A Round of Applause: CAS Student Award Winners for Spring 2025
College of Arts and Sciences students stood out from the crowd this spring — and snagged a handful of awards to prove it!
- published: 2025/06/13
- contact: Annie Albin - College of Arts and Sciences

Click for quick scroll to specific awards: Student Research and Creative Activity Fair, Student Honors Convocation, Department Awards
Student Research and Creative Activity Fair:
Performances:
- Outstanding Graduate Performance: Aaron Scobie (John Price – Mentor)
Exhibits:
- Meritorious Undergraduate Exhibit or Demonstration: Jen Riedl (Kristin Girten – Mentor)
Posters:
- Outstanding Undergraduate Poster Presentation: Megan Althouse (Michael Matthews – Mentor)
- Meritorious Undergraduate Poster Presentation: Brooklynn Schmidt (Lisa Scherer – Mentor)
- Honorable Mention Undergraduate Poster Presentation: Claire Wing (Karen Kim Guisbert – Mentor)
- Best Graduate Poster Presentation: Chukwuma Adinchezor (Jonathan Clayton – Mentor)
Oral Presentations:
- Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation: Isabelle Weber (Paul Denton – Mentor)
- Outstanding Undergraduate Oral Presentation: Izzy Vargas (Lisa Scherer – Mentor)
- Meritorious Undergraduate Oral Presentation: Charleston Berryman (Paul Denton – Mentor)
- Honorable Mention Undergraduate Oral Presentation: Cherylynn Gibson (Ryan Wong – Mentor)
- Best Graduate Oral Presentation: Sarah Lenn (Danielle Battisti – Mentor)
- Honorable Mention Graduate Oral Presentation: Thomas Forke (Mark Celinscak – Mentor)
Student Honors Convocation:
- Helen Hansen Outstanding Graduate Student Award: Bianca Ruiz
National Scholarships and Fellowships:
- Voyager Scholarship: Gio Gomez
- Goldwater Scholarship: Abby Tarr
- National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship: Sheri McVay
Undergraduate Major Awards:
- Biology: Alexander Becker
- Black Studies: Deja Harris
- Chemistry: Edrees Amani
- Economics: Shelby Krzemien
- English: Kyley Bishop
- Environmental Science: Isaac Noel
- History: Cody Jackson
- Interdisciplinary Studies: Makayla Demmon
- International Studies: Abigail Faris
- Latino/Latin American Studies: Jessica Fernandez-Erazo
- Mathematics: Will Harr
- Medical Humanities: Thomas Eilers
- Molecular & Biomedical Biology: Tai Prauner
- Neuroscience: Eternity Gines
- Philosophy: Destiny Tobar
- Physics: Dylan Owens
- Political Science: Abigail Faris
- Psychology: Elizabeth Finn
- Religion: Joe Byers
- Sociology: Lydia Deichmann
- Women’s and Gender Studies: Saki Fukuda
- World Languages and Literature: Tai Prauner
Dean's Awards:
- College of Arts and Sciences: Tai Prauner
- College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media: Elizabeth Gonzalez (Communication Studies & Spanish)
- College of Information Science & Technology: Ava DeLaGarza (Computer Science & Spanish)
- Chancellor’s Award for Academic Excellence: Ava DeLaGarza (Computer Science & Spanish)
- Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Student Leadership: Suzana Ntirampeba (Criminal Justice & Political Science)
- Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Service Learning: Erik Zamora
- Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research or Creative Activity: Tai Prauner
College of Arts and Sciences Department Awards:
Biology:
- Bouteloua Research Award: Michaela Sanford
- Biology Department Research Funds (Fall 2024): Mayowa Abiodun, Beth Griffis-Anchala, Matthias Walters, Brandon Wolfsohn
- Biology Department Research Funds (Spring 2025): Owen Conroy, Sunday Princess-Jimmy
- Outstanding Reaching Assistant (Spraing 2025): Chukwuma Adinchezor, Jamie Uz
English:
- Fulbright English Language Teaching Assistantship Program of the Austrian Ministry of Education: Kyley Bishop
- Helen Baker Anderson Scholarship for Excellence in the Major: Summer Dingman, Kyley Bishop
- Marion Basler Scholarship for Outstanding Writing in the Major: Brenna Dostal
- James C. Horejs Scholarship for Distinction in the Major: Bryce Coulton, Maren Evans, Azumi Kuchma, Isa Manhart, Kat Manning, Lucy Mason, Marcus Pennell, Moo Law Eh Soe, Joni Beauchamp
- Sue Maher Best Undergraduate Research Essay: Kassidy Hoffman (First Place), Maura Durfee O'Brien (Runner Up)
Geography/Geology:
- Charles Gildersleeve Award: Adam McLaughlin
History:
- George B. Lake Memorial Prize: Dakota Andreasen, Ben Lundstrom
- Frederick W. Adrian Award: John Kennett
- A.V. Sorensen Award: Treygan Russel
- Shuflata Graduate Award: Tyler Gillis
- Sam Fried Memorial Prize: Haleigh Diltz, Brayden Kimball
- Frances Fried Award: Micaela Haffey, Zoe Law
- Jerold Simmons Scholarship: Bryan Yumul
- Timothy S. Dunning Scholarship: Audie Thorton
- Jo Ann Carrigan Scholarship: Emily Gaddy, Micaela Haffey, Kyleen King, Michael Schlesinger, Bryan Yumul
- Suflata Master’s Fellowship: Katie Dykstra
- Graduate Research and Creative Activity: Alexis Ritterbush, Md Robiul Alam Roni, Treygan Russell
- Special Recognition: Sarah Lehn, Tom Forke, Md Showkot Ali, Claire Du Laney, Lori Schwartz
Political Science:
- Darlene & Orville D. Menard Political Science Scholarship: Gio Gomez, Ashley Rivas Martinez
- Loree Bykerk Memorial Scholarship Fund: Emily Jimenez Avalos, Victoria Dennerlein, Eva Robinson, Alexius Sipp
Psychology:
- Outstanding B.S. Psychology Major: Elizabeth Finn
- Outstanding B.A. Psychology Major: Akela Dramse
- Outstanding Neuroscience Major: Eternity Gines
- Meritorious Achievement in Psychology: Mary Fennessy, Emma Grubbe, Kyden Johnson, Daniela Martha-Palma, Hailey Matthews, Mayam Medina Lopez, Nasire Perry, Anastasia Rogers, Jada Russ, Briton Webster, Asia Wewel
- Meritorious Achievement in Neuroscience: Meg Aerni, Braden Anderson, Malinda Lo, Vanessa Neri Lara, Lily Price
- Frank Bellinghiere Scholarship: Izzy Vargas
- Mary E. Flannigan Scholarship: Dakota Stutzman
- Barbara Manning Scholarship: Nasire Perry
- Robbins Family Psychology Scholarship: Avyn Urbanski
- Stephen R. Page Scholarship: Peyton Powell
- Scholars Transforming Through Research: Erik Garcia
- Nebraska School Psychology Association Outstanding Graduate Student: Josie Sand
Sociology & Anthropology:
- Undergraduate Department Honoree: Lydia Deichmann, Justin Schacht
- Graduate Student of the Year: Katelyn Nelson
- Sharon Hudson Departmental Service Award: Mina Bussa
World Languages & Literature:
- Outstanding Student in the Language: Kyley Bishop (German), Tai Prauner (Spanish), Jon Watson (French)
- French Honors: Joey Drollinger, Diana Sanchez-Godoy, Shreeya Shapkota
- German Honors: Lizzie Holloway, Theresa Isbilir, Teagan Rossman
- Spanish Honors: Ava Delagarza, Elizabeth González, Mayam Medina Lopez, Patricia Obblink, Will Ramsey
- Second-Year Honors – French: Colette Adair, Miacaela Haffey, Lexi Prosser
- Second-Year Honors – German: Jeremy Dow, Izzy Martin, Jon Watson
- Second-Year Honors – Japanese: Joey Drollinger, Alex Tippets
- Second-Year Honors – Spanish: Ian Andress, Chawnta'le Bushnell, Gracelyn Dayle Hite, Madison Kramer, Kate Novinski, Ella Shulte, Rebekah Vavarek, Aaliyah Wilson, Reid Wondra
- Maverick Language Maven Award – French: Michael Howatt, Keira Miller, Ivy Neihart, Lawrence Wilson
- Maverick Language Maven Award – German: Eva Burklund, Clint Plozay
- Maverick Language Maven Award – Italian: Keely Pinkerton, Paula Quintanilla
- Maverick Language Maven Award – Spanish: David Brennan, Greg Cobbs, Brittainee Freeman, Jane Ehrhart, Gabriela Calderón, Sophia Kouba, Antonio Moore, Ramon Ortega, Jonathon Rice
- M.A.L.T Graduate Program Honors: Nora Boyd, Kenny Cortum
- Sigma Delta Pi – National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society: Elizabeth González, Tai Prauner