As Emporia State University students prepare for Saturday’s commencement ceremonies, three alumni are being announced as the 2015 Outstandig Recent Graduates.
Cory Falldine of Emporia, Tiffany Jervis of Garden City, and Yunqi (Chloe) Zhao of Kunming, Yunnan, China, will be recognized by the ESU Alumni Association during Homecoming weekend.
The award, conferred within 10 years of graduation, recognizes career achievement, community service, and dedication to Emporia State. The Alumni Association partners with academic affairs to coordinate these annual awards. Recipients are nominated by current faculty members and selected by the college or school from which they graduated.
“The ESU Alumni Association is proud to announce this year's Outstanding Recent Graduates,” said Tyler Curtis, executive director of Alumni Relations. “The level of individual achievement during the beginning of their respective careers is certainly outstanding.”
For more information, call 620-341-5440 or email alumni@emporia.edu.
Cory F. Falldine (BSB-Computer Information Systems 2006, MBA 2008) is this year’s Outstanding Recent Graduate from the School of Business. As Emporia State University’s associate vice president and chief information officer, Falldine is responsible for ensuring that students, faculty, and staff have access to technology resources to achieve personal and professional goals while at Emporia State. He is a member of the Kansas Board of Regents Information Technology Council and currently serves as a member of the board of directors of the Kansas Research and Education Network. He is an active member of EDUCAUSE and has presented workshops at both the regional and national level.
Tiffany Jervis (BSE-Elementary Education 2008, MS-Instructional Design and Technology 2013) is this year’s Outstanding Recent Graduate from The Teachers College. Tiffany is a corporate training administrator for Sunflower Electric Corporation. She guides development and implementation of company-wide training. Before joining Sunflower Electric in May 2013, Jervis was a sixth grade teacher in Garden City. While teaching, she served on the budget committee for the school. She provided technology training for teachers after school and presented at various technology conferences across the state. She is a member of the Finney County Young Professionals and the Kansas Energy Workforce Consortium and a board member of Southwest Kansas Live on Stage.
Yunqi (Chloe) Zhao, Ph.D., (MS-Microbial and Cellular Biology 2009) is this year’s Outstanding Recent Graduate from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She a mentor and advisor to graduate students at the Kunming Medical University in Chenggong, Kunming, Yunnan, China. Zhao has published eight journal articles in premier journals and is one of three authors of “Harnessing Biomaterials in Nanomedicine: Preparation, Toxicity, and Applications,” published by Taylor & Francis Publishing (Oxford, UK). Also, she has a patent on a medicine for the treatment of prostate cancer. She received the prestigious Genentech Research & Development Outstanding Student Award, conferred to only 10 Ph.D. students in the United States. Zhao organizes a biology/chemistry camp for middle school students in Kunming.