Marvin Rodriguez Receives 2015 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence

2015 Apr 3

Marvin Rodriguez of Greenport, NY, is among a select group of State University of New York students chosen to receive the 2015 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence. SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher presented the awards to the students at a reception in their honor on April 2, 2015, at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany.

"It is my highest honor to recognize the achievements of SUNY students who have excelled not only academically but as leaders on their campuses and in their communities," said Chancellor Zimpher. "Students receiving this award are to be commended for their excellence as role models, artists, scholar athletes and civic volunteers. Their leadership can serve as an inspiration to all SUNY students and a tremendous point of pride for the entire SUNY family. Congratulations to all of the students receiving the 2015 award."

The Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence is the highest honor that SUNY bestows upon students. It is presented annually to SUNY students who demonstrate academic excellence and integrate it with accomplishments in other areas, such as leadership, career achievement, campus involvement, athletics, community service, or creative and performing arts.

A senior majoring in computer science, Rodriguez has been selected for two highly competitive summer internships during his time at SUNY Oneonta. The summer after his freshman year, he was one of four College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) students nationwide chosen to participate in an eight-week paid internship program with the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans in Washington, D.C. Last summer, he was one of 13 SUNY students selected for the intensive 10-week SUNY Brain Summer Scholar Program at SUNY Albany. Working with a faculty mentor, he co-developed a tool for analysis of 3-D geometries of neurons. The tool was introduced to the international scientific community at the Organization for Computational Neuroscience meeting in Quebec City, Canada. Rodriguez also co-presented a project on a parallel computing cluster system at SUNY Oneonta’s Student Research and Creative Activity Day, and he is a member of the college’s Computer Programmers United student club. His leadership and service activities include serving as a student member of the College at Oneonta Foundation Board of Directors, treasurer of the Chi Alpha Epsilon honor society, and CAMP mentor and Advisory Board member

Since 1998 when the Chancellor's Award program was implemented, 77 SUNY Oneonta students have received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence.