Colorado State University 2003 Outstanding Spring Graduate Tip Sheet
BUSINESS GRADUATE, SINGLE MOM OVERCOMES NEAR-FATAL CAR CRASH
In 1998, at age 19, Heather Stein was hit head-on by a drunk driver in Woodland Park, Colo. Stein and her unborn child barley survived after months of rehabilitation. With the help of Flight for Life and five rehabilitation therapists, from physical to speech, Stein was released from the hospital just before she gave birth to her daughter, Katie Marie. Katie was born a healthy baby.
After the accident Stein overcame her obstacles by attending college at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, even though her doctors recommend not rushing into anything. Stein received a 4.0 grade-point average that semester and continued to do so for the next straight year.
In the summer of 2000, Stein transferred to Colorado State University, where she completed her bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting in May of 2002. As an undergraduate student, she worked as an athletic academic coordinator tutoring athletes in accounting as well as other subjects. She also served as treasurer of Beta Alpha Psi and was nominated for Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society and the Golden Key Honor Society.
Before graduating, Stein decided it was best for her daughter and her career to proceed directly into graduate school to earn her master’s degree in accounting. She has served as the graduate teaching assistant for O.C. Ferrell, chair of the Department of Marketing from August 2002 – May 2003. In this role she performed Internet research, assisted in writing text books and participated in teaching an introduction to marketing class and one senior level seminar class. In addition, she participated and contributed to a 10-week online business ethics course.
Stein will begin work with Deloitte and Touche in September.
To speak with Stein, contact Jennifer Dimas at (970) 491-1543 or jennifer.dimas@colostate.edu..
LEADERSHIP LANDS EXERCISE SCIENCE GRADUATE AT MAYO CLINIC
After Daniel Ward receives his bachelor’s degree in health and exercise science this week from the College of Applied Human Sciences, he’ll leave behind a legacy of leadership, academic achievement and commitment to excellence.
Ward’s membership in several honor societies includes the National Society for Collegiate Scholars, the Gamma Phi Beta Honor Society and the Golden Key International Honor Society. Ward also was inducted into Mortar Board Honor Society for which he serves as vice president. As a member of these societies, Daniel has involved himself in many community service activities, including a book drive for needy children.
Ward has also been an advocate for the Smoke-Free Fort Collins issue and the "Healthy Inside and Out" Program, which addresses the issues of tobacco prevention and the dangers of second-hand smoke exposure.
In recognition of his many scholastic achievements, Ward has been the recipient the Outstanding Senior Award for the College of Applied Human Sciences, the Distinguished First Generation Scholar Award and the Albert C. Yates Student Leadership Award. He also has excelled in athletics. He was a medal winner in the Mountain West Conference and was also named All-Conference Athlete for track and field.
Ward will be working at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. this summer at the Dan Abrahams Healthy Living Center, where he may have the opportunity to shadow surgeons. He’s considering attending medical school after the internship.
To speak with Ward, contact Jennifer Dimas at (970) 491-1543 or jennifer.dimas@colostate.edu.
DOCTORAL GRADUATE’S RESEARCH FOCUSES ON DEADLY VIRUS
Jeff Root will graduate with a 3.9 grade-point average with a doctorate degree from the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology in the College of Natural Resources. He has pulled together a truly interdisciplinary collaboration focusing on the Sin Nombre Virus – a hantavirus. Root has been studying the ecology of the deer mouse in relation to the transmission of the virus. This hantavirus first was recognized in 1993 in the Four Corners region of the southwest when 10 individuals died over an eight week period.
Root’s project has involved the collaboration of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology and the Department of Fishery and Wildlife Biology. In addition, his research has involved collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and researchers working on SNV in New Mexico, Arizona and Montana. Root’s research has involved the areas of population ecology, conservation genetics and microbiology. He has had eight publications for this research collaboration, three of these as the senior author.
To speak with Root, contact Jennifer Dimas at (970) 491-1543 or jennifer.dimas@colostate.edu.
FIRST GENERATION GRADUATE VOLUNTEERS, SUPPORTS DIVERSITY
Noemi Aguilar, first generation graduate from El Paso, Texas, believes in the importance of volunteer work and diversity. Aguilar will graduate with a 3.6 grade-point average from the College of Business with a concentration in computer information systems and marketing.
Aguilar has put herself through college while working at the registrar’s office and the business undergraduate office. She performs volunteer work on and off campus – such as Community Service Unity, Race for the Cure and elementary school visits to raise cultural awareness – and facilitates diversity retreats for high school students and the city of Fort Collins. Aguilar is a leader in the Student Network Program which supports diversity and retention in the College of Business.
Aguilar will work as an analyst for Accenture after graduation.
To speak with Aguilar, contact Jennifer Dimas at (970) 491-1543 or jennifer.dimas@colostate.edu.
ENGINEERING GRADUATE HONORED FOR ACADEMIC AND COMMUNITY SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Colorado State University senior Jeffrey Carrol is being honored as one of this year’s Outstanding Honors Graduates. Carrol recently received the Albert C. Yates Student Leadership Award for his exemplary academic performance and dedication to helping others in the Fort Collins community.
Carroll, who has a 3.95 grade-point average, will graduate with honors this week with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and an interdisciplinary study emphasis in biomedical engineering. Carrol plans to go on to medical school and then into a career as a medical researcher.
In addition to excelling in academics, Carroll serves as a teaching assistant for two of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering’s largest freshman engineering seminar classes and grades homework assignments for a junior level class. He also works at the Center for Central Auditory Research at Colorado State that focuses on enhancing speech intelligibility for children and adults with central auditory processing disorders.
Some of Carroll’s recent efforts to aid the community include helping to organize a successful Thanksgiving food drive for families in the Fort Collins community, volunteering to tutor a local high school student in math, helping raise money for the Colorado Outward Bound program by running a 24-hour relay race and coaching high school baseball in the summers. Carroll is part of a team training for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and raising pledges for their marathon in San Diego on June 1.
To speak with Carrol, contact Brad Bohlander at (970) 491-1545 or brad.bohlander@colostate.edu.
FOUR-YEAR SCHOLARSHIP ATHLETE GRADUATING WITH 4.0 IN BIOCHEMISTRY
Colorado State University senior Ben Marvin is graduating in May, completing one of the university’s most challenging academic programs with a 4.0 GPA. After earning his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, Marvin will spend the summer backpacking in Alaska before beginning medical school at the University of Colorado in the fall.
Beyond excelling in academics, Marvin, who graduated from Fort Collins High School, was a four-year scholarship athlete on the men’s track team, competing in the 800-meter run. He also ran on Colorado State’s cross-country team.
Throughout his academic career at Colorado State, Marvin has been involved in hands-on undergraduate research in biochemistry and molecular biology.
To speak with Marvin, contact Brad Bohlander at (970) 491-1545 or brad.bohlander@colostate.edu.
FIRST GENERATION GRADUATE PLANS TO PURSUE MEDICAL CAREER DEDICATED TO SERVING UNDERPRIVILEGED POPULATIONS
Colorado State University senior Melkon DomBourian will receive his bachelor’s degree in microbiology this week and plans to pursue a medical career where he can serve underprivileged rural populations. The first in his family to graduate from college, Dombourian has been accepted into the University of Wisconsin medical school for the fall.
Dombourian credits his participation in the Key Academic Community for helping him to make the transition into college life and for setting him on the right academic path. Dombourian also served as a Resident Assistant for the past two years, a job he takes very seriously.
"I want to help other students realize that what they do in college builds a foundation for their future," Dombourian said.
To speak with Dombourian, contact Brad Bohlander at (970) 491-1545 or brad.bohlander@colostate.edu.
VETERINARY GRADUATE RETURNS TO COLLEGE – AGAIN
After her first night of volunteering at an inner-city veterinary clinic, Lisa Parsley decided to switch from a career in biochemistry to follow her calling into veterinary medicine – even though the decision meant returning to a university one more time. Although she already has several other degrees, including a bachelor’s in molecular cell biology, doctorate in biochemistry and a post-doc fellow, Parsley has pursued her dream to treat animals and is graduating this semester as an outstanding student from the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
"I came home after that first shift and couldn’t sleep the entire next day because I wanted to go back," she said. "Even if I won the lottery, I’d keep doing it." And Parsley’s enthusiasm for her calling has interested her husband, too, who now is a freshman in the university’s veterinary program.
As a student, Parsley has excelled in a leadership role within the Student Association of Veterinary Medical Association and the American Veterinary Medical Association. She also organized a fundraising event to raise money for families of emergency personnel killed during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
To speak with Parsley, contact Dell Rae Moellenberg at (970) 491-6009 or dellrae.moellenberg@colostate.edu.
ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP LEADS TO DEGREE IN AG SCIENCES
Twenty-three-year-old Meg Larson attended Colorado State University on a track and field scholarship and will be graduating this spring with a degree in soil and crop sciences and mathematics. Larson, who attended Colorado State because the College of Agricultural Sciences left such a positive, good feeling with her when she visited prior to enrollment, plans to travel and spend time with family before looking for a job.
Larson, a Colorado State honors student, has been involved in youth ministry in the Fort Collins area, works in a Colorado State program that introduces 1,000 local third-grade students to agriculture and was a member of the crops judging team. Her track career includes accomplishments such as winning the Colorado State Track and Field Rob Upton Award in 2002, five-time Mountain West Conference all-academic team, two-time Mountain West Conference all-conference team, Mountain Region all-region team, Mountain West Conference Athlete of the Week and the Colorado State 3,000 meter steeplechase record-holder. She was All-American in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2002.
To speak with Larson, contact Dell Rae Moellenberg at 970-491-6009 or dellrae.moellenberg@colostate.edu.