Here are your CECS and COB Dean's Medallion awardees for Fall 2021

Each semester, UM-Dearborn honors a very select group of students with a medallion. Chosen by faculty from their respective colleges, graduates are recognized for their outstanding quality of character, vitality, intellect, integrity and academic record.

To acknowledge the number of strong medallion candidates among UM-Dearborn’s top graduates, instead of one graduate per college selected, three medallions recipients are awarded per college starting with the Fall 2021 alumni — with one of those students receiving the top Chancellor’s Medallion and another selected as the Class of Fall 2021 student speaker.

Meet the College of Engineering & Computer Science, which includes the student speaker for the ceremonies, and the College of Business recipients.   

The awardees from the College of Arts, Sciences, & Letters, the College of Education, Health, & Human Services — including the Chancellor’s Medallion awardee, who is a CEHHS grad — were shared on the UM-Dearborn news site on Tuesday.

College of Engineering and Computer Science Dean’s Medallion recipient and Class of Fall 2021 Student Speaker, Victoria Johnson

Victoria Johnson will receive a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in Industrial and Systems Engineering with a secondary major in Economics. She is graduating with the honor of High Distinction. In recognition of her high academic achievement, Victoria has accrued numerous honors, including being named a Difference Maker (2020), earning University Honors (2017-2021), being named to the Dean’s List (2017-2020), receiving the William J. Branstrom Freshman Prize (2017), and earning distinction as a James B. Angell Scholar (2018-2021). As a student-athlete, she was also recognized as a NAIA Scholar-Athlete, a member of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic and Academic All-Conference Team, a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree, and a Chancellor’s Athletic Award honoree.

Faculty describe Victoria as an exceptional student and an accomplished student-athlete. She has demonstrated excellent leadership skills and has provided outstanding service to UM-Dearborn and the surrounding community. She serves as a supplemental instruction leader for PHYS 150, is a member of  the Society for Women Engineers and Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society, and is one of four senior captains on UM-Dearborn’s women’s cross country team. Victoria also volunteers as a crisis counselor for Crisis Text Line and serves as a girls’ cross country coach at Trenton High School.

In addition to her academic and extra-curricular achievements, Victoria completed summer engineering internships at Plastipak, Amazon and Adient. After graduation, she plans on working in the sustainable energy field.

CECS Dean’s Medallion recipient, Ryan Exell

Ryan Exell will receive a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in Bioengineering and is graduating with the honor of High Distinction. Upon admission to UM-Dearborn in 2018, Ryan was awarded the Chancellor’s Scholarship and the UM-Dearborn Cross Country Athletic Scholarship. In recognition of his high academic achievement, Ryan has earned many academic honors, including the Bioengineering 2021 Honor Scholar Award, University Honors (2018-2021), and the William J. Branstrom Freshman Prize (2018). He was also on the Dean's List (2018-2021) and was named a James B. Angell Scholar (2019, 2020, 2021). For his accomplishments as a student athlete, he also earned Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic and Academic All-Conference Honors (2019, 2020) and was named to the CoSIDA Academic All District Team (2019-20).

The College of Engineering and Computer Science values the scope and intensity of Ryan’s academic and extracurricular activities. He maintains academic excellence while keeping his commitment to the UM-Dearborn Men’s Cross Country team, including as a team captain since his sophomore year. He also serves as a Biomedical Engineering Society representative and has participated in undergraduate research. In addition, Ryan has been a Student-Athlete Advisory Council Member, and has volunteered as Assistant Cross Country and Track Coach at Salem High School and with the Wayne County Emergency Preparedness Vaccination Clinic.

Ryan has extensive research experience as an undergraduate student.  He is currently working with Associate Professor Amanda Esquivel on a research project, using the FOCUS Headform test platform to determine head and eye injuries from various impacts with possible correlation to aging. He previously worked with Dr. Chakraborty and Quinn Osgood (a former student now heading a small tech company) on DMSO-free cryopreservation of biological materials as well as using Raman Spectroscopy for quantitative analysis.

Ryan is currently in the Bioengineering 4+1 accelerated master’s program in Bioengineering. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Bioengineering and study running, footwear and injury biomechanics.

CECS Dean’s Medallion recipient, Iman Saleh

Iman Saleh will receive a Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering and is graduating with the honor of High Distinction. Upon admission to UM-Dearborn in 2017, Iman was awarded the Dean’s Scholarship and was a recipient of the Michigan Competitive Scholarship. In recognition of her high academic achievement, she has earned numerous honors, including University Honors (2018, 2019), and being named to the CECS Dean’s List (2018, 2019, 2020) and the CASL Dean’s List (2017, 2018). She was also the recipient of the James and May Bell Loeb Scholarship.

Outside the classroom, Iman is an active member of the Society of Women Engineers, a student assistant in the Mardigian Library (2017-21), and a student grader for an upper-level Computer and Information Science course (2021). In addition to her academic and extra-curricular achievements, Iman is currently completing a software engineering internship at EPITEC.

Faculty describe Iman as one of the rising stars in the software engineering discipline and expect she will do incredible things in the field. After graduation, she plans to seek full-time employment as a software engineer.

College of Business Dean’s Medallion recipient, Dane Baruzzini

Dane Baruzzini will receive a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Supply Chain Management and is graduating with High Distinction. Dane has been very busy since transferring from Schoolcraft College in July 2020. He will complete the 74 hours needed for his bachelor’s degree this December, while working full-time, and finding time for his family as a married father of two children with another on the way.

Dane has been engaged in a variety of activities at UM-Dearborn. He is a member of Tau Sigma National Honor Society and Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity. He serves as the Treasurer for the Society for Human Resource Management, and serves on the College of Business Academic Integrity Review Board.  He is a member of several organizations, including the Supply Chain Association, First Gen Student Organization, New Student Mentor, and is the first Supply Chain major to be invited to join the CFA Research Challenge Team. Additionally, he has had the privilege of being a guest speaker in a COB Project Management course with Lecturer Patrick Keyes and a student tutor for Associate Professor Yi-Su Chen’s “Analysis and Design of Supply Chains” course. As one of his recommendation writers said, “Dane is always looking to help University of Michigan-Dearborn students, and he finds new ways to help them pursue academic excellence and improve as young professionals.” In addition to his contributions at UM-Dearborn, Dane also volunteers with Mile City Church in Plymouth as the 4th- and 5th-grade Ministry Lead and volunteers as a Group Lead for Seek Well, a nonprofit organization.  

As a nontraditional student, Dane also works full-time as the Senior Director of Commercial Operations for Reven Pharmaceuticals. In his role there, Dane has led the company in day-to-day operations and helped launch successful clinical trials, including a COVID-19 Phase 2a/2b clinical trial. One of his recommendation writers noted, “Since Dane returned to college, he has continued to exceed expectations at Reven while achieving excellence in the classroom and raising two young children. I don’t know anybody else that could juggle the responsibilities and achieve the same level of success as Dane has.” After graduation, Dane plans to continue working at Reven and has been accepted at several MBA programs. Because of his experience with the students and faculty at UM-Dearborn, he now aspires to one-day work in academia as a college professor, hoping not only to teach but to help shape and affect other aspiring business students.

COB Dean’s Medallion recipient, Brennan Coyne

Brennan Coyne will receive a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting with a minor in Information Systems Management, and is graduating with High Distinction. He was named a UM-Dearborn Difference Maker in 2021.

Brennan has been deeply engaged in the UM-Dearborn chapter of the national honor fraternity Beta Alpha Psi, which he joined when he first transferred to UM-Dearborn in 2019. As one of Brennan’s recommendation writers explained, “While his academic success was apparent, it was also clear that Brennan wanted to be more than the sum of his classes. He sought out leadership and was first Treasurer and now President of Beta Alpha Psi.” Brennan was also active in leadership roles at the Student Economic Club at Washtenaw Community College, where he earned an Associate Degree before transferring to the College of Business.

Brennan has participated in three internships in his time at UM-Dearborn, which he credits with helping him grow as a young professional. His first was as a tax intern with Ernst & Young, then as an audit intern with Plante Moran, and he has been a finance co-op with Dana Inc. for the past year. As another one of his recommendation writers explained, Brennan was the first co-op employee to receive recognition from the Extra Mile with a Smile Program. The nomination for the award comes from fellow employees, and Brennan was honored for “going above and beyond in his role, showing outstanding qualities of character and communication skills, and for taking initiative on process improvements for his team.” Others are noticing his potential; Brennan had four post-graduation job offers. He has accepted a role in General Motors’ Track program, which will provide three rotations within corporate accounting functions as he prepares for the CPA exam and his goal of returning for his MBA.

COB Dean’s Medallion recipient, Meagan Spurr

Meagan Spurr received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing with a minor in Psychology this summer. Meagan graduated with the honor of high distinction. She received the Beta Alpha Psi Outstanding Student Award, was inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society, and was the College of Business Honor Scholar in Marketing. She was recognized as a UM-Dearborn Difference Maker in 2020.

Meagan has been very engaged in UM-Dearborn activities. She was a member of the Student Activities Board for four years, where she helped organize training workshops. She was one of three women who participated in intramural basketball during 2020, and she was selected as the captain of her team. She is most proud of her work with the American Marketing Association chapter at the College of Business.  She served first as Vice President of Professional Development and then as President of the organization.  During her time as President, the chapter received AMA’s Top Five Small Collegiate Chapter Award. As one recommendation writer reflected, “When the university was under a sudden stay home order due to COVID-19 in March 2020, AMA members were in New Orleans to attend the annual competition. While everything shut down with a heightened level of uncertainty, Meagan arranged the return trip promptly and took full responsibility as the president to manage the situation.”

Meagan has participated in two internships in her time at UM-Dearborn. Combined with her student organization efforts, the internships helped her realize how much she enjoys planning events and making a positive impact on others. The first internship was as a marketing intern with Ecoclean and the second was as a marketing intern at M1 Concourse. At the latter, she helped plan two new inaugural, large-scale car events: The Woodward Dream Show and The American Speed Festival. She has accepted a full-time position with M1 Concourse as their Marketing and Event Planning Specialist, where she continues to organize events and engage with their various automotive audiences. As one of her recommendation writers noted, “In my professional opinion, she has displayed a highly valuable level of critical thought, work ethic, creativity, and the ability to adapt, adjust and execute under pressure to meet deadlines. In my 30-plus year career, that is quite rare among interns and young employees just beginning their careers.”