On Tuesday, April 25, more than 200 people gathered in Varsity Hall at Union South to congratulate this year’s undergraduate award winners and recognize distinguished alumni. The Department of Psychology annually recognizes students with awards honoring academic achievement, research excellence, and community impact. Please join us in congratulating all of our students!
Robert J. Glushko Outstanding Undergraduate Cognitive Science Prize
The Robert J. Glushko Outstanding Undergraduate Cognitive Science Prize is awarded annually to senior Psychology majors who have demonstrated the strongest combination of: academic excellence; sustained and outstanding involvement in cognitive science research (typically involving two or more semesters devoted to a single project); and engagement in learning about cognitive science at UW and beyond via activities such as classwork, research, independent reading, and/or conference attendance.
This year’s recipient is Tia Sadlon.
Serendipity Award
This award recognizes undergraduate students who have distinguished themselves through hard work, talent, and dedication, drawing the attention of the faculty member in whose lab they work. The award is designed to be given “serendipitously,” since faculty members nominate students without their knowledge. The award is funded by retired Professor of Psychiatry and alumnus Aris Alexander’57, MA’59, PhD’62.
This year’s recipient is Melina Mueller.
Arlene Davenport Awards
The purpose of the Arlene R. Davenport Fund is to annually support Psychology students who have demonstrated a career interest in psychological research. Funds are to be used to help defray research and career development costs. This award is funded by the late Professor Emeritus Charles Snowdon, his wife Ann Lindsey, and Friends and Family of Arlene Davenport.
This year’s recipients are Emma Grindle and Tia Hebbring.
Thesis and Travel Awards
Undergraduates may receive these awards to support research and thesis projects supervised by a Psychology faculty mentor or to cover travel expenses to present research at a professional conference. This award is funded by distinguished alumni award recipient and Board of Visitors member Joyce Rosevear, PhD’74.
This year’s Undergraduate Thesis Award Recipient is are Emma McCoy.
This year’s Travel Awards recipients are Danielle Lennon, Abduallah Marei, and Kinjal Mehta.
Bryan’s Aspiring Psychology Student Award
This award is intended to acknowledge students’ excellent work as a UW-Madison student and to encourage these students to take the next steps toward achieving their academic and career goals in the psychology department. Bryan’s Aspiring Psychology Students have declared the Psychology major in the past academic year, and have the top GPAs among their peers.
This year’s recipients are:
| Kaylae Allison | Gabriela Avila Fioranelli | Grace Berglin |
| Claire Camus | Cleo Decker | Jordan Edwards |
| Sophie Fellinger | Rachel Fu | Longjie Guo |
| Nathaniel Hartshorn | Beatrix Hubbard | Sania Jain |
| Wandi Jiang | Rainy Jin | Alyssa Kanethavong |
| Matt Kastein | Kaitlyn Klonsinski | Max Koenig |
| Max Komisar | Claire Kosidowski | Lilian Kreuser |
| Siena Laws | Nathan Lee | Jasmine Li |
| Meredith Lindeman | Yixin Liu | Anna Lowe |
| Tatum Lynch | Abigail Maiz | Sam Marchan |
| Mallory May | Emily Milianti | Rick Moe |
| Sydney Nauman | Ali Pope | Claire Punke |
| Mazen Razzaq | Benjamin Reuter | Tayten Sanderson |
| Marni Schneider | Rubi Shen | Abby Simon |
| Emma Speck-Wayne | Sara Stanislawski | Nicole Stigler |
| Yuxin Tang | Xinyuan Wu | Lucie Yao |
| Yining Zhang | Bill Zhu |
Outstanding Undergraduate Research Scholar Award
This award is given to students who were nominated by a Psychology faculty member and have been outstanding and exceptional research assistants and scholars. When beloved former lecturer Bryan Hendricks initially donated the funds for this award, he wished to remain anonymous. Today, when students are nominated and awarded the Outstanding Undergraduate Research Scholars Award, they are told about Bryan and his generous contribution to recognize undergraduates’ hard work and dedication to the innovation and discovery happening at UW-Madison.
This year’s recipients are:
| Jassia Ahmad | Alex Barley | Christine Becerra |
| Natalie Bovin | Samanta Brungardt Alvarez | Isa Butz |
| Addison Carriere | Marcela Chavez | Emma Daino |
| Alec Davis | Alejandra Gennatiempo | Gabby Guinther |
| Arushi Gupta | Jenna Heinze | Zoe Howard |
| Wandi Jiang | Thomas Landowski | Rachel McGinley |
| Kinjal Mehta | Melina Mueller | Megan Prahl |
| Benjamin Reuter | Ariel Sanchez | Yuhan Shi |
| Emma Speck-Wayne | Olivia Swartz | Vinauv Uday |
| Grant Walker | Taiming Xue | Evann Zima |
Psychology Undergraduate Community Impact Award
Psychology major undergraduate students are a talented, creative, and compassionate group who make broad-ranging contributions to society through research and civic engagement. This award recognizes significant student achievements in activities that benefit the local or broader community. The award is funded by the Ziegler Family Foundation.
This year’s recipients are:
| Jonathan Bryan | Jordan Edwards | Leila Fletcher |
| Arushi Gupta | Jillian Klener | Abdullah Marei |
| Mahika Mohan | Muhamed Sanneh | Yuhan Sun |
We are also pleased to recognize two outstanding alumni with distinguished alumni awards.
The Research/Academic Achievement Award is given annually to a UW–Madison Psychology graduate who has made significant achievements in research and/or academia, contributing to the flourishing of the Wisconsin Idea. This year’s recipient is Gayla Margolin ’71, PhD. Professor of Psychology and Pediatrics at the University of Southern California, Dr. Margolin’s primary interests are in the resilience of young people, particularly as they transition to adolescence and then from adolescence to young adulthood. Her research focuses on the interplay between social, behavioral, and biological factors and the role of family influences in development. The results of research in her lab relate directly to the applied goals of minimizing the effects of family violence and reducing the rates of family violence. Congratulations, Dr. Margolin!
The Early Career Achievement Award is given annually to a UW–Madison Psychology graduate who has earned a bachelor’s degree or doctoral degree within the past 10 years, has earned distinction in their field, and demonstrates outstanding future potential. This year’s recipient is Coty Roberts ’12, MSW. Ms. Roberts was born in Joliet, Illinois and developed a passion for people as she grew up in a military family while living in 5 different states and attending 8 different schools before graduating with her high school diploma. After taking AP Psychology in high school, Ms. Roberts developed a desire to further study Psychology and thoroughly enjoyed her studies as a Psychology major at UW-Madison. She especially appreciates psychology professor Dr. Diane Gooding for continuing to be a mentor to her. While obtaining her Master’s of Social Work from UW-Madison, Ms. Roberts was a founding member and Vice-President of the Madison chapter of the National Association of Black Social Workers. Through employment with Big Brothers Big Sisters and as a Child Protective Services social worker, Ms. Roberts has been able to support numerous families and aspires to continue to do so. Congratulations, Ms. Roberts!
To see pictures from the evening, please visit this link using the password: BeAPsychStar!