This article was originally published on April 26, 2019.
University of Michigan-Dearborn recognized six students as Chancellor’s Medallion recipients and one student speaker during the university’s commencement ceremony Sunday, April 28. Medallion recipients are selected by faculty based on their academic record, quality of character, vitality, intellect and integrity.
Student Speaker
Jacquelene Hollier-Jackson, primarily referred to as Jackie, graduates with a double major in French studies and international studies, as well as a minor in entrepreneurship and certificates in global engagement and entrepreneurship. She has been an Opportunity Victor Scholar throughout her time at University of Michigan-Dearborn. She was awarded numerous scholarships, including the Impact Victor’s Scholarship, Senior Officer’s Scholarship and the Fast FOURward Scholarship.
Along with her studies, Hollier-Jackson served as a member of many student organizations. She was president of the Black Business Student Association and served as a member of the Black Student Union, Student Activities Board, American Association of University Women, Elegance Fashion and the UM-Dearborn club cheerleading team. Admired by her peers, she was voted by the student body as the 2018 Homecoming Queen. Hollier-Jackson is known on campus as a strong leader and a hard worker, and due to this she was selected as a 2019 UM-Dearborn Difference Maker.
Eager to share her experiences with incoming students, Hollier-Jackson served as an orientation leader in 2018. She also worked as a student assistant in the Math Department and served as a volunteer in the Environmental Interpretive Center. In Fall 2017, Hollier-Jackson joined the Talent Gateway, a program that helps students leverage their in-class and on-campus experiences for professional development. Today, she graduates with the MTalent Distinction, signifying she has completed numerous challenges that have enhanced her personal and professional skill sets.
Off campus, Hollier-Jackson is passionate about working with youth. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Future Project, which is a national nonprofit organization focused around mentoring high school students on accomplishing their goals via tangible projects and activities. She has been involved with the program for four years and says she loves being able to give back in a positive way through mentorship.
College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters Chancellor's Medallion Recipient
Matthew Robert Fleming will receive a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in sociology and criminal justice studies, and graduates with High Distinction. He was awarded University Honors in 2019, recognized as the Sociology Honors Scholar for 2019, earned Dean’s List honors every term and has maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout his academic career. He was awarded numerous scholarships, including the Dean’s Scholarship.
Because of his exemplary classroom performance, Fleming was asked by Professor Pamela Aronson to work as a student mentor in the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters (CASL), assisting her with the development of two new online courses. He also served as a member of the CASL Academic Integrity Board and facilitated a Senior Research Seminar class in April 2017.
In addition to his scholastic achievements, Fleming has been very active in undergraduate research, working as a research assistant to Professor Aronson on two projects: Breaking Barriers or Locked Out: How Nontraditional Students Experience College and Gender Revolution in the Trump Era.
Fleming has six conference presentations, one peer-reviewed publication and two publications currently under review. He anticipates that his current research project with Professor Aronson on gender issues will be published as a co-authored book soon. Fleming has earned funding for his research through the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, including the Undergraduate Research Fellowship and two Student Conference Presentation Grants. In recognition of his academic and research achievements, he was named a UM-Dearborn Difference Maker in 2018.
Additionally, through the UM-Dearborn co-op program, Fleming has worked as a file clerk at Bodman PLC, a law firm in Detroit, Mich.
Fleming will begin law school in Fall 2019 and plans to enroll in a dual degree program to concurrently earn a J.D. and a master’s degree. He hopes to apply his passion for dispute resolution to benefit different groups and individuals, and he remains committed to promoting equality for disadvantaged groups, whether through his work in the legal field or through continued scholarly research.
College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters Chancellor's Medallion Recipient
Thomas Sutter will receive a Bachelor of Science degree in physics, and graduates with High Distinction. Since entering UM-Dearborn in 2015, he has earned University Honors four times, has twice been named a James B. Angell Scholar, was named the Physics Honor Scholar for 2019, has been recognized on the Dean’s List every semester and has maintained a 4.0 GPA. He is the recipient of a Maize and Blue Scholarship.
In addition to his exemplary classroom performance, Sutter has been very active in undergraduate research in physics. With Associate Professor Jin Wang, Sutter has studied quantum entanglement. In this study, Sutter simulated the effects of quantum feedback on entangled particles. The resulting work was published in the journal AIP Advances, with Sutter as a co-author.
He currently is undertaking astrophysics research in collaboration with Assistant Professor Will Clarkson. His main effort has been the development of a novel method to measure the all-important masses and configurations in compact binary systems containing a neutron star or black hole. Sutter built a mathematical model to describe X-ray/optical light echoes in these systems, and implemented a fast, practical simulator coupled with a statistical analysis tool to set credible parameter limits conditioned on observational data. He now is leading the write up of this work for publication in a refereed astronomical journal. Sutter also has presented his research in a variety of venues, including an oral presentation at Compact Objects in Michigan, a regional conference of astrophysics experts.
Sutter has put his academic expertise to use as a Supplemental Instruction (SI) leader for multiple physics courses and has served as a mentor for other SI leaders. Outside the classroom, he was vice president of the UM-Dearborn Climbing Club.
Sutter will pursue a Ph.D. upon graduation and intends to study theoretical astrophysics. He has received an offer to attend a highly ranked graduate program and intends to decide on his future university soon so that he can begin graduate studies in Fall 2019.
College of Business Chancellor's Medallion Recipient
Tyler Dalton will receive a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a dual major in finance and accounting and graduates with High Distinction. He has earned University Honors three times and has made the Dean’s List every semester since Fall 2015. He has received the University of Michigan-Dearborn Merit Scholarship, Nestle Foundation Academic Scholarship and Red Cross International Coordinator Scholarship.
Dalton represented UM-Dearborn on the ice as a four-year member of the men’s ice hockey team and served as an assistant captain during his junior and senior seasons. He was named a three-time national academic award winner by the American Collegiate Hockey Association, was given an award for the highest GPA by a male athlete at UM-Dearborn and was presented with the Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League Sportsmanship Award for the 2017-18 season. Additionally, he has served as president of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee, working to address issues that student-athletes face on a day-to-day basis.
Outside of athletics, Dalton was a key contributor to the creation of the Talent Gateway in Summer 2016 and later served as its transfer student liaison and an MTalent ambassador. He has contributed to organizations throughout campus, coordinating the Red Cross campus blood drives, working with the UM-Dearborn Student Food Pantry and volunteering for Love Your Melon — an outreach group that supports pediatric cancer patients at area hospitals.
In recognition of his leadership and service, Dalton was named a UM-Dearborn Difference Maker in 2017. He also was inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma business honor society in 2018.
During his college career, Dalton secured two outstanding internships: He worked with internal audit systems at Swagelok Corp and served as a management consulting intern at Cohen & Company. Dalton will begin a full-time position with Cohen’s mergers and acquisitions practice in May 2019
College of Education, Health, and Human Services Chancellor's Medallion Recipient
Kori Schmidt received a Bachelor of Arts degree in early childhood with elementary certification and will graduate with High Distinction. She has earned University Honors three times and has been on the Dean’s List five consecutive terms.
As part of her studies, Schmidt has worked with Associate Professor Christopher Burke at Detroit’s Neinas Elementary School, where she volunteered to teach science lessons to second and fourth grade classrooms. She also completed an internship at UM-Dearborn’s Early Childhood Education Center, where she served as lead teacher of a kindergarten classroom, planning lessons and activities for her students.
Schmidt has participated in the annual Young Authors’ Festival held on campus. The festival provides an opportunity for students from around the region to participate in engaging reading and writing stations that promote literacy development and a joy of reading. She also has volunteered at the St. Vincent and Sarah Fisher Center, tutoring students in reading and math.
In the future, Schmidt plans to return to UM-Dearborn to earn her Master of Arts degree with English as a Second Language endorsement. She is excited to remain in the Dearborn area to work with students from diverse backgrounds, and she wants to become better equipped to meet the needs of those students who are learning English as a second language so that they have the same opportunity to succeed as their classmates.
College of Engineering and Computer Science Chancellor's Medallion Recipient
Travis Bates will receive a Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Science degree with a concentration in computer science and will graduate with High Distinction. He has earned University Honors three times, was named a James B. Angell Scholar in 2017 and 2018, and was selected as an Honors Scholar in 2019. He has been named to the Dean’s List seven times and has earned a perfect 4.0 grade point average, including several A+ grades. He is a recipient of the Chancellor’s Scholarship and Michigan Competitive Scholarship.
CIS faculty describe Bates as a bright, outstanding student who is a natural leader among his peers. Professors have praised his highly creative and well-executed class projects throughout his undergraduate program, which they attribute to his exceptional programming and software engineering skills.
As a CIS student, Bates has excelled in game design. Upon graduation, he will have completed two courses in game design, as well as a faculty supervised honors design project and a senior design project in game design. His projects have included a mobile fishing game, a 3D top-down view tactical game and a psychological thriller game. For his senior design project, Bates and his team worked with an external client to design an innovative multiplayer game for Android tablets.
In addition to his studies, Bates gained professional experience as an information technology intern at Ford Motor Co. in Summer 2018. Upon graduation, he will join the Ford College Graduate program, a selective program that provides recent college graduates a variety of rotational job assignments during their early career at Ford Motor Co.
College of Engineering and Computer Science Chancellor’s Medallion Recipient
Sarah Walworth received dual Bachelor of Science in Engineering degrees in industrial and systems engineering and manufacturing engineering and will graduate with High Distinction. She is a recipient of the Junge Family Endowed Scholarship and the Community College Transfer Scholarship. She was awarded University Honors in April 2018 and December 2018, was named a James B. Angell Scholar in 2019 and was selected as a UM-Dearborn Honors Scholar in 2019. She has been named to the College of Engineering and Computer Science Dean’s List three times.
CECS faculty praise Walworth’s academic and leadership accomplishments, both shown through her extensive involvement on campus. She is treasurer of both the Alpha Pi Mu Industrial Engineering Honor Society and the UM-Dearborn Chemistry Club and is corresponding secretary of Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society. In recognition of her exemplary performance in academics, leadership, creativity and integrity, she was named a 2019 UM-Dearborn Difference Maker.
In Winter 2019, Walworth participated in the UM-Dearborn Supply Chain Competition, organized by the College of Business, and led her multidisciplinary team to a first place finish. Outside of her academics, she is active in sports and holds a third degree black belt in taekwondo.
As an engineering student, Walworth gained significant professional experience in her field to complement her academic coursework. In 2015, she began as a continuous improvement intern at Webasto Convertibles, USA, a company that designs and produces tops for convertible cars. Since 2017, she has worked as a manufacturing intern at Webasto Thermo & Comfort North America, which manufactures custom heating, air conditioning and sunroof solutions.
