READING, Pa. — The top three graduates in the Penn State Berks spring 2017 class not only represent an outstanding depth and breadth of award-winning academic excellence, but hold a deep sense of compassion for their fellow humans and the environment, and dream of improving our world, each in their own way.
They are Adriana Perez Camacho, Guanica, Puerto Rico, Bachelor of Arts in global studies; Laura Post, Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania, Bachelor of Science in biology; and Luke W. Fry, Pottstown, Pennsylvania, Bachelor of Science in business. All are graduating summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA over four years of study and all have made the Dean’s List every semester. Perez Camacho is the student marshal for Berk’s Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Division, while Post and Fry are student marshals for the Science Division and Engineering, Business and Computing Division, respectively. As such, the three are honorary commencement speakers.
All three have received numerous academic awards including Penn State’s Freshman Award in 2014, the President Sparks Award, the Evan Pugh Scholar Award and the 2017 Berks Outstanding Baccalaureate Degree Graduate Award.
In addition, Fry received the Business Outstanding Achievement Award for this year, and Perez Camacho and Post are Schreyer Honors Scholars, which means they rank in the top five percent of Penn State's undergraduate student population.
Perez Camacho also received the HASS Young Investigator Award for her thesis, “Hispanic Acculturation and Advertising: An Analysis of the Use of Cultural Symbols, Language, Variations, and Models in Video Advertisements Targeting Hispanics,” as well as the 2017 Global Studies International Perspectives, and the Political Science Student of the Year and Spanish Academic Excellence Awards, both in 2016.
Post’s other honors include the 2017 Academic Excellence in Biology and Shibley Outstanding Contribution to Science awards. Her previous year recognition includes earning the Outstanding Internship/Co-op Student, Biology, Science Peer Tutoring, Undergraduate Division Science Research, Organic Chemistry and Mathematics Awards.