Three Students To Be Honored At Commencement

Three exceptional students, with bright futures in the fields of education, biomedical engineering, and architecture, will be honored at Commencement on Sunday, May 15.

The three graduating seniors will be presented with the university’s top student awards, recognizing their academic achievements, leadership, community service, and involvement in extra-curricular activities.

Julia M. Case of the College of Education, Nursing and Health Professions (ENHP) will receive the 2005 John G. Martin Scholarship, which provides recipients with two years of study at Oxford University’s Hertford College. Case majored in both special education and elementary education, and she will pursue a master’s degree in educational studies (comparative and international education) at Oxford. Case, who will graduate with an overall GPA of 3.94, would like to pursue a career in educational policy-making. Her many extracurricular activities include volunteer work with the Progressive Student Alliance and with the Hartford chapter of Food Not Bombs.

Meghan S. Hegarty of the College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture (CETA) will receive the Belle K. Ribicoff Prize. Hegarty is a biomedical engineering major with minors in math and mechanical engineering. In addition to excelling in a rigorous academic program, Hegarty competed in cross country and track and field during all four years of her undergraduate career, and for the past two years she has been co-captain of the women’s cross country team. Hegarty also is part of a team of four biomedical engineering students who, for their award-winning senior project, developed a chin support system for a cerebral palsy patient who uses a head-powered wheelchair. In September, Hegarty will begin graduate studies at North Carolina State University, where she plans to pursue master’s and doctoral degrees in biomedical engineering.

Ramiz I. Khoda, also a CETA student, will receive the John G. Lee Medal, which recognizes academic achievement coupled with extensive community service. Khoda, an architecture major, has been working for an architectural design firm throughout his undergraduate career, and he has been involved in numerous residential and small commercial projects. He helped to create a master plan and architectural sketches for the expansion of the Qadaria Community Service Center mosque in East Hartford, Conn. Khoda worked closely with community members throughout the project, as he has with all of his architectural endeavors. At the University of Hartford, Khoda created a detailed model of the Integrated Science, Engineering, and Technology (ISET) complex that was displayed at the project’s groundbreaking, and he developed a 3D design and computer rendering for Mortensen Library.