Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence recipient Nechelle Stolzenberg will graduate in May with a Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Leadership, as well as an Advanced Certificate in Healthcare Management.

The holder of a Master of Public Administration from Baruch College’s Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs, the City University of New York, with honors, Stolzenberg is the single parent of three children and the grandmother of one baby.

In 2005, she initiated one of the first support groups in her community for single mothers and helped other communities establish similar groups. Stolzenberg oversees the Yeled v’ Yalda Women, Infants and Children program (YVY WIC), a nutritional program for women, infants and children from age 0-5, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the New York State Department of Health.

The Brooklyn resident has more than two decades of health care administrative experience and has excelled academically, earning several degrees and certifications, including her two master’s degrees and a B.S. in Business, Management and Economics from SUNY Empire.

She also holds a teacher’s and graphics arts diploma and is a member of the Metropolitan New York City WIC Association’s board of directors.

Stolzenberg is known throughout the SUNY Empire community for devoting effort to sharing her professional and personal experiences with fellow students. By assuming the team leader position on some group projects and, when appropriate, offering encouragement to her peers, she served as a source of motivation and inspiration.

Other previous passions include hosting single-parent families and individuals in her home on weekends or holidays, which provided them with a much-needed respite.

She previously served as a board member for Sister to Sister, a support network for divorced Jewish women, and has advocated for individuals with emotional disabilities, saying, “I was determined to make a difference for this vulnerable and needy population.”

Stolzenberg wrote extensively during her time at SUNY Empire about the ethical, philosophical, political and cultural roots of the U.S. health care system and the needs of young people with complex behavioral health needs.

About The Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence

Created in 1997, the award honors students who have demonstrated and achieved recognition for integrating academic excellence with accomplishments in several areas, including:

• leadership
• athletics
• community service
• creative and performing arts
• campus involvement
• career achievement.

Each year, campus presidents establish selection committees, which review nominations of exemplary students. Selected nominations are forwarded to the chancellor’s office and subject to a second round of review by a committee, which includes members of the chancellor’s office, the provost’s office and other professionals at SUNY system administration. Finalists then are recommended to the chancellor for her determination.

Each award recipient receives a framed certificate and medallion, which is worn at commencement and other academic events requiring regalia.