Awards to honor students for leadership, academic excellence

Four graduating seniors will be honored and two others will have prominent roles as student speaker and vocalist when UB holds its 151st annual commencement ceremony May 18 in Alumni Arena.

The awards will honor outstanding achievements of UB students for academic excellence and leadership.

Those to be honored with Deans' Academic Achievement Awards are:

Christian R. Brunelli of Peekskill, Faculty of Social Sciences Dean's Academic Achievement Award, who is graduating with three majors: geography, political science and social sciences interdisciplinary-international studies. Brunelli, a University Honors Scholars, is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the recipient of a Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship. A staff writer for the Spectrum, UB's student newspaper, he served an internship with the Washington Bureau of The Buffalo News. Brunelli also was the 1994-95 winner of the Robert H. Stern Award for outstanding writing in a political science class. In the fall, he will begin graduate study in the Comparative Politics Program at Harvard University as a Benjamin Schwartz Fellow.

Soumya Raychaudhuri of Rochester, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Dean's Academic Achievement Award, who is graduating with majors in biophysics and mathematics. Raychaudhuri, a University Honors Scholar, has completed internships at NASA's Space Life Sciences Training Program and in the Supercomputing Program for Undergraduate Research at Cornell University. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Golden Key National Honor Society, as well as the recipient of a Barry Goldwater Scholarship and a Grace W. Capen Memorial Award. Raychaudhuri, who has published several articles in scientific journals, will entering a joint M.D.-Ph.D. program in the fall.

Barbara Abad of Sunnyside, Faculty of Arts and Letters Dean's Academic Achievement Award, who is graduating with a major in French. Abad came to UB through its Educational Opportunity Program and subsequently earned a place in the University Honors Program. A member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Golden Key National Honor Society, she also is a recipient of a Minority Higher Education Program Scholarship, High Achievement Awards and the 1994-95 Multicultural Award. She has interned in the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs at UB, tutored financially disadvantaged students and served as a resident advisor. Abad will pursue graduate studies in French at the University of Michigan.

Receiving the Division of Student Affairs Senior Leadership Award will be Stuart S. Goldberg of Rochester, who will graduate with majors in communication and psychology. Goldberg has served as an associate justice and chief justice of UB's Student-Wide Judiciary. A member of the Mortar Board and Golden Key National honor societies, he was inducted in 1996 into "Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges." His UB leadership has included serving on the Committee for the Promotion of Tolerance and Diversity, the Student Leadership Task Force and the Life Workshops Advisory Committee. He was crowned Homecoming King in his senior year at UB.

The student speaker will be Kristinn R. Rzepkowski of Rochester. Graduating with a degree in art with a concentration in communication design, he completed an internship with the Milton Glaser design firm in New York City. Rzepkowski is a member of the University Honors Program, a Grace Capen Memorial Award winner and a member of the Golden Key National Honor Society. The recipient of a scholarship from the Polish Arts Clubs of Buffalo, as well as the Blum-Schoelkopf Award for excellence in typography, he has been on the Dean's List at UB every semester.

The vocalist for the Class of 1997 will be Heather M. Robert of Grand Island. She will graduate with degrees in music performance and music education. A student teacher at Amherst High School and Willowridge Elementary School during 1996-97, she will pursue a master's degree in music education at the University of South Carolina in the fall. She traveled to Italy with the UB Choir in 1995, and returned to Siena to study Italian in 1996. A member and soloist with the UB Chorus, she also directs two choirs at St. Josaphat Church in Cheektowaga.