Â鶹´«Ã½ÉçÇøÈë¿Ú

• August 17, 2015

Â鶹´«Ã½ÉçÇøÈë¿Ú graduate student Patrick Michael Sorgaard is the recipient of a Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement, a prestigious annual honor recognizing the Â鶹´«Ã½ÉçÇøÈë¿Ú system’s top-performing and most inspiring students.

Sorgaard, who has Asperger’s syndrome, was recognized as the Michael and Debe Lucki Scholar and will be awarded with a $6,000 scholarship. He and the 22 other award recipients representing each of the CSU campuses will be honored at the Sept. 8 Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach. 

Sorgaard has a 4.0 GPA as he works toward a master’s degree in statistics from Â鶹´«Ã½ÉçÇøÈë¿Ú, but has faced many challenges associated with Asperger’s syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism.

Growing up, he was the target of bullying as he struggled with communication, severe sensory dysfunction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression and “face blindness,” a cognitive disorder that impairs the ability to recognize faces. Before coming to CSUEB as a graduate student, Sorgaard experienced a traumatic first year as an undergraduate at another university and spent the next six years recovering at home.

However, Sorgaard didn’t give up on school and worked on developing coping mechanisms. He graduated with honors from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics.  

Sorgaard is now excelling academically. He is a member of the American Statistical Association and the Gold Key International Honor Society, and has worked over the summer with the Â鶹´«Ã½ÉçÇøÈë¿Ú, East Bay Foundation to help students improve their math skills. He plans to pursue a doctoral degree in statistics and become a professor in order to help students struggling in math.

“The field of statistics helps me to feel connected to both other people and the world by giving me a sense of purpose,” Sorgaard said.

The Trustees’ awards are handed out annually to “students who demonstrate superior academic performance, community service and financial need.”