University, Departmental Student Honors

Unless the class year is listed, the students are graduating seniors:

NATIONAL

Rhodes Scholarship

Two Duke University seniors were among the 32 recipients selected this year for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarships. The Duke winners -- Dave Chokshi of Baton Rouge, La., and Jacob Foster of Winchester, Va. -- were chosen from among 981 applicants at 341 colleges and universities throughout the country.

Chokshi and Foster are both recipients of A.B. Duke Scholarships, which provide four years of tuition based strictly on merit, and both were recently named winners of the Faculty Scholar Award, the highest honor that the Duke faculty can bestow upon its undergraduates.

Chokshi is a double major in chemistry and public policy studies whose interests include bioethics and the complexities of fostering equitable health care based upon strong science. At Oxford, he plans to pursue a degree in philosophy, politics and economics, and later to go to medical school.

As a physics major, Foster did work in non-linear dynamics and high energy physics and took graduate level as well as undergraduate courses. At Oxford, he plans to pursue a doctorate in mathematical research.

Goldwater Scholarship

Four Duke students with a record of success in undergraduate research have won Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships, which recognize excellence in science, mathematics and engineering.

This year's recipients are junior Ethan D. Eade of Timonium, Md.; junior Lauren M. Childs of Medford, N.J.; sophomore Margaret J. Wat of Chapel Hill; and junior Linda Zhang of Nashville.

Since the awards began about 15 years ago in memory of the late U.S. senator and Republican presidential candidate, 52 Duke students have received the honor, which provides up to $7,500 a year toward tuition and other college expenses. Gates Cambridge Scholarship Melanie Wood, a senior from Indianapolis, Ind., received a Gates Cambridge Scholarship given to scholars of outstanding academic merit and leadership potential from every country of the world other than the United Kingdom. The scholarship provides support for study at Cambridge University in England. Gates Cambridge Scholars will be expected to be leaders in addressing global problems relating to learning, technology, health and social equity. The scholars are thus expected to use their education for the benefit of others and to show commitment to improving the common weal. Mellon Minority Undergraduate Fellowships The Mellon Minority Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) Program at Duke is designed specifically to provide students with a greater awareness of what it means to be an academic. Each year, five sophomore students are selected as Mellon Undergraduate Fellows. They receive stipends for the academic terms and summers for two years. During the summers, fellows, under the direction of a faculty mentor, pursue some form of directed study, intended to give them a sense of scholarly research activities. This year sophomore winners are Zane Curtis-Olsen of Charlotte; Laquisha Douglas of Miami; Tameeka Norton of Brooklyn; Rocio Nunez of New York; and Crystal Sanders of Clayton. Graduating seniors who were Mellon Fellows are Donnel Baird of Stone Mountain, Ga.; Janaka Bowman of Augusta, Ga.; and Adam Stokes of Baltimore. UNIVERSITY Political Science Luke Nayef Condra of Richardson, Texas, was named winner of the Alona E. Evans Prize in International Law, given annually to a student whose paper on international law reflects excellence in scholarship. Tamara Charlene Divenere of West Jefferson, has been honored with the Robert S. Rankin Award in American Government and Constitutional Law, presented to the outstanding student in the field of American government and constitutional law. William Edward English of Derwood, Md., was awarded the Robert S. Rankin American Government Award for Leadership and Academic Achievement. This award is presented to students who have demonstrated excellence in the study of American government and who have displayed an exemplary role in service to Duke or to the community. The Robert S. Rankin Award in American National, State, and Local Governments was awarded to Candace Jewel Martin of Philadelphia and Jennifer Honey Csik of North Miami Beach, Fla. Paul Felipe Lagunes of Mexico City, Mexico, and Karen Tenenbaum of Derwood, Md., have been honored with the Elizabeth G. Verville Award. This award is presented annually to the students who submit the best papers on the subject of political science. Public Policy Studies Christina Hsu, a senior from Tacoma, Wash., has been honored with the Terry Sanford Departmental Award. This award is presented annually to the public policy studies graduating major in recognition of his/her achievement in leadership. Janna Fishman, a senior from Hollywood, Fla., has been honored with the Joel Fleishman Distinguished Scholar Award. This award is presented annually to the graduating major with the highest academic achievement. Economics Pamela Lynn Maine of Greensboro won the Allen Starling Johnson Jr. Best Honor's Thesis Award. She received a prize of $500. The Allen Starling Johnson Jr. Distinguished Undergraduate Research Assistant Prize was awarded to: Bogdan Alexandru Albu of Bellvue, Wash.; Wagish Bhartiya of Vienna, Va.; Craig Adam Erdrich of Potomac, Md.; Wanwiphang Manachotphong of Thailand; Antoine George Munfakh of New York, N.Y.; Catherine Ashley Phillips of Decatur, Ala.; Kenneth Stephen Reinker of Marietta, Ga.; and Sarah Penina Unger of La Jolla, Calif. Each recipient was awarded a $2,000 prize.

The 2003 Junior Fellow, American Academy of Political and Social Science, is Patrick Peter Dickinson of Gibsonia, Pa. His prize is membership in the academy. Asian Pacific Studies The Sirena WuDunn Memorial Scholarships for 2003-2004 have been awarded to Daphne Chang of Annandale, Va., Stephanie Liu of Cramerton, Mrinali Patel of Richlands, Va., and Tammy Shen of Surry B.C., Canada. These scholarships are given each year in memory of Sirena WuDunn, a Duke student who was killed when Korean Airlines flight 007 was shot down in l983 by Soviet fighters. The awards are given to the students who best embody the ideals and interests that WuDunn held, including a demonstrated interest in East-West culture and academic excellence. The Janet B. Chiang Memorial Grants for 2003-2004 have been awarded to: Ajay Anil Bangale of Fort Worth, Texas, for a summer research project in Pune, India; Anthony Kwon of Federal Way, Wash., for travel to meetings of the East Coast Asian Students Union; and Nancy Lee of Brea, Calif., for travel to a conference for Asian and Pacific Americans in Higher Education. Priority in awarding these grants is given to projects that further Asian/American understanding and encourage student leadership. Bascom Headen Palmer Literary Prize Cara Elizabeth Weber, a graduating senior from Sarasota, Fla., who has completed majors in literature and in French and European Studies, has been awarded the 2003 Bascom Headen Palmer Literary Prize for the best senior honors thesis in literary studies. The $1,200 prize was established in honor of Judge Palmer, who graduated from Trinity College in 1875 and won the Hesperian Literary Society Medal of that year. Weber's prize-winning thesis is entitled "A Voice of One's Own: Women, Love and Self-Expression in the Interwar Novels of Elizabeth Bowen and Rosamund Lehmann." She will spend next year in Germany before entering graduate school on a Beinecke Scholarship. Film and Video Blaise DiPersia of Southport, Conn., received the Undergraduate Filmmaker Award from the Program in Film/Video/Digital. Seniors Eric Bramley of Greenville, N.C., and David Logan of Arlington, Va., are the co-recipients of this year's Animation Award. Music The Julia Wilkinson Mueller Prize for Excellence in Music went to Jiyoon Im, a senior from Edison, N.J., and Psyche Loui, a senior from Vancouver, Canada. The Henry Schuman Prize for an original paper or musical composition went to Erik Ryan Simpson, a senior from Grand Prairie, Texas, for his paper, "Playing Lead: Band Leadership in New Orleans, 1900-1925;" honorable mention went to Alexandra Meredith Jones, a senior from Wayne, Pa., for her paper, "Facing the Music: Examining Power Shifts in the Anglican Church through a Study of the History of Church Bands." This award is funded by a gift from Dr. and Mrs. James H. Semans to honor a lifelong friend. The William Klenz Prize in Music Composition goes toNathaniel Stookey, a graduate student from Chapel Hill, for his dissertation composition for orchestra, "Out of Everywhere." Institute of the Arts The Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts goes to Erik Ryan Simpson, a senior from Grand Prairie, Texas, for his achievements in music as a composer, performer (trumpet) and leadership. As a composer, Simpson has written works for various instrumental combinations, most particularly brass quintet. His composition entitled Malungo, an 18-minute tone poem addressing issues of slavery and freedom, was selected to receive the 2002 Henry Schuman Prize from the Department of Music. As co-founder and director of the brass quintet, The Brass Ring, composed of Duke students and alumni, Erik lead the group in performances for campus cultural events, and off-campus in many community settings, including an invited appearance to perform Malungo for the Raleigh visit of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Edward H. Benenson Award Benenson Awards ranging from $1,400 to $5,800 were awarded to 12 students who have shown promise in all fields of the arts and literature. Alyah Baker, a graduating senior from Raleigh, will participate in two prestigious pre-professional dance organizations this summer. Seniors Gregory Bloom from Florida and Blaise Di Persia from South Carolina, will share a Benenson Award for their project to construct a multimedia internet-based documentary site envisioned as an educational tool for learning about several aspects of contemporary Cuban culture. David M. Boldt, a graduating senior from Wisconsin majoring in Civil Engineering, will receive a Benenson Award for a project in applied organology that combines his interest in acoustics and engineering. Sara Hudson, a rising senior from Texas, is receiving a Benenson Award to fund ethnographic research in Xocen, Mexico, a Mayan village in Yucata toward the creation of a tri-lingual children's book based on the legend of the talking cross of Xocen. Rising senior Courtney Crosson, from Gainesville, Fla., was selected to receive a Benenson Award for her art-history research project on the contemporary Italian art group MULTIPLICITY. Jiyoon Im, a graduating senior from New Jersey, is receiving a Benenson Award to support a two-part summer project in piano and chamber music. A graduating senior from Ohio, Caroline Kessler has majored in theater studies, and is receiving her Benenson Award to continue intensive post-graduate study in acting. She will participate in one of three prestigious programs. Cayce Lee, a continuing senior from Lewisville who will graduate from Duke in December 2003, will receive a Benenson Award to study at the Penland School of Design this summer. Burke Scarbrough, graduating senior from Ridgefield, Conn., and Katie Van Wert, a graduating senior from Silver Spring, Md., are sharing a Benenson Award to develop and produce a documentary film about the contemporary New York jazz scene. Graduating senior from Norwich, VT, Lucy Stringer, will undertake both an historical and creative project that explores connections between two Russian artists -- playwright Anton Chekhov and painter Isaak Levitan -- and their influence upon and contributions to Russian intellectual culture. Art and Art History The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation Award in Visual Arts was presented to Katherine Carter Glass, a senior from Richmond, Va. Recipients of the award are selected based on superior academic record and extraordinary achievements in the visual arts. The Nancy Kaneb Art History Award was presented to Christine Marie Gesick, a senior from Seguin, Texas, and Lauren Alyssa Deboever, a senior from Keller, Texas. The Vernon G. Pratt Award in Art was presented to Hadley Ann Trotter, a senior from Charlotte. Dance The Julia Wray Memorial Dance Award was given to Ashley Elizabeth Smith, a senior from Nashville, Tenn.This award was established in 1991 to honor the memory of Julia Wray, a long-time program director known for her contributions to the art of dance throughout the state, and to recognize graduating students who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in dance. Drama The Reynolds Price Award for Best Original Script, presented annually by the program to undergraduates for the best original script for stage, screen or television, was awarded to Sarah Bagley, a senior from San Diego. The John M. Clum Distinguished Drama Graduate Award, named for the founder of the Duke drama program, went toVinny Eng, a senior from Rosemead, Calif. It is presented annually to the outstanding graduating senior who has made extraordinary contributions to the life of the program. The Tommasco Iacovella award for excellence in acting, presented annually to an undergraduate for sustained excellence in acting for stage or screen, went toCaroline Kessler, a senior from Reading, Ohio. The Harold Brody Award for Excellence in Musical Theater went to Adam Sampieri, a senior from Sparta, N.J Documentary Studies The following Duke students have won John Hope Franklin Student Documentary Awards to fund documentary fieldwork projects over the summer: Libby Conn, a junior from Lawrence, Kan., and Laura Tobolowsky, a junior from Dallas, will work with the Sunflower County Freedom Project, founded by Duke alum Chris Myers, in Sunflower, Miss. Each year 20 seventh-graders join the program, which involves a six-year commitment. Conn and Tobolowsky will produce a short digital video that looks at individual students and "reveals the cultivation and renewal of the spirit of youth empowerment." Lily-Hayes Kaufman, a senior from New York, through photographs and writing, will be documenting the lives of Senegalese women. She will meet with students and non-students, teachers, mothers, and working women in and around Dakar "to compare the hopes, aspirations, and available opportunities of women who have received varying degrees of education." Anna Skorupa, a senior from Campaign, Ill., will work at the Laski Institute for the Blind, which serves approximately three hundred blind or partially sighted children from all over Poland. Skorupa will explore the concept of disability in Poland by conducting interviews with Laski's students and former students and their families, teachers, volunteers, and visitors; she will incorporate the interview material in a long documentary essay. The Franklin awards, established in 1989 by the Center for Documentary Studies, are named for the noted scholar John Hope Franklin, professor emeritus of history at Duke University, in recognition of his lifetime accomplishments and his dedication to students and teaching. The Center for Documentary Studies makes these awards to undergraduates attending Triangle-area universities; this year's winners included students from North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as well as Duke. The Julia Harper Day Award, given annually by the Center for Documentary Studies in honor of the center's first staff member to a graduating senior who has demonstrated excellence in documentary studies and has contributed significantly to the center's programs. This year's award went to graduating senior Emily Fishkin of Huntersville for her work in center courses and as a member of the center's Community Programs staff the last three years. Chemistry The Department of Chemistry Award, presented to a student who has participated in Independent Study, maintained a distinguished academic record, and intends to pursue advanced study in chemistry, went to John F.R. May of Mobile, Ala. The award consists of a one-year student membership in the American Chemical Society and a one-year subscription to a society-published journal. The Merck Index Award, given to students who have maintained distinguished academic records and plan to attend medical school, went to Dave A. Chokshi, Anda M. Cornea, Melissa N. Desai and Chirag M. Shah. The awards consist of a copy of the Merck Index. The Hypercube Scholar Award, given to a chemistry major who has maintained an outstanding record and plans to pursue graduate study in an area of chemistry that extensively uses molecular modeling, went to Andrew G. Taube of McLean, Va. The award consists of a molecular modeling computer software package donated by Hypercube Inc. Mathematics Julie Dale Prize, a cash award given to mathematics majors on the basis of excellence in mathematics, went to Matt J. Atwood and Melanie E. Wood. The Karl Menger Award, a cash prize honoring outstanding performance in mathematical competitions, went to David G. Arthur, Matt J. Atwood and Melanie E. Wood. Sociology Amelie Quesnel-Vallee of won the Vorsanger-Smith Scholar Award, presented annually to recognize overall excellence in the graduate program. African and African-American Studies Richard McCray of Uxon Hill, Md., won the John Hope Franklin Award for Highest GPA and the Karla Holloway Award for Service to Duke; Erik Ryan Simpson of Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded the Mary McLeod Bethune Writing Award; Donnel Baird of Stone Mountain, Ga., and Quionda Perkins of Bethel won the Walter C. Burford Award for Community Service. Cultural Anthropology The Judith McDade Prize in Cultural Anthropology was awarded to Deborah Mara Lipman of Westport, Conn., Karen Elizabeth Livingston of Laurinburg and Katerina Maria Yiannibas of Charlotte. The prize is awarded annually to the graduating senior or seniors majoring in cultural anthropology judged to have the most distinguished record in the major. History Bret P. Jaspers of Rochester, N.Y., and Nicholas A. Viens of Waterville, Me., have won the William T. LaPrade Prize, awarded annually for the best senior thesis written in the History Department. Romance Studies The Richard L. Predmore Award in Spanish was awarded to Lindsay Rachel Freud of Northbrook. Ill., and the Robert J. Niess/Alexander Hull Award in French went to Cara Elizabeth Weber of Sarasota, Fla. Graduate School Wilda Gafney, a Ph.D. candidate in religion, and Charles McKinney, a Ph.D. candidate in history, have won Student Award and Community Betterment Awards for involvement in the university and Durham community. English The Anne Flexner Award for Fiction was awarded to Alex Wenger of Sabetha, Kan.; the second-place award was given to freshman Adam Lord of Columbus, Ohio. The Anne Flexner Award for Poetry was awarded to Katherine Thompson of Charlotte; the second-place award was given to Roger Pao of Cary. The Terry Welby Award for Poetry was given to Andrew Nurkin of Atlanta. The winners of the non-fiction essay contest are: Stephanie Blalock of Timberlake, first place, and Po Chin Tan of Singapore, second place. The Margaret Rose Knight Sanford Scholarship was awarded to sophomore Vanda Chou of Greenville, S.C., and junior Sarah Rogers of Rich Square. The Francis Pemberton Scholarship was awarded to freshman Denise Napoli of Eastport, N.Y. The William H. Blackburn Scholarship was awarded to junior Hannah Rogers of Waverly, Ala., and junior Jacob Usner of Nashville, Tenn. The Academy of Poets Prize was awarded to junior Benjamin Morris of Hattiesburg, Miss. The Award for Outstanding Work in American Literature was awarded to Po Chin Tan of Singapore. The Stanley E. Fish Award for Outstanding Work in British Literature was given to Erica Maharg of Dayton, Ohio. The Barbara Hernnstein Smith Award for Outstanding Work in Literary Criticism or Theory was given to Jacob Foster of Winchester, Va. The award for the Outstanding and Most Original English Department Honors Thesis was given to Po Chin Tan of Singapore and Scott Selisker of Raleigh. Women's studies The Women's Studies Program presented the following awards for merit to students in the program: The Ernestine Friedl Research Award, which fosters research by graduate students working on the cultural, social & biological constructions of gender, went to graduate students Brian Carr, literature; Lila Ellen Gray, cultural anthropology; Jaya Kasibhatla, English; and Margot Weiss, cultural anthropology. The Suzanne E. and Margaret A. Franks Gender and Science Research Award, which supports research by graduate students pursuing projects on the intersection of gender and science, mathematics or engineering, went to graduate students Tracy Duvall, mechanical engineering; Karen Owens, Divinity; Robin Smith, biology; and Luke Dollar, Nicholas School. The Anne Firor Scott Research Award, which support students' use of original historical materials in their work, went to Anne Failing, a senior history student; Wallis Foley Avalone, a senior history student; Liza Hazirjian, a history graduate student; Marie Hicks, a history graduate student; Stephanie Lin, a French literature graduate student; and Linda Rupert, a history graduate student. The Anne McDougall Memorial Award, which supports women who resume college educations that have been interrupted, who have lacked the opportunity for a college education, or who participate in human service for which increased knowledge of psychology is useful, went to graduate students Nicole Polanichka, child clinical psychology; Alejandra Ortiz Nino de Zepeda, international development policy. William Griffith Awards The William J. Griffith Service Award is presented to students whose contributions to the Duke and larger communities have made a significant impact on university life. Those students whose efforts demonstrate an understanding of the responsibilities of effective university and civic citizenship are eligible for this award: Annie Elizabeth Adams, Scarsdale, N.Y.; Thaniyyah Sakeenah Ahmad, Cincinnati, Ohio; Chikwere Nduagba Amachi, Cheltenham, Pa.; Estella Abena Antwi, Lumberton; Lyndsay Carol Beal, Dallas; Anne Welles Bowlus, Wayzata, Minn.; Janaka Nikale Bowman, Augusta, Ga.; Elizabeth Ann Brantley, Franklin, Va.; Carolyn Lorelle Bridendall, Santa Rosa, Calif.; Darin Howard Buxbaum, Longwood, Fla.; Troy Grover Clair, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Brian Orintheo Clemmons, Cherryville; Kelley Jane De Leeuw, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.; Justin Allen Ford, Albemarle; Emily Anne Grey, Tiburon, Calif.; Andrea Elizabeth Hamilton, Wilmington; Kimberly Jan Hammersmith, Burlington; Margaret Lynn Harris, Olathe, Kan.; Christina Josephine Hsu, Tacoma, Wash.; David Haley Ingram, Swampscott, Mass.; Erica Michele Jackson, Union, S.C.; Sarah Lynn Miki Kaneko, Virginia Beach, Va.; Namita Murali Koppa, Columbia, S.C.; Michail G. Lagoudakis, Thessaloniki, Greece; Ann Green Langford, Matthews; Kevin Alan Lees, Cameron; Loree Beth Lipstein, Malvern, Pa.; Brandon Holder Little, Charlotte; Barry Michael Locker, Stamford, Conn.; Mridu Mahajan, New Delhi, India; Michael Benjamin Marion, Oklahoma City, Okla.; Sheldon Shabrese Maye, Springfield, Mass.; Jeremy Donald Morgan, Murphysboro, Ill.; Andrew Crowell Nurkin, Atlanta; Melanie Sara Oberman, Weston, Conn.; Heather Renee Oh, Pulaski, Va.; Jesse Michael Panuccio, Rockaway, N.J.; Christina Ann Richardson, Woodbridge, Va.; Deborah Ann Seibold, Medford, N.J.; Eric Jay Seid, Coral Springs, Fl.; Julie Wakefield Smith, Atlanta; Kyle Christopher Smith, Fort Wayne, Ind.; Jennifer Yoon-Mi Song, North Potomac, Md.; Colleen Marie Stack, Chapel Hill; Erin Elizabeth Stone, Oklahoma City, Okla.; Pavithra Vasudevan, Reston, Va.; and TeMeka Chevon Williams, Naperville, Ill.