough competition from Google, Rebok, Volkswagen and others. The award-winning approach can serve as a model for future USAID branding and outreach efforts. Lewis will be formally recognized at an awards ceremony in September.
Cory Rusin, student success coordinator for the BC HEARS (Higher Education Access, Retention and Success) program and the BC HEARS team were granted the 2018 Outstanding Undergraduate Adult Learner Program Award from NASPA (Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education). The award is designed to highlight excellent work supporting adult learners. Rusin and her colleagues were honored in Philadelphia in March. Rusin is also an active member of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) knowledge community and leadership team.
Elora Orazio, a doctoral student in community and public affairs, was recently awarded a Student Merit Award by the Research Society on Alcoholism. The award is funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NI) and will be used to support Orazio’s travel to the Annual Scientific Meeting in June in San Diego, Calif.
Harpur College of Arts and Sciences
Tamar Ashdot was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and also received the Academy of American Poets College Prize in the Undergraduate Division in 2018. Ashot was also selected as recipient of a SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence.
This year’s Harpur Fellows include the following students, with information on their projects:
• Tiara Roy: Gift of Reading in Kerala, India
o Roy will build three new libraries for poor village schools in Kerala, India.
• Georgia Kerkezis: Creating an Accessible Community Garden on the East Side in Binghamton, N.Y.
o Kerkezis will create a wheelchair-accessible community garden in cooperation with VINES.
• Ifeoluwa Shoola: Children Who Change the World in Ogbomoso, Nigeria
o Shoola will organize and conduct a competition among secondary school students with innovation as its theme.
• Ramya Gopalakrishnan: Debate Camp in New York City
o Gopalakrishnan will run a two-week debate camp for students from low-income NYC schools, in partnership with NYC Outward Bound.