Naomi D'Amato at the Kennedy Center

Naomi D’Amato is interning at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.,  this semester. The UT Dallas accounting student has earned a $2,500 scholarship through Golden Key International Honour Society.

UT Dallas accounting junior Naomi D’Amato said her mother taught her early on to focus her life on serving others.

When she got to UT Dallas, she was further inspired by the way faculty members such as Matthew Polze, a lecturer in business law, and Dr. Ted Harpham, dean of the Honors College, showed an interest in helping students and shared their passion for learning.

“You can’t give love to people unless you see an example,” D’Amato said. “I can only demonstrate traits others have shown to me.”

Her ongoing commitment to leadership and service has earned D’Amato a $2,500 scholarship through the Golden Key International Honour Society. The Emerging Scholar Award recognizes outstanding sophomore members who have made a difference in their chapter.

D’Amato is the second UT Dallas student to receive a prestigious award or scholarship from Golden Key in recent years. Last year, Margaret Elise Bullock BS’15 won the $5,000 Undergraduate Achievement Scholarship from Golden Key. Bullock is now a bioengineering graduate student at UT Dallas.

Tiffanie Douglas, assistant director of the Student Success Center at UT Dallas and the Golden Key advisor, said D’Amato stepped up into leadership roles shortly after she was inducted into the society.

D’Amato replaced the chapter’s honorary member director midterm, and created a newsletter, planned and facilitated a successful networking event, and revitalized the chapter’s relationship with its honorary members. She also recommended that the chapter create a service scholarship to sponsor a project that benefits its favorite charity.

To Naomi, altruism is a way of life. She relentlessly seeks opportunity to help those in need. Others are enriched because of her passion and commitment. She is disciplined in her studies, invested in her community and unwavering in her desire to impact the world for good.

Tiffanie Douglas,
assistant director of the Student Success Center at UT Dallas

“To Naomi, altruism is a way of life. She relentlessly seeks opportunities to help those in need. Others are enriched because of her passion and commitment,” Douglas said. “She is disciplined in her studies, invested in her community and unwavering in her desire to impact the world for good.”

D’Amato, who is a member of Collegium V Honors Program, said she saw an opportunity to be engaged in a leadership role by helping students in the society connect with honorary members in the community.

“Networking is such an important part of being a student and getting that first job. I thought a networking event would be a great opportunity for faculty, corporate representatives and honorary members to connect,” she said.

This semester, D’Amato is interning in Washington, D.C., where she is a corporate and foundations development intern for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She hopes to eventually land a job that combines accounting with missions or support for the performing arts.

Golden Key is the world’s largest honor society, with more than 2 million members and more than 400 chapters around the world. The society focuses on academics, leadership and service.