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The 8 schools and colleges astatine Fresno State, on with the Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, each selected an outstanding pupil to grant arsenic portion of the people of 2024 Undergraduate Deans’ Medalists.
This radical of students started their assemblage careers during the COVID-19 pandemic amid uncertainty and successful isolation from their peers, but they showed persistence, dedication and success.
The deans selected an undergraduate and postgraduate medalist based connected world excellence, assemblage engagement and different achievements. Fresno State’s Graduate Deans’ Medalists volition beryllium announced aboriginal this week.
In mid-May, 1 medalist from the radical beneath volition beryllium announced arsenic the President’s Undergraduate Medalist, the university’s apical world grant for an undergraduate student.
This year’s Undergraduate Deans’ Medalists are:
Andrea L. Barnett, Kremen School of Education and Human Development
Andrea Barnett, of Fresno, earned her B.A. successful wide studies, with a supplementary authorization successful mathematics, with a 3.92 GPA. Barnett was a transportation pupil from Clovis Community College who had to navigate her travel astatine Fresno State arsenic a parent of 2 during the pandemic. She said she struggled with her intelligence wellness during this clip and dropped retired for 3 semesters. Barnett returned successful outpouring 2023 and committed herself to diving into the assemblage acquisition again. She works astatine the Learning Center arsenic the lone tutor for galore wide studies-specific courses, including the three-course series successful which Fresno State students larn to thatch mathematics concepts to simple students. She volunteers arsenic a Peer Ambassador of Wellness with the Student Health and Counseling Center wherever she supports the carnal and intelligence well-being of her peers. After graduation, Barnett plans to proceed her acquisition successful the agrarian teaching residency programme astatine Fresno State. Her aboriginal extremity is to thatch mathematics to incarcerated youth.
Jazmine Badhesha, Craig School of Business
Jazmine Badhesha, of Kerman, earned her B.S. successful concern medication with an accent successful machine accusation systems and a insignificant successful anthropology and economics, with a 4.0 GPA. Badhesha is simply a Craig School of Business Scholar. She served arsenic vice president for the Association of Finance Scholars for 2 years and helped relaunch the radical aft the pandemic. She besides helped make a caller pupil enactment called the Student Management Investment Fund to let students to enactment successful investing and banal marketplace workshops held by alumni. Badhesha worked arsenic a pupil adjunct for the DISCOVERe exertion hub, wherever she helped students and unit with their integer devices and worked connected gathering an inclusive integer learning environment. She was a information expert intern astatine Valley Children’s Healthcare wherever she updated yearly reports, developed a roadmap to store information and created ocular representations of the data. Her aboriginal plans see pursuing a Master’s of Business Administration and moving afloat time.
Matthew D. Forney, Lyles College of Engineering
Matthew Forney, of Petaluma, earned his B.S. successful operation absorption and a insignificant successful wide business, with a 4.0 GPA. After precocious school, Forney merged his interests successful workplace concern absorption and ag mechanics to prosecute his studies successful construction. Forney co-led the winning commercialized gathering contention teams astatine Fresno State, and worked to enlistee students to participate. The squad won 2nd spot successful 2023 and 2024 astatine the Associated Builders and Contractors’ Construction Management Competition and archetypal spot successful the Associated Schools of Construction Commercial Competition. He became a champion successful the Bluebeam User Group dedicated to operation software, interned with the McCarthy Building Companies and served arsenic caput for Sigma Lambda Chi, the operation absorption grant society. After graduation, Forney volition beryllium a task technologist with McCarthy.
Sofia James, College of Arts and Humanities
Sofia James, of Fresno, earned her B.A. successful theatre arts, with an accent successful design/technology with a 3.89 GPA. James was enamored by the creator and empowering quality of unrecorded theatre and the analyzable stories that animate done section productions. But she said diverseness successful the manufacture was lacking truthful she acceptable retired to alteration that by aligning her goals arsenic an creator with the enactment she did astatine Fresno State. James brought taste probe and attraction to item to her relation successful costume design. She was an adjunct signifier manager for a play connected field analyzing sex roles successful Latin America, and amplified LGBTQIA+ voices done the retelling of a Shakespearean classical for the Experimental Theatre Company, a student-run theatrical field organization. James was invited by Black theatre makers to enactment connected an all-Black play bid successful the community. Last summer, she interned for the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival wherever she volition instrumentality aft graduation to enactment arsenic a philharmonic dresser. She aims to gain her master’s and teaching credential to thatch the adjacent procreation of passionate theatre makers successful the Central Valley.
Reyna I. Mero, Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology
Reyna Mero, of Mariposa, earned her B.S. successful carnal science, pre-veterinary, with a 4.0 GPA. Mero sat successful provender bins arsenic a 1-year-old, rode successful a vet motortruck and assisted her veterinarian parent successful unfastened tract surgeries connected horses. That acquisition led her connected a travel for a vocation successful veterinary medicine. At Fresno State, Mero joined the Pre-Veterinary Club and Poultry Club. She worked successful the Foster Farm poultry facility, wherever she learned astir poultry absorption and did probe connected broiler gastro-intestinal tract microbiomes, illness susceptibility and cutting-edge developments successful the poultry industry. She showed her probe astatine the 2024 International Production and Processing Expo successful Atlanta, wherever she won the Don Sloan Undergrad Poster Award for outstanding presentation. She is simply a Supplemental Instruction person for chemistry and microbiology, helping students to beryllium amended learners. Outside of campus, Mero participates successful endurance equestrian racing, wherever she has won a fig of races, awards and titles, and shows her Dobermans successful AKC events. Mero volition be Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine successful the fall.
Logan X. Mouawangyee, College of Health and Human Services
Logan Mouawangyee, of Honolulu, earned his B.S. successful kinesiology, with an accent successful carnal acquisition and a insignificant successful Japanese, with a 4.0 GPA. The lad of immigrants, including a begetter who was a maestro main successful the United States Navy, Mouawangyee attended 15 antithetic schools crossed the U.S., Japan and Australia earlier Fresno State. He is simply a subordinate of the Fresno State Kinesiology Pedagogy Club, a pupil typical connected the Fresno State Student Health Advisory Committee, Associated Students Inc.’s Sustainability Coalition and a pupil typical connected the President’s Strategic Plan Goal Committee. He credits his occupation astatine the Amendola Family Student Cupboard arsenic 1 of the astir influential experiences of his clip astatine Fresno State. He is the recipient of the Dovey D. and Joseph Herzog Kinesiology Scholarship, a nominee for the Society of Health and Physical Educators of America Major of the Year and American Kinesiology Association Scholar Award. He plans to get a azygous taxable carnal education teaching credential done the Kremen School of Education and Human Development to go a carnal acquisition teacher.
Bianca G. Palma, Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management
Bianca Palma, of Fresno, earned her B.A. successful connection and a insignificant successful media, communications and journalism, and English literature, with a 3.97 GPA. The girl of Fresno State alumni, Palma started assemblage during the pandemic but recovered assemblage and relationship arsenic a pupil lawsuit coordinator and societal media selling manager for Spotlight Events. One of her proudest moments was collaborating with Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez Sandoval connected a video for the Noche De Baile lawsuit during Hispanic Heritage Month. The video got implicit 25,000 views connected Instagram and showed a playful broadside of the President portion showing the tone of Fresno State. Palma is the 2024 Student of Distinction for the Department of Communication successful the College of Arts and Humanities and Dean’s Medal nominee from the Department of Communication. She received the Student Leadership Award from the Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management for her enactment connected field activities and a Silver Linings Award for her dedication and optimistic cognition portion moving successful the Dog Days pupil predisposition program. Palma is simply a subordinate of Phi Kappa Phi and Lambda Phi Eta grant societies. She plans to prosecute a vocation successful selling and communications.
Jose A. Santiesteban, College of Social Sciences
Jose Santiesteban, of Riverdale, earned his B.A. successful governmental subject with a 3.83 GPA. Santiesteban, a first-generation Mexican American assemblage student, helped supply nonrecreational improvement experiences, civic engagement initiatives, assemblage work and probe enactment for students arsenic a person successful the nationalist governmental grant nine Pi Sigma Alpha. His enactment helped the radical triumph the nationalist Best Chapter Award 3 years successful a row. He conducted probe connected the determination nuances astir gender-based unit successful Mexico and presented astatine the University of Michigan’s Emerging Scholars Conference and astatine the High Impact Practices Student Symposium wherever helium won an award. Santiesteban serves arsenic a penning tutor for the Department of Political Science. He was a supplemental enactment teacher successful the Learning Center for the introductory people to American authorities and helium facilitated peer-led survey sessions. His occurrence led to a relation arsenic an interdisciplinary mentor for different instructors. Santiesteban participated successful 3 governmental subject pre-doctoral programs astatine Washington University successful St. Louis, Missouri; the University of California astatine Southern California; and the University of Michigan. He volition be Washington University’s governmental subject doctoral programme successful the fall.
Nathan H. Theng, College of Science and Mathematics
Nathan Theng, of Fresno, earned his B.S. successful machine subject with a 3.97 GPA. His aboriginal acquisition successful wellness attraction as a diligent and researcher first motivated him to survey biochemistry and prosecute medicine. But Theng realized however programming and exertion could alteration wellness attraction arsenic helium took classes virtually, scribed for physicians via telehealth and got nonrecreational certifications successful applied artificial quality and instrumentality learning specializations during the pandemic. Theng, who is simply a Smittcamp Family Honors Scholar, was a semi-finalist for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship successful 2023 and is simply a semi-finalist for a Fulbright Greece Fellowship. He has received respective awards and scholarships. While his academics soared, helium besides developed a passionateness for assemblage service. He mentored students and tutored adults done the Computer Science Department, volunteered astatine Camp Kesem to enactment children who person household members diagnosed with cancer, and volunteered astatine the Fresno Needle Exchange/Fresno Free Clinic. He interned with the Hub of Digital Transformation and Innovation, and Northwestern Mutual. Theng plans to prosecute a doctoral grade successful machine science. His extremity is to probe computational diagnosis tools for underserved communities.
