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2023 Thesis Prize Winners

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David M. Kennedy Honors Thesis Prizes

Engineering and Applied Sciences: Jason Khoi Phong, Materials Science and Engineering. "Sequence-Dependent Self-Assembly of Supramolecular Nanofibers in Periodic Dynamic Block Copolymers." Mentored by Zhenan Bao

Arts & Humanities: Ashwin Pillai, Ethics In Society. "Standing Against Injustice: An Expanded Vision of Standing Doctrine for Public Law Litigation." Mentored by Wendy Salkin

Natural Sciences: Gautam Manohar, Mathematics. "Improved decay and mass inflation for the spherically symmetric Einstein--Maxwell--scalar field system." Mentored by Jonathan Luk

Social Sciences: Tiffany Liu, Symbolic Systems. "Unequal Provision of Educational Accommodations: Impacts of a Nationwide SAT Policy Change on Receipt of Accommodations." Mentored by Michelle Jackson


Firestone Medals for Excellence in Undergraduate Research

Grace Alchemy, Biology. "Mechanisms of Ferroptosis Evasion Promoted by Extracellular Metabolites." Mentored by Scott Dixon

Joshua Elbridge Chan, Human Biology. “A Novel, Cytotoxic Immune Cell Population and Potential Shared Antigen Reactivity in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.” Mentored by Mark Davis, Jonathan Pritchard, and Calvin Kuo

Ailsa Rachel Craven, Biology. “Specific extrusion of Enterovirus-A71-infected cells from human colonoids and consequences for viral spread.” Mentored by Karla Kirkegaard

Nicolas Alejandro Garcia, Economics. “The Effect of COVID-19 on Human Capital in a Team Setting: Evidence from the VA.” Mentored by Mark Duggan

Molly Glickman, Earth Systems. “Integrating human dimensions into fisheries management: A case study of whale entanglement in California’s Dungeness crab fishery.” Mentored by Larry Crowder and Michelle María Early Capistrán

Bryan Dev Gopal, Computer Science. “3KG v2: Universal Electrocardiogram Representations for Label-Efficient Phenotype Discovery.” Mentored by Chris Piech

Tara Hein, Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law. “Seeing Like a Citizen: Fragmented Citizenship in Santiago de Chile.” Mentored by Jeremy Weinstein and Beatriz Magaloni

Om Jahagirdar, Biomedical Computation. “Genome-Wide Identification of Genetic-Cultural Coevolution in Humans.” Mentored by Hunter Fraser and Russ Altman

Jennifer Neda John, Human Biology. ““Who Knows What is the Truth”: Exploring Abortion Misinformation Among Young Adults.” Mentored by Lee Sanders and Paul Blumenthal

Nicole Columbaro Johnson, Psychology. “First Friends in College Predict Changes in Well-Being.” Mentored by Jamil Zaki

Wenqi Li, Mathematics. “Fusion Rings over Drinfeld Doubles.” Mentored by Daniel Bump

Divya Nagaraj, Computer Science. “A Novel Evaluation of Transformers for Clinical Summarization.” Mentored by Olivier Gevaert and Christopher Potts

Claudia Nmai, Sociology. “A Privileged Positioning: The Role of Class and Ethnic Identity in Shaping Police Talk Strategies Among Black Immigrant and Black American Parents.” Mentored by Matthew Clair.

Erica May Naa Okaikor Okine, Science, Technology & Society. “Demanding Beauty: A Critical Analysis of Quality of Life for Women with Facial Disfigurement.” Mentored by Tanya Luhrmann.

Rachelle Rodriguez, International Relations. “Contagion or Coincidence? Pacific Island Independence Movements Under the British Empire.” Mentored by Robert Rakove

Nicholas Rouillard, Human Biology. “Bariatric Surgery Outcomes Among Patients With NAFLD-related Liver Cirrhosis: A Retrospective Cohort of Patients From California's HCAI Database.” Mentored by Mindie Nguyen and Julie Parsonnet

Coco Kiara Brisa Sanabria, Bioengineering. “A Syringe Tumbler for Ink Resuspension (STIR).” Mentored by Mark Skylar Scott and Drew Endy

Tia Sewell, Center for International Security and Cooperation. “The War Within: Perceived Legitimacy and Psychological Trauma Among Post-9/11 Veterans.” Mentored by Dean Winslow

Lexi Straube, Human Biology. “From Catastrophe to Opportunity: Transforming Mindsets to Improve Mental Health & Immunity.” Mentored by Alia Crum, Jesse Barrera, and Annette Salmeen

Alan Tong, Chemistry. “An Investigation into the Antimicrobial and Peptidoglycan-Binding Properties of Vancomycin-Arginine Conjugates.” Mentored by Lynette Cegelski

Cameron Wagner, Physics. “Creating Custom Optical Potentials with Spatial Light Modulators.” Mentored by Monika Schleier-Smith

William Wang, Biology. “Identification of DNA Termini in Sequencing Data through Combined Analysis of End Capture and Local Strand Bias.” Mentored by Andrew Fire


Robert M. Golden Medals for Excellence in the Humanities and Creative Arts

Tamilore Awosile, Arts Institute. "Black Atlantic." Mentored by Chris Chafe and Liz Maelane

Tyra Huyana Blackwater, Art & Art History. “nizhónígo nihaa ’ádahałyą́ - they are taking good care of us.” Mentored by Terry Berlier

Stephanie Castaneda Perez, History. “Assembling the Transnational Economy: Female Labor and the Clothing Trade in Neoliberal Mexico.” Mentored by Pedro A. Regalado

Poojit Hegde, Center for Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity. “Unity and Struggle Beyond Borders: An Examination of Anti-Hindutva Activism in the United States.” Mentored by Parthapratim Shil.

Kieran “Kiki” Hood, Theater & Performance Studies. “Beyond Meaning: Performativity of Scenic Design in Snow in Midsummer.” Mentored by Nina Ball

Laura Lin, Philosophy. “Henry James: The Perils of Understanding.” Mentored by Lanier Anderson and Antonia Peacocke

Johnny Rabe, Music. “My Last Five Years.” Mentored by Kathryne Jennings

Tom Worth, Art History. “Inhabiting Color: Liturgy and the Palette of Simon Hantaï.” Mentored by Emanuele Lugli

Camellia Ye, English. “The Organic Body Against the Coming of the Machine: Poetics of Digestion in Paradise Lost.” Mentored by Blakey Vermeule and Blair Hoxby

Amir Zur, Linguistics. “Causal Abstraction for Interpretable, Debiased, and Accessible Language Models.” Mentored by Christopher Potts