Fresno State media, communications and journalism professor Jes Therkelsen was selected for the university’s 2024 Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, announced Dr. Xuanning Fu, Fresno State’s provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. The Provost’s Awards also honored the following faculty: Dr. Mariya Yukhymenko, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, and Dr. Hovannes Kulhandjian, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering — Distinguished Achievement in Research, Scholarship and Creative Accomplishment Award. Dr. Fernando Parra, Department of Accountancy — Faculty Se ..read more

Andii Barnett’s journey is not just one of academic achievement but a testament to the human spirit’s resilience against adversity. Born in Lake Jackson, Texas, her path was not easily paved. With a mother who was always on the move as a traveling nurse, Barnett learned early on the value of perseverance and determination. That change was inevitable, but that change was simply redirection. At about 9 years old, Barnett embarked on a journey with her mother and sister that shaped her life forever, leaving behind her Texas roots for the promise of a better future in California. Little did she kn ..read more

The American Council of Engineering Companies of California announced the recipients of its 2024-25 Scholarship Foundation awards. Of the 13 scholarship recipients, four are from the Lyles College of Engineering at Fresno State. The foundation awards annual scholarships to accomplished graduate or undergraduate college students working toward engineering or land surveying degrees. Undergraduate students Joseph Brooks, Elias Fierro and Katlin Rowley of the geomatics engineering program, and graduate student Muhammad Zulfiqar Aijaz of the electrical and computer engineering program, will receive ..read more

Fresno State will award honorary doctorates to three individuals this year — advocate for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Robert R. Davila; Hinds Hospice founder Nancy Hinds; and Fresno arts proponent Lilia Gonzales-Chavez. Honorary doctorates are awarded on behalf of the California State University system and Fresno State in recognition of excellence and extraordinary achievement in significant areas of human endeavor that embody the CSU system’s objectives and ideals. Davila and Hinds will both receive an honorary doctor of humane letters and both will be recognized during the commencement cere ..read more

Fresno State political science professor Dr. Lisa Bryant is one of 28 Andrew Carnegie Fellows who will receive stipends of $200,000 each for research related to political polarization. Bryant’s research seeks to understand how and why society has become so polarized, and how strengthened cohesion can fortify democracy.  Her selection as part of the 2024 class was announced on May 7 by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Bryant’s winning project is titled “Polarizing the Process: Partisan Effects on Election Officials and Trust in Elections.” “I am humbled and grateful to have been selec ..read more

Student entrepreneurs will sell food items, jewelry, vintage clothes and more at the next Craig Student Business Expo from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 8, at the Peters Business Building. The Craig School of Business holds Student Business Expos to celebrate the entrepreneurism and creativity of Fresno State students throughout the university. Fresno State students and alumni own and operate each business at the expo. Student businesses at the expo sell handcrafted goods and personal services, giving the campus community and public an opportunity to buy unique gifts and merchandise. Studen ..read more

Fresno State’s inaugural Model United Nations team returned home with multiple wins after attending the 73rd Model United Nations of the Far West Conference in San Francisco April 19 through 23. Fresno State’s team consisted of: seniors Thomas E. Bell, Christopher Boyles, Madison Fuller, Cree Fuller, Jesus Lopez and Julian Lopez; and juniors Lilli Boch, Mackenzie German, Osvaldo Hidalgo, Nathan Imperatrice and Jesus Z. Lopez; and graduate student Ahmed Metwally. Fresno State’s team represented China, Honduras and Belarus and brought back three awards. The delegates for Belarus and China won ac ..read more

Excitement builds as Shawn Bains, a Fresno State senior biology major, climbs to the top of the playground structure at Holland Elementary School for an egg drop.   He teases a throw to the small crowd of elementary school kids eagerly anticipating the first drop of a “parachute” they built in a class project. “One, two, three,” Bains says as the children’s screams of joy fill the playground  as he lets go of the chute containing an egg cushioned by taped-up paper and plastic material.  It lands safely on the ground to a crescendo of excitement from the youth.  For Fre ..read more

The eight schools and colleges at Fresno State, along with the Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, each selected an outstanding student to honor as part of the class of 2024 Graduate Deans’ Medalists.  The deans selected an undergraduate and graduate medalist based on academic excellence, community involvement and other achievements. Fresno State’s Undergraduate Deans’ Medalists were announced May 1. In mid-May, one medalist from the group below will be announced as the President’s Graduate Medalist, the university’s top academic honor for a graduate student. This yea ..read more

When Crystal Alvarez graduated in spring 2023, she made history becoming one of the first female Army ROTC cadets from Fresno State to be commissioned into the Infantry Branch of the U.S. Army at the rank of second lieutenant. Alvarez was one of two female cadets at Fresno State to earn this distinction in 2023 – after the Department of Defense lifted all gender-based restrictions on military service in January 2015. The Infantry is the only branch within the U.S. Army designed specifically to engage in direct ground combat. “Less than 2% of women serve in the Infantry, which has always been ..read more