Here are your CASL and COB Medallion winners

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

Three Dean’s Medallion awardees are chosen per college — 12 students overall — with one student selected to receive the top honor — the Chancellor’s Medallion. This semester’s Chancellor’s Medallion winner comes from the College of Engineering and Computer Science. All awardees will be recognized during the Dec. 21 commencement celebrations.

Here are the Fall 2024 College of Arts, Sciences and Letters and the College of Business recipients.

The awardees from the College of Education, Health and Human Services and CECS will be featured in a Thursday Reporter article. 

Dean’s Medallion

College of Arts, Sciences and Letters

Mariam Duhaini 

Degree: Bachelor of Science in biology and Bachelor of Arts in psychology

Awards, honors and distinction: University Honors (W20, W21, F21, W22); Distinguished Research in Biology Award; Patient Care Associate of the Year at DMC hospital

Scholarships: SURE Fellowship

Academic achievements and internships: 

Duhaini’s  research contributions are impressive, culminating in  an invitation to give an oral presentation at the prestigious Gordon Research Conference on Extracellular Vesicles. It is extremely rare for an undergraduate to be selected to speak at this national conference. Typically, only postdoctoral scholars, graduate students and faculty are chosen for this honor. 

Mariam also has two manuscripts currently under review in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, co-authored with Associate  Professor of Biology Kalyan Kondapalli. One, on which she is first author, focuses on exosome biogenesis and the other focuses on  SARS-CoV-2 trafficking in host cells, with both studies investigating the molecular mechanisms regulated by the sodium-proton  exchanger NHE9. Duhaini’s research contributes significantly to addressing gaps in the field of endosomal trafficking. Duhaini also served as a teaching assistant for Prof. Kondapalli’s cell biology course. 

Extracurricular and community projects: President of ActiveMinds; hospice worker; Crisis textline responder

Future plans: Duhaini is currently applying to medical school programs. In the meantime, she continues to work on her exosome  research with Prof. Kondapalli.

Lauren Fossano

Degree: Bachelor of Arts in criminology and criminal justice

Awards, honors and distinction: University Honors (W22–W24,); Dean’s List (F21, W22–W24)

Academic achievements and internships: As part of her practicum requirement for her degree, Fossano participated in multiple internships. Most notable is her position as a Federal Bureau of Investigation Honors Intern, a highly selective program that holds a 2.5% acceptance rate among roughly 12,000  applicants. She also held an internship with the Northville Township Police Department Detective Bureau in summer 2022 and participated in UM-Dearborn’s selective cold case partnership with the  Monroe County Sheriff ’s Office. In addition, Fossano participated in the university’s Inside-Out Prison Exchange class and conducted multiple research projects for her courses. 

Extracurricular and community projects: Member of the National Society of Leadership and Success and the UM-Dearborn Criminology and Criminal Justice Collective; volunteered at FBI gift-giving outreach event  

Future plans: Fossano is currently exploring graduate programs. In the meantime, she continues to work as an intern with the FBI. Long-term, she is interested in supporting offenders as well as victims and survivors of crime through her continued work in law enforcement. 

Katie Dreher

Degree: Bachelor of Arts in psychology; mInor in women’s and gender studies

Awards, honors and distinction: Outstanding Student of the Behavioral Sciences Department (2024); Dean’s List (F21–W24)

Scholarships: UM-Dearborn Dean’s Scholarship (2021-2024); John J. Brownfain Endowed Memorial Scholarship

Academic achievements and internships: Dreher has excelled in numerous areas of research and coursework, completing both the UM-Dearborn Honors Program and the Psychology Honors Program. For the latter, she completed an honors thesis with Associate Professor of Psychology Rob Hymes, exploring how rejection sensitivity mediates the relationship between vulnerable narcissism and relationship satisfaction in romantic relationships. In a voluntary research project conducted with a peer, Dreher conducted research on perceptions of kidnap victims and “missing  white woman syndrome.” She has submitted both of these research projects to the 2025 Midwestern Psychological Association Meeting for presentation. In addition, during her time at UM-Dearborn, Dreher worked with several faculty as a social psychology lab assistant. In this role, she collected, interpreted and analyzed data.

In 2023, Dreher completed a semester-long training in dialogue facilitation and helped host community conversations with women  veterans as part of “Same Mission, Many Stories,” a Michigan Humanities-funded project.Professor of Sociology Francine  Banner, Professor of Health and Human Services and Women’s and Gender Studies Lisa Martin and Veterans Affairs Coordinator  Tom Pitock served as advisors to this project. As part of this work, Dreher participated in the annual Michigan Women Veterans  Conference, where she presented data to veterans and policymakers. Dreher is currently interning at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor’s Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, where she works under a pediatric neuropsychologist who specializes in cancer patients and survivors.  

Extracurricular and community projects: Undergraduate Society of Psychology and Neuroscience; Psi Chi

Future plans: Dreher is applying to graduate programs in clinical and social psychology.

College of Business

Kristina Al-Shaer 

Degree: Bachelor of Business Administration in finance

Awards, honors and distinction: Angell Scholar (W24); University Honors (F22–F23);  

William J. Branstrom Freshman Prize (W23); Dean’s List (F22–W24)

Scholarships: Excellence Scholarship; Allard Family Trust Endowed Scholarship; Fast Track Scholarship 

Academic achievements and internships: Al-Shaer's dedication to her studies and passion for business  shows in how quickly she earned her degree while balancing internships and real estate work. She  began at UM-Dearborn in Fall 2022 and will be finishing her degree in under three years, earning her the Fast Track Scholarship from the COB Scholarship Committee.  Al-Shaer began working at RE/MAX Dream Properties in  2021 and maintained a work-life balance that allowed her to earn several honors and graduate early, in addition to performing  well at her internship and as a real estate agent.

While working as a marketing assistant and realtor at RE/MAX Dream Properties, Al-Shaer also began an internship at  Stellantis as a student financial analyst, maintaining both of her business passions. At Stellantis, Al-Shaer assisted both the  international and state tax departments to prepare annual forms and ensure compliance.

Extracurricular and community projects: Fundraising committee head for Alpha Kappa Psi–Eta Nu chapter; Student Food  Pantry volunteer; Forgotten Harvest volunteer 

Future plans: Al-Shaer plans to continue her education at the College of Business next fall, pursuing her master’s degree in  finance. She looks forward to continuing her work at Stellantis and as a realtor while obtaining her degree.

Mackenzie Mertz

Degree: Bachelor of Business Administration in finance (financial management concentration),  minors in supply chain management and in criminology and criminal justice 

Awards, honors and distinction: Angell Scholar (W22); William J. Branstrom Freshman Prize  (2021); University Honors (F20, F21, W22); Dean’s List (F20–F22, W24); Rudy Radulovich Award  (2022); Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Volleyball All-Academic Team (2022, 2023);  WHAC Defender of the Week (x4); WHAC Second All-Team Conference (2023); NAIA Scholar Athlete (2023); Academic All-District Team (2023); NAIA Academic All-American (2023, 2024) 

Scholarships: Metropolitan Scholarship; Women’s Volleyball Scholarship; COB Internship Scholarship; COB Richard M. Haddrill Scholarship; Allard Family Trust Endowed Scholarship

Academic achievements and internships: In summer 2022, Mertz worked as an intern at Estate and Business Planning Group, where she shadowed fiduciary investors and led the implementation of a new online filing system to  enhance company efficiency. The following summer she worked as a client accounting and advisory services intern at UHY,  which included preparing quarterly workbooks for clients and conducting data analysis.

Extracurricular and community projects: UM-Dearborn Volleyball team member and captain; Athletes in Action; Clinton-Macomb Girls Fastpitch League volunteer softball coach; Athletic Department’s canned food drive volunteer; robotics competition referee for Shumate Middle School.

Not only has Mertz excelled academically during her time at UM-Dearborn, she has also pursued her passion for volleyball. She has been a member of the university’s volleyball team since August 2020, and was the team captain for the past three seasons. As captain, Mertz implemented “accountability partners” to foster a safe and supportive environment and has strived to lead by example. Her coach, Eric Stark, praised Mertz’s leadership skills and attention to detail, as well as her ambition to achieve her goals on and off the court. All the while, she has balanced volleyball with work and school — she worked several jobs to put herself through school and served as a grader for Information Systems Management Lecturer Lise Urbaczewski, who has praised Mertz’s performance and will miss her work after graduation.

Future plans: Mertz plans to further her education in finance and take the Securities Industry Essentials Series 7 and Series 66 exams to become a licensed financial planner. She also plans to continue her commitment to volleyball by serving as the lead training coach at Victor’s Volleyball Club and as the assistant volleyball coach at UM-Dearborn. 

Om Patel

Degree: Bachelor of Business Administration in supply chain management and information systems  management  

Awards, honors and distinction: Angell Scholar (W23); University Honors (F21, W22, W23,  F23, W24); Dean’s List (F21–W24) 

Scholarships: Victor J. Streeter Scholarship

Academic achievements and internships: In May 2024, Patel participated in a research project  with Associate Professor of Operations Management Yi-Su Chen to understand decision-making  under pressure. The project was structured as a game, where players had to make decisions to reduce carbon emissions and develop energy infrastructure while minimizing their environmental impact. Patel has also worked as an  intern at Trijicon, where he led a project focused on shipping regulation for lithium batteries, and at Autokiniton, where he coordinated supply chain elements to improve efficiency and scheduled deliveries. 

Om has shown his passion for helping and teaching others by forming study groups for two operations management  courses. Operations Management Lecturer Laura Birou praised his initiative and leadership for establishing the groups that  led to higher levels of student success. Other professors have also complimented Patel on his dedication to his studies and  involvement in COB’s Supply Chain Association. His supervisor at Autokiniton praised his eagerness to learn and ability to  work in a team.

Extracurricular and community projects: Vice president of Supply Chain Association

Future plans: Patel plans to pursue a master’s degree in supply chain management while working in the automotive or military  and defense industries. He is also committed to educating and mentoring future students by one day becoming a professor.