Undergraduate Dean’s Medalist: Matthew D. Forney

Matthew Forney, of Petaluma, earned his B.S. in construction management and a minor in general business, with a 4.0 GPA. After high school, Forney merged his interests in farm business management and ag mechanics to pursue his studies in construction. Forney co led the winning commercial building competition teams at Fresno State, and worked to recruit students to participate. The team won second place in 2023 and 2024 at the Associated Builders and Contractors’ Construction Management Competition and frst place in the Associated Schools of Construction Commercial Competition. He became a champion in the Bluebeam User Group dedicated to construction software, interned with the McCarthy Building Companies and served as secretary for Sigma Lambda Chi, the construction management honor society. After graduation, Forney will be a project engineer with McCarthy.

Graduate Dean’s Medalist: Rodolfo Lopez

Rodolfo Lopez, of Dinuba, earned his M.S. in civil engineering with a 3.84 GPA. He previously earned a dual B.A. in mass communication and journalism and Spanish from Fresno State. When Lopez’s life and economic situation changed, he realized it was time to choose a different career path. But before he could be admitted to a master’s program in engineering, he had to complete civil engineering undergraduate courses. Completing assignments and maintaining above a B letter grade was a challenge for the full-time working father of two young children. He would never miss a class, was always on time and participated in class discussions. It took Lopez four years to complete his required courses to get into the master’s degree program. He took his frst engineering course in 2014 and set a goal to pass the Fundamentals of Engineering exam before graduating. He passed the exam
in November and graduated in December 2023. Lopez was an engineering intern for the California High Speed Rail and now works as an transportation engineer for Caltrans.