December 7, 2011 by Gabriella D. Ferrari, NMSU News Center
The New Mexico State University Alumni Association will honor the fall 2011 Outstanding Seniors and Graduates at noon Dec. 9 during a luncheon in their honor at the Corbett Center Student Union ballroom.
The outstanding seniors and graduates are selected each semester by the dean from the university’s seven colleges and graduate school based on academic excellence, leadership and participation in community activities.
College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences will honor Amber Oberlin, from Middleburg, Pa. As a human nutrition and dietetic sciences major, Oberlin is graduating with a 3.961 GPA with crimson scholar status. She participated in the Alpha Chi national honor society and the American Dietetic Association and served as treasurer for the Human Nutrition and Food Sciences Association. She was the recipient of the Molly Pitcher Award, Caroline George Scholarship and the department of family and consumer sciences scholarship. Prior to coming to NMSU, Oberlin served eight years in the U.S. Army, Pennsylvania National Guard and is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Madeleine Brown, from Los Alamos, N.M., will be honored by the College of Arts and Sciences. Brown will graduate with a double major in anthropology and biology and a minor in chemistry with a 3.83 GPA and crimson scholar status. She was also on the dean’s list for five semesters and is a member of Phi Eta Sigma honor society. In her time at NMSU, she worked as a Howard Hughes Undergrad Research Scholar and as student tutor for biology, anthropology, English and history. She also volunteered for the Crisis Assistance Listening Line.
Civil engineering major, Theresa Aragon, was chosen by the College of Engineering as the outstanding senior. Aragon, from Las Vegas, N.M., served as an ASNMSU ambassador, treasurer for the American Society of Civil Engineers and participated in the honor societies including the society for Hispanic engineers, Tau Beta Phi, Chi Epsilon and Au Beta Phi. She is the recipient of the Herman Tachau Endowed Scholarship, Chi Epsilon Scholarship, Dr. Harrington Scholarship, Samuel P. Maggard Endowed Transportation Scholarship, Earl Goddard Centennial Engineering Endowed Scholarship, Lonnie Sumpter Memorial Scholarship, WA and Nina Gree Memorial Scholarship and the Los Alamos Merit Scholarship. She also actively volunteers in Las Cruces.
Marco LeBaron will be honored by the College of Business. LeBaron majored in marketing and International business and minored in finance and advertising. He will graduate with a 4.0 GPA, on dean’s list and with crimson scholar status. He is the recipient of the Benjamin Gilman Scholarship, Ernst and Young Scholarship, General Economics Competitive Scholarship, Lloyd and Sharon Lyster Scholarship, Jose Garcia Scholarship and Cardinal Health Scholarship. He also participated in the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society and was a bull rider on the NMSU Rodeo Team.
The College of Education will honor Allie Bailey, from Albuquerque, N.M. The elementary education major will graduate as a crimson scholar and on the dean’s list with a 3.984 GPA. Bailey was the recipient of the Jerald and Owlen Reece Endowed Scholarship, DMJM/Tarris/AECOM Employee Family Scholarship Award. She served as the vice president of NMSU-Learning Disabilities Association and as an ambassador for the Honors College.
Nursing major Mary Anne Navidomskis will be honored by the College of Health and Social Services. Houston native, Navidomiskis will graduate with a 3.722 GPA as a crimson scholar. She served as the president of the NMSU Student Nurses Society, a member of National Society of Collegiate Scholars, nursing honor society Sigma Theta Tau, and the junior league of El Paso.
The American Indian Program chose accounting major Marcus Benally, from Kirtland, N.M., as its outstanding senior. Benally will graduate with a 2.078 GPA. He recently was honored as the Epsilon Upsilon Chapter Collegiate of the Year. He served as the vice-president for the Native American Business Student Association, ASNMSU senator for the College of Business and the senior vice president of business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi.
Darla J. Matthew, applied studies major with a minor in business administration and management, was chosen as the College of Extended Learning’s outstanding senior. Matthew, originally from Alamogordo, was a first-generation college graduate in 1981 from NMSU, where she earned an associated degree in radiologic technology as a crimson scholar. After spending 25 years in practice as a radiographer, CT technologist and sonographer, she became an educator and currently serves as program director for the Diagnostic Medical Sonography program at Dona Ana Community College. In 2010 and 2011, she went to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to teach ultrasound to physicians. Her three children are currently students at NMSU.
The Graduate School will honor Jonathan Blazak as outstanding master’s degree student, and Parmodh Sharma as the outstanding doctoral degree student.
Blazak, from Indianapolis, Ind., will graduate with a master of accountancy with a 4.0 GPA. Blazak graduated from NMSU in the spring of 2011, where he was the executive director and the editor-in-chief of the Round Up, the campus newspaper. He served as the president of the NMSU Financial Management Association, as a member of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting, and on the Corbett Center Student Union Planning Committee and the ASNMSU Lobbying Committee. He has been on the dean’s list since 2008 and received the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup Distinguished Service Award and Bentley Business College Tomorrow 25 Selection.
Sharma will receive a Ph.D. through the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences. With a 4.0 GPA, Sharma received the Enhancement Fellowship of the Graduate School, Outstanding Graduate Assistantship Award, Tuition fellowship Award and the Mr.and Mrs. Joe Parker scholarship. He also served as vice president and treasurer of the plant and environmental sciences graduate student organization.
For more information, contact Eva Hernandez of the NMSU Alumni Association at 575-646-7551 or http://www.alum.nmsu.edu