Fantastic 4 -- Biochemistry major Jennifer Ofodile, who has a perfect GPA to date and will graduate in May at age 19, is one of four SUNY Oswego students earning the Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence, along with biology major Manna Job, broadcasting major Joely Rice and physics major Dylan Richmond.
Students active in academics, research, leadership, athletics and community service will receive the 2019 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence -- the highest student recognition through the statewide university system.
This year's SUNY Oswego honorees for outstanding achievements inside and outside the classroom are Manna Job, a biology major; Jennifer Ofodile, majoring in biochemistry; Joely Rice, a broadcasting and mass communication major; and Dylan Richmond, majoring in physics.
Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson invited the four honorees representing Oswego -- and their peers from colleges and universities around the system -- to attend the awards ceremony recognizing 210 outstanding individuals on April 24 at the Albany Capital Center.
Manna Job
The Yonkers native, also minoring in chemistry and psychology, has accomplishments in research, leadership and community service. She won a Best Presenter award at the national Sigma Xi annual conference in San Francisco, and has a manuscript in preparation for that research, “Effects of Atrazine (a common herbicide) on Freshwater Mussels (Elliptio complanata).” A Presidential Scholarship recipient earning President's List recognition for high GPA every semester, Job also won the Dr. Walter Freund Memorial Scholarship. She has served as a teaching assistant, trained other students in lab work, and serves as vice president of the Pre-Health Care Club and as a member of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Advisory Council. A member of the Alpha Phi Omega service organization, Job volunteered locally and in India and the Philippines. She job-shadowed an obstetrician-gynecologist at Oswego Health, also serving at ConnextCare Health Center in Oswego and LifeNet of NY air medical service in Seneca Falls.
The future: "I will be attending Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie, Pennsylvania, for the doctor of osteopathic medicine program."
Jennifer Ofodile
Soon to graduate -- at age 19 -- the Brooklyn resident who migrated from Nigeria in 2013 has been on the President's List for her perfect GPA since arriving at Oswego four years ago. Ofodile, an avid researcher, has assisted a widely publicized study to remove volatile chemicals from the air with houseplants, winning an American Chemical Society Undergraduate Award in Physical Chemistry. She also earned the Hubert B. Smith Diversity Award, the Peter '75 and Andrea Guglielmo Bocko '73 M'75 Award, honors in organic chemistry and calculus, and the Black Women for Black Girls Development Scholarship, among other honors. Ofodile has worked as a grain analyst at the Port Authority of Oswego. Several times player-of-the-match for the women's rugby club, she also has been a member of Phi Kappa Phi honor society; volunteer leader for GENIUS Olympiad; resident assistant; lab assistant; a tutor in writing, chemistry and math; Educational Opportunity Program teaching assistant and mentor for first-year students; and Harborfest volunteer.
The future: "I am weighing several options: applying to master's degree programs, going to work in industry, or enrolling in the Officer Candidate School of the Marine Corps."
Joely Rice
An entrepreneur and nontraditional student, Rice has maintained a high cumulative GPA, enrolling all-online at Oswego on a transfer merit scholarship after earning an associate's degree at Tompkins-Cortland Community College. She is a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. Rice began modeling at age 5 and has appeared in national ads. She has become a role model for girls on streaming social media. She hosts "Photoshoot with Joely Live," her own show on TikTok with over 600,000 fans, inspiring tweens and teens about life, goals and having fun in whatever they do. Rice worked in three internships in New York City through SUNY Oswego, using those and her connections to create more online content. Rice launched a weekly show on YouNow for young people on split screen for IMG Models' @WeLoveYourGenes digital platform. She interned for 305 Fitness, where she was promoted to partnerships booker and manager, and works on an independent study to market and create social media content for new apps called Dropchat and Popshop Live. She formerly was a Sports Illustrated Kid Video Reporter and appeared in an Amazon Prime movie.
The future: "My dream is to one day own my own business, Photoshoot with Joely Live, helping people around the world who want to feel empowered and confident in their own skin through a full photo shoot experience, as well as to host my own talk show (like Oprah)."
Dylan Richmond
Recipient of a SUNY Oswego Possibility Scholarship for high achieving students with financial need, the Johnson City native earned his latest honor through challenging research, demanding internship positions and assistance to younger physics students. He has minors in astronomy and computer science. A journal accepted a paper on which Richmond is first author, “Inkjet Printing All Inorganic Halide Perovskite Inks for Photovoltaic Applications.” Richmond has another perovskites paper in submission, and a third, on gold-terminated graphene nanoribbons, in progress. The Physics Club president has mentored and tutored peers. Richmond did theoretical research in stellar astrophysics at Max Planck Institute in Germany, and earned a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has presented at an American Physical Society conference and Syracuse Center of Excellence Symposium in Environmental and Energy Systems Innovations. A former member of the swimming and diving team, he plays saxophone and bass.
The future: "I plan to pursue an advanced degree in materials science, hopefully with applications in renewable energy; in the interim I have applied to several internships in my field."
About the award
The Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence was created in 1997 to recognize students who have best demonstrated, and have been recognized for, the integration of academic excellence with accomplishments in the areas of leadership, athletics, community service, creative and performing arts, campus involvement or career achievement.
“Today’s award recipients emerged from their campuses this year as the top scholars, athletes, performers, and achievers, as well as a tremendous source of inspiration,” Chancellor Johnson said at the ceremony. “The students being recognized today made the choice to be leaders on their campuses, prioritize their studies, and serve their communities. Congratulations to this year’s awardees, and I applaud you for pursuing excellence in all that you do.”