SUNY Potsdam Graduates Recognized as Class of 2024 Academic Honorees

SUNY Potsdam Class Leaders Anah Bogdan '24 & Samantha Bearup '24 Recognized with 2024 Faculty Awards

Potsdam, NY (05/10/2024) — Two outstanding SUNY Potsdam graduates have been recognized as the academic honorees for the Class of 2024, earning the 2024 Faculty Awards. The award recipients, Anah Bogdan '24 and Samantha Bearup '24, were chosen by the Faculty Senate and will be specially recognized during Commencement.

The SUNY Potsdam Faculty Award recognizes two students in the graduating class with the highest grade point averages. One recipient must have completed all of their degree requirements at SUNY Potsdam, and the other is a transfer student.

The honorees will receive a cash award and a certificate of recognition, and their names will be displayed on a plaque in the Lougheed Learning Commons.

About the academic honorees:

Anah Bogdan '24 of Massena, N.Y., is graduating with both her bachelor's and her master's degree in mathematics, through the combined BA/MA program, as well as a second bachelor's degree in geology. A graduate of Massena High School, she was a member of the Honors Program, the Geology Club and the Sigma Gamma Epsilon and Pi Mu Epsilon honor societies at SUNY Potsdam. She has also been named a departmental scholar for both the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Combining her studies in the fields of geology and math, Bogdan completed a research project working with Dr. Page Quinton, Dr. Michael Rygel and Dr. Jason Howald to statistically test the relationship between relative sea level change and stable carbon isotopes from Guadalupe Mountain National Park and Carlsbad National Park. She was able to present her research at the Geological Society of American national conference in Fall 2023. An active student leader, she has participated in the Dr. Millard and Ruth Harmon Student Leadership Conference and helped to host activities for Winterfest, Welcome Weekend, Geology Club and other departmental events, such as Pride at the Rock Wall. Bogdan also served as a tutor in the Math Lab for two semesters. She is graduating with a 3.97 grade point average, and is headed to graduate school at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she hopes to obtain a Ph.D. in geology.

Samantha Bearup '24 is from Watertown, N.Y., and graduating with her Bachelor of Science degree in business administration, through SUNY Potsdam's dual degree program with Jefferson Community College. She is also graduating with 3.97 GPA.

Both students will receive special recognition during SUNY Potsdam's Commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 18. To learn more about Commencement at SUNY Potsdam, visit www.potsdam.edu/commencement.

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