Winners of the 2007 Outstanding Senior Award (4-year program):
Megan Baker
The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources was fortunate to recruit a student of Megan Baker’s talent, leadership and enthusiasm. While maintaining a 3.4 grade point average in Agricultural and Resource Economics, Megan has excelled out of the classroom and helped propel AGNR students into the spotlight of campus activities.
Megan demonstrated her dedication to leadership for the college by serving as a founding member of the re-organized Collegiate 4-H Chapter. She accepted the role of vice president in the fall of her sophomore year and was elected President the following spring. Under her leadership, membership in Collegiate 4-H continues to grow from a beginning membership of 5 to more than 15. She set up regular meeting times, made adjustments in meeting locations and established a Yahoo list serve to expedite communications and meet the needs of active members. She created an opportunity for Collegiate 4-H and Sigma Alpha, the professional-social sorority of agriculture, to work together on a service project that also resulted in new members for each organization.
She willingly distributes information from county and state 4-H offices and sends requests for judges, interviewers and volunteer instructors out to members. She and another member conducted a workshop on extemporaneous public speaking at the 2008 Youth Program at the Maryland Dairy Industry Convention. She has also worked closely with 4-H’s Operation: Military Kids providing Collegiate 4-H members the opportunity to learn about the program and collaborate to support the outreach work of OMK. She attended the National Collegiate 4-H Conference and accepted the responsibility of serving as the president of the Northeast Regional Collegiate 4-H Chapters.
Amazingly, Collegiate 4-H has not been Megan’s only civic engagement and leadership activity on campus! She serves as the president of Sigma Alpha, and has been active in Ag Day / Maryland Day activities. She represented AGNR as a legislator in SGA and served two years as a resident assistant. She interned with Maryland Farm Bureau during the 2007 Legislative Session, and has worked as a real estate attorney’s assistant in Frederick. She received numerous AGNR scholarships, served as an AGNR Student Ambassador and counselor for the USDA and AGNR Ag-Discovery, a career exploration program.
Thea Nielsen
Thea has shown a great deal of initiative in putting together a program that will allow her to combine her interests in international affairs with her interest in economics policy analysis. Her College Park Scholars specialization in international students, her Spanish lanuage courses, her Government and Politics course in international studies politics and her Honors seminar in Terrorism and in Understanding India, all demonstrate her commitment to take full advantage of the
opportunities at College Park. In addition, she has met all the requirements to btain a certificate in International Agriculture through AGNR. She has added ourses in calculus and econometrics to be better prepared for graduate study in
economics and applied economics.
Thea’s course work has been supplemented by undergraduate research in international Extension under the leadership of Professor William Rivera and in agricultural marketing supply chains in Mexico for the Center of Latin American Rural Development.
She was selected as an intern to the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service in the U.S. Embassy in Sofia Bulgaria. Regrettably, bureaucratic red tape during the summer did not allow Thea’s security clearance to be approved in a timely fashion for her to participate in this highly competitive internship.
Not surprisingly, Thea Neilson’s honors are numerous. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Philip Merrill Presidential Scholar at UMCP and received the College Park Scholars Award for Outstanding Achievement in International Studies. Graduate school abroad awaits Thea following graduation.
Award Details
This recognition is given to a graduating student who has: Provided outstanding service to the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources; Demonstrated dedicated leadership to College of Agriculture and Natural Resources student organizations; Exhibited high standards of citizenship and fellowship; Maintained an above average academic record; Conducted themselves in a manner which reflects positively on their fellow students, the College of Agriculture and Natural resources and the University of Maryland System. Each academic program is asked to make a nomination supported by a record of the student's activities and achievements.
- Each department, program, or unit in AGNR is encouraged to make at least one nomination for the Outstanding Senior Award (4 year program).
- Nominations from non-university sources are also encouraged
- Nominating packets should include:
- 1-2 page nominating letter
- 1-2 page narrative of accomplishments
- Total package not to exceed 3 pages
- Nominations are due by February 13 of each year
- 5 copies of the nominating packet should be submitted to Gail Yeiser, 0106 Symons Hall, College Park, MD 20742.
Previous Recipients...
Beginning in 2004, 4- and 2-year program awards are separated. The following list of recipients includes all who received the combined "Outstanding Senior" Award through 2003:- 1967 Robert S. DeLauder, Jr.
- 1968 Earl B. Grove, Jr.
- 1969 Edwin R. Fry
- 1970 Edward B. Breitschwerdt
- 1971 Philip T. Mason
- 1972 David W. Simpson
- 1973 Pamela J. Blank
- 1974 Christine Ann Meleski
- 1975 Marilyn B. Devine
- 1976 Daniel A. Rohrer, Jr.
- 1977 James R. Frazee
- 1978 Emely E. Merchant
- 1979 Mary Margaret Wells
- 1980 Naomi C. Weimer
- 1981 Carol Mangum
- 1982 Henry A. Affeldt, Jr.
- 1982 James Kane
- 1983 Julie Amos
- 1984 Noah Ranells
- 1985 Ann Thomas
- 1986 Hillary J. Pope
- 1987 Theresa Rice
- 1988 Barbara Chatham
- 1989 Peter Clouse (IAA)
- 1989 Mary Kalinowski
- 1990 Cristine A. Kepple
- 1991 Denise E. Frebertshauser
- 1992 Brenda S. Irwin
- 1993 Tracy L. Hearne
- 1993 William P. Ramsey (IAA)
- 1994 Melissa L. Trocheck
- 1994 Laura S. Showell (IAA)
- 1995 Bradley P. Files (IAA)
- 1995 Gary E. Seibel
- 1995 Jennifer Woodward-Greene
- 1996 Daniel K. Hofmeister (IAA)
- 1996 Rebecca J. Soule
- 1997 Carlos Reyes (IAA)
- 1997 Marie L. Speak
- 1998 Debra A. Ricigliano (IAA)
- 1998 Susan E. Layton
- 1999 Mary Ellen Seraydian
- 1999 Rebecca A. McDivett
- 1999 Patrick Lee Goode (IAA)
- 2000 Sin Kei Yeung
- 2000 John W. Nalls, IV (IAA)
- 2001 Jason Matthew Brooke
- 2001 Katie M. Dixon
- 2001 H. Steven Evans (IAA)
- 2002 Aiman Duckworth
- 2002 Christina Toms
- 2002 Adam Newhart (IAA)
- 2003 Rebeccah Anne Waterworth
- 2003 Amanda Moreland (IAA)
- 2004 Caleb Frankel
- 2004 Jennifer Ann Krueger
- 2005 Elizabeth Sprecher
- 2006 Shanna Bernstein
- 2006 Amanda Dell
- 2007 Helen Garst
For more information, contact Gail Yeiser
Last updated: 06/5/2008