The 2026 Honors and Awards Convocation was held on Saturday, April 25, 2026. The ceremony honored Penn State Behrend students for their extraordinary academic achievements in the 2025-26 academic year. Recognized students and their guests were invited to attend the ceremony.
Congratulations to this year's award winners!
Academic Awards
The awards given each spring by the college’s academic units recognize excellence in scholastic achievement and engagement in academic-focused co-curricular and professional activities.
Writing Awards
- First-Year Student Writing Award: Wyatt Schneidau, Anna Wolff
- Open Writing Award: Brooke Korb
- Writing Award, Black School of Business: Jac Caputo, Noah Carben, Dominic DelleCurti, Austin Woodward
- Writing Award, School of Humanities and Social Sciences: Rachel Pineo
- Writing Award, School of Engineering: Michael Carrarini, Landon Douvlos
Outstanding Tutor Awards
- Outstanding Tutor in Business: Freddy Browarski
- Outstanding Tutor in Engineering: Reza Abdollahi
- Outstanding Tutor in Humanities and Social Sciences: Wade Williams
- Outstanding Tutor in Mathematics: Hriday Matharu
- Outstanding Tutor in Science: Sebastian Davila
- Outstanding Tutor in Writing: Noah Adams
Division of Undergraduate Studies Awards
- DUS Outstanding First-Year Student: Brayden Byham
- DUS Outstanding Second-Year Student: Arie Frase
Black School of Business Awards
- Outstanding Accounting Student: Collin Miller
- Outstanding Business Economics Student: Samantha Perseo
- Outstanding Economics Student: Claire Daigle
- Outstanding Finance Student, Erie: Alex Dayoub
- Outstanding Finance Student, World Campus: John Chena
- Outstanding Functional Data Analytics Student: Brock Kiefer
- Outstanding Interdisciplinary Business with Engineering Studies Student: Brian Blake
- Outstanding International Business Student: Jack Gilroy
- Outstanding Management Information Systems Student: Adam Black
- Outstanding Project and Supply Chain Management Student: Jack Crowley
- Kenneth L. Spencer Award, Accounting: Stone DeFelice
- Kenneth L. Spencer Award, Finance: Zach Green
- American Production and Inventory Control Society Award: Jaheim Everage
- Institute of Management Accounting Award: Zane Lewis
- Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants Award: Emily Jackovic
School of Engineering Awards
- Outstanding Computer Engineering Student: Dawson Reese
- Outstanding Computer Science Student: Dheeraj Gollu
- Outstanding Electrical Engineering Student: Nathaniel Kaboly
- Outstanding Industrial Engineering Student: Alison Litwiler
- Outstanding Mechanical Engineering Student: Lindsey Pawlawski
- Outstanding Mechanical Engineering Technology Student: Natalie Barkley
- Outstanding Plastics Engineering Technology Student: Michael Carrarini
- Outstanding Polymer Engineering and Science Student: Reese Gresgott
- Outstanding Software Engineering Student, Erie: Ethan Delanko
- Outstanding Software Engineering Student, World Campus: Beatriz Ceschin Antunes
- Jake Boyle Memorial Award: Michael Carrarini, Kaitlyn Ezzone
- James R. Meehl Engineering Award: Christopher Eisloeffel, Shawn Foster, Konrad Ruckdeschel
School of Humanities and Social Sciences Awards
- Best Contributing History Major: Wade Williams
- Outstanding Achievement in Media and Communication: Rebecca Krenzer
- Outstanding Creative Writing Major: Francis Gardiner
- Outstanding Digital Media, Arts, and Technology Major: Hadleigh Jae Bills
- Outstanding Elementary and Early Childhood Education Major, Academics: Kylie Jones
- Outstanding Elementary and Early Childhood Education Major, Fieldwork: Emma Hopson
- Outstanding English Major: Paisley Mangold
- Outstanding Future Math Educator: Madelyn King
- Outstanding Political Science Major: Chloe Sotus
- Outstanding Psychology Student: Jillian Mazzarese
- Outstanding Scholarly Achievement in Psychology: Ramiro Becerra
- Celise Schneider Award in Political Theory: Sienna Knights
- Clarence A. and Eugenie Baumann Smith Fiction Award: Gemma Malone
- John Rossi Excellence in Research Award: Knox Aluise
- Kenneth Jonathan Sonnenberg Poetry Award: Gemma Malone
- Myron Jones Broadcasting Award: Jack Mura
- Zachary T. Irwin Humanitarian Award: Jack Mong
School of Science Awards
- Academic Excellence in Biology: Alex Irwin
- Academic Excellence in Analytical Chemistry: Andrew Walker
- Academic Excellence in Organic Chemistry: Benjamin Lindquist
- Academic Excellence in Environmental Science: Alex Haskins
- Research Excellence in Environmental Science: Samantha Hulings
- Academic Excellence in Mathematics: Kelvin Li
- Research Excellence in Mathematics: Owen Grubbs
- Most Promising First-Year Student in Mathematics: Alyssa Tingley
- Outstanding Senior in Physics: Zach Willard
- Aaron Meehl Biology Award, Outstanding Rising Junior: Brandon Seymour
- Aaron Meehl Biology Award, Outstanding Rising Senior: Anna Steinbeck
- ACS Award — Outstanding First-Year Student in Chemistry: Jayden Aryee
- Chemistry Citizenship Award: Benjamin Lindquist
- Chemistry Outreach Award: Andrew Walker
- CRC Award — Outstanding First-Year Student in Chemistry: Sarah Whiteman
Nursing Program Awards
- Academic Excellence Award: Jadyn Danylko
- DAISY Award: Emily Bortnick
Graduate Programs Awards
- Outstanding Graduate Student in Clinical Psychology: Amanda Welsbacher
- Outstanding Master of Business Administration Student, Erie: Jill Blair
- Outstanding Master of Business Administration Student, Cranberry: Lauren Freyvogel
- Outstanding Master of Project Management Student: April Cockburn, Tania Walsh
College-Wide Awards
Evan Pugh Award
Juniors and Seniors who were in the top 0.5 percent of their classes at the end of the fall semester are honored as Evan Pugh Scholars.
Juniors:
- Abigail Knapka
- Brandon Seymour
- Sawani Shinde
Seniors:
- Ramiro Becerra
- Benjamin Lindquist
- Lindsey Pawlawski
- Anna Steinbeck
- Brian Yearwood
President Sparks Award
The President Sparks Award is presented to full-time undergraduate students who have earned a 4.0 cumulative grade-point average at the end of their third semester.
- Samantha Baumgratz
- Fredrick Browarski
- Michael Cogburn
- Ava Hartung
- Jackson Korb
- Heidi Mitchell
- Matthew Mizikowski
- Izaac Nishimura
- Connor Powierza
- Rachel Wilson
- Alayna Winters
President Walker Award
The President Walker Award is presented to full-time undergraduate students who earned a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade-point average in their first semester.
- Nadera Al-Abdullah
- Jayden Aryee
- Addison Barnes
- Jordan Brest
- Brayden Byham
- Marienne Clippinger
- Sienna Conklin
- Madelyn Cooper
- Bohui Cui
- Chase Dailey
- Justin Dukes
- Anne Falk
- Ireland Fullmer
- Sophia Ginader
- Lillian Graubard
- Tanner Grigley
- Sadie Groner
- Rafe Hankey
- Shohjahon Ilhomov
- Natalie Isaman
- Shaun Kamwendo
- Joseph Kocan
- James Lobza
- Daniel Mcnulty
- Kassia McPherson
- Heidi Murdock
- Hunter O’Conner
- Aleksandra Pribyshchuk
- Ignacio Ramirez-Villanueva
- Carley Reitz
- Abigail Rombach
- Ariana Stevenson
- Niklas Stoll Noriega
- Genevieve Sullivan-Shimek
- Shawn Swinton
- Amy Tyahla
- Sarah Whiteman
- Jacob Zampogna
Archie K. Loss Undergraduate Thesis Award
Established in memory of the late Dr. Archie Loss, professor emeritus of English and American Studies, by his family and friends, this award recognizes an undergraduate Schreyer Honors College student who has completed or is making significant progress toward completion of an outstanding honors thesis.
- Gabriella Lambrecht
- Abigail Tingley
Irvin H. Kochel Award
This award is given in recognition of an outstanding underclass student who demonstrates qualities of character, scholarship, leadership, and citizenship through involvement in programs and services that positively influence fellow students and contribute to the college community.
- Indira Kulasic
T. Reed Ferguson Award
This award recognizes the junior-year student whose academic and out-of-classroom leadership promise further achievement in the senior year.
- Sawani Shinde
Thomas H. Turnbull Award
The Turnbull Award honors a student who has contributed to the college community through qualities of character, scholarship, leadership, and citizenship. Outstanding service to the college is the most important criterion for selection.
- Julia Jacobs
Eric A. and Josephine S. Walker Award
This award recognizes a student whose outstanding qualities of character, scholarship, leadership, and citizenship have been directed into student programs and services. Scholarship and service to the college are the primary criteria for selection.
- Remington Orange
Outstanding First-Year Student Award
This award recognizes a first-year student who demonstrates outstanding promise of character, scholarship, leadership, and citizenship through achievements in their first year of study.
- Leeana Lucas
Council of Fellows Undergraduate Research Award
This award is presented annually to students who demonstrated excellence in undergraduate research.
- Remington Orange
- Zach Willard
John and Jane Herbert Undergraduate Research Award
This award is presented annually to students whose research demonstrates scholarly merit and has the potential to expand their undergraduate educational experience.
- Abhirath Baiju
- Alyssa Belczyk
- Gabriella Lambrecht
- Andrew Rosen