If she’s not helping younger students find their path or crunching numbers for the Student Managed Investment Fund, you might find Savannah Sommer building a huge canvas for her next masterpiece or trekking through the rainforest.
In recognition of her curiosity, drive and dedication to help others, the Terry College of Business Alumni Board named Sommer the 2023 Terry College Student of the Year.
Each spring since 2012, the board recognizes a graduating senior who exemplifies the ideals of the Terry College and demonstrates the skills and commitment required to succeed in college, business and life.
Sommer, from John’s Creek, graduates in May with a degree in finance, a minor in studio art, and a certificate in personal and organizational leadership from the UGA Institute of Leadership Advancement. Her impact at Terry is wide-ranging:
She served as co-president of the Kennedy Society, industrial sector leader for the Apollo Society, equity strategies analyst for the SMIF, and as a Terry College Ambassador. She is in the Blue Key Honor Society and was selected as a Deer Run Fellow and Sea Island Scholar. She treasures seeing growth in students she mentored through Women in Finance, the Apollo Society, the Kennedy Society and as a leader with Young Life at Athens Academy.
After graduation, she will take a position as an equity research analyst at Goldman Sachs in Salt Lake City, Utah.
In addition to Sommer, the board recognized four other outstanding seniors as finalists for the Student of the Year Award.
Patrick Gentry, from Valdosta, is a double major in finance and economics. At Terry he co-founded the Magellan Program — a program focused on equipping intended business students with the skills necessary to succeed at the Terry College and beyond.
Gentry committed a great deal of time and effort over the past three years to ensure approximately 315 first-year students completed the program. He was healthcare sector leader in the Apollo Society. Upon graduation, Patrick will work as an investment banking analyst at Guggenheim in their Private Equity Advisory Group.
Elise Karinshak, from Lawrenceville, is graduating with degrees in marketing and data science. She has dedicated four years to the Paw Print Agency, a student-run agency developing marketing and advertising campaigns for local nonprofits. She co-founded and led Code Hub, an interdisciplinary student organization connecting students interested in technology, computer science and data and statistical analysis.
Her undergraduate research into digital communication and emerging technology contributed to her receiving the Goldwater Scholarship for national excellence in STEM and her presenting at several international conferences. At Terry she served as Honors Student Council co-president and Girls Who Code marketing officer.
She is an Institute for Leadership Advancement Leadership Fellow and a Deer Run Fellow. Upon graduation, Elise will pursue a master of Global Affairs as a Schwarzman Scholar at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
Joslyn McKlveen, from Snellville, is an honors student earning an undergraduate degree in economics and a Master of Science in Business Analytics. During her time at Terry, she served as president of Terry Student Researchers, vice president of finance for Women in Economics, and was a member of The Corsair Society, Terry Student Consulting and the Blue Key Honor Society.
Her most significant achievement was working with the United States Government Accountability Office, where she audited the Department of Defense and published a report to Congress evaluating vulnerabilities in the global positioning system.
She also dedicated her skills to working on a variety of data analytics projects for an ag-tech start-up called Good Agriculture.
After graduation, she will join Boston Consulting Group as an associate consultant.
Morgan Nascone, from Austin, Texas, is a finance major. During her time at Terry, she served as the consumer discretionary sector leader for the Apollo Society and vice president of The Corsair Society. More importantly, she says, she used the time spent working with student organizations to mentor younger students.
She values the impact older students made on her life by generously giving of their time and putting forth the effort to coach her on interview technique and professional skills. This support impacted her powerfully, and she is proud to be able to pay that support forward.
After graduation, she joins Citigroup in New York City.