Jessica Anderson, honors student and Merril P. Freeman Medal winner.
Nancy Hernandez, Robert Logan Nugent Medal winner.
Abraham Itty, Honors student and Robert Logan Nugent Medal winner.
Six students will be honored with achievement medals during The University of Arizona's 140th Commencement Ceremony for undergraduate students on May 16 at 8 a.m. at McKale Memorial Center.
Jessica Anderson, Craig Sheedy, Joseph Fu, Justine Schluntz, Nancy Hernandez and Abraham Itty will be honored with medals.
See the Commencement Web site for more information on the ceremony.
The medals are awarded to outstanding UA students who have demonstrated above average scholastic ability, citizenship, leadership and promise for the future. Freeman Medals, Robie Medals and Nugent Awards recognize well-rounded individuals whose contributions through co-curricular and community activities and leadership have impacted the University and surrounding community in a positive way.
Merril P. Freeman Medal: Jessica Anderson and Craig Sheedy
The Freeman Medals are awarded to one male student and one female student who show outstanding qualities of manhood or womanhood and moral force of character. Additional factors considered are: popularity, receipt of athletic awards, membership in organizations, service on committees and service as officers.
Jessica Anderson will graduate with honors with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from the Eller College of Management. A marketing major, she was named Eller's Outstanding Marketing Senior. She expects to graduate Magna Cum Laude and her academic record has earned her many University scholarships, including Wildcat Excellence, Wimberley-Johnson and Ben Projan scholarships.
Throughout her undergraduate career, Anderson has been involved in numerous clubs and honoraries including Primus Freshman Honorary, Sophos Sophomore Honorary, Chain Gang Junior Honorary, Eller Scholars and Chi Omega fraternity.
She is active in philanthropy, having served on executive boards for AZ Blankets for Kids and the Relay for Life committees. She continues to participate in fundraising activities for Make-A-Wish Foundation with her sorority and seeks to achieve greater philanthropic goals using her future executive business experience to consult nonprofit organizations.
Anderson has also served as part of the Associated Students of the UA student government, becoming the first executive vice president to serve two terms. ASUA projects she worked on include: revitalizing the $100K club funding system to be a more transparent and effective system; integrating club recognition in ASUA, making the process an online system; and creating outside fundraising opportunities for clubs and organizations, resulting in an additional $60,000 in funds. She also worked on the following projects: 2008 SuperBowl, 2008 Kanye West Glow in the Dark tour, UAVotes 2008, Homecoming Club Olympics and Last Smash Platinum Bash.
Professionally, Anderson has served as a Microsoft campus marketing representative for two years, participating in one of four undergraduate marketing internships at Microsoft. She will join the Microsoft business organization upon graduation as an associate product manager in Redmond, Wash.
Craig Sheedy will receive a Bachelor of Science degree from the College of Science and a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences degree from the College of Medicine. He is an honors graduate, double majoring in biochemistry and molecular biophysics and physiology with a minor in Spanish.
Sheedy has been involved in scientific research for the biochemistry department for the past three years, His thesis research was performed in the laboratory of Dr. Megan McEvoy and involved studying a model copper/silver resistance system in the organism Escherichia coli, an important topic for study since the problem of copper and silver resistance is intimately linked to the broader subject of antibiotic resistance.
Sheedy is involved in a number of other campus activities. He is an elected officer in the UA Biochemistry Club and also serves his department as an ambassador promoting and generating interest in the biological sciences.
He was selected as the fall 2008 Outstanding Senior in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and was a recipient of the Glen W., Vanice, and Keith G. Reid Award for Scientific Research in Biomedical Fields in 2007. He was selected a Galileo Circle Scholar in 2008. He also serves as a peer mentor for freshman students and as a science tutor.
Sheedy is a member of the UA swimming and diving team, competing as a member of Arizona's 2008 National Champion Swimming and Diving team and was a USA diving national qualifier. He served as a team co-captain, was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was involved in the Peer Athletic Leader and Step Up! leadership programs.
In addition, Sheedy is also very active in the community, having participated in service projects with the Boys & Girls Club and Grace Home. He also volunteers weekly at the Tucson Medical Center in the pediatrics unit and believes that caring for hospitalized children has been one of his most rewarding experiences.
Upon graduation, Sheedy will pursue a doctorate in medicine at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, beginning in August, aiming to specialize in pediatrics.
Robie Gold Medals: Joseph Fu and Justine Schluntz
The Robie Gold Medal Award is given to one male student and one female student who show personal integrity, initiative, cooperativeness, enthusiasm, humility, well-rounded interests, active participation in student affairs, service to the University and willingness to give more than required and show a love of God and country.
Joseph Fu is an honors student, Truman Scholar and Flinn Scholar studying molecular biology and microbiology and philosophy. He attributes much of his academic development to the outstanding faculty of the science and philosophy departments.
Fu participated in ASUA as a senator and as the Freshman Class Council's president. He is a dedicated musician and was nominated by Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, during her time as Arizona's governor, to be the youngest member of the Arizona Commission on the Arts for his work to bring music to youth without access to it.
He has been awarded a National Science Foundation fellowship throught the UA Collaboration to Advance Teaching Technology and Science and conducts work teaching free science programs to children in Tucson.
Fu works as a clinical research assistant at the Arizona Cancer Center, studying neurocognitive function in patients treated with adjuvant interferon alpha-2b for high-risk melanoma. The study has been selected for publication at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's 2009 Annual Meeting.
He has also worked as an intern for the Arizona House of Representatives, serving on the ways and means committee and transportation infrastructure committee – conducting research, analyzing and briefing all 25 members of the democratic caucus on bills working their way through the legislative process.
In addition, Fu help found a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing volunteer opportunities in Southeast Asia and has sponsored HIV-positive orphans in India. He taught HIV/AIDS prevention in India, worked as a hospice care provider at a Buddhist monastery converted into a HIV/AIDS hospice in Thailand, and traveled to Burma (Myanmar) as a surgical assistant to a Thai otolaryngologist to provide clinical care.
Justine Schluntz will graduate summa cum laude with honors from the College of Engineering with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering.
Schluntz is an avid competitive swimmer and was attracted to the world-class swim team at the UA, led by coach Frank Busch. After being sidelined her first three semesters due to two shoulder surgeries, she participated in the next three NCAA Championships. In 2008, Schluntz swam the lead-off leg of the 800 meter freestyle relay at the NCAA Championships. The relay's upset victory was part of Arizona's relay sweep that paved the way for the Wildcats' first ever NCAA team championship in swimming.
In 2009, Schluntz continued her athletic success by participating on two winning relays at the NCAA championships. The 200 meter freestyle relay and 400 meter medley relay both won in spectacular fashion, breaking school, NCAA and American records. In her three years as a collegiate swimmer, she has garnered nine All-American honors.
Equally important to her is her Christian faith. She has attended Canyon Del Oro Baptist Church since her freshman year and is also active in Athletes in Action, a sports ministry on campus.
She is involved in several service-oriented groups, many through athletics. She has participated in the Peer Athletic Leader, or PAL, program for three years, meeting monthly to hear about topics such as money management, nutrition for peak performance, hazing, discrimination and sexual assault and to serve as peer counselor for any athlete in need of assistance.
Schluntz also volunteers for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tucson and participates in community service events through CATS community service as well as the women's swim team. These activities range from discussing the importance of staying in school with local youth to helping distribute food through The Giving Tree on Thanksgiving weekend.
She was one of 12 students to receive the 2009 UA BookStores' Pillar of Excellence honor for academic excellence and contributions to the community.
Schluntz plans to continue her education at the UA by beginning graduate studies in mechanical engineering next fall. She has accepted a research assistantship with Jeff Jacobs to study experimental fluid dynamics. In addition, she looks forward to utilizing her final year of athletic eligibility by representing the Wildcats in the pool for one more year.
Robert Logan Nugent Medals: Nancy Hernandez and Abraham Itty
The award is given to one male student and one female student. Candidates have a record of accomplishments that exemplify the high ideals of the Nugent medal including active and enthusiastic participation and service in community and University endeavors.
Nancy Hernandez was born in Mexico. She grew up in the border state of Sonora, in a town south of Yuma, Ariz. She will be the first to ever graduate with a four-year degree in her family.
Hernandez is a member of Students In Free Enterprise, or SIFE, a student organization that has been crucial in her development. SIFE is a global organization in which students utilize business concepts learned in classrooms to develop projects that create economic opportunity for others.
She has been part of the organization for almost five years and has developed community service and educational projects, including: teaching basic business concepts in Nogales, Mexico; teaching personal finance workshops in the Tucson and Yuma area; helping kids at an orphanage in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico; helping elementary school students to be ecologically conscious, while learning basic business concepts; and others.
Hernandez has also participated in SIFE's national competition, and in 2008, the UA SIFE team was named the SIFE National Exhibition Champion. As part of the presentation team, Nancy had the honor of representing the United States in the SIFE World Cup in Singapore in October 2008.
Hernandez will graduate from the Eller College of Management with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and a Bachelor in Science degree in business economics. She is also the UA Hispanic Alumni's Outstanding Senior Award winner.
She served as a resident assistant/mentor for minority at-risk high schools students during the Accounting Careers Awareness Program, working with a group of 30 high school students from all over Arizona, sharing her experiences as a business student, while offering them motivation to aspire to higher education.
Hernandez is also part of the Honors Civic Engagement Teams, an Honors College Internship Program with different organizations in the community. She volunteers with Iskashitaa, a 100 percent volunteer-driven refugee empowerment and support organization. She also helped to renew the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting student chapter in 2008 and served as its president for that year.
Upon graduation, Hernandez will begin work for Ernst & Young, specializing in auditing practice. She plans to become a Certified Public Accountant and expand on her career by entering the forensic accounting area with a master's and doctorate degree.
Abraham Itty will graduate summa cum laude with honors. He is a Bachelor of Science degree candidate in molecular and cellular biology and a Bachelor of Science candidate in Health Sciences degree candidate in physiology, as well as a minor in business.
Itty performed developmental biology research for three years under the mentorship of Gail Burd, conducting experiments that focused on identifying factors that regulate development of the ear and jaw in the frog.
He also contributed to the growth of the UA Pre-Dental Society. Under his leadership as president, club membership quadrupled in size. He initiated the Oral Health Education Campaign, to promote the importance of proper oral health by implementing an oral health curriculum in elementary schools.
As a member of the Southern Arizona Oral Health Coalition, Itty forged a collaboration between the UA Pre-Dental Society and the United Way, securing a grant to distribute 10,000 Senior Smile Dental Kits to tribal elders in the Tohono O'odham Nation. He was also able to apply his passion for international service through dental missions trips to both Montellano, Guatemala and Oaxaca, Mexico.
He has also been actively involved as a basketball coach in the ASUA Youth Basketball and Cheerleading League, serving at-risk youth in the Tucson community to instill team values, promote healthy relationships and promote higher education as an attainable goal.
Itty is a member of several class honoraries including Primus, Clareo, Sophos and Mortar Board National Senior Honorary. He serves as a Science Ambassador and is a member of the Physiology Advisory Committee. He has been a "Big Brother" to a local teenager for the past three years through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. He is deeply committed to his faith and has been actively involved in Intervarsity Christian Fellowship as a small group bible study leader.
His commitment to leadership, service and academics has been rewarded with designations as a Galileo Circle Scholar, Mortar Board Scholar, Erin A. Hertzog Zona Zoo Scholar, MCB Outstanding Senior and Phi Beta Kappa National Honorary member.
Upon graduation he will attend the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. He eventually hopes to specialize and practice as an academic dentist, serving internationally and contributing to the understanding of oral diseases.
Rebecca Ruiz McGill
520-621-1878