2026 The Exceptional Sales & Marketing Collegiate Award

  The Exceptional Sales and Marketing Collegiate Award: David Haydu Jr., The University of Akron

David Haydu, a junior at The University of Akron, is expected to graduate with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Sales Management and Marketing. His collegiate career began when his application to enroll at Akron Early College High School was accepted. This opportunity led David to earn 60 credits in various collegiate courses, beginning as early as his freshman year, resulting in his high school diploma as class Valedictorian and his Associate of Arts concurrently in May of 2023. This experience and hard work catapulted David into an even more lucrative and involved collegiate career.

David has since achieved internships at Palmer Holland, Inc. and CED while balancing multiple leadership positions in student organizations. These roles include being the Treasurer for Phi Delta Theta Ohio Epsilon, Vice President of Alumni Relations for Delta Sigma Pi Theta Kappa, former Treasurer and current member of the Fisher Sales Society, an Ambassador for the Fisher Institute for Professional Selling, an Ambassador for the College of Business at UA, a member of The University of Akron Student Ambassadors, a Student Success Leader in the College of Business, and a two-time national qualifier for the University of Akron Speech team.

David’s go-getter mentality, compassion, and desire to serve others are the driving forces of these achievements and will lead him confidently through the next chapter of this journey post-graduation. David, however, stresses that he could not have made these achievements without a village. David expresses his utmost gratitude to every educator, mentor, and friend who has supported him throughout this journey and given him the encouragement to continue serving others. He truly believes that he would be nowhere near where he is now without the support of those along his journey.