Six Students Receive Chancellor's Award of Excellence

Robert Abel, Allison Busby, Melissa Kopp, Amber Lachapelle, Christopher Morales and Zachary Warner were recognized at a ceremony on Monday, April 7 in the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany, N.Y.

These award recipients have shown well-rounded success, combining excellence in academics with excellence in athletics, leadership, career achievement, community service or creative and performing arts.

"On behalf of the college, I want to congratulate these students," said SUNY Plattsburgh President John Ettling. "They have worked hard and excelled in and out of the classroom. It was a pleasure to see these scholars recognized for representing us so admirably."

Abel, of Brewster, N.Y., is an anthropology major with a minor in French. He belongs to two honor societies and has won many awards and scholarships, including a Killam Fellowship and a Redcay Outstanding Senior Award.

Busby is a senior food and nutrition major from New Paltz, N.Y. She runs cross-country and track for Plattsburgh State and considers her cross country team's second place performance at nationals this past fall to be her greatest achievement.

Kopp is a senior biology and chemistry major from Rouses Point. She says her highest achievement is being recognized by Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Honors Society and the National Association for Biology Teachers poster presentations of her undergraduate scientific research.

Lachapelle, a senior biochemistry major with a math minor from Plainville, Conn., is a member of several honor societies including Sigma Xi, Omicron Delta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Eta Sigma and the Society for Leadership and Success.

Morales, a biochemistry/computer science major from Altona, was the recipient of an Excellence in Biology Education award. This award was important to him because he believes in the importance of helping others to learn.

Warner is a student in the combined bachelor and master program at Plattsburgh State. He is majoring in mathematics and adolescence education from Averill Park, N.Y. and is the recipient of many scholarships and awards including the Phi Eta Sigma National Leadership Award and the Society of Success' National Award of Accomplishment.

Like all of the recipients of the Chancellor's Award, this award meant a lot to Warner.

"This award means that my involvement on-campus had an impact on others. That is a great feeling. It means even more to know that the nominations I received came from my friends, colleagues, and professors. To know that I was recognized by people that I admire greatly is probably the best part of receiving this award," Warner said.