Commencement Profile: Elizabeth A. Malinowski

Elizabeth Malinowski has earned a bachelor of science degree in childhood education with a concentration in mathematics, attaining a 3.69 GPA while serving as captain of the Buffalo State women’s soccer team.

Malinowski will receive the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence during the 10:00 a.m. baccalaureate ceremony at Buffalo State’s 144th Commencement, Saturday, May 14, in the Sports Arena.

She is an ambitious student with demonstrated confidence in her teaching abilities and an intangible set of leadership qualities that make her a valued classmate and teammate.

An aspiring teacher and member of Kappa Delta Pi, the international honor society in education, she sought out challenging student-teaching and research assignments that would best prepare her for a career in education. In 2015, she was awarded an Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship through the Buffalo State Undergraduate Research Office to analyze, interpret, and write a case study about reading proficiency among young Native American students. In her student-teaching placements, her mentors described her as having the classroom-management skills of a veteran teacher with a level of efficiency that was fueled by her strong work ethic and professional concern for her students’ progress.

As a student-athlete, she earned SUNYAC All-Academic honors for four consecutive years and helped the soccer team reach the SUNYAC playoffs three times. Tough and durable, she gained the admiration of her teammates and demonstrated how to win with modesty and persevere through losses. Off the field, she was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and led “I Am College Bound” and “Kid’s Night Out” activities for local schoolchildren.

Malinowski has volunteered in the community with Buffalo State’s Global Book Hour as well as the American Lung Association’s Fight for Air Climb, the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides against Breast Cancer walk, and the Amherst Soccer Association’s youth girls programs.