ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ

A team of ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ staff and graduate students led by Ross Wade, assistant director of Career Services in the School of Communications, won an Innovative Excellence Award on June 2 from the National Association of Colleges and Employers at the organization’s national conference in Dallas.

ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ trustee Dr. Bryan Latham and his wife Janet are among 12 recipients of the Southern Conference's 2011 Distinguished Service Award. Each of the SoCon member institutions select honorees for their contributions to the advancement of the schools and their athletics programs. The Lathams will be honored at a dinner in Charleston, S.C. on June 1.

ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ senior economics major Kaylyn Swankoski was awarded the 2011 Allen Starling Johnson Jr. Outstanding Symposium Presentation Prize for the April 29 presentation of her senior thesis at the Duke Economics Department 9th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium.

The 2011 Bloomberg Businessweek rankings of top undergraduate business schools by specialty rates ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ #19 in the nation for entrepreneurship and #22 for sustainability.

What does it take to sell someone on your idea for a new product or service? A good pitch certainly helps - especially one you can give to a prospective investor in less than a minute, a skill that won ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ junior Brian Serow top prize in a contest at the 2011 MIT Global Startup Workshop in Seoul, South Korea.

Running a lemonade stand can be the first step toward a business career, as hundreds of children will discover Saturday when they set up shop across Alamance County as part of the national ‘Lemonade Day’ project. For Tim Porter, however, Lemonade Day means so much more, and the ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ senior believes what kids have already learned through his efforts will stay with them forever.

Amanda Leigh Clark '11, a biochemistry major and Lumen Scholar from Skaneateles, N.Y., has received a $5,000 fellowship award from the Phi Kappa Phi national academic honor society to help fund her graduate studies at the University of Rochester School of Medicine.

Events leading up to Commencement 2011 take place this week as ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ prepares to graduate its 121st undergraduate class, its MBA and ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Law class, and its second class in the iMedia graduate program. Activities for seniors start May 18, with a class picnic, an evening gala, receptions and dinners on the agenda.

Members of the Class of 2011 and their parents can now download customized news releases for distribution to hometown newspapers that publish information on academic achievements.