Hudson Valley Community College Student Fatima Hussain of Albany Receives SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence

2013 Apr 5

Fatima Hussain of Albany was recently honored with the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence, one of the highest student honors in the State University of New York system.

Hussain, who is studying Individual Studies at Hudson Valley Community College, was honored at a recent ceremony along with other recipients from across the State University's colleges and universities.

Fatima was elected president of the college's Alpha Xi Simga chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for students in two-year colleges. She also has been very involved in campus activities, having served on the Environmental Sustainability Committee and as a staff editor of the Hudsonian student newspaper. Named to Who's Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities, she is a three time President's List honoree, a Phi Theta Kappa Scholar and was a member of the college's team that placed fourth out of 30 teams in the 2012 New York State Mathematics Association of Two-Year Colleges competition.

The Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence was created 16 years ago to recognize students from across the SUNY system who have demonstrated the integration of academic excellence with accomplishments in the areas of leadership, athletics, community service, creative and performing arts or career achievement.

Each year, campus presidents establish a selection committee, which reviews exemplary members of their college communities who are graduating. Nominees are then forwarded to the Chancellor's Office and are subject to a second round of review. Finalists are then recommended to the Chancellor to become recipients of the Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence.

Founded in 1953, Hudson Valley Community College offers more than 70 associate degree and certificate programs in four schools: Business; Engineering and Industrial Technologies; Health Sciences; and Liberal Arts and Sciences; and workforce and academic preparation programs offered through the Educational Opportunity Center. One of 30 community colleges in the State University of New York system, it has an enrollment of nearly 13,250 students, and is known as a leader in distance learning initiatives and worker retraining. Hudson Valley has 75,000 alumni.