Thirty-six Stanford students representing 28 undergraduate departmental and interdisciplinary honors programs received awards for outstanding research theses and creative arts projects. Thirty-two honorees received the 2023 Firestone and Golden medals, and four undergraduates received the Kennedy Honors Thesis prizes.

The Firestone and Golden Medals are awarded to the top 10 percent of honors theses completed each year. The Firestone Medal for Excellence in Undergraduate Research recognizes theses written in the social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering. The Robert M. Golden Medal for Excellence in the Humanities and Creative Arts similarly distinguishes theses in the humanities or creative projects in the arts. Awardees each received an engraved bronze medal and a monetary award.

Awarded annually, the David M. Kennedy Prize is given to the single best thesis in each of four academic areas: humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering and applied sciences. Recipients of the Kennedy Prize have accomplished exceptionally advanced research in the field and have shown strong potential for publication in peer-reviewed scholarly works. The prize was established in 2008 in recognition of history Professor David M. Kennedy’s long-standing mentoring of undergraduate writers. Winners each received an engraved plaque and a monetary award.

To learn more about the awards and the winning projects and theses, visit the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (VPUE) awards site.

David M. Kennedy Honors Thesis Prizes

Engineering and Applied Sciences: Jason Khoi Phong, Materials Science and Engineering

Arts & Humanities: Ashwin Pillai, Ethics in Society

Natural Sciences: Gautam Manohar, Mathematics

Social Sciences: Tiffany Liu, Symbolic Systems

Firestone Medals for Excellence in Undergraduate Research

Grace Alchemy, Biology

Joshua Elbridge Chan, Human Biology

Ailsa Rachel Craven, Biology

Nicolas Alejandro Garcia, Economics

Molly Glickman, Earth Systems

Bryan Dev Gopal, Computer Science

Tara Hein, Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law

Om Jahagirdar, Biomedical Computation.

Jennifer Neda John, Human Biology

Nicole Columbaro Johnson, Psychology

Wenqi Li, Mathematics

Divya Nagaraj, Computer Science

Claudia Nmai, Sociology

Erica May Naa Okaikor Okine, Science, Technology & Society

Rachelle Rodriguez, International Relations.

Nicholas Rouillard, Human Biology

Coco Kiara Brisa Sanabria, Bioengineering.

Tia Sewell, Center for International Security and Cooperation

Lexi Straube, Human Biology

Alan Tong, Chemistry

Cameron Wagner, Physics

William Wang, Biology

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

Tamilore Awosile, Arts Institute

Tyra Huyana Blackwater, Art & Art History

Stephanie Castaneda Perez, History

Poojit Hegde, Center for Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity

Kieran “Kiki” Hood, Theater & Performance Studies

Laura Lin, Philosophy

Johnny Rabe, Music

Tom Worth, Art History

Camellia Ye, English

Amir Zur, Linguistics