NYU Abu Dhabi students, sophomore Mandy Tan and junior Jorge Zárate, have each received an NYU President's Service Award. Now in its 28th year, the award recognizes valuable members among the NYU community, students or student organizations that have made outstanding contributions to campus life, the student population, and the university network as a whole.

Tan was nominated for her work in organizing both the Sila and GIN conferences, which were hosted by NYUAD. During the conferences, invited universities from all around the world gathered in Abu Dhabi to encourage dialogue about social awareness in an increasingly globalized world. Tan worked with fellow sophomores Benjamin Jance and Alf Lim on the conferences (GIN and Sila, respectively).

"By offering two such successful conferences, NYUAD students presented NYUAD in a very positive light to the UAE community and brought students, universities, government officials, and community members together to work on creative solutions to shared challenges," said Renee Dugan, NYUAD assistant dean of Campus Life.

Tan's work with Sila and GIN has furthered NYUAD's goal of solidifying a network of cultural and ideological exchanges among the top-tier universities of the world. Of her nomination, Tan says, "I feel honored to have the chance to build upon our university in Abu Dhabi, with the ultimate intention of establishing the global network university."

Zárate was nominated for creating the first student journal for Public Health, The NYU Torch: Journal for Domestic and Global Health. As co-editor in chief, Zárate — along with Renán Orellana (NYUNY '14), co-founder and co-editor in chief — helped conceive a journal that offers a platform for NYU students across the global network to draw on their expertise and interests in different fields, ranging from biology to social policy, in order to engage in discussions about public health.

"I'm very excited to be working on The Torch and seeing it bring the different global network university sites together," he said. "I'm thankful for this award and I look forward to continue working on this project."

Zárate, who is currently studying at NYU New York, will attend the awards ceremony, which will take place on April 17 on the NYUNY campus.