Class of 2020 Recognized as Part of Commencement Celebration
05/27/2020
Contacts for media: Christine Gillette, 978-758-4664, Christine_Gillette@uml.edu and Nancy Cicco, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu
LOWELL, Mass. – Seniors graduating from UMass Lowell this week are being honored for their service to the campus and community, as well as their efforts to promote diversity and inclusion.
As part of the celebration of UMass Lowell’s Commencement this week, 15 members of the Class of 2020 are being recognized with Chancellor’s Medals for Community Service, Student Service, and Diversity and Inclusion. The university is holding a virtual Commencement on Friday, May 29 at 5 p.m.
The winners of the Chancellor’s Medal for Student Service include Kellsie Howard of Georgetown, a business administration major in the university’s Manning School of Business.
“UMass Lowell provided me with a lot of mentors and gave me a really great platform to land co-op positions and other opportunities,” said Howard, who responded in kind, founding and serving as president of the Manning Women in Business, a student club that offers participants networking, as well as helping them connect with internship and job opportunities to springboard them to success after graduation. Howard has already made that leap, converting an internship into a full-time job as a product manager with WB Games, a video game and mobile app division of Warner Bros. Entertainment.
In addition to Howard, Chancellor’s Medal for Student Service recipients include:
- Hikma Abajorga of Lowell, plastics engineering major;
- Siddhant Iyer of Lowell, plastics engineering major;
- Surbhi Mavi of Lowell, biology major;
- David Morton of Boxford, business administration and political science major;
- Sophia Samih of Tewksbury, nursing major.
Michael Johnston of Dracut, who this week receives his master’s degree in mechanical engineering, first graduated from UMass Lowell in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in information systems. Now a software systems engineering manager at Analog Devices in Wilmington, he founded a robotics team for local middle- and high-school students in 2015 that meets at UMass Lowell. The success of the team led him to launch the nonprofit Merrimack Valley Robotics Inc., which provides educational opportunities in science and technology to primary and secondary school students. The support UMass Lowell offered these endeavors inspired Johnston to return to the classroom to pursue his second degree. As a two-time UMass Lowell graduate, he will be what is known as a “double River Hawk.”
“UMass Lowell led me to really get involved in giving back to the community,” said Johnston, whose efforts have earned him a Chancellor’s Medal for Community Service.
Along with Johnston, recipients of the Chancellor’s Medal for Community Service are:
- Oritsegbemi Mene Ejegi of Lowell, master’s degree in public health;
- Andrea Patino Galindo of Chelmsford, business administration major;
- Nicole Haas of Nashua, N.H., master’s degree in public health;
- Samuel Munnelly of Litchfield, N.H., mechanical engineering major;
- Dorothy Nankanja of Haverhill, biology major.
The university also awarded Chancellor’s Medals for Diversity and Inclusion to three graduate students receiving degrees this week, including Fang Zhang of Chelmsford, who has earned his Ph.D. in chemistry, his second degree from UMass Lowell.
“UMass Lowell is a very welcoming and open place that has a lot of room for people to grow. It gave me the environment to explore who I wanted to be and find my mission in life,” said Zhang, who first came to UMass Lowell in 2013 to pursue a master’s degree in chemistry as an international student. Once established on campus, he rolled out the welcome mat for others, creating the Pair-Up Program, a cultural exchange initiative that unites students from the U.S. with those from other nations who have mutual interests. To date, the club has welcomed 1,500 participants from more than 40 different countries. After graduation, Zhang will be a researcher in the Massachusetts Biomanufacturing Center at UMass Lowell.
UMass Lowell also awarded the Chancellor’s Medal for Diversity and Inclusion to:
- Nicole Cruz Merced of Lowell, master’s degree in community social psychology;
- Diana Santana of Lowell, master’s degree in community social psychology.
UMass Lowell Commencement will be streamed at www.uml.edu/commencement on Friday, May 29 at 5 p.m., and will be available there for replay.
UMass Lowell is a national research university located on a high-energy campus in the heart of a global community. The university offers its more than 18,000 students bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs, vigorous hands-on learning and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be leaders in their communities and around the globe. www.uml.edu