Poole College Honors Newest Alumni

NC State University’s Poole College of Management congratulated December graduates at a commencement ceremony held Saturday, December 15, 2012, in the PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C.

The college’s newest alumni include 18 who received their Ph.D. degrees in economics; 57 who received master’s degrees in accounting, business management or economics, and 211 who received bachelor’s degrees in accounting, business administration or economics.

The college’s ceremony was concluded with the graduates ‘pinning’ each other with a Poole College lapel pin. Dr. Ira R. Weiss, dean of the college, encouraged the new alumni to wear their pins often, and to give them away to college alumni who graduated before the tradition began. He added that the college would gladly send the newest alumni new pins to replace those they give away.

Another tradition in the college is the student body commencement address, delivered by Christopher Daniel Prosser. He began his presentation by asking others in his graduating class to give one final Wolf-Pack cheer before receiving their diplomas. Read his remarks

Prosser is from Ludwigsburg, Germany, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a bachelor’s degree in international studies with a minor in German studies. He is starting his professional career as a financial analyst with Cisco Systems in Research Triangle Park.

Board of Advisors Outstanding Student Award

Dr. Shannon Davis, Poole College’s associate dean for undergraduate programs, introduced the college’s Board of Advisors Outstanding Student Award recipient. This year, Poole College faculty had nominated 22 undergraduate students for this award, which recognizes leadership, engagement, and participation in personal and professional growth. The 12 finalists this semester are:

• Samantha Lynn Ballard
• Lisa Christine Chowthi
• Jared S. Cottrell
• Sarah Margaret Cruickshanks
• William Matthew Gilmore
• Sarah Elizabeth Stanton Goodwin
• Keegan Michael Guizard
• Taylor Anna Johnson
• Yuen Han Angel Leung
• Caleb Brown Primm
• Samuel Thomas Stonehouse
• William Thomas Yeatts

• Guizard is Board Advisors Recipient

Keegan Michael Guizard, from Wilmington, N.C., was selected as the fall 2012 Board of Advisors Award recipient. He graduated with a major in business administration and an entrepreneurship concentration, and a minor in Spanish.

Guizard had been active in the NC State Skateboarding Club, a two-year community service club sport of the year honoree, and vice president of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization based in Poole College. He also is a member of the NC State Entrepreneurs Initiative’s Student Network and Poole
College’s Supply Chain Club.

As part of his undergraduate studies, Guizard completed a supply chain practicum with Novozymes, Inc., in Franklinton, N.C., and a summer internship with Newell Rubbermaid (Irwin Tools) in Huntersville, N.C. He studied abroad in Peru during the summer of 2011 and earned a Higher Certificate of Business Spanish from the University of Madrid.

Following graduation, he will continue to launch his entrepreneurial business, Collegiate Skate Tour, the first national contest series for college student skateboarders. Its mission is to encourage skateboarding youth to pursue a college education by providing a competition option at the collegiate level.

Highest Ranking Seniors

Two graduates were recognized as the college’s highest ranking seniors, Seanna Danielle Robey, from Camden, N.C. and William Thomas Yeats, from Apex, N.C.

• Robey graduated in summer 2012 with a major in accounting and a financial analysis concentration. She had earned Dean’s List recognition and currently is a MAC Fellow in Poole College’s Jenkins Master of Accounting Program. She was a Caldwell Fellow and participated in the University Scholars Program. She had completed an internship at KPMG.

• Yeatts graduated with a major in business administration with a finance concentration and a major in economics, achieving the highest GPA in both degree programs. He had participated in the University Scholars Program and was active in Alpha Kappa Psi and Poole College’s Investment Banking Division Society. He had been selected as the Department of Economics Outstanding Student. He had completed an internship with Ameriprise Financial and Tobin & Company Investment Banking Group. He begins work in June as an investment banking analyst at Wells Fargo in Charlotte, N.C.

Poole College’s ceremony was preceded by NC State’s commencement program at the same location, at which more than 3,350 new alumni were recognized.

Photo

Wearing red robes are Poole College’s undergraduate students who were able to attend the college’s commencement ceremony; in black robes are graduates from the college’s Jenkins graduate programs.