Kennesaw State University

Kennesaw State sophomore Shifa Jiwani is on a path toward becoming a neurologist, an interdisciplinary field that combines two of her interests - biology and psychology. She developed a passion for health care after witnessing the lack of access to proper medical care in rural communities in India, her native country.

Marissa Alban came to Kennesaw State University to study nursing, a field driven by the passion of its practitioners. Unable to shake her love and talent for singing, however, she channeled her passion into a music major with a focus on vocal performance, where she remains on a path toward a career as a professional singer.

It didn't take long for Kennesaw State University student Lilianna Kocai to discover a passion for research. All it took was a little nudge from assistant professor Carl Saint-Louis. As a freshman, Kocai took a course called Culture of Science and Mathematics, designed by Saint-Louis to open young eyes to research at an early stage in their college careers.

Kennesaw State University has named more than 6,400 students to the President's List in recognition of their academic excellence for the Fall 2024 semester. To achieve this honor, each undergraduate student must have completed at least nine credit hours with a term grade point average of 4.0.

Kennesaw State University congratulates the more than 9,000 students named to the Dean's List in recognition of their academic achievement during the Fall 2024 semester. Undergraduate students enrolled in at least nine credit hours and with a term grade point average of at least 3.5 were named to the list.

Fifth-year architecture student Mary Beth Caldwell earned first place and the People's Choice Award in the annual Cooper Carry Three-Minute Thesis competition for her reimagining of the traditional office environment. The competition challenges students to present their research or thesis in just three minutes.

Naima Fouad-Gilliam, a master's student in Kennesaw State's School of Data Science and Analytics, is exploring hidden stressors harming honeybee colonies. At the heart of her research is principal component analysis, a statistical tool that simplifies complex data by uncovering patterns and relationships.

Micah Holston is pursuing bachelor's degrees in physics and political science. He is a substitute teacher in Cherokee County schools and conducts research part time for the Air Force Research Laboratory. He also is the vice president of the Kennesaw Nuclear Society and the KSU chapter of the North American Young Generation for Nuclear.

As different as they may seem, there are a lot of parallels between lacrosse and the field of computer science. Kennesaw State University student Kendal Elison said both require persistence and flexible decision-making. "On the lacrosse field, I stay calm under pressure and make quick decisions. It's the same with coding," Elison said.

From the moment she arrived at Kennesaw State University, Jazmin Dozier knew she wanted a science-based career. Now, she's an aspiring researcher on the rise. Dozier learned about careers in science while conducting research in epigenetics, resulting in conference presentations and publications in scientific journals.

From U.S. Army combat medic to student researcher, Vanessa Young's journey at Kennesaw State University has set her on the path to reshape healthcare technology through human-centered designs. Graduating with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, Young has achieved significant success since arriving at Kennesaw State's Marietta Campus.

When Colin Jacobs chose to study hospitality management at Kennesaw State University, he mostly associated the major with hotels and restaurants. However, the Fall 2024 graduate's involvement on and off campus, as well as the industry connections he made, opened his eyes to the vast opportunities in the hospitality industry.

Iwalani Reiser has always thrived amid chaos, starting as a teenager on a voluntary ambulance crew in Bangkok and continuing as a paramedic in Atlanta. From the fast pace of nearly two decades in emergency medicine, she slowed down just enough to earn her Master of Science in Nursing degree, with a focus on becoming a family nurse practitioner.

Diya Patel knows she has a long road ahead to achieve her dream of becoming a physician, so she decided to sprint through the work needed to earn her undergraduate degree at Kennesaw State. At 19, she is graduating with honors with a bachelor's degree in psychology. Patel also made time to be a very involved member of the KSU community.

The Kennesaw State University Office of Undergraduate Research hosted the Fall Symposium of Student Scholars on the Marietta campus, featuring 235 projects. Anh Duong and John Oakley were awarded the top undergraduate presentation, and El Arbi Belfarsi received the top presentation in the graduate division.

With a strong interest in nature and science, Olivia Walker was accepted into the First-Year Scholars Program to study longleaf pine forest ecosystems. Walker also has developed some expertise in another endangered tree, the eastern hemlock, which she studied in the prestigious Harvard Forest Summer Research Program in Ecology.

In his pursuits to learn as much about his world as possible, Siam Sarower has been named to the President's List, earned a Coca-Cola First-Generation Scholarship, and joined the KSU Journey Honors College. He credits his parents and older brother, now a civil engineer, for supporting his journey as one of the first in his family to seek a degree.

An animal lover from a young age, Kerrigan Larkin found her calling long before enrolling at Kennesaw State. During walks with her grandmother, Larkin learned about the plants and animals she saw. She applied that knowledge first as an Honors biology major at KSU, and now as a second-year student in the Master of Science in Integrative Biology program.

Claudia Garavis Montagut has completed an undergraduate research fellowship, gained field research experience, served as Model U.N. president, and enrolled in the KSU Journey Honors College. She also has been named a President's Parliament Scholar Ambassador and is a Double Owl pursuing both bachelor's and master's degrees simultaneously.

The word is out about Kennesaw State University's Department of Physics, and Matthew Garwacke heard it loud and clear. The junior physics major transferred to KSU last year for the opportunity to conduct research with renowned physics researcher Marco Guzzi, and then took on a prestigious research opportunity over the summer.

Kennesaw State's National Organization of Minority Architecture Students team earned second place in the Barbara G. Laurie Student Design Competition, besting institutions such as Cornell University, UCLA and Clemson University. The competition challenged student teams to reimagine a four-block site in West Baltimore, historically known as the "Highway to Nowhere."

KSU Journey Honors College student Ella Smith is exploring how death and the final words between parents and children impact self-esteem and closure in mourning. Smith's research is deeply personal, because she has experienced end-of-life communication with her grandmother.

Kennesaw State second-year mechanical engineering students reveled in their engineering skills as they participated in the 14th annual Pumpkin Launch. The task: Build a device capable of launching a 10-pound pumpkin as far as possible using hand-built trebuchets, catapults, and other gravity-powered devices.

Lyric Gordon found life-changing research at Kennesaw State University - twice. After launching her student research career in an organic chemistry lab, she has shifted her focus to a biochemistry lab where she works with protein blockers that can help patients with dementia-related brain maladies, a major change in the final year of graduate study.

Jacob Erasmus wasted no time getting involved on campus, finding a laboratory and research project through KSU's First-Year Scholars program and parlaying that work into a summer internship at a nature-based ingredient company. Now he has continued his research and has shown no signs of slowing down as a Sophomore Scholar.

As a 12-year-old, David Madrigal-Giraldo arrived in the U.S. speaking no English. Fast forward a decade, and he's an information technology student at Kennesaw State University actively shaping his future. Madrigal-Giraldo has become involved in clubs and held numerous internships that have enriched his learning experience.

Adamina Bilbrey leveraged her participation in the Birla Carbon Scholars program to study the conservation of an endangered plant native to Georgia. The KSU environmental science major studied a beneficial native plant called the royal catchfly in a field in Dade County, Georgia, and discovered the plant flourishes best in areas that experience both sun and shade.

Lucile Duncan was introduced to engineering at a young age, which ultimately led her to pursue mechanical engineering at Kennesaw State. At KSU, she has gained valuable classroom experience and has leveraged that into high-impact internships at Gulfstream Aerospace, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Delta Airlines.

After becoming a construction management student at KSU, Maria Benitez Blanco earned three years' worth of credits in just two years with near perfect grades. She was nominated to be one of Kennesaw State's 2024 Outstanding Student Scholars and participated in the 2024 Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia's Academic Recognition Day.

Kennesaw State University has named more than 1,100 students to the President's List in recognition of their academic excellence for the Summer 2024 semester. To achieve this honor, each undergraduate student must have completed at least nine credit hours with a term grade point average of 4.0.