Merced County sheriff’s sergeant to be honored

A Merced County sheriff’s sergeant will be awarded with the Mark Dunakin Award for Extraordinary Achievement from the Sacramento Academic Center of Union Institute & University.

Sgt. Ray Framstad, 41, was nominated for the Dunakin award by his professors, who noted that he excelled at being a “mentor and trainer, and a person with the knowledge and sincerity indispensable to the higher ranks in law enforcement,” according to a news release.

Framstad will graduate with a 4.0 GPA, the release stated, and completed coursework from his hospital bed while recuperating from a serious burn injury.

The award’s namesake, Dunakin, was an officer for the Oakland Police Department killed in the line of duty along with three other officers in March 2009. Union’s faculty and staff joined together to design a way to memorialize him by establishing the award.

“I am so humbled by this award and can’t express my excitement,” Framstad said in the news release. “It is an honor to even be considered.”

The award will be given to him at Union’s summer commencement at 11 a.m. Sunday at the Sacramento Convention Center Theater.

Union Institute & University is headquartered in Cincinnati with academic centers in Los Angeles, Sacramento and other cities. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, and offers undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degree programs.

This story was originally published August 21, 2015 at 7:24 PM with the headline "Merced County sheriff’s sergeant to be honored."