Elina Aleksandrovna Babkina of Conyers, Georgia, is the recipient of the Fall 2022 President’s Award for Academic Excellence for the Harley Langdale Jr. College of Business Administration at Valdosta State University.

The President’s Award for Academic Excellence is presented to a high-performing graduating student in each of VSU’s six colleges — Harley Langdale Jr. College of Business Administration, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, College of the Arts, James L. and Dorothy H. Dewar College of Education and Human Services, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and College of Science and Mathematics.

Babkina will be recognized during VSU’s 234^th Commencement at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 10, on the Front Lawn. She will graduate summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Economics, a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance, a Minor in Business Analytics, a Minor in Accounting, and an Honors College Certificate.

“I remember coming to VSU thinking I wanted to be a biology major before realizing my heart just wasn’t in it,” she shared. “I changed my major to something I was more interested in and could see myself doing in the future — economics. From there I added a major in finance, a minor in business analytics, and another minor in accounting. I couldn’t seem to get enough of business. It’s crazy to think how I came in believing I wanted to study biology and now I’m one of VSU’s top graduating business students. I guess it all goes to show the importance of being open to following your passions.”

As a student at VSU, Babkina served as secretary of the Honors Student Association, vice president of Beta Gamma Sigma: The International Business Honor Society, and vice president of the Langdale FinTech Society.

Babkina’s commitment to academic and leadership excellence resulted in her being named an Honors Scholar and a Zell Miller Scholar, as well as earning repeated Dean’s List honors, the Harley Langdale Jr. College of Business Administration’s 2022 Outstanding Senior in Economics Award, and the 2021 Georgia Gulf Sulfur Finance Scholarship.

After graduation Babkina plans to begin her career as a risk insight analyst for Fidelity Information Services in Atlanta.

Her supportive family includes parents Irina Babkina and Aleksander Babkina.