The end of the academic year marks a time to celebrate and reflect on the accomplishments of the over 6,000 students and 360 faculty that make up the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S). Below are A&S award winners who have been acknowledged for their exceptional academic, research and teaching achievements.

Student Awards and Honors

Senior Class Marshals are selected and announced one year before their own graduation, at the end of their junior year, based upon their academic achievement, campus and community involvement and commitment to service. Upon beginning their senior year, the selected students will participate in a number of activities, including meeting with senior University leaders to share their insight on the student experience, participating in alumni and celebratory events, and serving on committees. They also lead Syracuse University’s Commencement ceremony the year after they are announced.

2023 Senior Class Marshals (Syracuse University)

• Simone Bellot (communication sciences and disorders and neuroscience major and member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program)
• Michael “MP” Geiss (policy studies and physics major, biology and economics minor and member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program)

2024 Senior Class Marshals (Syracuse University)

• Lucio Maffei (junior majoring in political philosophy and ethics in A&S | Maxwell and member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program)
• Sofia Rodriguez (junior majoring in communication and rhetorical studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts)

2023 College Marshals

College Marshals are students selected to represent A&S | Maxwell at the Syracuse University Commencement exercises. These students reflect distinguished achievement in academics and service to the University.

• Julianna Mercado
• Taylor Stover

Convocation Student Speakers

Graduate Ceremony Student Speaker

• Joy Nyokabi Karinge

Graduate Ceremony Student Reader

• Hayley Bowen

Undergraduate Ceremony Student Speaker

• Julianna Mercado

Syracuse University Scholars

Six A&S seniors were among the 12 students making up the 2023 cohort of Syracuse University Scholars, the highest undergraduate honor bestowed by the University. Scholars are chosen by a University-wide faculty committee that use criteria including coursework and academic achievement, independent research and creative work, evidence of intellectual growth and/or innovation in their disciplinary field, a personal statement and faculty letters of recommendation.

• Dara Drake (policy studies major in A&S | Maxwell and member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program)
• Kiersten Edwards (neuroscience major in A&S and public health major in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics)
• Grace Haas (neuroscience major in A&S and bioengineering major in ECS)
• Julianna Mercado (biochemistry and forensic science major in A&S)
• Maggie Sardino (writing and rhetoric major in A&S, citizenship and civic engagement major in Maxwell and member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program)
• Alesandra “Sasha” Temerte (economics major in A&S | Maxwell, writing and rhetoric major in A&S and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program)

Graduate Dean’s Award

Eight graduate students have been selected for the Graduate Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Work. This year’s class included two award recipients from A&S. Award recipients represent a broad array of disciplines and are selected based on students’ outstanding accomplishments in research and creative work, as well as the quality and impact of proposed presentations.

• Sarthak Gupta, doctoral student in physics, “Characterizing a Diseased Cell Nucleus Through Computational Modeling Techniques”
• Lauren McCormick, doctoral student in religion, “My Eyes Are Up Here: Guardian Iconography of the Judean Pillar Figurine”

Remembrance Scholars

Each year 35 juniors are awarded Remembrance scholarships as a tribute to—and means of remembering—the 35 students who were killed in the Dec. 21, 1988, bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The $5,000 scholarships are awarded on the basis of scholarship, leadership and service to the community. The 2023-24 cohort includes 22 students from A&S.

• Christian Bevilacqua (social studies education major in A&S and School of Education, a geography major in A&S | Maxwell and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program)
• Dominic Chiappone (history major in A&S | Maxwell and broadcast journalism major in the Newhouse School)
• Sophie Creager-Roberts (environmental, sustainability and policy major and history major A&S | Maxwell and a member of the Crown Honors Program)
• Daniela Dorado (creative writing major in A&S and advertising major in the Newhouse School)
• Guerdyna Gelin (policy studies major in A&S | Maxwell and a member of the Crown Honors Program)
• Miguel Guzman (biotechnology major in A&S and a member of the Crown Honors Program)
• Ka’ai I (policy studies and international relations major A&S | Maxwell)
• Beizhou Li (political science and economics major in A&S | Maxwell)
• Lucio Maffei (political philosophy and ethics major in A&S | Maxwell and a member of the Crown Honors Program)
• Grant Maxheimer (international relations major in A&S | Maxwell, a citizenship and civic engagement major in the Maxwell School and a member of the Crown Honors Program)
• Mitchell Mazza (neuroscience and psychology major in A&S and a member of the Crown Honors Program)
• Aidan O’Connell (political science major in A&S | Maxwell)
• Motolani Oladitan (psychology major in A&S and a member of the Crown Honors Program)
• Katarina Sako (neuroscience and biology major in A&S and a member of the Crown Honors Program)
• Hannah Skelton (political science major in A&S | Maxwell and citizenship and civic engagement major in the Maxwell School)
• Hannah Starorypinski (political science major in A&S | Maxwell and a member of the Crown Honors Program)
• Otto Sutton (political science, history and political philosophy major in A&S | Maxwell)
• Anna Terzaghi (anthropology and international relations major in A&S | Maxwell and a member of the Crown Honors Program)
• Madison Wallace (biochemistry and neuroscience major in A&S and a member of the Crown Honors Program)
• Emily M. Weaver (Earth and environmental sciences and forensic science major in A&S, anthropology major A&S | Maxwell and a member of the Crown Honors Program)
• Xibo Xu (international relations major in A&S | Maxwell and applied data analytics major in the School of Information Studies)
• Zhiyun (Alita) Zhang (psychology and linguistic studies major in A&S)

Mary Hatch Marshall Essay Award (for best essay by a graduate student in the humanities)

• Aatif Abbas, doctoral candidate in the Department of Philosophy

Chancellor’s Citation for Excellence

The awards recognize members of the University community who have made invaluable contributions through commitment to scholarship and research that fosters new understandings of the world and creative responses to its needs.

Excellence in Student Research

• Erin Matsuba, doctoral candidate in psychology
• Ana Aponte González, junior women’s and gender studies major in A&S and communications and rhetorical studies major in the College of Visual and Performing Arts
• Donyell Logan, senior medicinal chemistry major

Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award

The Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award recognizes 35 Teaching Assistants (TAs) who have made distinguished contributions to Syracuse University by demonstrating excellence in significant instructional capacities, such as classroom teaching, laboratory or studio instruction, leading recitation or discussion sections, or assisting senior faculty members with high-enrollment courses.

This year’s A&S honorees:

• Sinem Aytac, psychology
• Christopher Bousquet, philosophy
• Hugo Cantin, languages, literatures and linguistics
• Alexia Chatzitheodorou, physics
• Thiago De Melo, philosophy
• Ashley Douglass, psychology
• Lerie Gabriel, writing studies, rhetoric and composition
• Adil Ghaznavi, physics
• Jesse Hulse, mathematics
• Florencia Lauria, English
• Jacob Migdail-Smith, mathematics
• Giovanni Minicucci, languages, literatures and linguistics
• Courtney Noh, English
• Brian Odiwuor, mathematics
• Madeline Olley, English
• Amanda Surman, science teaching
• Danae Woodfaulk, religion

Goldwater Scholars

Two A&S juniors have been selected for the 2023 Goldwater Scholarship, the most prestigious undergraduate scholarship awarded in the natural sciences, engineering and mathematics in the United States.

• Matthew Snyder (psychology major and member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program)
• Cody VanNostrand (aerospace engineering major in the College of Engineering and Computer Science [ECS], physics minor in A&S and member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program)

Student-Athlete Award

This award is given to the senior female and male students with the highest cumulative grade point average over their careers as student-athletes.

• Grace Brock, political science major in A&S | Maxwell and member of the women’s track and field and cross-country team

A&S | Maxwell Scholars

• Jenna Morgan Cammerino
• Dara S. Drake
• Michael Patrick “MP” Geiss
• Julianna Kate Mercado
• Rihua Min
• Alexa V. Nohavicka
• Jacqueline Nicole Ritz
• Maggie Sardino
• Taylor J. Stover
• Christopher Taveras
• Alesandra “Sasha” Temerte

Faculty and Staff Awards and Honors

William Wasserstrom Prize

This award is given annually in memory of Professor William Wasserstrom of the Department of English.

The prize is made to the full-time member of the faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences or Maxwell School who is judged to exemplify best the qualities so evident in the career of William Wasserstrom: his outstanding success as a graduate seminar leader, research and dissertation director, and advisor and role model for graduate students.

• Audie Klotz, professor of political science in A&S | Maxwell

Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professorships for Teaching Excellence

A substantial bequest from the estate of Dr. L. Douglas Meredith, a 1926 graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences, allowed Chancellor Kenneth A. Shaw to create the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professorships in 1995, to recognize and reward outstanding teaching at Syracuse University.

• Azra Hromadžić, associate professor of anthropology in A&S | Maxwell, the Dr. Ralph E. Montonna Endowed Professor and senior research associate in the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration

Meredith Teaching Recognition Award

In 2001, the Meredith Professorship Program was expanded to recognize teaching excellence by non-tenured faculty and adjunct and part-time instructors.

Early Performance

• Jen Cook, assistant teaching professor of neuroscience and the primary advisor to neuroscience integrated learning major students
• Matthew Grzecki, assistant teaching professor of English and creative writing coordinator
• Meredith Martin, associate teaching professor of psychology

Continuing Excellence

• Sarah Harwell, associate teaching professor of English and associate director of creative writing

Graduate Education Excellence Awards

Two professors from A&S are among the eight University faculty members honored with Graduate Education Excellence Awards. Recipients are recognized as inspirational teachers and notable scholars whose work expands the reputation of the university and guides student research paths.

Sara E. Burke, assistant professor of psychology

Mike Goode, professor of English and William P. Tolley Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Humanities