Tag Archives: Salazar Award

Otabek Zainiev

Otabek Zainiev '21 (Baruch)

Otabek Zainiev ’21, whom joined the Baruch Macaulay program in Fall 2016, suddenly passed away at the age of 22 on March 28, 2021. He was pursuing an Operations Management major and double minors in NYC Studies and Economics & Finance. He was born in Samarkand, Uzbekistan and lived with his family in Staten Island. Otabek was a family man and had a sense of humor which brought joy to those around him. One of his passions was education and therefore he worked tirelessly to thrive academically, despite facing personal challenges. Otabek aspired to be a successful businessman and was actively applying to internships.

Otabek enjoyed giving back and often volunteered at NYU Langone Hospital and as a tutor for adolescents. He also served as a teacher’s assistant and provided support for children during a prior trip to his homeland. Otabek loved to absorb information and eagerly spoke about his trips to Aruba and Israel. He was also fluent in Russian and active in cocurricular activities, such as the Macaulay Business Club. He will always be known for his compassion, resilience and drive.

Natalie Csak

Natalie Csak '21 (Baruch)

Natalie Csak ’21 is a finance major and a double minor in NYC Studies and psychology. She has participated in the Financial Women’s Association (FWA) and has served and participated on the Macaulay Scholars Council and the Macaulay Business Club. She helped to coordinate the Faculty Outstanding Teaching award with the Baruch Honors Program. She has a full-time job offer from BMO (Bank of Montreal) in Healthcare Investment Banking.

Emilia Decaudin

Emilia Decaudin is a 21 year old activist and student in her senior year at the City College of New York, where she studies Political Theory and Intellectual History, as part of the CUNY BA program.

In September 2018, Emilia was elected as the youngest-ever member of the New York State Democratic Committee, representing the 94th Assembly District in Westchester County. She came out as the first-ever transgender member the following Summer, and in October of 2019, she spearheaded a successful effort to amend the rules of the committee to remove unnecessary references to the gender binary and to accommodate the election of gender non-binary members. She is continuing her efforts to foster inclusion of transgender and non-binary New Yorkers through her project Binary-Free NYC.

Emilia was born and raised in Westchester County, New York, in a family of French immigrants. She currently resides in Sunnyside, Queens, where she is now running for Democratic District Leader for the 37th Assembly District, Part A.

Florence Adeosun

Florence Adeosun is a Journalism and Creative Writing Major and a Theatre Minor. She is a director for the non-profit organization, Relume Foundation. She helps run their social media, is a volunteer SAT tutor for the organization, writes press releases for Relume, and she has helped in medical charity trips to villages in Nigeria. In 2019, she received the Arnold Picker Award of Excellence in Journalism. She also participated in the production of Godspell by the Macaulay Theatre Club. Florence plans on being an editor for a news organization and continuing her philanthropy in the future.