Winners of 2026 Cook Society Awards

 Samuel DuBois Cook Society Undergraduate Student Award: Michael Ramos

Michael “Mike” Ramos is a proud fronterizo, originally from the San Diego-Tijuana borderlands in Southern California. As the son of Mexican immigrants, Ramos has leaned into his identity while living in Durham and attending Duke, where he studies public policy and international comparative studies with a focus on Latin America. As co-president of the student immigrant advocacy group Beyond Borders, Ramos helped rebrand the organization, taking the initiative to connect with grassroots Durham-based immigrant organizations while striving toward coalition amongst immigrant and diaspora students. Ramos is constantly discovering and redefining what community means to him, and sees Durham as a second home where his activism has been nurtured.

Samuel DuBois Cook Society Graduate Student Award: Pratham Sharma

Pratham Sharma is a second-year international Master of Engineering Management (MEM) graduate student in the Pratt School of Engineering, where he has dedicated his time to strengthening community and fostering belonging across campus. As a MEM ambassador, Pratt Peers leader, and member of the University Judicial Board, Sharma has worked to support students from diverse backgrounds and nurture inclusive dialogue. He has collaborated with the Graduate Student Professional & Services team, other student engagement committees, and Pratt leaders, to create welcoming environments and build meaningful connections between domestic and international students at Duke. 

Raymond Gavins Distinguished Faculty Award: Mitchell Knisely

Mitchell Knisely is an associate professor and assistant dean of the Ph.D. and Postdoctoral Programs at the Duke School of Nursing. Knisely’s work is grounded in the belief that equitable pain care is a scientific and moral imperative. His research includes studies examining contributors to pain experiences and evaluating integrative pain management strategies to expand access to effective and equitable care. Knisely’s commitment to equity extends beyond research through active engagement with communities in Durham and surrounding areas to improve access to non-pharmacologic pain management. Through mentorship and the creation of inclusive research and learning environments, he helps prepare future nurse scientists dedicated to justice-driven inquiry and compassionate care.

Samuel DuBois Cook Society Staff Award: Whitney N. McCoy Hudson

Whitney N. McCoy Hudson is a research scientist at Duke University’s Center for Child & Family Policy. She focuses on community-engaged STEM education and educational equity. Her work sits at the intersection of rigorous scholarship, transformative community partnership, and a steadfast commitment to social justice. Hudson’s leadership is most powerfully exemplified through the InventSTEM Institute, a multigenerational STEM learning community that brings together Duke undergraduate students, Durham caregivers, and their children in joyful, purposeful engineering exploration. Through deep listening, asset mapping, and ongoing dialogue with families, McCoy designed a program that dismantles participation barriers, cultivates belonging, and repositions community members as co-creators rather than recipients of university outreach. The relationships formed through InventSTEM extend beyond the classroom, building networks of support that uplift Durham families and prepare Duke students to engage with communities ethically, humbly, and effectively.

Distinguished Service Award: Laurie Patton

 Laurie L. Patton, president of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, served as dean of Duke’s Trinity College of Arts and Sciences from 2011 to 2015, when she left to become the first woman president of Middlebury College.  

At Duke, Patton oversaw 36 academic departments and programs in arts and sciences for the school and Trinity’s $435 million commitment to the “Duke Forward” capital campaign. 

Patton is an authority on South Asian history, culture, and religion, and religion in the public square. She is the author or editor of eleven scholarly books and three books of poems, and has translated the classical Sanskrit text, The Bhagavad Gita, for the Penguin Classics Series.

At Duke, Patton was the Durden Professor of Religion; at Emory University, she was the Candler Professor of Religion and inaugural director of the Center for Faculty Development. She also served as president of the American Academy of Religion. Patton earned her B.A. from Harvard University and her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

The awards were named to honor the scholarship and activism of Samuel DuBois Cook, the university’s first Black faculty member. Cook served as president of Dillard University from 1975 to 1997 and was also a member of Duke’s Board of Trustees.