College Park Business Scholars Feted at Awards Ceremony

Undergraduate student Shyama Srikkanth, class of 2019, an operations management & business and environmental science & policy double major, writes about the Scholars Citation Ceremony held on September 21, 2018, at the Cambridge Community Center, University of Maryland.

The College Park Scholars citation class of 2018 gathered on Friday, September 21, 2018, for its annual award ceremony celebrating scores of outstanding undergraduates, including four Robert H. Smith School of Business juniors. In addition to bestowing monetary awards to each of the six Founders’ Award recipients, students were recognized for academic achievement, outstanding citizenship, and leadership and public service.

This year, the Business, Society & the Economy (BSE) program awarded Smith undergraduate students Mark Augustino and Michael Khizgilov the Outstanding Achievement Award, and Dhivyan Karunakaran and David Rosenstein the Outstanding Citizenship Awards. The living-learning, two-year program allows students to immerse themselves in the world of business through team projects, simulations, and global business experiences through trips across the country and abroad. BSE is led by the Smith School's Mark Wellman, clinical professor in the management & organization department. The four juniors, who have already earned their scholars citation, have remained involved with BSE and have used their experiences to “pioneer their paths” as part of their Smith journeys.

Mark Augustino, a double major in accounting and information systems, was able to blend his interest in sports with business and intern with Maryland Athletics last spring as part of his Scholars capstone project. As a finance major, Michael Khizgilov’s experiences in BSE have led him to pursue additional academic programs such as QUEST, Hinman CEOs, and the Lemma Senbet Fund. Dhivyan Karunakaran, a finance and information systems double major, has furthered his commitment to BSE by becoming a teaching assistant for Wellman’s course, “How Do Innovators Think,” helping to guide the incoming class of BSE scholars. David Rosenstein, a marketing and management dual-degree student, has worked alongside BSE faculty to help redesign and teach the first-year colloquium course and continues to be an official mentor for students in the program.

Each of the Scholars programs confers two outstanding achievement and outstanding citizenship awards upon its members. These scholars are chosen by the faculty within their programs and reward the students’ dedication to the betterment of themselves or the program itself. The Outstanding Achievement Award is granted to students who embody the values of a model scholar within their program and have excelled in their classwork, research, and practicum experiences. The Outstanding Citizenship Award is granted to students who have worked to support the Scholars community by volunteering their time and effort and demonstrated dedication and/or leadership within their program.

“When students are invited into the program as incoming freshmen and choose to be in BSE, we expect them to not only excel in academics but to be a part of a community of learners and to 'give back' to the program. This year we had four students who exemplify the best of our undergraduate student body,” said Claudia Donnelly, assistant director of BSE and a program manager for the undergraduate program at the Smith School. “Dr. Wellman and I always enjoy helping our Scholars, and particularly our four award recipients, continue to navigate the Smith journey,” she said.

Learn about Smith's undergraduate program.