Michael J. Coles College Reveals 2023 Outstanding Students
Michael J. Coles College Reveals 2023 Outstanding Students
KENNESAW, Ga. |
May 16, 2023
The Michael J. Coles College of Business recently announced the recipients of the
2022-2023 Outstanding Student awards.
Outstanding Student awards recognize exemplary students in each of the College's academic
programs. Faculty members nominate students, with department chairs selecting the
winners.
Below, you will find details about each of the 17 Outstanding Student award recipients
as well as some information about each.
Here is a listing of each student and their respective programs:
Undergraduate Program Outstanding Students
Accounting: Jocelynn Galvan
Jocelynn has a passion for learning and true academic curiosity beyond the classroom. She has become a true leader. Jocelynn has worked as a Supplemental Instructor and Learning Assistant, and has been able to help hundreds of other students improve their learning strategies and become more successful. She served in executive leadership for Beta Alpha Psi and tackled challenges proactively. The SOA and Kennesaw State have benefited greatly from the time Jocelynn was a student here.
Economics: Asmin Acharya
Three faculty members nominated Asmin, with them saying "Asmin was amongst the best students I have ever had in my career…Asmin took two courses from me – Macroeconomics and Econometrics – and he achieved excellent grades and is a top student in both…He is a student who has the raw intelligence to work on challenging problems…"
Entrepreneurship: Dylan Finnell
Dylan has been an outstanding entrepreneurship student throughout his tenure at KSU.
He consistently led class discussions, provided action-oriented efforts and developed
a social entrepreneurship 501c organization to pursue after graduation called Paradime
Academy. Paradime's mission is to provide financial literacy to help youth make and
multiply their money.
Finance: Amitai Ilan
Amitai is the CEO of SMIF. He led the team to the SMIFC competition where they placed second in two competitions. He’s an excellent student of Finance and was even nominated for the USG Academic Recognition Day. Amitai also participated in our undergraduate research fellowship program at the Bagwell Center and made an overwhelmingly positive impression on his advisor throughout the process.
Hospitality Management: Caroline Kantoris
Caroline is an example of a well-balanced student as she maintained a 4.0 GPA while working part-time in the hospitality industry. She is also a student leader who is actively engaged in her major and displays great potential as a future leader in all aspects of her personal and professional life.
Information Security and Assurance: John Victor Wolfe
John was an outstanding student academically, graduating with a 4.0 GPA. John was also active with student organizations and volunteered to support multiple events for the Information Systems and Security department.
Information Systems: Daniel Hopps
Along with maintaining a high GPA, Daniel excelled in several ways. First was his
willingness to go above and beyond to ensure high quality work. He took initiative,
and was a leader in the classroom, helped other students and stood out above the rest.
He also excelled in an internship at SympliFi, and explored directed study and lab
volunteer work. His thirst to learn and explore will serve him well as he moves forward
and serve as guides for others in the major.
Management: Isaiah Paige
Isaiah is the ideal candidate to receive this award. Not only does he have an exceptional GPA, he is also a member of Coles Scholars Program, is an Honors Student, and is the President of the Society for Human Resources Management Student Chapter. He has also had an internship in EY’s HR Department for the last two years.
Marketing: Avani Shah
Avani has established herself as a mentor to many, a solid competitor in sales competitions and a friend to all. Her contagious optimism has had a great positive impact on the sales team! Avani has impacted all fortunate enough to cross her path and will forever be a great ambassador for KSU wherever her journey leads.
Professional Sales: Thomas Rowen
Thomas Rowen is recognized by his peers as a leader, mentor and great example of professionalism. In classes, Thomas immediately established himself as a student with a passion for learning and exhibited a high level of intellectual curiosity. He also has a quick wit and is simply a good person.
Graduate Program Outstanding Students
Evening MBA: William Springer
Will has been a pleasure to work with throughout his time in the program. He came
to the KSU MBA Program in Fall 2020 during the height of the pandemic as a fresh graduate
from Oglethorpe University with a degree in biology. Will has sought to expand his
business acumen and skillset while looking to expand and grow his professional network
through participation in current student and alumni events like our Homecoming Event
at Horned Owl Brewing. He currently works at Bennett and Thrasher as a Valuation Analyst.
Master of Accounting: Sharon Zinger
Sharon Zinger's enthusiasm, positive attitude, and engagement with course topics make
her a standout student. Not only did Sharon perform in the top five of almost every
class she completed, but she passed all four parts of the CPA Exam ahead of schedule
while serving as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. Throughout her success in both the
classroom and on the CPA Exam, Sharon remained incredibly humble. She set a positive
example for her classmates with her work ethic, positive attitude, and willingness
to help others.
Executive MBA: Troy Tracy
Troy Tracy was chosen by a vote of the EMBA faculty as the 2023 EMBA Cohort Outstanding Scholar. Troy has maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout the program, is a proven leader in the classroom and will graduate in May with honors. Troy has notable accomplishments in his work environment with over 25 years in senior level management positions and is currently the Brand President and Chief Operating Officer of Huddle House, Inc. headquartered in Atlanta GA.
Master of Science in Information Systems: Amber Fellows
Amber Fellows is one of the most outstanding students that MSIS has ever had. She
is an example of how consistent effort and dedication can bring uplifting career changes
in a short amount of time. Amber was a middle school educator with several years of
experience when she decided to quit her job and entirely focus on the MSIS to switch
her career to become a technology professional. Within one year, she completed her
MSIS with a GPA of 4.0 and ended up with three significant job offers, finally accepting
a business analyst position at Ford Motors. She was also selected for the NASA Data
Analysis Internship in the summer of 2022 and had the experience extended into the
fall.
Master of Science in Healthcare Management and Informatics: Richard Ogniewski
Richard is a dynamic, and energetic leader with 30+ years of relevant military and federal government experience spanning multiple functional areas and skillsets. His “can do” attitude and positive thinking continually create an optimal work environment where he melds job safety, satisfaction and mission accomplishment as one. Richard is a pragmatic and focused individual recognized for “making seemingly impossible situations work;” he has a proven track record for success
Ph.D. in Business Administration: Martha Troncoza
Martha is an outstanding doctoral student. Her dissertation topic and the rigor of
her work will likely result in a high-quality publication upon completion of the program.
Further, she is the only doctoral student at KSU to publish in the Journal of the
Academy of Marketing Science She also has two publications in the Journal of Services
Marketing with a submission under review at the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales
Management. Overall, she has an outstanding research record and her work is only continuing
to increase in quality. Martha is currently a faculty at Pepperdine university.
WebMBA: Samuel Froelich
Samuel has been an asset to the KSU WebMBA Program and has been motivated and determined to succeed at KSU since our initial conversation as a prospective student in March 2021. When he was accepted into the program he noted, “I'm incredibly excited to start this journey at KSU. I never thought I'd aspire to achieve this goal but I am so happy to be doing it and at KSU.” His drive for success is highlighted by his impressive 4.0 GPA and he has remained connected with the KSUMBA advising team and his team within the WebMBA Program all while residing in Texas. Sam holds an undergraduate degree in business administration from St. Norbert College and currently serves as the Client Service & Operations Manager – Van Dedicated at Schneider.
