Clarkson University Senior Miles Compani Receives Levinus Clarkson Award
Graduating senior Miles Compani, of Perth, NY, received the Levinus Clarkson Award during Clarkson University’s Spring 2024 Commencement Ceremony on May 11th. He was selected for the $1,000 award by a vote of the full University faculty, based on his scholarship and promise of outstanding achievement.
The award was established by University founders Elizabeth and Frederica Clarkson in memory of their brother, Levinus, and was first awarded in 1909. This award and the Frederica Clarkson Award are traditionally given to the two top students in the graduating class.
Compani, an Eagle Scout and member of the Honors Program, earned a bachelor of science degree in Engineering & Management (E&M) in December 2023, graduating with a cumulative 4.0 GPA and Presidential Scholar recognition across all seven of his undergraduate semesters. In the months since, he has begun his pursuit of a doctorate degree in Engineering Science, as well as a master’s degree in Engineering Management.
The valedictorian of the Broadalbin-Perth Class of 2020, Compani’s journey at Clarkson began four years ago, when he was named among the inaugural class of Ignite Presidential Fellowship (IPF) recipients. He arrived in the North Country with a passion for innovation and entrepreneurship, having previously received awards for his own independent research at the Greater Capital Region Science and Engineering Fair, and soon dedicated himself to as many academic and extracurricular activities as possible.
Throughout his seven undergraduate semesters, Compani displayed a unique dedication towards his E&M coursework, showcasing a sense of curiosity and enthusiasm to learn more while engaging with his faculty and fellow students. Among his many accomplishments were a completed provisional patent application and the chance to represent the E&M Program at multiple Open House events. Compani has also been the most active participant in Clarkson’s Microcredentials series of mini-courses, having completed over fifteen since the program’s inception in 2020.
Beyond the classroom, Compani has held a variety of leadership roles across campus, the most notable of which being a two-year term as the Co-Chair of the Clarkson Honors Steering Board. In this position, he oversaw the program’s entire student government, doubling its size and significantly expanding its impact on Clarkson as a whole. Now an alumni of the Honors Program, Compani serves as the Steering Board’s Graduate Mentor; he has separately served as the President of the Clarkson Innovation Network for over two years.
While searching for opportunities to diversify his experiences, Compani became an integral member of academic unit Clarkson Ignite, starting as the Managing Director of the IPF Leadership Team in early 2022, and later as the Student Ambassador of the Fall 2022 President’s Challenge, and a Specialized Project Intern throughout 2023. He has since been elevated to the unit’s Executive Fellow, which has allowed him to make an even more meaningful impact on the Clarkson community.
At Ignite, Compani directly oversees a team of four project-based student workers, and collaborates with other Ignite Fellows while providing mentorship to an additional thirty students who work for the organization’s Dorf Makerspace and Makers’ Loft divisions. In the process, he coordinates logistics and cross-campus collaborations for a variety of annual events, including Research and Project Showcase (RAPS), the North Country Regional Business Plan Competition, and the President’s Challenge. For the latter, Compani manages a complex budget and serves as the sole point of contact for over 700 students, faculty, staff, and alumni. He also develops programming for more than forty IPF recipients, providing them with a clear and consistent vision of how they can become their most authentic selves.
Across all four years at Clarkson, Compani has received a variety of academic and extracurricular awards, including the Phalanx Commendable Leadership and Commendable Service Awards in 2024, the Richard Brady Legro ‘82 Memorial Endowed Award and Joseph Scaturro Endowed Scholarship in 2023, the Ignite Graduate Fellowship in 2022, and multiple prizes at past President’s Challenge events. His greatest honor came when he was invited to serve as a Student Speaker for the Fall 2023 Commencement Ceremony. During his speech, Compani encouraged his fellow graduates to see the event as the “beginning of the next stage of [their] lives”, and to be “leaders in [their] lifetime”.
In his free time, Compani can be found as an active member of the Sustainability Club, Clarkson University Orchestra, and industrial engineering honor society Alpha Pi Mu, which he was inducted into last April. He also conducts research concerning political polarization on social media under Dr. Golshan Madraki, and has presented multiple projects at RAPS events. Compani has volunteered extensively for a variety of organizations, including the CU Pantry and the Clarkson Clothing Insecurity Association, and aims to continue to do so as much as he can.
Outside of Clarkson, Compani has strived to increase his knowledge and abilities whenever possible. He has completed two supply chain-oriented internships with energy equipment manufacturer GE Vernova in Schenectady, NY, first as a Commodity Site Leader Intern in 2022, and later as a Global Commodity Leader Intern in 2023; throughout both experiences, he has served as an Intern Ambassador. Upon returning to GE this summer, Compani plans to join the company’s legal department as a Contract Management Intern, during which he will explore his interests in contract law.
Compani is also a certified Engineer-in-Training with New York State, having completed the FE Industrial and Systems Exam in June 2023, after only three years of academic study. He aspires to eventually become a Professional Engineer, which will allow him to apply his E&M background to the world of Industrial Engineering. Compani also has interests in pursuing a career in patent law or film production, the latter of which he attributes to his passion for project management.
Although his studies at Clarkson are still well underway, Compani is very appreciative of the support and opportunities he has received over the past four years. As he continues his simultaneous pursuit of a doctorate and master’s degree, he looks forward to whatever the future holds.
