Student speaker
Gabrielle Boyer (Belleville, Mich.) graduated with distinction with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. She also successfully completed the requirements for the UM-Dearborn Honors Program. Boyer earned University Honors and twice earned a place on the Dean’s List.
Boyer was named a Michigan Model Arab League Outstanding Delegate in 2011 and received a UM-Dearborn Leadership Synergy Certificate in 2012. She received the Army Reserve Award for Excellence in Academics and Athletics in 2009 and was named a National Council for U.S.-Arab Relations KSA Fellow for 2012, which allowed her to study abroad in Saudi Arabia. She also studied at Bogaziçi University in Istanbul, Turkey.
She served as vice president of College Democrats and as an officer in UMDXC, the campus cross country running club. She was a member of Pride and a staff writer for the Michigan Journal student newspaper.
Boyer has applied for admission to law school and plans to begin her coursework in Fall 2013.
College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters
Stephanie Cosby (Canton, Mich.) received a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in communications and sociology. She is a 2010 James B. Angell Scholar, who has been on the Dean's List eight times, and is graduating with high distinction. She earned University Honors five straight semesters and was awarded "Distinguished Student in Social Sciences" by the department in 2011-2012.
Cosby has served as the Humanities/History Internship student adviser and as the news editor for the Michigan Journal. She is a co-leader of the Women in Learning and Leadership organization. She volunteered with Vista Maria, the Phoenix Academy and the Coalition on Temporary Shelter (COTS).
She has completed internships with DMC Children’s Hospital of Michigan and the Detroit Red Wings, implementing the team's first virtual donation system.
Cosby plans to continue to work with the Detroit Red Wings’ charitable efforts and eventually pursue graduate training in communications or business.
Amanda Raupp (Canton, Mich.) received a Bachelor of Science degree with a concentration in mathematics, a minor in psychology, and teaching certification in both secondary mathematics and psychology. She graduated with high distinction.
Raupp was named the Undergraduate Honor Scholar in Mathematics and a James B. Angell Scholar in 2012, and earned University Honors in 2008 and 2010-2012. She also was awarded the Mathematics Education Students Award of Excellence and the William J. Branstrom Prize and earned a place on the Dean’s List eight semesters in a row.
She has served as a student mentor/teaching assistant for several UM-Dearborn mathematics classes, was the student assistant in the NSF-funded project Fostering Interest in Information Technology that promoted higher education among diverse at-risk high school students, and acted as the student assistant for the 2010 Mathematics Bridge Program to improve the mathematical knowledge and skills of incoming college students. She was a member of the American Mathematical Society, the Association for Women in Mathematics and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Raupp hopes to assume a teaching position and plans to pursue a master’s degree in mathematics.
College of Business
Austin Abair (Redford, Mich.) received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with dual concentrations in supply chain management and information technology management. He graduated with high distinction. He has appeared on the Dean’s List for six semesters and is the 2012 Honors Scholar for ITM.
Abair completed an internship in the fall 2011 term at Denso and currently works at the Canton Public Library as a digital resources specialist. He was named one of 50 UM-Dearborn Difference Makers for 2012 and has served in a leadership position with several organizations including the Supply Chain Association, the ITM Club and the National Society of Leadership and Success, where he is a founding member.
Abair plans to gain a position with an environmentally conscious company and eventually earn a Ph.D. in information technology management or supply chain management.
Josef Zenicki (Livonia, Mich.) received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with dual concentrations in financial accounting and reporting and finance. Zenicki appeared on the Dean’s List every semester and graduated with high distinction.
Zenicki’s professional interests lie in the area of taxation, and he completed two internships—one at Federal-Mogul Corporation, where he was a corporate tax intern, and the other at Ernst & Young, where he worked in tax services. He has volunteered for the Accounting Aid Society as a volunteer tax preparer for low-income families and with Junior Achievement, teaching students about business and economics.
He was involved with several campus organizations including Beta Gamma Sigma, Golden Key National Honor Society and Beta Alpha Psi, in which he served as an officer and committee chair.
Zenicki will begin taking courses toward the Master of Science degree in accounting at UM-Dearborn. He will sit for the CPA exam in the summer of 2013 and begin working full-time at Ernst & Young next fall.
College of Engineering and Computer Science
Mike Gardner (Redford, Mich.) graduated with high distinction with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree, majoring in electrical engineering.
Gardner was named to the Dean’s List four times and received University Honors three times. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the honor society Eta Kappa Nu.
Gardner participated in the optional engineering co-op program, completing two full-time co-op assignments with DTE. In his final co-op in fall 2011, he split time between DTE's Monroe Power Plant and the River Rouge Power Plant.
Gardner has accepted a full-time position with DTE and plans to pursue graduate studies in the near future.
School of Education
Brooke Holman (Canton, Mich.) graduated with high distinction with a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in early childhood education and minoring in integrated science and social studies. Holman has been on the Dean’s List for 12 consecutive semesters. During the Winter 2012 semester she was elected to membership in Pi Lambda Theta.
Holman completed her child development practicum at the UM-Dearborn Early Childhood Education Center and then worked at the Center as a staff member until August 2012. Holman’s internship project was chosen for display and presentation as an exemplar at the Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children Conference.
She would like to acquire a teaching position in an early childhood classroom and plans to obtain a reading specialist or an ESL master’s degree.
