Recognizing the outstanding achievements of our students and instructors is one of the ways UCSC demonstrates its commitment to excellence in teaching and research.
The 2009 Excellence in Teaching, Undergraduate Academic Achievement and Mentoring Awards ceremony is a highlight of Student Achievement Week, an annual celebration that showcases the scholarly and creative activities of UCSC's undergraduate students. It is an opportunity to pay tribute to their success and to honor the commitment of the faculty who so successfully engage students in learning through discovery. This year's ceremony was held June 5 at the Music Recital Hall.
UCSC alumnus Loren Steck was on hand to present the Steck Family Award, honoring the year's best senior thesis. Presentation of the Deans' and Chancellor's Awards was made by the leaders of each academic division.
Awards and scholarships included:
Steck Family Award. The Steck Family Award honors the best senior thesis completed during the academic year, with the winner chosen from the Chancellor's Award candidates. Rion Parsons was chosen for his thesis, "Dense Stellar Systems as Birth Places for Short Gamma-ray Bursts." His faculty adviser is Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz, assistant professor of astronomy and astrophysics. Parsons and Ramirez-Ruiz have also submitted a paper for publication in the Astrophysical Journal on "Short gamma-ray bursts and their afterglow signatures in dense stellar systems."
Deans' and Chancellor's Awards. These awards recognize outstanding achievements by undergraduate students. Ten Deans' Awards are awarded to students within each division (Arts, Engineering, Humanities, Physical & Biological Sciences, Social Sciences). Of those students, up to three in each division can be selected to receive a Chancellor's Award. Students as well as their mentors were recognized at the ceremony.
Kenneth and Ann Thimann Scholarship. Professor emeritus of biology at UCSC Kenneth Thimann and his wife, Ann (both now deceased), established this pledge of support to UCSC in recognition of future UCSC graduate science scholars. The scholarship award of $2,000 is intended for use in graduate studies.
The Excellence in Teaching Awards are given each spring to selected faculty who engage students through innovative course designs, special learning techniques and materials, and their own personal qualities as teachers and mentors. In selecting awardees, the committee considers nomination letters written by students, as well as statements submitted by the nominee and his or her department chair and/or divisional dean. The committee looks for evidence that the nominee has thought deeply about teaching and learning, and effectively applies that thinking in the classroom. Presentation of the Teaching Awards was by Chancellor George Blumenthal.
Excellence in Teaching Awards
Bettina Aptheker, feminist studies
Robin King, Writing Program
Herbie Lee, applied math and statistics
Peter Raimondi, ecology and evolutionary biology
Alice Yang, history
Teaching Assistant Awards
Jia Yuh Chen (economics)
Alicia Dolan (politics)
Alexandra Dunn (psychology)
Sean Echols (physics)
Vera Gribanova (linguistics)
Jinsoo Kim (chemistry and biochemistry)
Elizabeth Dilkes Mullins (history)
Frederick ìTedî Nitz (mathematics)
Charlotte Cooper Sunseri (anthropology)
Mary Weaver (history of consciousness)
Undergraduate Achievement Awards
Deans' Awards
Division of the Arts
Sam Biroscak
Amy Boewer
Jesus Calderon
Antonia Gunnarson
Kyla Knox
Conner MacPhee
Alec Mills
Stanley Okumura
Samantha Schipper
Sarah Speiller
Jack Baskin School of Engineering
Ryan Collins
Daniel Core
Michael Cutter
Stephen Federowicz
Thomas Freeman
Alexander Glick
Nicholas Green
Brian Hansen
John Kelsey
Dustin Kendig
John Robertson
Trevor Vogt
Janelle Yong
Division of the Humanities
Brian Ballard
Lillian Brown
Talia Coutin
Stephanie Kramer
Heather Mahan
Tahsin Siddique
Griffith Stecyk
Division of Physical & Biological Sciences
Adam Chavin
Noah Hammond
Gregory Horn
David Lee
Colin Maher
Robert Morse
Crystal Nyitray
Rion Parsons
Jayme Simmons
Kevin Tharp
Division of Social Sciences
Ondrea Boggs
Katrina Dill
Keith Henwood
Susan I. Lopez
Jaclyn Moyer
Dylan M. Neubauer
Elisabeth Rickles
Gabriel C. Sady
Irene Monica Sanchez
Helen Smith
Dayana Stockdale
Chancellor's Awards
Division of the Arts
Kyla Knox
Stanley Okumura
Sarah Speiller
Jack Baskin School of Engineering
Stephen Federowicz
Dustin Kendig
Division of Humanities
Talia Coutin
Stephanie Kramer
Heather Mahan
Division of Physical and Biological Sciences
Gregory Horn
Robert Morse
Rion Parsons
Division of Social Sciences
Keith Henwood
Dylan M. Neubauer
Irene Monica Sanchez
The Kenneth and Ann Thimann Scholarship
Jamie DeSoto
Aaron Masters
Jesse Sherer
Steck Family Award
Rion Parsons
Alumni Association College Service Award
Matthew Payne
Association of Women Geoscientists Outstanding Woman Geoscientist
Melissa Usack
Holly Day Barnett Grant
Devon Orme (2008
Alicia Muirhead (2009)
Jack Baskin School of Engineering Undergraduate Spirit Award
Alejandro Cerda
Alvarado David
Charlie Braun Memorial Scholarship
Jesse Dolan
CAL TEACH - Mark Bruce Fellowship
Lauren Fieberg
Michael Lynch
Amy O'Brien
Carol Puklus
Rebecca Reiss
CAL TEACH - Math for America Fellowship
Jessica Abarca
Edith Ruiz
CAL TEACH - Noyce Scholarship
Cecilia Aguilar
Bryan Feezor
Derry Lammerding
Deauna Mansfield
Kristina Stefani
Maya Walsh
CAL TEACH - Noyce Scholarship at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Katie Seim
CAL TEACH - Stanford School of Education Fellowship
Michael Stevens
CAL TEACH - UC Berkeley Flanders Scholarship
Danielle DeLaurentis
Eduardo Carrillo Memorial Scholarship
Alejandro Cerda
James Herbold
Jonathan Imperial
Timothy Lindvall
Chancellor's Undergraduate Internship Program
Samantha Balan
Antonio Bautista
Camille Brown
Stephanie Callas
Jacob Cribbs
Marienne Cuison
Jahnai Eldridge
Gretchen Engbring
Alexandra Fischl
Allyson Fujii
Michelle Garza
Jessica Inman-Godfrey
Christopher Guevarra
Helen Jentzen
Jessica Johnson
Katherine Landeros
Nicole Milner
Tyler Murphy Pitts
Natalie Nuno
Iulia Sabina Panescu
Berdin Pattana
Andrew Peasley
Jennifer Pimentel
Kathryn Ripley
Brianna Rogan
Callum Rowe
Caitlin Ruffman
Renald Tamse
Theresa Tsao
Susan Van Loon
Rebecca Wage
Karen Wishnia
James Stuart Chanley Scholarship
Jose Daniel Fuentes
Lauren D. Scott
Alan Church Environmental Pre-Law Award
Kristyn Abhold
CONCUR, Inc. Scholarship in Environmental Studies
Jennifer Helfrich
Richard Cooley Friends Foundation International Award
Patricia Fung
Grosvenor Cooper Memorial Scholarship
William McIntyre
Harriet Cramer Memorial Scholarship
Rochelle David
Marilyn C. Davis Memorial Scholarship
Katie Snell
Marian Farah
Kristen Heady
Jennifer O'Leary
Dawn Jech
Delta Kappa Gamma
Nicole Hidalgo
Ruth Kim
Anne Rios
Sara Tolbert
Education Abroad Program UC Regents Scholarships
Lukas Adler
Guadalupe Alvarado
Silvia Alvarez
Brianna Anderson
Brian Ballard
Nikkos P. Batanides
Ilya Baykin
Chelsea M. Bell
Matthew McBrown
Taylor Bryon
Hana Campbell-Cyr
Jacqueline Caraves
Veronica Aranda
Dorothy Cervantes
Crystal Chan
Chia-Wei Chang
Ana Zhang Chow
Ira Christian
Marjorie Coffey
Bridgett Dalke
George Davis
Nathan Dickersin-Prokopp
Charmaine Estacio
Daniel Freels
Emily Fuentes
Allegra Gabbert
Sara Gabrakirstos
Sarah Joy Grebe
Maria Grusauskas
Xiao Cong Guan
Christopher Guertin
Mona Hammoudeh
Alexander Holmes
Kelli Huth
Veronica Jacobs
Linnea Jones
Ruby Jun
Brian Kelley
Bonnie Hyun Kim
Sean Kiser
Tin Cheung Lam
Matthew Latham
Alice M. Lei
Janette Linares
Kelsi Lindner
Jenny Mak
Rachael McClellan
Lee McPherson
Tacy McPherson
Jordan Menashe
Heather Miller
Liliana Morales
Sarah A. Nelson
Agnes Gar-Yun Ng
Shannon O'Brien
Rocio Osuna
Isaac Paida
Eric Paneto
Colette Phair
Hannah Pittman
Ernesto Polanco
Vicki Preciado
Kathleen Quinlan
Andris Rapa
Rhiannon Regalado-Valdez
Maricor Resente
Christine Reyes
Marcus Richardson
Jacqueline Rocha
Adelaide Sadler
Francesco Salvatore Jr.
Rajiv Saunders
Julian Schoen
Aaron Shapiro
Chris Shin
Jennifer Small
Tracy Spiegelman
Emily Stake
Nhi Tuyet Tran
Preston Tucker
Lon Varvel
Irene Vasquez
Will Vincent
Jennifer Werkmann
Acacia Woods-Chan
Film & Digital Media Porter Fellowship
Mirobyn Behrens
Lesly Cuevas
Timothy Froehlig
Lewis Ingham
Adam Linkenhelt
Candice Marais
Alexander Nicolaou
Jason Poe
Connor Quinto
Daniel Scott
Kristina Vega
Joel Frankel Memorial Scholarship
Dani Molina
Karina Orocio
Cindy Sandoval
Danae Tapia
Florence French Scholarship
Juan Bayardo
Aly Behm
Michelle Boire
Matthew Borden
Livia Botyanszki
Chia-Wei Chang
Louise Chen
Jesse Clark
Lesly Cuevas
Lionel Diaz
Omega DiStefano
Jhiovani Estrada
Kevin Fitzgerald
Levi Goldman
Nicole Greene
Christopher Guevarra
Laurel Meissner
Megan Orr
Kathryn Ripley
Kristina Vega
Maria Voylokova
Megan Walsh-Loretz
Hugh Yanuaria
The David Gaines Award in Environmental Studies
Julie Jedlicka
Yiwei Wang
Golden Key International Honour Society
Athena Abatecola
Carrie Abel
Pranava Adduri
Jonathan Akiyama
Luisa Angulo
Matthew Auerbach
James Barton
Christina Bayer
Natalie Bergen
Lisa Blackwell
Megan Bowles
Debra Bresler
Ashley Burdick
Karoline Burrall
Alison Byers
Jacob Calabrese
Molly Carter
Chloe Chatenever
Sarah Chen
Huijun Chen
Yueli Chen
Gerald Cherf
Elena Cholula
Jonathan Cho-Polizzi
Andrew Cichowski
Iris Close
Cassondra Columbus
Walter Condley
Corinne Cox
Natalie Cox
Trevor Croker
Kevin Cullinen
Angela Curtis
Sarah Davis
Leia Davison
Sheli Denola
Jesse DeRose
Danielle Derse
Lisa Donchak
Julien Dubeau
Sarah Einhorn
Chelsea Enos
Catherine Falzone
Cassaundra Fees
Caitlin Ferguson
Alexandra Fischl
Angel Garcia
David George
Barbara Gerberick
Sommer Goecke
Elizabeth Goldenberg
Gailen Goldstein
Jonathan Gonzalez
Myra Gordon
Nina Gott
Lauren Greenberg
Heather Griffith
Samantha Grunberg
Julia Guest
Garrick Hansen
Kimberly Hardin
Sienne Hayes
Olivia Healy-Mirkovich
Kelly Hearney
Charles Hellstrom
Shanti Hill-Gauer
Colin Holtzinger
Kelly Hsu
Lonny Jones
Scott Jorgensen
Phillip Jung
Bree Justus
Lauren Kaapcke
Ritsuko Kawato
Sofia Kenneally
Nicolas Kerr
Alexandra Kolar
Jove Komarek Mandzik
Stephanie Kramer
Emily Kulczyk
Elysse Lane
Rosemary Larkin-Nabozny
Justin Lee
Corrine Lee
Laura Lesar
Marcia Levitsky
Tamara Litfin
Rachel Lloyd
Elizabeth Locatelli
Anna MacLachlan
Ryan Madsen
Elizabeth Magid
Colin Maher
Melinda Marks
Nicholas Matsumoto
Max McDaniel
Amy McDermott
Megan McDowell
Stacy Medof
Cassidy Mehlman
Laurel Meissner
Kyle Mendes
Robert Merrill
Rebecca Merris-Miche
Marina Mizar
Lauren Moore
Joshua Morrow
Kahlil Morse
Robert Morse
David Moutrie
Nathaniel Moya
Mikayla Murphy
Ryan Neely
John Odell
Brendan O'Donnell
Leif Olson
Marina Osa
Seema Patel
Andrew Peasley
Marc Perel
Trevor Pesout
Nathan Pickens
Jedediah Pixley
Andrew Pomatti
Thomas Poore
Keaton Port Gaarn
Mary Porzig
Joseph Presti
Casandra Pritchard
Heather Quinlan
Jillynne Quinn
John Ralston
Lauren Reiser
Melissa Riggall
Mark Robertson
William Rogan
Elizabeth Rose
Shannon Ruecker
Kashima Samuels
Christina Sanchez
Beacher Schneider
Alexander Schrock
Monica Sedlock
Maya Sertic
Samantha Shattuck
Arya Shoraka
Terisa Siagatonu
Alexander Simon
Katherine Simpson
William Spangler
Molly Stewart
Allison Stumpf
Jessica Temple
Kaitlin Thomas
John Thorburn
Michael Thornhill
Mateaus Tunstall
Timothy Valentic
Breanna Van Otterloo
Katherine Vining
Geno Viscuso
Trevor Vogt
Trevor Vogt
Thao Vu
Rebecca Wage
Benjamin Wagner
Zachary Wallerich
Erica Wheeler-Dubin
Katharine Wheeler-Dubin
Lani White
Nathan Willett
Lillian Wilson
Teri Wu
Walter Wunderlich
Albert Yusdi Putra
Xiao Zhao
Hahn Scholarship
Benson Tran
History Department Hitchcock Award
Talia Coutin
Mark Edwards
Evan Housel
Tahsin Siddique
Reeve Tyndall
Huffman Prize
Dustin Kendig
Humanities Undergraduate Research Award
Jacob Cribbs
Shaun Duke
Nathan Hinchey
Erika Layman
Nathaniel Moya
James Ong
Scott Reed
Jennifer Sawyer
Monica Sedlock
Irwin Project Grants
Greta Aalborg-Volper
Dalia Anani
Calen Barca-Hall
Demian Bartholomew-Keller
Aly Behm
Daniel Belarmino
Julia Bergen
Jory Bidart
Benjamin Blair
Cliare Bruechmer
Amy Catlin
Coreen Callister
Beatriz Castillo
Bradley Cavin
Nicholas Chan
Chia-Wei Chang
Kathyrn Cook
Navid Dehghan
Krista Delosreyes
Tamara Dib
Toan Do
Kathryn Dunbar
Wayland Engle
Michelle Ferrari
Scott French
Levi Goldman
Priscila Gomez
Kathleen Hopkins
Anna Huemmer
Jordan Jurich
Chelsea Kidwell
Whitney Kim
Mallory Lawrence
Alexis Lino
Conner MacPhee
Maya Manvi
Mary Katherine Marxen
Laurel Meissner
Caitlin Luna Miller
Devin Miller
Jesus Mora
Lyndsay Nissen
Issac Osher
Trenton Rembert
Isa Reser
Gabriella Ripley-Phipps
David Rose
Adam Rosendahl
Christine Ross
Adrian Rotzscher
Spencer Sands
Carla Schwartz
Laurel Smith
Kelsey Stone
Daniel Suleymanov
Jordan Tynes
Dana Vallarino
Maria Voylokova
Alexa vonPrittwitz-Burrell
Bryce Walker
Vincent Waring
Evan Wilson
Sophia Yanow
Lauren Yayesaki
Mathew Zefeldt
Irwin Scholarships
Dana Ashton
Jory Bidart
Benjamin Blair
Anna Huemmer
Ivan Huang
Jordan Jurich
Conner MacPhee
Maya Manvi
Danielle Tsuboi
Jordan Tynes
Bryce Walker
Mathew Zefeldt
Marilyn Justman Scholarship
Cathrine Berlin
Ruth Kim
David F. Kaun Music Scholarship
Sophia Kreide
Gaelyn Ong
Erik Peterson
Zachary Ragent
Barbara Kraft Scholarship
Corey Phillis
Earnest & Jean Kretschmer Music Scholarship
Celia Lay
William McIntyre
Anna Prokhorova
Zachary Ragent
David S. Lee Scholarship
Alejandro Cerda
James Herbold
Jonathan Imperial
Martin Ortega
Christopher Robles
Salvador Vazquez
Andrew Wong
Paul and Bernice Lubow Awards
Mireya Arteaga
Amy Betts
Una Cado
Lakia Queen
Patrick Mantey Undergraduate Award
Roger Kevin Nelson
Laura Stelzner
Bertha N. Melkonian Prize
Scott Reed
Multicultural Engineering Program Scholarship
Eric Arce
Ashley Craig
Angela Pena
Yayoi Tran
Reeve Tyndall
Helen Yamamoto
Merrill "Night of the Stars" 2009 Honoree
Stephanie Dennis
Jhovani Estrada
Rachel Murray
Nicole Auclair Memorial Fund
William McIntyre
Bernard Osher Re-entry Scholars
Zheng Chen
Rachel Cordero
Tamara Earley
Nik Hansen
Kimberly Hardin
Mary-Catherine Hayes
Sossity Nico
Angela Pena
Sau Vong
Jason Walters
2008-09 Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society
Alisa Abraham
Jessica Acock-Carlisle
Kathryn Alexander
Wesley Allen
Sadie Anderson
Zeeda Anderson
Sarah Ashley
Gabrielle Ault-Riche
Flavia Bahena
Darcy Ballister
Taylor Bell
Bloom Beloved
Melissa Berry
Benjamin Blair
Jenifer Bratz
Nicole Brescia
Mariah Briel
Lauren Bruniges
Hannah Burney
Carolyn Caffrey
James Caparas-Hardwick
Juliet Carpenter
Briana Chan
Elliott Collins
Sarah Conrey
Natalie Cox
Marja Davis
Lisa Donchak
Kevin Dougherty
Shaun Duke
Mikahla Edeal
Hannah Engholm
Gabriel Espinosa-Ramos
Riley Evans
Abraham Flinders
Erica Fonseca
Hanna Georg
Erin Goldstrom
Nina Gott
Maia Grunert Brittney Hale
Martin Hanson
Astrid Heim
Lily Hendlin
Shanti Hill-Gauer
Belle Hoffman
Zachary Hoffman
Molly Hongola
Dylan Horst
Nischala Howeth
Jessica Hunt
Mariel Janowsky
Cara Jensen
Mijung Jirn
Sheela May Johnson-Westlie
Aileen Joy
Sarah Kingon
Stephanie Kramer
John Laskoski
Mollie Lautamo
Megan Leavitt
Nathan Loceff
Jennifer Lundin
Bria Maas-Howard
Meghan Machado
Heather Mahan
Colin Maher
Morgan McCarthy
Jessie McDougall
Jordan Menashe
Whitney Mhoon Mock
Alexi Morris
Anthony Moss
Stephen Nayfach-Battilana
Brendan Odonnell
James Ong
Diana Padilla
Eric Paneto
Harsh Patel
Marissa Perez
Robert Petro
Emily Diana Pugh
Todd Quigley
Elisa Quinonez
Megan Randol
Grimm Rhiannon
Elisabeth Rickles
William Rogan
Elisa Rossi
Michelle Rostampour
Natalia Schoorl
Valerie Sedig
Erik Seyster
Jessica Shen
Lauren Shumaker
Kara Skinner
Sarah Smith
William Spangler
Winn Stephanie
Dayana Stockdale
Scott Strickland
Jeffry Stroud
Sarah Sugar
Robert Summer
Felicia Tabing
Christopher Tanimasa
Renee Terrebonne
Leo Vrana
Benjamin Wagner
Rebekah Weber
Kerrye Weber
Jennifer Werkmann
Conrad Scott Williamson
Russell Witt
Amanda Wolffenbuttel
Erin Yazgan
2008-09 Karl S. Pister Scholars
Stefan Anderson
Christine Caneda
Lourdes Cisneros
Miguel Corres
Cynthia Cruz
Rochelle David
Sarah Duhart
Ricardo Fernandez
Nicole LaRoche
Michelle Romero
Frances Soto
Porter College Music Scholarship
Carol Atilano
Natalie Erskine
Kyla Knox
Re-Entry Book Award
Caitlin Alexander
Myrna Arriaga
Cathrine Berlin
Daniel Oberhaus
William Rice
Crystal Smith
Re-Entry Scholarship
Janet "Muffie" Cooper
Dani Molina
Jyesha Wren
Jesse Dolan
Bryan Donahue
Regent's Scholarship
Joshua Andersen
Sarah Chen
Anna Christie
Kevin Cullinen
Sage Doshay
Matthew Eding
Laurel Engbretson
Alexander Faulk
Martha Fehrman
Caitlin Ferguson
Sarah Flam
James Forrest
Laurence Hardie
Sean Maurel
Ashley Moody
Logan Murdock
Jeremy Parker
Zachary Ragent
Sarah Riegelhaupt-Herzig
James Shea
Tessa Toscano
Kaleigh Woods
Santa Clara Valley Gem & Mineral Society Scholarship
Alicia Muirhead
AAUW Helen Sigismund Gibson Memorial Scholarship
Rochelle David
Laura Duran-Gomez
Gordana Markovic
Jyesha Wren
Amy Beth Snader Memorial Scholarship
Sandra Bonilla
Lourdes Chang
Yixian Chen
Matthew Drake
Palwasha Hashem
Daniel Hernandez
Eduardo Hernandez
Leqi Lu
Logan Murdock
Tina Nguyen
Diane Pederson
Jay Roldan
Stephanie Roongsathapaul
Josie Sayegh
Lynn Teng
Briana To
Song Wu
Katarina Yang
Soroptimist International of Santa Cruz Scholarship
Nicole Hidalgo
Ruth Kim
Dani Molina
Kahlil Morse
Kevin Neuberger
William Rice
Sara Tolbert
Kathryn D. Sullivan Scholarship
Lauren Shumaker
Devon Orme
Robert H. Triebig Memorial Scholarship
Colin Beighley
Kal Conley
Darrel Deo
Jacob Gee
Robert Helvestine
Hugo Hernandez
Trenton Louie
Robert Nakamura
Andrew Wong
UC Foundation Classical Music Endowment
Rebecca Gibbons
Evan Kaiser
Karl Spiker
UCSC Endowment for Classical Music
Diana Chan
Mazera Cox
Chantal Didrickson
Eliott Nguyen
UCSC Lifelong Learners Book Awards
Mireya Arteaga
Joshua Carr
Rochelle David
Bryan Donahue
Tamara Earley
Moira Garcia
Yolanda Garcia
Mary Catherine Hayes
Jaime Hernandez
Rory Laster
Lizabeth Lutz
Stephanie Matt
Guillarmo G. Medrano
Ulysses Morales
Sossity Nico
April Oberhaus
Jennifer Riddle
Jungsoo Thery
Sandra Valle
UCSC Women's Club
Cathrine Berlin
Laura Delgatti
Yolanda Garcia
Patricia Yamileth Hernandez
Chelsey Juarez
Stephanie Matt
Kahlil Morse
Oscar Murillo
Kevin Neuberger
Corey Phillis
Moises Plascencia
Anne Rios
Barbara Smith
Sandra Valle
Juan Vargas
Jessica Watson
Jyesha Wren
Resident String Ensemble Scholarship
Sophia Kreide
Gaelyn Ong
Erik Peterson
2009 Weber/Holt Grant
Jon Gamble
Lisa Gerencher
Robert Grebe
Ryan Haupt
Lia Lajoie
Aaron Masters
Devon Orme
Paul Talmage
Jessica Tibor
Katherine Turkle
Melissa Usack
Kevin Walker
Hortense Zuckerman Prize for Outstanding Achievement
in Music Scholarship & Performance
Kyla Knox
Erin Santos
