May 12, 2003 by Sarah Wheeler NMSU News Center
From left: Outstanding Senior and grad student award winners Ysidra "Shiela" Ragan, Ping Yang, Sayjal Lalloo, Trisha Muhlenkamp, Naomi Martinez, Cathleen Feser, Cristine Fernandez, and Jake Hill. (photo by Darren Phillips)
The New Mexico State University Alumni Association honored the Spring 2003 Outstanding Seniors and Graduate Students at a reception May 9.
Each semester before graduation, the university’s Alumni Association selects an outstanding senior from each of the university’s six colleges, two graduate students, one international student and one American Indian student based on scholarship, leadership, ability and participation in university and community activities.
The College of Agriculture and Home Economics honored Jake Hill, an agricultural economics major minoring in marketing. Hill, of Artesia, has served as the Associated Students of New Mexico State University president for two terms. He belongs to the Golden Key Honor Society, the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and has received an Outstanding Leadership Award.
The College of Arts and Sciences honored Naomi Martinez, a mathematics major with a 3.94 grade point average (GPA). Martinez, of Albuquerque, has been on the Dean’s List and a Crimson Scholar since 1999. She has received several scholarships including the Regents Plus Scholarship, a mathematical sciences scholarship and has been in the National Society of Collegiate Scholars for four years.
The College of Business Administration and Economics honored Sayjal Lalloo, a finance major with a 4.0 GPA. Lalloo, of Las Cruces, has been a Crimson Scholar, on the National Dean’s List, a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and received the Regent’s Plus Scholarship. She served as the president, vice president and secretary of the Business Administration and Economics council on campus.
The College of Education honored Cristine Fernandez, a communication disorders major with a 4.0 GPA. Fernandez, of Las Cruces, has been a Crimson Scholar and a member of the Alpha Chi, Phi Eta Sigma and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies. She also is a member of the Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the Clinical Board for the New Mexico State University Speech and Hearing Center.
The College of Engineering honored Trisha L. Muhlenkamp, a chemical engineering major with a 3.98 GPA. Muhlenkamp, of El Paso, has been on the Dean’s List, the National Dean’s List and a Crimson Scholar since 1998. She has received several scholarships including the Alumni Scholarship, C.H. Stith Memorial Scholarship and the Conoco-Dupont Scholarship.
The College of Health and Social Services honored Ysidra A. Ragan, a social work major with a 3.82 GPA. Ragan, of Las Cruces, has a military background in the U.S. Air Force and is involved with the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program.
The Graduate School honored Cathleen Feser as the Outstanding Master’s Graduate Student and William Dearholt as the Outstanding Ph.D Graduate Student.
Feser, an agronomy and horticulture major from Las Cruces with a 3.5 GPA, is a member of the Sam Steel and Phi Theta Kappa honor societies. She has received several scholarships including the National Council of Garden Clubs Inc. Scholarship, the New Mexico State Garden Clubs Inc. Scholarship and the American Garden Club Scholarship.
Dearholt, an electrical and computer engineering doctorate student with a 3.92 GPA, is a Los Alamos native. He received a NASA Graduate Fellowship Award in 1997 and has been a teaching and research assistant and a faculty instructor at the university. He also has worked as a research assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The Center for International Programs honored Ping Yang, a nursing major. Yang, of Qingdao, Shandong, China, has been on the Dean’s List and received an All-American Collegiate Award. She was the treasurer for the Student Nurses Association and received a Mountain View Regional Medical Center Scholarship.
The American Indian Program honored Bradley E. Hale, a hotel, restaurant, tourism management major with a minor in American Indian studies. Hale, of Kirtland, is a founding member of the Society of Minorities in Hospitality. He has received several scholarships including the New Mexico Restaurant Association Scholarship, Regents Scholarship and a College of Agriculture and Home Economics (CAHE) Scholarship.
For more information about this semester’s outstanding seniors and graduate students, call the Alumni Office at (505) 646-3616.