April 26, 2004

A graduating Wayne State University senior who will receive the prestigious Howard A. Donnelly Award during the university's spring commencement ceremonies at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 6, in Cobo Arena is cross country runner Charles Stamboulian of Farmington Hills.

The Donnelly Award is given annually to a man and to a woman in the spring graduating class in recognition for outstanding contributions to the university and to the community in the areas of student activities, leadership and service - consistent with superior scholarship - during their undergraduate years. There are approximately 3,000 degree candidates in the May graduation class.

Stamboulian, a graduate of North Farmington High School and the son of Thomas and Linda Stamboulian, will receive a Bachelor of Science in Education degree, magna cum laude. He majored in secondary education and English and minored in mathematics at Wayne State.

A member of the Golden Key National Honor Society, he serves on the university's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was a student assistant in the mathematics department. He was a volunteer math tutor at Wilson Elementary School in Ferndale and also has served as a student teacher at Beaubien Elementary School in Detroit. Currently, he is completing his student teaching assignment at Southfield High School.

While president of the Society of Armenian students at Wayne State, he headed projects to raise funds for a hospital in Armenia and for the Armenian Community Center in Dearborn. Other community service activities include participation in the "Motor City Makeover" project and the Farmington area Goodfellows canned food drive. Stamboulian also served as a volunteer camp counselor at the Armenian Youth Federation junior seminar in Pennsylvania.

He participated in men's cross country at WSU for four years and was a member of the team that won the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) championship in 2001. He twice earned CoSIDA Academic All-District IV Men's Track/Cross Country Second Team honors. For the 2001-02 school year, he earned coaches association academic all-american honors and was a three-time GLIAC All-Academic team selection.

He is most recently was a speaker at the 2004 WSU Athletic Department Academic Recognition luncheon where he received the Dean's Award for having the highest cumulative gpa among student-athletes enrolled in the College of Education. Stamboulian was named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll (term gpa 3.5+) all seven semesters at WSU and earned a 4.00 term gpa three different semesters.