Nine top graduate students who are receiving master’s degrees at Commencement this year have been named Deans’ Graduate Medalists for the Class of 2008 at California State University, Fresno.

The medalists are chosen as the outstanding graduate students in each of the university’s eight schools and colleges of academic discipline and the Division of Student Affairs, based on academic excellence, community involvement and other achievements.

One of the medalists will be named University Graduate Medal winner at the Graduate Degree Hooding Ceremony at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 16, in the Save Mart Center.

The Class of 2008 Graduate Dean’s Medalists are:

  • Namratha Pulla Reddy Gari of Hyderabad, India – College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology
  • Georgia P. Williams of Fresno – College of Arts and Humanities
  • Nevin Ismail Hindiyeh of Clovis – Craig School of Business
  • Chie Maekoya of Hitachinaka, Japan – Kremen School of Education and Human Development
  • Curtis E. Hanson of Lancaster – College of Engineering
  • Eiji Yamashita of Fresno – College of Health and Human Services
  • Zhanna Bagdasarov of Fresno – College of Science and Mathematics
  • Shawna Ruth Herzog of Auberry – College of Social Sciences
  • Ambar Alicia Alvarez of Santa Maria – Division of Student Affairs

Georgia P. Williams

College of Arts and Humanities

Georgia P. Williams completed her M.A. in English with a 4.0 GPA.

Diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Williams has had a number of obstacles to overcome in earning her degree. Her thesis is titled “Negotiating Community: Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderland Theory and the American Expereince.”

Williams excelled as a coordinator for the Fresno State Collaborative Academic Preparation Initiatives (CAPI), where she developed high school tutoring programs in both math and literacy. She has also served as the assistant director for the Fresno State Writing Center.

Williams’ professors note that she exhibits leadership and innovation as a teaching associate. She has received recognition from the provost for incorporating service-learning into her honors composition class.

Williams has served on a number of Fresno State committees and also worked on the Young Writers Conference. She is a member of the Board for the Greater Fresno Area ACLU and works with National Network in Action to organize Fresno community members for social empowerment.

She is currently working on a Master of Fine Arts in English.

Nevin Ismail Hindiyeh

Craig School of Business

Nevin Ismail Hindiyeh completed her Master’s of Business Administration, with a 4.0 GPA.

Described as an entrepreneur at heart, she is the founder of Fresno’s Leading Young Professionals (FLYP), a 1,500-member nonprofit organization that helps keep talented young professionals in Fresnoi. It co-hosted the 2008 Mayoral Candidates Forum and offers networking activities, community service activities and social activities.

Hindiyeh also started a two-year educational outreach pilot program at McLane High School, in which more than 25 professionals participated in presentations to disadvantaged youth.

Dedicated to the revitalizing of downtown Fresno, Hindiyeh is also an active member of the City of Fresno’s Economic Development Alliance and a charter board member of Creative Fresno

A full-time employee at Pacific Gas & Electric Co., she was awarded the PG&E Mielke Award, which recognizes extraordinary employees who demonstrate the spirit of giving and volunteerism.

Chie Maekoya

Kremen School of Education and Human Development Chie Maekoya, an international student, completed her M.S. in Counseling with a 4.0 GPA. In her three years as a graduate student, she has had four publications and five professional presentations, four of which were completed at Fresno State.

Her awards include a first place in Student Paper Competition at the 12th International Symposium of Victimology in 2006 and the Best Poster Presentation at the Third American Symposium on Victimology in 2005.

At Fresno State, Maekoya served as an academic adviser and counselor in the International Student Services Office. She is currently serving as a graduate assistant in the Office of Institutional Research, Assessment and Planning.

Maekoya has completed internships at Community Behavioral Health Center
and the Marjoree Mason Center, where she counseled victims of domestic
violence and their children.

After graduation, Maekoya will return to Japan and work as a counselor
and teacher. Eventually, she plans to pursue a doctorate.

Curtis E. Hanson

College of Engineering
Curtis E. Hanson completed his Engineering degree – Mechanical Engineering Option with a 4.0 GPA. A flight controls engineer at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, he was granted educational leave to pursue his graduate degree.

Hanson’s research projects include the investigation of refueling methods for aircraft and algorithms that can be used in forest fire detection. Currently, he is assisting in the flight testing of adaptive control technologies for damaged aircraft.

A mentor for undergraduate and graduate cooperative education students and for new employees, Hanson serves as the technical monitor for the Dryden Research Library and as a contracting officer’s technical representative on small business innovative research activities.

Hanson’s professional honors include several NASA achievement awards.

Eiji Yamashita

College of Health and Human Services

Eiji Yamashita completed his Master of Public Health with a 3.91 GPA. As part of his coursework, he completed an internship at First 5 Fresno County, where he assisted in planning media strategies for tobacco use prevention education. He also completed an internship at the Central Valley Health Policy Institute, where he helped research barriers to prenatal care for low-income mothers.

Yamashita was a United Nations Development Programme Pan-Asian Youth Summit representative for the U.S. media. He was selected as a Health Journalism Fellow by The California Endowment and was also selected as a Medical Journal Fellow by the National Institutes of Health.

Yamashita, who passed the Certified Health Education Specialist, wants to make an impact in the field of public health by advocating policy decisions that will benefit the Central Valley and its disadvantaged population. He works as a newspaper reporter and in 2007 edited an award-winning series on the methamphetamine epidemic in the Central Valley.

Zhanna Bagdasarov

College of Science and Mathematics

Zhanna Bagdasarov completed her M.A. in Psychology with a 4.0 GPA. Her master’s thesis investigated the association between Russian immigrant women’s cultural framework and anger expression. While at Fresno State, Bagdasarov served as editor for two years of the Hye Sharzhoom, a supplement in the campus newspaper, produced by the Armenian Students Organization.

Bagdasarov’s awards include the Graduate Student Research Merit, the President’s Graduate Scholar and the Outstanding Achievement and Scholarship from the Department of Psychology. She also received awards from the Kiwanis Club of Fresno and the Knights of Vartan, an Armenian fraternal service organization.

Bagdasarov has numerous conference presentations and publications to her credit, including a poster presented at the 41st Annual Convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. She has language skills in Russian, English and Armenian and teaches research and experimental methodology in the Department of Psychology.

Shawna Ruth Herzog

College of Social Science

Shawna Ruth Herzog completed her master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies -Women’s Studies with a 4.0 GPA. Because she wanted a greater understanding of the sociological, political and historical factors that create the gendered nature of the social world, Herzog sought an interdisciplinary degree that would expand her knowledge in these areas.

Inspired by her 10 years of working with law enforcement, child and family services, and the District Attorney’s Office, Herzog considers herself and advocate for sexual assault victims. Her interest culminated in her thesis, “Historical Consequences: The Legacy of Sexism and Gender Discrimination and Their Link to Contemporary Sex Trafficking in Russia.” Part of her earlier draft of the thesis was accepted at the 2007 Beyond Little Vera Conference, hosted by the Association for Women in Slavic Studies.

Herzog is senior editor for Hindsight Graduate History Journal, a peer-reviewed graduate-produced journal. She has been a teacher’s associate for the Department of History and plans to pursue a doctorate.

Ambar Alicia Alvarez

Division of Student Affairs

Ambar Alicia Alvarez completed her M.S. in Counseling with a 4.0 GPA. She worked as a full-time degree adviser in the Evaluations Office at Fresno State and completed internships at University Migrant Services.

Alvarez was involved in the campus community. She was president of Trabajadores de la Raza, a social work organization, and in 2008, was coordinator for the César E. Chávez Celebration. In addition, she co-founded the Chicano and Latin American Studies Academic Association, which promotes academics and culture among Chicano students.

Alvarez won the 2007 Tokalon Scholarship, the 2007 President’s Volunteer Service Award and the 2005 Outstanding Graduate for the Department of Chicano and Latin American Studies. She plans to earn a doctorate.

Namratha Pulla Reddy Gari

College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology

Namratha Pulla Reddy Gari completed her M.S. in Plant Science with a 3.74 GPA. Born in India, she earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture before she came to Fresno State to earn a master’s degree.

In 2007 and 2008, Gari participated in five professional conference presentations and was the first author for four of them. She is the recipient of the Robert and Norma Craig Fellowship. Through Ag One, she is the recipient of the Dick Markarian Grant and the Lowell A. Jordan & Jordan Family Grant. She has also received a graduate student travel grant from the Division of Graduate Studies.

Gari is credited with having a strong work ethic and excellent technical abilities. In fall 2007, she received a Graduate Student Research Merit Award for her proposed research, which culminated in her thesis, “Optimizing Nitrogen Rates for organic vegetables subjected to AirJectionTM Irrigation.” The results of her research will be helpful to organic growers in the San Joaquin Valley.

Gari plans to pursue a doctoral degree in crop physiology at University of California, Davis.