Featured Graduates | Commencement 2024

Rowan University

Featured Graduates 2024

College of Science & Mathematics

Sophie Ogunsanmi

An award-winning psychological science major and member of the Martinson Honors College, Sophie Ogunsanmi is driven to serve others in every facet of her life, motivated by a simple concept. “We are not created to walk this life alone,” Ogunsanmi said. “We need a community of people.” She is heading next to a doctoral program in neuroscience, where she plans to study the neural effects of traumatic experiences.

William G. Rohrer College of Business

Kaitlyn Tran

A top Rohrer College of Business student, clothing entrepreneur, future business owner and third-degree black belt in kang moo do, Kaitlyn Tran understands commitment and goal-setting. “The black belt journey is not an easy one,” she said. “You need discipline and a will to keep going but you learn something new every single day. I feel the same way about business.”

Ric Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts

Emerson Harman

Exceptionally gifted, with a mind ever in search of knowledge and new experiences, Harman moved from Wisconsin to study Biomedical Art & Visualization at Rowan. “I think people often see arts and sciences as opposites, but they definitely complement each other,” Harman said. A member of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, Harman earned a prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to fund a trip to the Galapagos in 2023.

Rowan-Virtua School of Translational Biomedical Engineering & Sciences

Goutham Kodakandla

In May 2020, Goutham Kodakandla left his job at a Maryland laboratory to enroll in a Rowan University doctoral program—all because of a post he read on the social network X, then called Twitter. “Science does not work 99 percent of the time,” he said. “But it’s the 1 percent of time that it works—it’s like a high. We all want that 1 percent.” Kodakandla’s dream is to remain in academia, so he can teach and run a research lab

School of Earth & Environment

Brendan Bermingham

Brendan Bermingham has a special mindset: Set sights on goal. Get it done. Repeat. It’s a mindset that’s led him to graduate this semester with three degrees from Rowan University’s School of Earth & Environment. Bermingham, who seems to relish the sweat-on-the-brow and dirt-in-the-nails of daily farm work, said what’s most important is delivering healthful produce to people who otherwise have little access to it.

College of Humanities & Social Sciences

Anushree Chauhan

When it came to capitalizing on every experience available to her at Rowan University, Anushree Chauhan checked every box. “The amount I was able to maximize from this university has been really beneficial to me,” says Chauhan. “No matter where I went, I found a community that supported me.” Graduating in three years, summa cum laude, she will pursue a career in immigration or corporate law.

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering

Katerina Kasatkin

A former teen competitive ice skater, Katerina Kasatkin pursued a career path inspired by the limits and capabilities of her body. Accepted as a high schooler into Rowan’s accelerated physician-engineering training program, she will spend the next four years studying medicine at the Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine. “For me, it was all about the outcome, working hard little by little every single day, practicing, practicing and achieving a final result,” Kasatkin said.

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine

Oluwapelumi Oluwo

When Oluwapelumi Oluwo interviewed for the D.O. program at Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine, Oluwo said, “I just felt a sense of belonging.” After graduation, she is heading to the Naval Medical Center San Diego for an OB/GYN residency. For Oluwo, OB/GYN medicine is about more than diagnosing symptoms and treating ailments. “I love that I have the opportunity to empower women through their journeys,” she said.

College of Performing Arts

Connor Shields

Connor Shields decided his future while sitting in the Majestic Theater on Broadway. After completing his audition and taking a tour of campus, Shields was intrigued. At Rowan, he felt he would have the opportunity to do it all; work on his craft as a performing artist, train to become an educator and pursue a graduate degree. “In our program, we are more than just theatre students,” Shields says, “Here, you get to grow as a person and an artist and explore what interests you.”

Rowan-Virtua Rita & Larry Salva School of Nursing & Health Professions

Leslie Canales Franco

Leslie Canales Franco wants to turn the nutrition field upside down. “I focus on helping people pick and prepare healthy foods instead of just telling them to eat more vegetables,” she said. Canales Franco, a first-generation Mexican immigrant, advocates for the importance of culture in nutrition. Her contributions have been published in academic journals and she received the Higher Education Division Student Research Award.

College of Education

Michael Stanton

People had told Michael Stanton for years he should be an educator, but he never thought the field was for him. But now, he says, it is what he’s meant to do. Every day in the classroom—every lesson, every interaction with students—solidifies that. “I absolutely love working with children. I love the look on a child’s face when they get excited to learn something new. When they excel on a test or assignment, it gives me so much joy,” says Stanton.

Cooper Medical School of Rowan University

Keri Cronin

When Keri Cronin received a devastating cancer diagnosis during medical school, she didn’t know if she’d survive, much less finish her studies. But after a grueling health journey, Cronin will start an internal medicine residency in New York City this fall—with the ultimate goal of becoming an oncologist. “I have more perspective into what patients and their families are going through, and where their questions or fears are coming from,“ she says.