Dr. Kristine Young, YuYu "Ryan" Chien, Kayti Holloway and Dr. Erika Hackman

SUNY Orange students Yuyu “Ryan” Chien and Kayti Holloway are among those being celebrated April 27 during the Phi Theta Kappa All-New York Academic Awards at the Albany Capital Center in Albany, N.Y.

Presented by Phi Theta Kappa, the national honor society for students at two-year colleges, the awards recognize outstanding academic achievement by SUNY and CUNY students across the state.

Chien and Holloway were recognized for academic excellence, leadership and commitment to their fields of study.

A graduate of Chapel Field High School and a Middletown-area resident, Chien is an architecture student and member of the SUNY Orange Honors Program. He is a member of the architecture and Asian clubs, as well as a student senator. He is the recipient of the Pratt & Whitney and Rowley STEM scholarships and said he is grateful for the recognition.

“I appreciate this nomination; this is a huge honor,” Chien said. “It was exciting to see how proud my parents were when I told them. SUNY Orange has been an amazing place to start my college journey.”

During his time at SUNY Orange, Chien completed an Honors Program capstone thesis examining adaptive reuse and the connection between declining malls and public health. He has also contributed to a national design competition focused on youth transitional housing and support centers through the Coalition of Community College Architecture Programs.

Chien serves as president of the Phi Theta Kappa Alpha Nu Chi Chapter and has been involved as a peer orientation leader, demonstrating a strong commitment to student engagement and leadership. He plans to transfer to another institution on the East Coast to complete his major, focusing on sustainable and urban planning in architecture.

A resident of Cornwall-on-Hudson and a graduate of Cornwall High School, Holloway received an architecture scholarship from the SUNY Orange Foundation and is a member of the architecture and honors social clubs. She plans to continue her education in architecture after graduating, with the goal of designing spaces that support children in medical and educational environments.

“Thank you so much for the nomination for this award,” Holloway said. “I plan to continue my studies, hopefully in a warmer climate, to earn my bachelor’s degree in architecture and sit for the licensing exam.”

She is currently part of a team competing in the Coalition of Community College Architecture Programs competition, designing a youth transitional housing and support center.

The recognition comes during April’s Community College Month, a national observance highlighting the impact and value of community colleges, including SUNY Orange, across the country.

About Phi Theta Kappa

Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society is the international honor society of students seeking associate degrees, bachelor’s degrees or other college credentials. It has more than 3.5 million members in nearly 1,300 chapters in 10 nations.

For more information about SUNY Orange and its academic programs, visit sunyorange.edu or call (845) 341-4030.