The E. J. Ourso College of Business Rucks Department of Management selected 11 students for the 2016-2017 Rucks Fellows. This award goes to graduating seniors with the highest GPAs in the management curriculum.
The award is a gift from alumnus William W. Rucks and his wife Catherine. The recipients are selected by the faculty and represent the highest level of academic achievement among senior management students.
The recipients receive exclusive opportunities, including networking with faculty and business leaders at special events, preferential enrollment in management courses and recognition during graduation. These special opportunities are intended to enhance their development as future business leaders.
This year’s recipients are Rhiannon Ballard, Hannah Brown, Christina Davisson, Katherine Key, Ashton Lane, Makayla McManus, Sally Robichaux, Claire Schnell, Krishna Surakanti, Brent Swann and Benjamin LaPlace, who is currently involved in a student exchange program in Colorado.
Ballard, a human resource management senior with dual minors in dance and personal investing, is also a Chancellor’s Future Leaders in Research Scholar. She plans to pursue her passion for dance by working for and buying into her own dance studio post-graduation.
Brown is a business management senior with a minor in information systems and decision sciences. She has made the Dean’s List for the last six semesters and is a Tiger Excellence Award recipient. Brown has been a member of The Golden Band from Tiger Land for four years and has been captain of the Tiger Band Colorguard for three years.
Davisson will be graduating in December with a degree in management and a concentration in entrepreneurship. She has been on the Chancellor’s List multiple times and has been a TOPS Honors scholarship and Tiger Athletic Foundation scholarship recipient.
“It wasn’t really something I was expecting, but it was a good surprise, especially since I’m at the end of my college career,” Davisson said.
Davisson also said the networking opportunity has opened many doors for her and has provided résumé experience for both work and graduate school.
Key, a business management senior with a concentration in human resources and a minor in ceramics, will also graduate this December. She has been on the Dean’s List and President’s List multiple times. She is a member of the Roger Hadfield Ogden Honors College and an LSU Ambassador. Her future plans include working in human resources for a business or corporation after graduating.
Lane is a business management senior with a minor in personal investing. She has been inducted into four national honor societies and been on the Dean’s List. After graduation, she plans to work for her father’s company Gerry Lane Enterprises.
McManus, a human resources management senior with a minor in communication studies, has made both the Dean’s List and Chancellor’s List. She has been part of the LSU Musical Theatre Club and Society for Human Resource Management. She plans to pursue a master’s degree in business post-graduation.
Robichaux is a business management senior who has made the Chancellor’s Honor Roll, been a member of the Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society and won the 2013 PricewaterhouseCoopers Challenge. She plans to get her teaching certification next summer.
Schnell, a general management senior, has been on the Dean’s List every semester during her time at the University. She is a member of The National Society of Collegiate Scholars and Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. After graduation, she wants to attend law school.
Surakanti, a management senior, is a member of The National Society of Collegiate Scholars and the Alpha Delta Lambda Honors Society. He plans to obtain his master’s degree before going to work for Google to aid in technological advances in India.
Swann is a business management senior with a minor in entrepreneurship who transferred from LSU-Eunice.
Swann said the recipients will receive $2,000 after graduating. He also values the exclusive networking opportunities.
Swann said gaining experience with internships is great, but being recognized academically does not happen enough.
“It kind of felt like all my hard work, academically, was finally paying off,” Swann said.