Academic awards recognize outstanding undergraduate achievement
Students from 28 undergraduate departmental and interdisciplinary honors programs were recognized with Firestone and Golden medals and Kennedy Honors Thesis prizes. The projects produced by the winners capture the breadth of the undergraduate experience at Stanford and span diverse academic areas, from the sciences to the arts.
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
Please reach out to vpue@stanford.edu if you are the recipient of an award listed and your name is missing.