Savannah State University’s annual Honors Convocation recognizes the academic achievements of its students and faculty. This year’s ceremony was held on Thursday, April 6, 10 a.m., in the Tiger Arena. Each year, gold medallions are awarded to students with a GPA of 4.0; silver to a GPA of 3.5-3.99 and bronze to 3.0-3.49. This year, President Dozier introduced a new award to recognize faculty achievements.

The top students from the College of Business Administration, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, College of Sciences and Technology and the School of Teacher Education spoke to their peers about their accomplishments.

Isaac Wright is a senior mathematics major from Savannah, Ga. His application interests are in statistics and industrial engineering. While at Savannah State University, Wright has been active in research, including off-campus summer internships at Pennsylvania State University, The Ohio State University and University of Michigan. Wright presented his research at various conferences and received two first place awards at the Emerging Researchers Nationals Conference in Washington, D.C.

Nicquala Shields, a native of Dallas, Texas, is a sophomore mathematics major with a concentration in secondary education. Shields is a Tiger Ambassador and  a member of the Campus Activities Board and ECHOS Inc. She has been accepted as a teacher candidate by the School of Teacher Education and currently serves as a mathematics tutor at Oglethorpe Charter School.

Joshua Colón is a senior homeland security and emergency management major. He participated in disaster management exercises and initiated a chapter of the Order of Sword and Shield for SSU. Colón was accepted into the college student pre-commissioning initiative with the U.S. Coast Guard and after graduation will attend officer candidate school in New London, Conn.

Brandt Preyer is a senior business management major, originally from Minneapolis, Minn. While at SSU, he has worked with Auxiliary Services as a project manager and accountant to hone his skills in forensic accounting, allocation of funs, contract management and more. He also served as SGA treasurer in 2015-2016.

Also recognized was Denerick Simpson, the Savannah State’s Board of Regents Academic Achievement Award recipient. Simpson is a senior, double majoring in biology and biology education, from Doerun, Ga. Simpson is a Peach State Louis Stokes Minority Participation scholar, a 21st Century Student Ambassador in the local school system and co-founded SSU’s pre-dental society.

President Dozier presented the inaugural investiture of the President’s Faculty Award for Innovation and Excellence. Dozier recognized faculty with Innovation and Excellence Awards. This inaugural investiture was given to Suman Niranjan, Ph.D., for work on the transportation studies program; Johnnie Myers, Ph.D., for efforts to educate students about HIV / AIDS; Otilia Iancu, Ph.D., for involvement in student activities including African Model UN; Christopher Hintz, Ph.D., for a patent regarding biofuel and space travel; and Karla-Sue Marriott, Ph.D., for a synthetic chemical patent to treat neurological disorders.