The State University of New York will recognize 264 exceptional seniors from campuses across the system, including four from SUNY Fredonia, with the Chancellor’s Awards for Student Excellence on Monday, March 28, at an awards ceremony in Albany. Chancellor Robert L. King will present the awards.
 
Chancellor King noted that each honoree has excelled both in academic achievement and in at least one of the following areas: leadership, athletics, community service, creative and performing arts or career achievement. They all have overall grade point averages of 3.75 or above.
 
The Fredonia students to be honored are photography major Angela Occhino of Orchard Park; biology secondary education major Katie Remus of Grand Island; sound recording technology and percussion performance major Matthew Wilson of Webster; and mathematics major Jacob McMillen of North Tonawanda.
 
"The recipients of this year’s Chancellor’s Award are not only some of the brightest and hardest working students in SUNY, but have made major contributions to their communities," said King. "They represent the enduring commitment the university has made to attract and nurture a diverse, intelligent student body. The commitment our students make every day to themselves and their community is an inspiring achievement. They are our future, and that future is bright."
 
Awardees were selected by campus committees, who reviewed exemplary members of their college communities and submitted nominations to the Chancellor’s Office for recipients of the Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence.
 
The achievements of the Fredonia students cited by the chancellor's award are described below.

• In addition serving as photo editor of The Leader, the SUNY Fredonia student newspaper, Angela Occhino has produced fine art photography that has been cited for its distinctive qualities on and off campus. One of her work's was selected as "Best in Show" at the SUNY-wide Student Art Exhibition in Albany last summer, and other pieces have been selected for juried exhibits at Mercyhurst College's Cummings Gallery, and the prestigious CEPA Gallery in Buffalo. She won the Chautauqua Craft Alliance Award for Excellence in Art last summer, which included an academic scholarship. In addition, her work has been accepted for display by SIGGRAPH, the world's largest exhibition of computer based graphics.
   
  
• As an outstanding student and record-setting soccer player at Fredonia, Katie Remus received the SUNY Chancellor's Scholar-Athlete Award and has been selected to the SUNYAC All-Academic team. She is also a member of the Biology Honors Society and the National Science Teachers Association and has worked on numerous community service projects, including Habitat for Humanity, Dunkirk Beach Clean-up; the Friendly Kitchen; and Red Cross blood drives.
   
  
• Matthew Wilson excels academically in two of Fredonia's most competitive academic programs: sound recording technology and the performance of a musical instrument (percussion). He has won two of Fredonia's most prestigious scholarships, and has been cited by the Fredonia School of Music for his service to the school. He has worked as a sound engineer at Chautauqua Institution, performed with several touring ensembles, and managed the Fredonia Percussion Guild. He also organized performances on campus by visiting musicians.
   
  
• Jacob McMillen was selected competitively to participate in a Research Experience for Undergraduates program at Clarkson University and SUNY Potsdam last summer, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. He has had three solutions published in mathematics journals, and his book review on the classic work, Winning Ways, by Berlekamp, Conway and Guy will appear in the November 2005 issue of Math Horizons Magazine. He co-founded and serviced as president of the Fredonia Juggling Club, and has received two scholarships from the mathematics department. His community service included working for 50 hours to help build a house for a needy family in a local project of Habitat for Humanity.