UA WALTON COLLEGE STUDENT RECEIVES HONORABLE MENTION ON USA TODAY ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Stephanie N. Gosnell, a senior finance major concentrating in investments in the University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton College of Business has received a USA Today All-USA College Academic Team honorable mention.

Top students are recognized by the USA Today All-USA College Academic Team annually. Thousands of students apply, and it is quite an honor to be selected as one of the top 100 scholars. Students are chosen based on their grades, awards, activities, leadership roles and public service.

Gosnell, a Truman Scholar from Conway, is president of the Associated Student Government (ASG) for the 2002-2003 academic year and previously served as secretary and as a senator for ASG.

Gosnell said, "It is a great honor to have received such a competitive award. I was completely shocked when I received the letter from USA Today. Being a student at the U of A has afforded me so many amazing opportunities. This is yet another event confirming that I made the right choice by coming to the University of Arkansas. People need to remember, however, that individuals cannot receive these awards without the support of those surrounding them.

I've worked with some amazing students and the UA community on some of my most valued accomplishments. These were not individual projects. I've been lucky to have the support of faculty, staff and administrators. After all, someone has to write the recommendation letters. To all of those who played some role in my time here at the U of A, all I can say is thank you for your hard-work and dedication."

UA Chancellor John A. White said, "What an honor for Stephanie Gosnell and the University of Arkansas. To receive a USA Today All-USA College Academic Team honorable mention is such a commendable achievement. Stephanie has made her mark on the University campus and we are so proud of her many accomplishments. We are very fortunate that she chose to attend the University of Arkansas."

Gosnell is a member of the Walton College’s Honors Program, is a student in the Honors College, and she served as a Chancellor’s Honors Intern. While secretary of ASG, she was involved in the resurrection of the UA Safe Ride program and has continued to work on the committee for two years to make the program a permanent part of the campus.

Gosnell has been very active on the UA campus, serving as director of Impact Arkansas, chair of Student Fee Review Board, co-chair of the University of Arkansas Safe Ride Committee, co-chair of the University Leadership retreat, chair of the Delta Delta Delta Philanthropy Committee and ASG representative on the University Athletic Committee. In addition, she has been involved in many community and charitable endeavors, most notably, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s collegiate fundraising organization, Up ’til Dawn.

Suzanne McCray, associate dean of the Honors College, said, "Stephanie Gosnell very much deserves the USA Today All-College Academic team recognition. The competition is tough. Many Rhodes and Marshall Scholars are among the hundreds who apply. Stephanie is in very good company. Receiving an honorable mention places her in the top 100 students in the country. That is no small feat.

"Stephanie is extremely high energy. She generates good ideas, and she rolls up her sleeves and helps implement them. The Truman Foundation and USA Today look for students who are 'agents of positive change.’ Stephanie is an obvious choice," McCray said.

Since 1990, UA students who have received recognition as an honorable mention have gone on to amazing careers. Joanna Long Claus (Little Rock) now has a doctorate in chemistry from MIT. Nam Le (Ft. Smith, Northside), a Barry Goldwater Scholar, is in the medical/doctoral program at Washington University. Amy Drake (Rogers) is now in a medical program at Johns Hopkins University. Jason Reed, an honorable mention in 2000 and a Barry Goldwater Scholar and Department of Defense Fellowship recipient, is in the doctoral program in mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley. Anna Terry (Ft. Smith, Southside) was selected as a Rhodes Scholar and is studying the history of medicine this year at Oxford University.