Samuel Owusu, a senior biology major from Philadelphia, was presented the Provost’s Award for Leadership at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania’s Honors and Awards Convocation held April 19 in the auditorium of the Marian Anderson Music Center.

More than 250 students were recognized at the event, held each year to honor outstanding academic performance by Cheyney students.

“It is a tremendous honor to be able to recognize the success of so many of our students,” said President Aaron A. Walton. “Their achievements are noteworthy, and are a testament both to their hard work and to the efforts of our outstanding faculty. All deserve our congratulations.”

The Provost’s Award for Leadership is presented to a student who both meets the academic requirements and demonstrates outstanding leadership qualities. Students are nominated by staff and faculty for the award. Nominees submit a portfolio and are evaluated by a committee, with one winner being selected from among all of the nominees.

Owusu is a member of the Keystone Honors Academy and will graduate in May. He will intern this summer at the prestigious Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, N.Y., where he will conduct original research under the instruction of world-class scientists. He then will enroll in a post-baccalaureate program at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.

Last summer, Owusu was one of only a small number of students who participated in the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Minority Health and Health Disparity International Research Training Internship program, where he conducted research and volunteered in hospitals across Jamaica.

Also among the students recognized at the awards program was Anitra Jackson, a computer science and mathematics double major from Upper Chichester who was Cheyney’s nominee for the Syed R. Ali-Zaidi Award, presented annually by Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education in recognition of outstanding academic achievement.

Jackson was the only student from Pennsylvania selected to participate this year in the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. While at Cheyney she also was awarded a national scholarship from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, earned the Michael Leland Energy Fellowship and conducted research through the Navy’s Research Laboratory Internship program.

Fourteen students, including Owusu, received the President’s Award for Academic Excellence, presented to students who, while carrying a full course load, earn a grade point average of 4.0 for two consecutive semesters.

Other President’s Award recipients were Nina-Simone Beaver of Jersey City, N.J.; Veronica Becerra of Kennett Square; Najeebah Beyah, Mamadou Dia, Koffi Kengbo, Markeya Menefee, Kwadwo Ofori, Nikeya Pressley, Hanif Taylor and Shawnice Tiggle, all of Philadelphia; Cara Fantini of Wilmington, Del.; Abioye Mohammed of Pikesville, Md.; and Jamera Stanciel of Goodlettsville, Tenn.

Students who earned a GPA between 3.25 and 3.49 for two semesters received the Academic Excellence Award. Students also were recognized for their induction into a variety of national honorary societies and for outstanding performance within their academic departments.

Top Photo: Cheyney President, Aaron A. Walton, stands center alongside several students who received the President’s Award for Academic Excellence and those who earned top academic recognition at the University’s Annual Honors & Awards Convocation on April 19. (From far L to R: Cara Fantini, Jamera Stanciel, Anitra Jackson (Cheyney’s Nominee for the PASSHE Syed R. Ali-Zaidi Award for Academic Excellence), Markeya Menefee, Nina-Simone Beaver, Kwadwo Ofori, Najeebah Beyah, Veronica Becerra, Shawnice Tiggle, Mamadou Dia, Samuel Owusu (Provost’s Award for Leadership recipient), Koffi Kengbo.)

Center Photo: Samuel Owusu as he recieves the Provost’s Award for Leadership.