After 26 years in northern Nevada media, Reynolds School of Journalism faculty member Erin Breen knows a good journalist when she sees one.

“It was evident from the start that Arash Mosaleh wasn’t just another kid in the class last spring,” Breen says. “He took every assignment to heart and did what he could to make those projects his own.”

That dedication is one of the reasons Mosaleh will receive honors at the University of Nevada, Reno’s Senior Scholar Awards Reception Dec. 2. The University’s Alumni Association will acknowledge Mosaleh and seven other students from this semester’s graduating class for academic excellence. The association will also award students’ chosen faculty mentors during the banquet. Mosaleh and his mentor Breen are the Senior Scholar award recipients from the Reynolds School.

Award-winning scholars and mentors, respectively, from other colleges on campus include: Janine Stone and Elliot Parker, College of Business; Jenna Hayes and Melissa Burnham, College of Education; Gregory Kraus and Eric Wang, College of Engineering; Daphne Bateman and Elissa DeWolfe, Division of Health Sciences; Ryan Katausky and Scott Waite, College of Science; Janine Stone and Derek Kauneckis, College of Liberal Arts; and scholar Rachel Baek and mentor Patricia Ellison from the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources.

The Senior Scholar award has been a commencement tradition each semester for the last 18 years and is one of the most prestigious distinctions available to students. This semester’s honorees have worked hard for the recognition.

Breen recalls watching Mosaleh work through the challenges she presented in her classes. “Radio seemed to be a whole new world for him and challenged him to think differently,” she says. “And while he works as a producer [for KTVN Channel 2, the CBS television affiliate in Reno] and knows the importance of varying story forms in a show, I don’t know that he really understood how those story forms are individually put together until he had to do it himself.”

Senior Scholar awardees will receive their honors in Ballroom C of the Joe Crowley Student Union. A reception begins at 5:30 p.m. followed by the awards presentation at 6. Tickets are $10.

According to Breen, Mosaleh’s graduation is the start of a very bright future for him.

“I have no doubt he will be able to put his skills to work in any market he chooses in the country,” she says. “It was a pleasure to have him in my classes and it will be a pleasure to see him working at the network.”

The University’s Winter Commencement begins at 8 a.m. Dec. 6 at Lawlor Events Center.