Buffalo State students recognized with SUNY’s highest honor for academic excellence and leadership
State University of New York Chancellor John B. King Jr. has announced that 193 students from 63 campuses were awarded SUNY's highest honor for academic excellence and leadership. The 2025 Chancellor's Awards for Student Excellence (CASE) recognize students for outstanding achievements throughout their SUNY experience in areas including academics, leadership, campus involvement, community service, and the arts. This year’s recipients include a wide range of honorees including veterans, parents, policy issue advocates, and athletes.
L-R: SUNY Chancellor King, Imran Fazal, Wayne Brumfield, interim vice president for student affairs.
“SUNY represents academic excellence, and our students have worked tirelessly to not only excel in their academic studies, but also stepped up as community leaders,” said SUNY Chancellor King. “Congratulations to this year’s CASE awardees who’ve distinguished themselves amongst their peers through their work ethic, determination, and commitment to their fields of study.”
Buffalo State University’s 2025 recipients are Imran Fazal, Lorinda M. John, and Sophie Tversky. These students were celebrated at an awards ceremony in Albany with a keynote speech from Derek Peterson, Stony Brook University alumnus and founder and chief executive officer of Soter Technologies.
“This is an honor,” said Tversky, who will soon graduate with her M.S. in creativity and change leadership. “I have always striven to make a difference, to bring people together to drive creative and meaningful change, both in organizations and in the community. This is underpinned by a genuine desire to serve. The Chancellors' Award further validates that I am on the right path.”
“This recognition is not just a personal milestone—it’s a testament to what a stateless person can accomplish when given the chance to apply their intelligence, resilience, and humanity,” said Fazal, who will be receiving his B.S. in social work. “I accept this honor with humility and pride, carrying it on behalf of every refugee still waiting to be seen, heard, and given the opportunity to thrive.”
L-R: SUNY Chancellor King, Lorinda M. John, Wayne Brumfield.
“It's an award, recognition, an accolade, but it’s more than that,” added John, a hospitality administration major. “It has helped me on a personal level. When you level up, the playing field changes, it’s rough and tough—it can mess with your head, but it is worth it. If you stick to what you want and what you want to share with people, there is no failing.”
Each campus is allowed to submit two to 15 nominations depending on the student body size. Nominations are submitted by campus officials to the SUNY CASE Selection Committee every spring. While there is no minimum GPA requirement, candidates are expected to have demonstrated exceptional academic performance and leadership.
“Each year we look forward to celebrating CASE awardees and thanking these inspirational role models from across our SUNY colleges and universities,” said the SUNY Board of Trustees. “On behalf of the SUNY community, we are grateful for your leadership on campus, and we offer our best wishes for what comes next!”
About The State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state’s only college of optometry, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.4 million students amongst its entire portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.16 billion in fiscal year 2024, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit www.suny.edu.
