Thirty business students were recognized Friday, April 22 during the Walker College of Business Honors Convocation, held in the Plemmons Student Union on the campus of Appalachian State University.
Sponsored by Yadkin Bank, the WCOB Honors Convocation brings together students with the best academic performance and top students participating in organizations to be honored for their outstanding performance. Approximately 200 students, friends, family and faculty members attended the 2016 event.
Vannessa LeLiever Murray, a 1998 Walker College of Business marketing graduate and founder of TAKE Success LLC, delivered comments prior to the awards presentation. Walker College Senior Associate Dean Tim Forsyth announced the student winners, and Walker College Dean Heather Norris presented certificates to each individual.
Top student undergraduate honorees by major were:
- Molly Lynn Cogburn, Accounting
- Benjamin Matthew McGrady, Computer Information Systems and Supply Chain Management
- Evan William Truxton, Economics
- Darrow James Goff, Finance and Banking
- Brian Harris Cade, Hospitality and Tourism Management
- Dillon Hewitt-Castillo, International Business
- Niko Tuomas Gibson, Management / Entrepreneurship
- Elizabeth Alexandra Raina Fowler, Management / General
- Zully Castaneda, Human Resource Management
- Nicholas Weston Reynolds, Marketing
- Boris Stephano Salvador-Maldonado, Risk Management and Insurance
Two graduate students were honored for outstanding performance in their respective graduate programs. They were:
- Norman Wade Lindsey, Jr., Master of Science in Accounting
- Vanessa Paige Phelps, Master of Business Administration
Several of the nearly two dozen student organizations housed in the college had the opportunity to honor a top student who has made a major impact or has shown great leadership during their tenure with the organization. Those students are:
- Cody Chet McKinney, Accountant of the Year
- Jeffrey Vincent Cox, Accounting - Beta Alpha Psi Scholar
- Madison Elisabeth Gunning, AIESEC
- Trevor Trent Fillingame, American Marketing Association
- Tyler Allen Sawyer, Appalachian Supply Chain Club
- Stephanie Ann Perrotti, Association of Information Technology Professionals
- Hunter Selene Bowen, Association of Student Entrepreneurs
- Matthew Coleman Drake, National Association for Business Economics
- Kaylen Anderson Kent, Executive Impact
- Stephanie Marie Stahle, Finance Student Association
- Jeffrey Bryce Jones, Hospitality and Tourism Management Student Association
- Hathum Rafat Hamam, International Business Studen Association
- Clayton Daniel Garland, Project Management Group
- Parker Lane Roberson, Pruett Award for the Outstanding Risk Management and Insurance Graduate
- Ulises Luviano, Society of Human Resource Management
- Meredith Anne Sloboda, Walker Fellows
The Yadkin Bank Honors Convocation is also the forum to announce the top student overall for the academic year. The honor for 2015-16 went to Emily Ray Haas. Haas is a senior majoring in Hospitality and Tourism Management and Entrepreneurship and minoring in Nutrition. She is President of the Walker Fellows, CEO of BootstrAPPs, and serves on the Student Conduct Board. Haas is also a Student Orientation Undergraduate Leader (SOUL), a Plemmon's Fellow, an Alternative Service Experience Peer Leader and a member of the Dale Tweedy Mentor Program and the Association of Student Entrepreneurs.
A reception for the honorees and their families took place prior to the event, which was shared with the newly inducted Beta Gamma Sigma students and their families.
Business students honored during Walker College's Yadkin Bank Honors Convocation for outstanding academic performance
Business students honored during Walker College's Yadkin Bank Honors Convocation for outstanding academic performance