(Long Island, NY) Yuvraj Singh and Melody Tomlinson capped their senior years at SUNY Old Westbury by earning the highest honor available to students within the State University system. They were among the 256 students state-wide, out of more than 450,000 total SUNY students, to receive the 2015 Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence.
“It is my highest honor to recognize the achievements of SUNY students who have excelled not only academically but as leaders on their campuses and in their communities,” said Nancy L. Zimpher. “Students receiving this award are to be commended for their excellence as role models, artists, scholar athletes, and civic volunteers. Their leadership can serve as an inspiration to all SUNY students and a tremendous point of pride for the entire SUNY family.”
The Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence was created to recognize students who have best demonstrated, and been recognized for, the integration of academic excellence with accomplishments in the areas of leadership, athletics, community service, creative and performing arts or career achievement.
Both Singh and Tomlinson graduated just a few weeks ago as members of the SUNY Old Westbury class of 2015.
Yuvraj Singh. Photo Credit: SUNY Old Westbury.
Singh, from Valley Stream, New York, majored in Biological Sciences. While at Old Westbury, he was Vice President and Public Relations Officer for the Science Club; served as a mentor in the Honors College Program, and was Vice President and Co-Founder for the Volunteers Around The World chapter at SUNY Old Westbury. Singh and sixteen other students assisted a medical clinic in the Dominican Republic, helping the doctors treat over 700 patients over 6 days. During his academic career at the College, Singh has made the Dean’s List and was a research assistant in the Biological sciences department, working on markers for prostate cancer.
Melody Tomlinson. Photo Credit: SUNY Old Westbury.
Tomlinson, from Manhasset, New York, majored in English. During her academic career at Old Westbury, she has made the Dean’s List, served as Writing Consultant at the Writing Center, Vice President of the Alpha Kappa Beta Chapter of Sigma Tau Delta was published in both the Harmonia: the Creative Writing Journal of SUNY Old Westbury and Discordia: the Scholarly Journal of SUNY Old Westbury. In addition, Tomlinson was the sole student organizer when noted poet and Pulitzer Prize winner Vijay Seshadri spoke and signed books at the college. She organized, publicized and worked with a TV crew to film the event.
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating nearly 460,000 students in more than 7,500 degree and certificate programs on 64 college and university campuses, and online through Open SUNY. SUNY students and faculty across the state make significant contributions to research and discovery, resulting in nearly $1 billion of externally-sponsored activity each year. There are 3 million SUNY alumni worldwide.
