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2025 Senior Distinguished Awards Convocation Honorees

At the Senior Distinguished Awards Convocation, the University of Pittsburgh gathers to pay tribute to the outstanding graduating students who have distinguished themselves through academics, service and leadership. 

Awards and Honors

Click gray bar to view awardees for each category below.

The Bachelor of Philosophy Degree (BPhil)

The Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil) degree is one of the most prestigious undergraduate qualifications available anywhere in the world. The BPhil degree requires students to complete a rigorous curriculum combined with independent research to create an academic experience involving breadth and depth. 

Stephany Andrade    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Maya Asher    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Lauren Bedell    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Catherine Brown    
School of Nursing

Olivia Carson    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Nicole Chiu    
School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Dev Chopra    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Michelle Chung    
School of Nursing

Luciana De Jesus    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Meghana Dodda    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Isaac Gamwo    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Annis Gong    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Colleen Gunn    
School of Nursing

Macie Hakim    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Shane Hansen    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Anneliese Harp    
School of Pharmacy

Natan Herzog    
Swanson School of Engineering

Harsh Hiwase    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and School of Public Health

Maya Jones    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Angel Joseph    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Brian Kim    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Erin Lancaster    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Julie Lawler    
School of Computing and Information

Amelia Leonard    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Jiaxiong (Irvin) Li    
School of Education

Cody McSherry    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Chloe Merino    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Zachary Miller    
Swanson School of Engineering

Al Nie    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Stuti Panchal    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Heather Phillips    
Swanson School of Engineering

Jennifer Qiu    
School of Education

Mark Rhoge    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Jake Rosen    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Amelia Saccomandi    
School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Shannon Seidel    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Milani Shanmuganathan    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Felicia Shen    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Isabel Sichlau    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Haylie Silbernagel    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Owen Spencer    
School of Computing and Information

Nicholas Vasas    
Swanson School of Engineering

Simon Wang    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Christian Waronsky    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Emma Whittaker    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Madeline Wolfe    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Virginia Yu    
Swanson School of Engineering

Julia Zeiser    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Yushu (Erin) Zuo    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

University Scholars

The title of University Scholar is awarded to students that have distinguished themselves by achieving a cumulative grade point average that ranks in the top 2% of their peers within their primary school of affiliation. 

Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Rhea Abraham
Krishna Amin
Su Bin An
Ellen Baker
Ella Begovic
Caleb Buzard
Natalie Cohen
Angelica Cramer
Livia Daggett
Jaina DeMeter
Nora Diday
Abigale Dzwik
Lucas Ferranti
Emily Finnegan
Nitya Gali
Danielle Gallagher
Sia Garg
William Goodwin
Tyler Gordon
Gabriela Herring
Julia Hodges
Maya Jones
Natalie Jones
Michael Keller
Laura Kephart
Bailey Kielinski
Aaron Kim
Timothy Koons
Srividya Koppolu
Lily Kramer
Victoria Legleitner
Sarah Lindley
Rohit Mantena
Jenna Margasak
Varun Nair
Kayleigh Phillips
Abhinav Pillai
Allison Redhair
Bryce Rooney
Jake Rosen
Julianne Saffron
Chloe Scharf
Anna Sedlak
Shannon Seidel
Layne Shaffer
Amy Shneyderman
Karthik Sivachandran
Mia Henss Skeel
Ramsey Smith
Evan Sun
Aaron Tien
Liam Tinker
Anthony Toscani
Abigail Vavro
Annie Wang
Katelyn Weir
Henry Zou

School of Business

Steven Bleifer
Maxwell Brown
Erica Brunner
Jordan Carrier
Katie Currie
Nicholas Stephen Giandomenico
Katherine Leatherman
Karina Lesniewski
Nicholas Molicki
Oren Serafin
Luke Siegel
Noah Stern
Karsten Taylor

School of Computing and Information

Emmanuelle Brent
Maximus Hayes
Humeyra Kacar
Jeremy  Luu
Christopher Mohri
Austin Throop
Jeffrey Zheng

School of Education

Emma Carney
Charis Carroll
Melody Dean
Emily Janosko
Miarra Misutka

Swanson School of Engineering

Joel Berns
Benjamin Carnovale
Xingze Li 
Wenyi Lin 
Chengtong Lu 
Rebecca Miller
Adam Nichols
Kushal Parekh
Brock Pemberton
Daniel Schaub
Sean Van Alen
Anagha  Venkatesh
Jihao Zhang

College of General Studies

Erin Bailey
Abigail Baum
Meriem Boukaabar
Isabella Bufalini
Alexis Hobson
Grace McCullough
Phillip Shirkin
Miah Wojdyla

School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Brett Adkins
Macie Hakim
Gracie Long
Lydia Queen
Emma Rubin
Lauren Starr
Claire Visscher

School of Nursing

Catherine Brown
Anna Riggs
Abigail Soskil
Lydia Vavro
Brooklyn Verellen
Eileen Zhang

School of Pharmacy

Emeline Jayne Snook

School of Public Health

Madison Tassone

School of Social Work

Olivia Collins
Holly McCarthy

National and International Scholarship Recipients

Voyager Scholarship for Public Service

This is a two-year, leadership development and scholarship program for students who have a passion for helping others, experience serving in or building community, and an expansive view of what’s possible through public service.

Erin Lancaster
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Anjolaoluwa Oludayo
School of Pharmacy

The Gilman Scholarship

This scholarship enables students to study or intern abroad, providing them with skills critical to our national security and economic prosperity. 

Stephany Andrade
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Michelle Chung 
School of Nursing

Maria Cortes Flores 
School of Business

Justin Cullins
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Madison Dougherty 
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Mackenzie Evans 
School of Social Work

Valentina Gomez 
School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Eithne Hartnett 
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Yaa Kornne 
School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Betty Kromah 
School of Social Work

Stacey Ngo 
Swanson School of Engineering

Nicholas Pho 
Swanson School of Engineering

Roland Snyder 
School of Business

Rae Templeton 
Swanson School of Engineering

Kellen Weidman 
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Sikai Zheng 
School of Business

The Critical Language Scholarship

Provides an immersive summer opportunity for American college and university students to learn languages essential to America’s engagement with the world.

Hiba Siddiqui
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Boren Scholarship

A prestigious scholarship that provides financial support, language training, and invaluable experiences for students who are passionate about studying critical languages and immersing themselves in different cultures.

Griffin Mekler-Culbertson
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Deutsher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), or German Academic Exchange Service

This is a private, publicly funded, self-governing organization of higher education institutions in Germany. The DAAD promotes international academic relations and cooperation and offers undergraduate students a variety of support for study and research in Germany at all levels of the undergraduate program. 

Lauren Angus
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

Heather Phillips
Swanson School of Engineering

Internal Merit-based Scholarship Recipients

Chancellor's Scholarship

The scholarship is one of the most prestigious and competitive awards available at the University of Pittsburgh. These scholars are changemakers committed to making the world a better place by working across academic boundaries, and they are defined by their intellectual curiosity, academic excellence, and their desire to work for the public good. 

Lauren Beck    
Swanson School of Engineering

Livia Daggett    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences  

Connor Diaz    
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences  

Joanna Fan
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences  

Aaryn Mathias
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences  

Owen May
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and College of General Studies

Semira McFarlane
School of Business

Thana McLain
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences  

Lilly Nelson
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences  

Nij Patel
School of Computing and Information

Dominique Thomas
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences  

Robert Lavelle Scholarship

For students who have demonstrated academic excellence and the potential for scholarly contributions to the University who are admitted to the College of Business Administration.

Sydney Sparks
School of Business

Helen Faison Scholarship

For students who have demonstrated academic excellence and the potential for scholarly contributions to the University. 

Sesen Gidey 
School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Nordenberg Leadership Scholars

Named after Chancellor Emeritus Mark A. Nordenberg, the program rewards the best and brightest student leaders from high schools in Pennsylvania who have demonstrated excellent leadership skills, innovative thinking, intellectual curiosity, and community involvement.

Caleb Buzard 
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences  

Morgan Madison 
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences  

Olivia Terry 
School of Computing and Information

Gal Yovel 
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences  

Grace Zellers 
School of Business

The Stamps Scholars

This program, with the support of benefactors E. Roe Stamps and his late wife Penny Stamps, rewards top student leaders for their outstanding academic and leadership accomplishments. 

Melina Bradley
School of Business

Jake Lorenz 
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences  

Kayla Moitui 
School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Niosha Parvizi 
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences  

Ramsey Smith 
Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences  and Swanson School of Engineering

Winners for the following awards will be announced during the event. Candidates for the award are listed within each dropdown section.

The Emma W. Locke Memorial Award

Established in 1946 by Charles A. Locke as a tribute to his mother, for whom the award is named. The undergraduate school deans each nominate one candidate for their high scholarship, character, leadership, and devotion to the ideals of the University of Pittsburgh. The winner of this award will be announced at the Senior Distinguished Awards Convocation. 

Candidates: 

  • Ashawnti Buckner, College of General Studies
  • Nicole Chiu, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
  • Samarth Chopra, Swanson School of Engineering
  • Mackenzie Evans, School of Social Work
  • Emily Janosko, School of Education
  • Carson Mello, School of Pharmacy
  • Brandi Ramboobeer, Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences
  • Abigail Soskil, School of Nursing
  • Surina Vellody, School of Business
  • Ethan Wells, School of Computing and Information
     
The Omicron Delta Kappa “Senior of the Year” Award

This award recognizes a student for meritorious leadership and extracurricular activities; exemplary character; leadership, service; scholarship; and who has developed as member of the Pitt community and as a prospective contributor to the greater world. The winner of this award will be announced at the Senior Distinguished Awards Convocation.

Candidates: