Students in the Division of Social Sciences gathered with friends, family members, faculty, staff, and donors on Thursday, May 24, to celebrate excellence in student scholarship and creativity. Hosted by Dean Katharyne Mitchell, the annual Student Award Luncheon honored undergraduates and graduate students across the division.
"It's wonderful to celebrate our students and to recognize those whose efforts stand out on a landscape of impressive achievement," said Mitchell, who presented divisional awards, as well as campuswide deans' and chancellor's awards. "These awards are the culmination of a lot of hard work."
"For me, it's lovely to meet the students, their family members and friends, and their faculty mentors," added Mitchell. "I enjoy watching the amazement and thrill of parents and other community members when they learn about the extraordinary quality of the research, see the passion of the students, and observe the dedication of their mentors."
Division of Social Sciences Awards
Gabriel Zimmerman Memorial Scholarship: This scholarship was established to honor Gabriel "Gabe" Zimmerman, the alum who was shot and killed in the 2011 attack on Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Zimmerman was working as Giffords' community outreach director at a constituent-engagement event he had organized when gunshots rang out; he ran towards Giffords, who was gravely wounded in the assassination attempt. Gabe was killed. The scholarship was established in the weeks after the shooting by UC Santa Cruz graduates Jonathan Klein (Merrill '89, politics) and Alex Clemens (Porter '89, international politics) and has since attracted support from more than 520 donors. It supports undergraduates who are passionate about social issues and committed to social service.
- John Kenney, Merrill College, Community Studies
- Asanti Nkosi, Stevenson College, Sociology
Walsh Family Scholarship: This scholarship was established by Economics Professor Carl Walsh and his wife, Judy Walsh (MS, '90, applied economics), in honor of Carl's parents Eugene and Bessie Walsh. The award is presented to one or more undergraduates within the Division of Social Sciences, based on academic merit and financial need.
- Margarita Vargas, Porter College, Politics
- Rosa Graciela Vargas, Oakes College, Psychology and Legal Studies
- Laura Wishart, Kresge College, Sociology and Politics
Weiss Family Scholarship: The Weiss Family Scholarship was established in 2005 by Timothy and Jean Weiss to support students in Colleges Nine and Ten. It is presented to one or more students who are working directly with faculty who are affiliated with a divisional research center.
- Ilene Le, College Nine, Sociology
- Ruby Sanchez, College Nine, Sociology
Keeley Coastal Scholars Award: The Keeley Coastal Scholars Award supports underrepresented undergraduates by providing the financial assistance they need to engage in summer research and policy work related to coastal sustainability. Former Assemblyman and Santa Cruz County Treasurer/Tax Collector Fred Keeley is a widely recognized champion of the coastal environment and author of the Marine Life Management Act.
- Jade MacMillan, Crown College, Environmental Studies and Economics
Milam-McGinty-Kaun Award for Teaching Excellence: Professor Emeritus of Economics David Kaun established this award in 1999 to recognized two talented teaching assistants each year. He was inspired to endow the award and name it after the first recipients, international economics graduate students Garrett Milam and Matt McGinty, who were TA's in Kaun's Intermediate Microeconomic Theory course. Recipients are selected each year based on academic merit, one from Economics and one from another department in the Social Sciences Division.
- Dahyeon Jeong, Economics
- Sarah Rapp, Education
21st Century Leonardo da Vinci Scholars Awards: These awards are presented to students who have pursued a cross-disciplinary education and maintained a 3.8 GPA or higher. Da Vinci Scholars are seniors who have double majored in a program in the Division of Social Sciences and in another course of study outside the division. This year's recipients, ranked in order of highest GPA, are:
- Carly Taylor, Crown College, Feminist Studies and Psychology
- Alice Malmberg, Cowell College, Feminist Studies and Politics
- Maya Movak-Herzog, Cowell College, Feminist Studies and Politics
- Ana Radanovic, Cowell College, Psychology and Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology
- Samantha Stringer, Crown College, Community Studies and Feminist Studies
- Justine Cullinane, Stevenson College, Feminist Studies and Psychology
- Satveer Kler, Oakes College, Literature and Psychology
- Sarah Ali, College 9, Literature and Politics
- Tiany Zhang, Cowell College, Economics and Mathematics
- Nayeli Casteneda-Lechuga, Kresge College, Economics and Literature
- Andrés Andrade, Kresge College, Politics and Humanities
- Tony Evans, Cowell College, Economics and History
- Keith Samujh, Oakes College, Film and Digital Media and Economics
In addition, students in the Division of Social Sciences received the following campuswide Deans' and Chancellor's Awards: These awards recognize outstanding achievement by undergraduates in each academic division. Each student or team works on a senior research or milestone project under the mentorship of a faculty member. A committee in each division selects ten Deans' Award recipients; of those, up to three in each division may be selected to receive a Chancellor's Award.
Deans' and Chancellor's Awards:
- Sarah Jane Cameron, Rachel Carson College, Community Studies
- Riri Shibata, Stevenson College, Environmental Studies and Legal Studies
- Natalie Keller, Stevenson College, Sociology
Deans' Awards:
- Jessica Chuidian-Ingersoll, Merrill College, Community Studies
- Christopher Connelly, Oakes College, Economics and Politics
- Evelyn Drake, College Ten, Anthropology
- Rosemary Garcia, Oakes College, Latin American and Latino Studies
- Cristal Santamaria Gonzalez, Oakes College, Environmental Studies
- Noa Lewin, Kresge College, Psychology
- Alice Malmberg, Cowell College, Politics
