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Student Honors and Laurels for the Class of 2018

Student award winners, clockwise from top left: Jackson Skeen, Alonzo Saxton, Meghana Vagwala, Shauna Bierly, Matthew King, Amy Kramer and Trung Tran Thanh Can
Student award winners, clockwise from top left: Jackson Skeen, Alonzo Saxton, Meghana Vagwala, Shauna Bierly, Matthew King, Amy Kramer and Trung Tran Thanh Can

 

NATIONAL AWARDS

Rhodes Scholar

Gabrielle (Gabi) Stewart, a senior from San Dimas, Calif., was among the 32 recipients selected this weekend for prestigious Rhodes Scholarships. She is the 46th student in Duke's history to receive a Rhodes Scholarship. The scholarships provide all expenses for two or three years of study at the University of Oxford in England.

Stewart is the recipient of a four-year, merit-based Benjamin N. Duke Scholarship, a member of Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society and one of three 2017 Faculty Scholars in the Duke senior class. The honor is bestowed by the Duke faculty on the basis of excellence in the classroom and in independent research.

 

Mitchell Scholar

Jackson Skeen, a Duke senior from Virginia Beach, Virginia, is one of 12 students nationwide selected as George J. Mitchell Scholars. This year, 326 students applied for the scholarship, named in honor of Sen. George Mitchell’s contributions to the Northern Ireland peace process. Recipients are chosen on the basis of academic distinction, leadership and service, and spend a year of post-graduate study at institutions of higher learning in Ireland.

 

Marshall Scholars

Seniors Meghana Vagwala of South Grafton, Massachusetts, and John Lu of Whippany, New Jersey, were are among the 43 recipients of the prestigious Marshall Scholarship. The scholarships are awarded each year to high-achieving American students to pursue post-graduate studies at any university in the UK in any field. The award covers all university fees, cost-of-living expenses and many other costs. 2016 Duke graduate Antonio Lopez also received the award. They are the 25th, 26th and 27th Marshall recipients from Duke.

 

Goldwater Scholars

Seniors John Lu and Karen Xu received the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program in 2017. Harvey Shi, also of the Class of 2018, received the scholarship in 2016.

The one- and two-year scholarships go toward covering the cost of tuition, fees, books, room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year. The federally endowed scholarship program honoring the late U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering.

In 2018, juniors Samantha Bouchal and Shomik Verma and sophomore Pranav Warman received the award.

 

Truman Scholars

Duke senior Maya Durvasula received the Truman Scholarship in 2017. Durvasula, a Robertson Scholar from Albuquerque, New Mexico, studies economics, with a minor in mathematics and a certificate in politics, philosophy and economics.  She has been involved with research through the Duke-UNC Initiative on Poverty and Inequality and the UNC Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases.

Students are selected based on their records of leadership, public service and academic achievement, and their likelihood of becoming public-service leaders.

In 2018, juniors Kushal Kadakia and Claire Wang received the scholarship.

 

Schwarzman Scholars

Seniors Riyanka Ganguly of Seattle, Amy Kramer of Boca Raton, Florida, and Aron Rimanyi of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, have been named Schwarzman Scholars, a program that funds one year of study in Beijing, China. They are among 140 recipients selected from more than 4,000 applicants worldwide.

The scholars develop leadership skills through a funded one-year master’s degree in global affairs, with specialization tracks in public policy, economics or international studies.

 

Udall Scholars

Senior Bryce Cracknell, received the Morris K. Udall Scholarship in 2017, which recognizes students who have demonstrated a commitment to careers in the environment or Native American tribal public policy or health care. Scholars must also demonstrate leadership potential and academic achievement.

This year, three juniors, Shandiin Herrera; Shomik Verma; and Claire Wang received the award.

 

Beinecke Scholars

Senior Ashlyn Nuckols was among 20 students nationwide selected as Beinecke Scholars in 2017. The Beinecke Scholarship supports students of exceptional promise as they attend the graduate school of their choice. A student must apply as a junior, demonstrate financial need and plan to study arts, humanities or social sciences.

 

UNIVERSITY AWARDS

Aerospace Studies

Peter Galindez III won the Arnold Air Society Bundy Excellence Award and the Daughters of the American Revolution Award

Charles Thatcher Owen received the Distinguished Graduate Award

 

African & African American Studies

Brennan Allan Steele and Anna Julia Katz won the John Hope Franklin Award for Academic Excellence.

Roderick Herbert Acquaye received the Karla F. C. Holloway Award for University Service

Mina Ibiye Ezikpe received the Walter C. Burford Award for Community Service.

Alisha Joy Hines and Adriana Moniece Parker won the Mary McLeod Bethune Writing Award.

I. Augustus Durham received the Graduate Teaching Award

Colleen Sharp was presented with the Burford Award for Community Service

 

Art, Art History and Visual Studies

Jeainny Seyoung Kim received the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation Visual Art Award

Savannah Chauvet and Charles Michel Niebanck won the Nancy Kaneb Art History Award

Eamon Patrick Glavin earned the Sue and Lee Noel Prize in Visual Arts

Camila Vargas Restrepo and Hunter Jeffrey Sittason Stark earned the Visual Studies Initiative Award

 

Asian & Middle Eastern Studies

Attyat Mayans won the Outstanding AMES Honor Thesis Award

 

Asian/Pacific Studies

Helen Yu and Sonia Xu received the Sirena WuDunn Memorial Scholarship

 

Athletics

Leona Maguire and Alonzo Deleon Saxton II earned the ACC Plaque for Excellence, Scholarship and Athletics

 

Biology

Jackie Jin Lin and Alvin Han received the Biology Faculty Award

Jason Phanliem Dinh won the James B. Rast Memorial Award in Comparative Organismal Biology

Reena Reed Debray received the Edward C. Horn Memorial Prize for Excellence in Biology

Stephanie von Ungern Sternberg Prufer earned the Maggie Schneider Award in Marine Biology

 

Biostatistics and Bioinformatics

Xingyan Wang received the Overall Academic Excellence Award and the Student Leadership Award

Ganchao Wei won the Outstanding Master’s Project Award

 

Chemistry

Rechel Anne Geiger received the American Chemical Society Undergraduate Award in Analytical Chemistry

Matias Harder Horst won the American Chemical Society Undergraduate Award in Inorganic Chemistry

Jeong Min Park won the American Chemical Society Undergraduate Award in Physical Chemistry

Alan William Kong earned the Merck Index Award

Jeong Min Park received the Department of Chemistry Award

 

Classical Studies

Gabrielle Christina Stewart won the Classical Association of the Middle West and South Award for Outstanding Accomplishment in Classical Studies and the David Taggart Clark Prize in Classical Studies

 

Computer Science

Harrison Graham Lundberg, Weiyao Wang and Jie Yang won the Alex Vasilos Award

Ademola Olukayode Olayinka and Robert Hays Steilberg II received the DeNardis Award

 

Cultural Anthropology

Jeremy Aaron Gottlieb and Morghan Paige Phillips earned the Judith McDade Prize in Cultural Anthropology

Ashlyn Elizabeth Nuckols won the Paul Farmer Award for Justice and Social Responsibility

 

Dance

Cindy Li and Riley Joseph Reardon won the Julia Wray Dance Award

 

Divinity School

Allison Ruth Wattenbarger won the Award for Excellence in Bible

Gregory Ervin Milton was presented with the Fellowship Seminarian Award and the Hoyt Hickman Award for excellence in Liturgics

Katherine Fiorella Guerrero won the Jameson Jones Preaching Award

Christopher Aaron Burner received the Frederick Buechner Writing Award

Bernadine Anthony and Sarah Nickolina Jacoby earned the McMurry Richey Awards in Field Education

Tyrek Tormaine Corry won the McMurry Richey Awards in Missions

Tamario Maurice Howze was named the university’s Julian Abele Award for Divinity Student of the Year

 

Documentary Studies

Evan Nicole Bell won the Julia Harper Day Award for Documentary Studies

 

Duke Alumni Association

John Paul Aldrup-MacDonald, Lesley Michelle Chen-Young, Bryce Scott Cracknell, Gianna Chantal Falk, Sydney Nicole Fishman, Sean Michael Gilbert, Shajuti Tasnim Hossain, Jason Mick Ng, Colin Patrick O’Leary, Rachelle Carlette Olden, Gerardo Arturo Parraga, Patricia Pinckombe, Lisa Remlinger, Maxwell Peck Sinsheimer, Eric John Smith, Winfred Cole Wicker and Mary Therese Ziemba received Forever Duke Student Leadership Awards.

 

Duke Global Health Institute

Tessa Leigh Concepcion won the Madeline Boccuzzi Outstanding Master of Science in Global Health Student Award

Amanda Jankowski received the Michael Merson Undergraduate Student Leadership Award in Global Health

 

Duke Human Rights Center at the Franklin Humanities Institute

Catherine Anne Ward earned the Oliver W. Koonz Human Rights Prize

 

Duke Service-Learning

Michaela Alexandra Stith won the Betsy Alden Outstanding Service-Learning Award

 

Earth and Ocean Sciences

Lucila Jolie Houttuijn Bloemendaal won the Thomas V. Laska Award

 

Economics

Moses Snow Wayne won the faculty vote for Outstanding Honors Poster; Moses Snow Wayne won the student vote.

William John Walker earned the Outstanding Symposium Presentation Award

Maya Mandara Durvasula received the Allen Starling Johnson Jr. Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research for Best Honor Thesis; Dane Bourcy Burkholder and Chin Jie Lim were finalists.

Hao Pang won the Master’s Program Award for Academic Excellence

Carla Rodriguez received the Duke Department of Economics Master’s Program Award for Leadership

 

Education

Katherine Morgan Diaz, Ryan Patrick Louie and Jasmine Hill won the D.T. Stallings Award

Jihane Bettahi, Michael Chiang, Joshua McKinley Lovett, Cam-Ha Thi Nguyen and Rhajaa Wright earned the Holton Prize for Education Research

Michael Chiang and Rafael Carlo Jacinto Diy received the Virginia S. Wilson Excellence in Teaching Award

 

Engineering

Christopher Joseph Northrup won the American Society of Civil Engineers Outstanding Senior Prize

Michelle Anne Moffa and Karyn Elizabeth Saunders received the Aubrey E. Palmer Award

James Louis Doherty and Aditya Srinivasan earned the Charles Ernest Seager Memorial Award

Michael Yurievich Kuryshev was named the recipient of the Charles Rowe Vail Memorial Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award

David Kevin Bi won the David Randall Fuller Prize

Harvey Yizhuang Shi and Rachel S. Yang received the da Vinci Award

Harvey Yizhuang Shi also won the Edward D. "Ned" Light Memorial Award

Michelle Anne Moffa and Delaney Colleen Thompson earned the Eric I. Pas Award

Jihane Bettahi and Edwin Taylor Bodge earned the George Sherrerd III Memorial Award in Electrical and Computer Engineering

Sydney Elisabeth Jeffs and Vincent Nevan Miao received the Helmholtz Award

Ryan Spencer Cox and Tara Yeo Davis earned the Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Faculty Award

Brian Kwong-Kai Chan and Henry Pak-Hang Yuen received the Otto Meier Jr. Tau Beta Pi Award

Noah Ben Youkilis earned the Pi Tau Sigma Scholarship Award

Edwin Taylor Bodge and Jason Mick Ng won the Pratt School of Engineering Student Service Award

Anthony Nicola Schneider won the Theo C. Pilkington Memorial Award

Joseph Robert Lilien, Adithya Raghunathan, Harvey Yizhuang Shi, Ryan Anthony St. Pierre and Rachel S. Yang won the Walter J. Seeley Scholastic Award

Karyn Elizabeth Saunders earned the William Brewster Snow Environmental Engineering Award

 

English

Caroline Lydia Fernelius won the Academy of American Poets Prize. She also received third place in the Lucaci Award for Creative Non-Fiction.

Vivian Lu received the Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Creative Writing in Fiction

Chloe Hollowell Hooks received the Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Creative Writing in Poetry. Hooks also won the Award for Most Original Honors Thesis

Lauren Kelly Bunce won the Barbara Hernnstein Smith Award for Outstanding Work in Literary Criticism or Theory

Catherine Anne Ward received the Critical Essay Award

 

Nicholas School of the Environment

Stephanie von Ungern Sternberg Prufer won the Sara LaBoskey Award

Clara Nicole Bird received the Marine Science and Conservation Award

 

Fuqua School of Business

Megan Caroline Margel won the Alan D. Schwartz Award for Mentorship

Melissa Blette earned the Asa T. Spaulding, Sr. Award for Leadership

Luke Cornelius Patrick Brennan and Bruno Levy Spilberg received the Breeden Award in Finance

Deans’ Recognition Awards went to Candace Jolié Armand, Leena Kavita Bhakta, Jason Allan Bogardus, Alexandra Hilary Cagan, Ralph Giovanni Caprio, Kaylan Alyssa Christofferson, Manuel Benjamin Costa, Samantha M. Dina, Hannah Rose Ford, Michelle Kathleen Hardy, Hanna Elisabeth Kadesch, Katherine Sarvis McNeil, Judith Anna Merzbach, Lauren Williams Niculescu, Alexandra Ossa Garcia, Susan Sasu, Lou Scerra, Lauren Alis Vick, Andrew Michael Wiersma and Jenna Ziesenhene

Luke Stuart Fangman and Wilson Huynh earned the Distinguished Service Award

Julian Andrew Gordon and William Copeland Brody won the Keohane Leadership Award

Maura Theresa Schwitter and Davide Sgarbi received the Team Fuqua Award

 

Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies

Elizabeth Barahona received the Dora Anne Little Award

 

The Graduate School

Mai-Ahn Thi Vu received the Dean’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching

Patrick Andrew Green won the Dean’s Awards for Excellence in Mentoring

 

History

Carrie Wang received the William T. Laprade Prize

 

International Comparative Studies

Savannah Jane Dixon and Taylor Whitworth won the Capstone Research Prize

Chloe Ricks and Parmida Mostafavi earned the Distinguished Thesis Award

 

Mathematics

Trung Tran Thanh Can and Feng Gui won the Karl Menger Award

Trung Tran Thanh Can, Feng Gui and Weiyao Wang received the Julia Dale Prize in Mathematics

Surabhi Beriwal, Trung Tran Thanh Can  and Eric Ryan Peshkin earned the Excellence in Research

 

Medicine

Christina Elizabeth Behrend, Callie Merriam Berkowitz, Cary Stuart Politzer, Amudan Jayram Srinivasan, Matthew A. Wagner and Michael Bernard Weykamp won the Academic Award

Kimberly Julie Cocce, Melissa Erica Hector-Greene and Jerry Chung-Yu Lee received the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship

Alexandra Kathleen Superdock won the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award

Teminioluwa Ayotunde Ajayi, Anthony Thomas Fuller, Samara Rashad Jinks, Faith Cheyech Rialem and Julie Claire Rivo received the Brenda Armstrong Living the Dream Award

Victoria Anne Bendersky earned the Bollinger Scholarship

Kevin Lamarr Anderson, Jr., David James Carpenter and Jessica Leigh Narloch received the Clinical and Translational Science Award

Roselyn Adwoa Agyapomaa Appenteng, Camille Ratliff Guzel, Momodou Lamin Jammeh, Colin Patrick O’Leary, Faith Cheyech Rialem, Michelle Tang and Emily Randine Schwitzer won Davison Scholarships

Jesse Y. Liu, Neel S. Nath, Colin Patrick O’Leary, Amudan Jayram Srinivasan and Bo Sun earned Dean’s Merit Scholarships

Bradley Gerald Ackerson, Adesewa Eseosa Adelekun

Christina Elizabeth Behrend, Tanmay Anil Gokhale, Ruwan Gunaratne, Hussain Saleem Lalani, Benjamin Stanley Parker, Colin Alexander Martz, Colin Patrick O’Leary, Karen Amanda Scherr, Lonnie Thomas Sullivan II and Westin Randall Tom won the Dean’s Recognition Award

Colin Alexander Martz and Christopher Edison Lynn Toote II won Dean’s Tuition Scholarships

Faith Cheyech Rialem received the Doris Duke Fellowship

Leslie Lik-See Chang won the Doris Parrish Cardiology Award

Callie Merriam Berkowitz earned the Doris Parrish Oncology Award

Kristian Becker, Aladine Abdalla Elsamadicy,Christopher Lawrence Kline and Charmaine Priyanka Mutucumarana received the Eugene A. Stead Student Research Sholarship

Nathaniel Joseph Harris and Ronnie Labib Shammas received the Fullerton Scholarship

Christophe Hansen-Estruch earned the Glaxo Smith Kline Award

Chelsea Higgins Feldman was named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute-National Institutes of Health Research Scholar

Melissa L. Abel, Momodou Lamin Jammeh and Xiaojie Zhang received the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Training Fellowship

Teminioluwa Ayotunde Ajayi was honored by the National Institute of Environmental Health

Jerry Chung-Yu Lee received the Palumbo Family Award. Jerry also won the Wilburt Davison Award

Guatam Madhu Nayar was named the Ruth K. Broad Foundation Medical Fellow in the Neurosciences

Bradley Gerald Ackerson, Bilal Ashraf, Callie Merriam Berkowitz, Vinay Pankaj Choksi, Julia Farquhar, Emily Mattoon, Benjamin Stanley Parker, Lauren Nicole Pontius, Julie Claire Rivo and Madelyn N. Stevens received Senior Scholarships - Anlyan

Nathaniel Joseph Harris, Jessica Lyden Hoffman, Jerry Chung-Yu Lee and Alvin Justin Rucker received Senior Scholarships - Barham

Mara Storto was named a Sarnoff Fellow for Student Honors

Christophe Hansen-Estruch earned the Singapore Fellowship

Chelsea Higgins Feldman won the Vice Dean’s Research Award - Basic Sciences

 

Military Science

Gabrielle Marie Falco was named the Distinguished Military Graduate and also received the George C. Marshall Award

 

Music

Andrew Harrison Cooper and Christopher Anderson Cook earned the Ann-Marie Parsons Memorial Prize

Shauna Alexis Bierly won the Henry Schuman Music Prize

Sophie Olivia Caplin earned the Julia Wilkinson Mueller Prize for Excellence in Music

Allyson Eileen Luo earned the Paul R. Bryan Award

Owen Sydney Richardson earned the William Klenz Prize in Music Composition

 

Naval Science

Anthony Nicola Schneider earned the Admiral Frank Bowman Leadership Award. Anthony also received the CNO Distinguished Graduate Award

 

Office of Health Professions Advising

Rachel S. Yang won the Raymond Lublin, M.D. Award

 

Office of the Provost

Isaiah Christopher Carter received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award

 

Physical Therapy

Ann Marie Daorai won the Duke Doctor of Physical Therapy Diversity Award

Valerie J. Adams received the Helen Kaiser Duke Physical Therapy Alumni Association Award

Meghan B. Barry, Kira Gabrielle Battle, Christina M. Cromwell, Lorraine Constance Schrand, Jasmine Lynne Seider, Colin Matthew Wiest, Samantha Wood and Brad Swanson received the Helen Kaiser Scholarship Award

Amanda Floyd Beaty earned the Student Recognition Award

 

Physics

Jeong Min Park won the Daphne Chang Memorial Award

 

Policy, Journalism and Media Studies

Andrew Tan-Delli Cicchi won the Melcher Family Award for Excellence in Journalism

 

Political Science

Matthew Taylor King earned the Alona E. Evans Prize in International Law

Hannah Wang won the Elizabeth G. Verville Award

Sanjeev Dasgupta received The Jerry B. and Callie Irene Stone Award

Amy Lynn Kramer won the Ole R. Holsti Award in American Foreign Policy and International Relations

Riyanka Ganguly, Michael Jerome Ivory Jr. and Aron Balazs Rimanyi shared the The Robert S. Rankin Award for Leadership and Academic Achievement

Adam Nicholas Beyer received the Robert S. Rankin Award in American Government and Constitutional Law

Helen Anne Schutz Lo won The Robert S. Rankin Award in American, National, State, and Local Governments

 

Program II

Raichel Lynn Perper, Shruti Rao and Anuhita Basavaraju were cited for the Best GWD Project

Meghana Kasturi Vagwala won the Vagwala Service and Leadership Award

 

Psychology

Karen Catherine Young earned the Karl E. Zener Award for Outstanding Performance of an Undergraduate Major in Psychology

Camila Vargas Restrepo received the Jerome S. Brunner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research

 

Public Policy

Maura Elisabeth Smyles won the Joel Fleishman Distinguished Scholar Award

Adam Nicholas Beyer and Jacqueline Aram Monetta  won the Terry Sanford Leadership Award

 

Religious Studies

Eileen Valverde Vindas received the Best Paper Award

 

Romance Studies

Adriana L. Santomero earned the Guido Mazzoni Prize in Italian

Kiera McGrath Needham and Mariel Christina Colon-Leyva won the Richard L. Predmore Award in Spanish

Madeline Jennings Thornton and Brittany Michelle Wong received the Robert J. Niess / Alexander Hull Award in French

 

School of Nursing

Lucy Robin Frank won the Ruby L. Wilson Excellence in Clinical Practice Award. Lucy also received the Annie Beery Bieber Award for Outstanding Leadership Award

Ellen Catherine Byars earned the Bonnie Jones Friedman Humanitarian Award

Brittany Marie Alexander received the Outstanding DNP Scholarly Project Award

 

Statistical Science

Jingyi Bai received the Statistical Science TA of the Year Award

 

Student Affairs

Elizabeth Ann Brown was cited for Distinguished Leadership and Service Award: Building Alliances Through Collective Engagement

Elizabeth Barahona was honored for Distinguished Leadership and Service Award: Commitment to Diversity

Luke Thomas Duchemin was honored for Distinguished Leadership and Service Award: Demonstration of Integrity

Catherine Anne Ward was cited for Distinguished Leadership and Service Award: Expanding the Boundaries of Learning

Kyle James Miller was honored for Distinguished Leadership and Service Award: Respect for Community

Riyanka Ganguly and Winfred Cole Wicker received the William J. Griffith University Service Award: Outstanding Contribution to the Duke Community

Eliza Stephanie Moreno and Chandler Nicole Phillips won the William J. Griffith University Service Award: Outstanding Contribution to the Durham and Local Community

 

Theater Studies

Ashley Marie Ericson won the Award for Excellence in Directing

Andrew Carver Jackson earned the Dale B.J. Randall Award in Dramatic Literature

Wesley Campbell Caretto received the Harold Brody Award for Excellence in Musical Theater

Alonzo Deleon Saxton II and Ashley Ericson received the John M. Clum Distinguished Theater Studies Graduate Award

Alonzo Deleon Saxton II was named Outstanding Acting Student

 

Trinity College of Arts and Sciences

Elliott Zachary Golden won the Bascom Headen Palmer Literary Prize

Katherine Irene Berko, Alexandra Marie Felix, Jeainny Seyoung Kim, George Woodruff Lucas, Matthew John Riley, Hunter Jeffrey Sittason Stark and Jennifer Ru Zhou received the Edward H. Benenson Award in the Arts

Jeainny Seyoung Kim earned the Louis B. Sudler Prize in the Creative Arts and Performing Arts

 

Faculty Scholar Award

Seniors Lauren Bunce (Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies), John Lu (Chemistry) and Gabrielle Stewart (Classical Studies) received the 2017 Faculty Scholar Award. Presented annually to juniors who have conducted independent research and show potential for innovative scholarship and a potential career in academe, the award is the highest honor presented by Duke faculty to undergraduate students. Honorable mentions went to Caroline Fernelius (English) and Karen Xu (Biomedical Engineering).