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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:
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Namratha Reddy
of Hyderabad, India – College of Agricultural
Sciences and Technology
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Georgia P. Williams of
Fresno – College of Arts and Humanities
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Nevin Ismail Hindiyeh of
Clovis – Craig School of Business
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Chie Maekoya of
Hitachinaka, Japan – Kremen School of Education and
Human Development
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Curtis E. Hanson of
Lancaster – College of Engineering
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Eiji Yamashita of Fresno
– College of Health and Human Services
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Zhanna Bagdasarov of
Fresno – College of Science and Mathematics
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Shawna Ruth Herzog of
Auberry – College of Social Sciences
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Ambar Alicia Alvarez of
Santa Maria – Division of Student Affairs
 Namratha Reddy
College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology
Namratha Reddy
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, Reddy 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.
Reddy 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
AirJection™ Irrigation.” The results of her research will be helpful to
organic growers in the San Joaquin Valley.
Reddy plans to pursue a doctoral degree in crop physiology at University
of California, Davis.
 Georgia
P. Williams
College of Arts and Humanities
Georgia P. Williams completed
her M.A. in English with a 4.0 GPA.
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 an additional master's degree, the 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.
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