Lauren E. Smith named recipient of the Lanford Presidential Prize

SUNY Fredonia President Virginia Horvath announced that senior Lauren E. Smith is the recipient of the 2013 Lanford Presidential Prize, supported through the Oscar and Esther Lanford Endowment of the Fredonia College Foundation.

The award will be presented at the morning Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 18.The award—generously created and endowed by the late President Emeritus Oscar E. Lanford and Mrs. Lanford—recognizes a member of the graduating class who has exhibited balanced achievement and exemplifies Fredonia’s ideals.

Ms. Smith, from Hamburg, N.Y., is a Communication Disorders and Sciences major with a minor in Spanish. She will graduate summa cum laude and has shown leadership and achievement in many ways. Ms. Smith received the Keeper of the Dream Scholarship, Verizon Foundation Scholarship, New York State Higher Education Services Corporation Scholarship for Academic Excellence, SUNY Fredonia Scholar Award, SUNY Fredonia College Foundation Faculty/Staff Scholarship, Lt. General Woods Scholarship, Golden Key International Honour Society Scholarship, and the Dr. Kurt and Sibylla Sonnenfeld Memorial Award.

In addition to these academic honors, Ms. Smith has been a student ambassador, a member of the student dance group Orchesis, S.T.E.P.S., and the Communication Disorders Student Society. A graduate of SUNY Fredonia’s Leadership Development Program, she has volunteered with Relay for Life, Fall Sweep, and the AIDS Walk and studied abroad in Spain.

Ms. Smith has been accepted in the graduate program in Communicative Disorders and Sciences at the University at Buffalo, where she will begin study in Fall 2013.

President Horvath added, "The campus is fortunate to have students with the extraordinary dedication and achievement of those nominated for this award. Each nominee has contributed greatly to this campus and to the community, and I also congratulate the following students as Finalists for this prize."

2013 Lanford Presidential Prize Finalists include:

Meagan Allers (Williamsville, N.Y.), Childhood Education-Math
Nicholas Catanzaro (Niagara Falls, N.Y.), Biology-Molecular Genetics
Rachael Coccia (Victor, N.Y.), Communication-Public Relations
Hannah Delansky (East Amherst, N.Y.), Childhood Education-Earth Science
Maxwell DeNies (East Aurora, N.Y.), Biology
Sarah Ficarro (Owego, N.Y.), Communication Disorders and Sciences
Amy Fisk (Whitesville, N.Y.), Psychology
Jeff K. Holloway (Alberta, Canada), Business Administration-Finance
Spencer Lefort (Java Center, N.Y.), Business Administration-Accounting
Lauren Moody (Springville, N.Y.), English
Paul Shephard (Almond, N.Y.), Philosophy
Jamie Sunshine (Williamsville, N.Y.), Music Performance
Dylan Yetter (Erie, Pa.), Political Science