The eight schools and colleges at Fresno State, along with the Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, each selected an outstanding student to honor as part of the class of 2025 Undergraduate Deans’ Medalists. 

The deans selected an undergraduate and graduate medalist based on academic excellence, community involvement and other achievements. Fresno State’s Graduate Deans’ Medalists will be announced next week.

In mid-May, one medalist from the group below will be announced as the President’s Undergraduate Medalist, the university’s top academic honor for an undergraduate student.

This year’s Undergraduate Deans’ Medalists are:

Shaur Herng Chong, College of Science and Mathematics

Shaur Herng Chong earned his B.S. in chemistry with a 4.0 GPA. He is a first-generation student from Malaysia who earned an associate’s degree in chemistry from Fullerton College in 2023 before transferring to Fresno State. Chong’s personal experience of losing his grandfather to pancreatic cancer ignited his passion for medicinal chemistry. He contributed to several research projects centered on developing treatments for prostate cancer. In Dr. Qiao-Hong Chen’s medicinal and bioorganic chemistry lab, Chong’s team worked on synthesizing nature-inspired compounds as potential prostate cancer therapies. He presented his work at the 2024 Central California Research Symposium and the California State University systemwide research competition. He served as president of Fresno State’s Chemistry Club and as a member of the San Joaquin Valley ACS Younger Chemist Committee, leading outreach initiatives to inspire underrepresented students to pursue STEM careers. Chong will pursue a Ph.D. in chemistry at UC Santa Barbara this fall.

Jason Raythell Davis, College of Social Sciences

Jason Raythell Davis, of Fresno, earned a B.A. in sociology with a 4.0 GPA. As a student in the Humanics program, he is dedicated to social justice and uplifting marginalized communities, which he plans to do after graduation by founding his own community-based organization in Fresno. He earned the College Corps Legend of Service Award from the Jan and Bud Richter Center for Community Engagement and Service-Learning in 2024 after volunteering more than 650 hours at the Poverello House in Fresno. As a community engagement fellow, he provided essential services to unhoused individuals and organized services that recruited over 290 volunteers and developed relationships with local organizations. Davis also worked as a mentor for students and the community through Project Rebound’s Educating Our Youth Program, as well as the Impact Justice program for incarcerated youth and their families. On campus, he helped write a grant proposal for the Custom Stack program and participated in the Humanics Mentoring Project. As a member of the College of Social Sciences Honors Program, he has conducted research on guaranteed basic income’s effects on employment and poverty. He expects to present his research findings on the Senate floor in Sacramento and in meetings with legislators and government leaders.

Vanessa Gallegos, Kremen School of Education and Human Development

Vanessa Gallegos, of Tulare, earned her B.A. in liberal studies and her multiple-subject teaching credential through the South Valley Integrated Teacher Education Program with a 4.0 GPA. Gallegos served in a leadership role for an after-school program that provides educational activities for TK through sixth-grade students. While working in this role, she discovered a passion for teaching and earned her associate’s degree in elementary teacher education from the College of the Sequoias. Between work and school, she enjoys raising and homeschooling her daughter. After graduation, Gallegos plans to pursue a master’s degree in education and teach kindergarten or first grade. Her goal is to become a leader in the field of education as an administrator.

Robynn Huber, Craig School of Business

Robynn Huber, of Kerman, earned her B.S. in business administration with an emphasis in management and a minor in chemistry with a 4.0 GPA. Huber is a Craig School of Business Scholar, a Craig Honor Student and a member of the Craig Gender and Leadership student cohort, Health Professions Pathways and the Health Careers Opportunity Program, in which she served as a tutor to pre-health students. She served for two years as treasurer of Delta Epsilon Omicron, the academic fraternity/sorority for students interested in dental careers, planning events and maintaining club activities. She was an active volunteer with the Kerman Community Food Bank for five years. Huber works for the nonprofit Valley Small Business Development Corporation, where she assists with financial services to local small businesses. She also serves as a board member of the International Green Industry Hall of Fame, a nonprofit organization that recognizes pioneers in sustainable industry. Huber plans to attend dental school and work toward opening her own dental practice.

Vanessa Jauregui-Salgado, Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology

Vanessa Jauregui-Salgado, of Fresno, earned her B.S. in agricultural business, and minor in precision agriculture technology, in three years with a 4.0 GPA. She competed on student marketing teams and business case study projects at industry conferences and events, which led her to join the Agricultural Business Club — National Agri-Marketing Association Chapter and serve as its president the past two years. She partnered with engineering students for an international ag robotics conference project last fall. She also served as vice president of the Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences Chapter and helped organize the Agricultural Business Department annual banquet and its Agribusiness Management Conference. Jauregui-Salgado participated in a study abroad class in Spain that involved wine market and consumer sensory analysis. Last summer, she learned about crop, soil, pest and irrigation management as an agronomy intern for Reiter Affiliated Companies. She currently works with the California Agave Council and collects industry research, assists with grants, and develops educational materials to attract new agave growers in the Central Valley.

Katelyn Lehigh, College of Health and Human Services

Katelyn Lehigh, of Loveland, Colorado, earned her B.S. in recreation administration with an emphasis in sports and entertainment facility management in three years with a 4.0 GPA. She immersed herself in her major and took on valuable out-of-state internships with the Wichita Wind Surge baseball team, the Harmony Golf Club and the Wyoming State Golf Association, where she played an active role in running golf tournaments utilizing her knowledge in venue management, event planning, leadership, program planning and development and marketing. Aside from academics, Lehigh is a student-athlete and member of the Fresno State golf team, where she broke multiple school records, including two at the 2023 Timpanogos Collegiate Golf Invitational. In the fall, Lehigh will return to Fresno State to pursue her master’s degree in kinesiology with an option in sport administration. She hopes to utilize her advanced experience to become a leader in the sport management industry, where she can play a role in shaping the lives of future athletes in the Central Valley and beyond. In addition, Lehigh will enter her fourth year playing for the Fresno State golf team.

Frederick Mark Lisitsa, Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management

Frederick Mark Lisitsa, of Los Angeles, is a first-generation Ukrainian American and U.S. Navy veteran who earned his B.A. in psychology and minor in philosophy with a 3.8 GPA. After serving as a sonar technician aboard a destroyer — and receiving the Humanitarian Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal and Basic Training Honor Graduate Ribbon — he was medically retired for PTSD and enrolled at Fresno State through the Veterans Education Program. He was encouraged by relatives continuing their studies amid war-torn Ukraine. At Fresno State, Lisitsa was elected executive vice president of Associated Students, Inc., where he helped create a $40,000 student research grant fund, authored key policy resolutions and launched “Campus Beautification Days” that rallied volunteers to plant nearly 175 trees and restore campus green spaces. He served as president and vice president of the Student Veterans Organization, co-founded the university’s new ice hockey club and presented research on civic engagement, misinformation and AI equity at regional and international research conferences. A two-time President’s Service Award honoree and recipient of the division’s Achievement of Excellence Award, Lisitsa plans to attend law school and hopes to champion the long-term success of the California State University — the nation’s largest university system.

Joshua Lor, College of Arts and Humanities

Joshua Lor, of Fresno, earned his B.A. in linguistics with an emphasis in teaching English to speakers of other languages and second-language acquisition and teaching and a minor in Hmong with a 3.94 GPA. Born and raised in Fresno, Lor saw firsthand the educational shortcomings in cultural, language and family support for first-generation Hmong students in public schools. That experience informed his goal of altering the school system to better accommodate the cultural values and support for future first-generation students. Putting his education into practice, Lor is the school site leader for the Every Neighborhood Partnership Reads program at Heaton Elementary School, where he oversees three literacy intervention programs, and acts as a liaison between interns, school staff and the organization’s support staff. He has completed over 100 hours of community service with the Jan and Bud Richter Center for Community Engagement and Service-Learning at Fresno State. This past summer, he was a classroom intern at Fresno Adult School, where he assisted with lesson planning and led class sessions for intermediate and advanced English learners. Lor aims to pursue a master’s in linguistics at Fresno State with a goal of becoming an educator adept at teaching all aspects of the Hmong people.

Komal Sandhu, Lyles College of Engineering

Komal Sandhu, of San Joaquin, earned her B.S. in civil engineering with a 3.9 GPA. In middle school, she attended an engineering summer camp at Fresno State that sparked her passion for engineering and solidified her aspiration to pursue it as a career. Sandhu, a Smittcamp Family Honors College Scholar, held multiple leadership roles, including president of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association, treasurer of the American Society of Civil Engineers, president of Tau Beta Pi and K-12 outreach coordinator for the Society of Women Engineers. She served as a tutor and instructional student assistant. Additionally, she worked as an undergraduate research assistant for a project related to building successful rail industry internship programs. In 2023, Sandhu completed an internship with Flatiron Construction, where she participated in a California High-Speed Rail project. She went on to be a junior engineer intern at Cornerstone Structural Engineering Group. This fall, she will pursue a master’s degree at UC Davis. Her goal is to obtain a structural engineering license and advance to a project manager role. Through her work, she hopes to contribute to society by designing safe, efficient and lasting structures that serve the public.