The Valedictorian was Silvia Arredondo, who received a bachelor of engineering degree. Ms. Arredondo graduated with a 4.0 GPA and has been awarded a full fellowship for graduate work at the University of Texas-Austin, where she will begin a Ph.D. program in Chemical Engineering next fall.

Her other honors at CCNY have included the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ (AIChE) Donald F. Othmer Sophomore Academic Excellence Award (2000-01); the AIChE Minority Award (2001-02); and inclusion on the National Dean’s List (1999-2002). She is also listed in Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. Ms. Arredondo is considering returning to CCNY to teach upon completion of her Ph.D. program at the University of Texas.

Wanmei Ou is this year’s Salutatorian. A native of Guangzhou, China, who arrived in the United States four-and-a-half years ago speaking little English, Ms. Ou is receiving a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. She will continue her education on a full scholarship at MIT, in pursuit of a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. Ms. Ou, who is also graduating with a 4.0 GPA, was the recipient of a National Science Foundation (NSF) Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics Scholarship (2002-03); CCNY’s Theodore Charos Scholarship (2003); The Professor Paul A. Karmel Award (2002), Zitrin Scholarship (2001), and several other CCNY awards for academic excellence. She is also only the second person in the history of the CCNY Mathematics Department to have won its Annual Math Award three years in a row.#