Featured Graduates | Commencement 2021

Rowan University

Featured Graduates 2021

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering

Gatha Adhikari

In April 2015, Gatha Adhikari survived the worst earthquake to hit Nepal in more than 80 years. She helped rescue trapped people, some missing limbs. Now, she's about to graduate from Rowan University, determined to help her community through biomedical engineering.

College of Performing Arts

Caitlin Alvarez

As she evolved as an artist in her time at Rowan, Caitlin Alvarez learned to use the power of theater as a way to address women's issues.

School of Osteopathic Medicince

Maria Rita De Melo Teixeira Anache

When Maria Rita De Melo Teixeira Anache allows her mind to wander, the past and the present sometimes collide in her thoughts, but those thoughts always seem to center on the importance of family. “Sometimes I’ll be jogging around the Stratford campus and I’ll suddenly stop and think ‘How did I end up here?’ If you had told me 10 years ago, when I left to be an exchange student that I would be in this small town in New Jersey, graduating medical school, I would have laughed at you. But here I am.”

William G. Rohrer College of Business

Kaitlyn Anthony

Graduating with a perfect 4.0 GPA from the Rohrer College of Business’s rigorous MBA program, one can assume Kaitlyn Anthony performed very well in some very tough classes. But that’s nothing new. She’s excelled in tough classes since she was four years old, studying and performing with some of the biggest names in dance, including Moscow’s world-famous Bolshoi Ballet Academy.

College of Science & Mathematics

Hailey D’Elia

Hailey D’Elia doesn't share how she ended up in New Jersey's foster care system at age 16. Just know this mathematics/sociology double major has decided to pursue a career advocating for foster children and child welfare reform at the national level.

College of Education

Sandra Dominguez

Sandra Dominguez wants to be the teacher she didn’t have. In her Camden classroom, being bilingual, she says, is a superpower that she and her students celebrate daily.

Ric Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts

Elizabeth Dunn

Like all of us, Elizabeth Dunn has a story to tell. In fact, she’s got many. Her own just started a bit earlier than most. Dunn graduated from Rowan University at just 16 in December with a degree in Radio, Television & Film from the Ric Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts. She’s headed to graduate school in California to continue her film studies.

School of Health Professions

Josue Messina

Born in Mexico and adopted from an orphanage at age 4, Josue Messina had to overcome a language and cultural barrier after moving to South Jersey. Now, he wants to help others overcome their wellness obstacles.

Cooper Medical Scool of Rowan University

Deep Patel

Deep Patel has a passion for innovation. However, as a medical student at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU), he found that having technology is not enough. It takes an innovative, multi-skilled team to achieve its full potential. He’ll see how far he can keep pushing technology’s limits when he begins his orthopedics residency at Cooper University Health Care.

School of Earth & Environment

Kymonie Thomas-Nagil

Plans change, and for Kymonie Thomas-Nagil, a change in plans led, ironically, to a degree in planning.

College of Humanities & Social Sciences

Katherine Trauger

“I hope to be an example of what you can do with enough grit and hard work and belief,” Katherine Trauger says. Her Oxford scholarship covers her studies and all living expenses.