On Friday, May 18, 2018, more than 50 seniors were honored during The Dean’s Awards luncheon held in the Jordan Hall of Science Galleria. Mary Galvin, William K. Warren Foundation Dean of the College of Science, introduced Andrew Grose as Valedictorian and Harisa Spahić as Salutatorian to the crowd of more than 200 students, families, and faculty members who gathered together to celebrate the students’ accomplishments.
Mary Galvin presents Luke Maillie with 2018 Dean’s Award
Each year the Dean’s Award is presented to an outstanding graduating senior in the College of Science in recognition of exemplary personal character, leadership, service and outstanding achievement. The 2018 recipient was Luke Maillie, a Physics-in-Medicine major with honors and an International Development Studies minor. His exceptional academic performance is only one of many achievements that highlight his career at Notre Dame.
Maillie was awarded a Fulbright research grant to study systems of referral for rural cancer patients in Tanzania. Not only has he devoted 33 weeks of volunteer time at Shirati Hospital in Tanzania, he has also raised $27,000 for the cervical cancer ward and authored a $50,000 proposal to the Rotary Foundation for long-term funding. He is currently working with Pink Ribbon, Red Ribbon, whose mission is to ensure that all women have access to high-quality prevention, screening, and treatment for cervical and breast cancers.
Maillie is the winner of a $20,000 D-Prize, which funds new entrepreneurs who solve distribution challenges for proven poverty interventions. He is also CEO and co-founder of LumenTech, LLC – a new venture working with dermatologists to develop and license wearable UV sensors to prevent skin cancer; the provisional patent was recently filed in March 2018.
Maillie plans to spend a year exploring referral systems for rural cancer patients in Tanzania before attending the Icahn School of Medicine in New York.
Mary Galvin presents 2018 Dean’s Research Award to Michael Foley
The Dean’s Research Award is presented annually to the outstanding graduating senior in the College of Science who has conducted exceptional research within and across the traditional boundaries of scholarly disciplines and who embraces, facilitates, and fosters an environment of scientific inquiry. The 2018 recipient of the Dean’s Research Award was Michael Foley, a Mathematics and Physics with honors double major with a concentration in astrophysics.
Foley has been the recipient of numerous awards including a 2017 Goldwater Scholarship and the Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Award. He was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship as well as a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, which he declined. In addition to his numerous awards, he has six publications, four of which were as first author. He has also delivered nine presentations at various symposiums and conferences.
Foley plans to attend Harvard University to pursue a doctoral degree in astrophysics.
In addition to the Dean’s Awards, each department within the College of Science presented awards to graduating seniors.
Alan Huebner, Ph.D., director of undergraduate studies for Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics (ACMS), presented the Outstanding ACMS Major Award to Joseph Pennacchio and Yuchen Zou.
Crislyn D’Souza-Shorey, Ph.D., Morris Pollard Collegiate Professor and chair of the Department of Biological Sciences, presented six different departmental awards to 10 students:
Outstanding Biology Student Leader Award: Matthew McGoldrick II, Gabrielle Mungcal, Candice Park, and Audrey Thellman
Outstanding Biological Scientist Award: Anna Levesque, Elizabeth McGough, William Morgenlander, and Mati Nemera
Outstanding Environmental Scientist Award: Audrey Thellman
Mr. and Mrs. Frank McDonald Undergraduate Research Award: Shannon Leahy
Robert Braco, M.D. Honors Research Award: Margaret Brecker
Paul F. Ware, M.D. Excellence in Undergraduate Research Award: Matthew McGoldrick II
Brian Baker, Ph.D., Rev. John A. Zahm, C.S.C. Professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, presented five departmental awards to six seniors:
Outstanding Biochemist Award: Harisa Spahić
Outstanding Biochemistry Research Award: Annemarie Leonard
Outstanding Chemistry Research Award: Jonathan Baker
William R. Wischerath Outstanding Major Award: Tiffany Toni
Chemistry and Biochemistry Leadership Award: Emma Guiberson and Hannah Naguib
Jeffrey Diller, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Mathematics, presented seven departmental awards to the following 12 seniors:
John Thomas Montgomery Scholarship in Mathematics: Benjamin Hallberg
Robert P. Balles Honors Program Mathematics Scholar: Christian Hokaj
Robert P. Balles Distinguished Mathematics Scholar: Colleen Halpin
The General Electric Prize for Honors Mathematics Majors: Christian Hokaj, Patrick LeBlanc, and Paul Sweeney Jr.
The General Electric Prize for Mathematics Majors: Robert Black and Gregory Conti
The George Kolettis Award in Mathematics: Caitlyn Booms
The Norman and Beatrice Haaser Scholarship in Mathematics: Robert Black, Caitlyn Booms, John Charters, Gregory Conti, Christopher Dethlefs, Gregory Greif, Benjamin Hallberg, Christian Hokaj, and Nathan Klair
Peter Garnavich, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Physics, presented three departmental awards to five students:
Outstanding Senior Physics Major: Elizabeth Wildenhain
Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award: Kaitlin Salyer
Paul Chagnon Award for Service To The Department: Connor Bagwell, Allison Olshefke, and David Shaw
Fr. James Foster, C.S.C., MD, director of the Center for Health Sciences Advising and chair of preprofessional studies, presented four departmental awards to seven seniors:
The Lawrence H. Baldinger Award: AnnaMaria Arostegui, Daniel Bland, and Robert Wozniak
The Reverend Joseph L. Walter, C.S.C. Award: Ryan Engert
The Samuel J. Chmell, M.D. Award: Andrew Grose and Ian Kelly
The Patrick J. Niland, M.D. Award: Daniel Swanson
Sr. Kathleen Cannon, OP, associate dean of the College of Science, presented the Science-Business Award to Eric Lee.
2018 Glynn Family Honors Program students in the College of Science
Chris Kolda, Ph.D.,professor of physics and director of the Glynn Family Honors Program, recognized senior College of Science graduates who were members of the Glynn Family Honors Program, which offers select undergraduates the opportunity to pursue academic excellence within a community of like-minded learners: Claire Alexander, Alec Biscopink, Robert Black, Daniel Bland, Daniel Childers, Spencer Clark, David Connelly, Kathleen Davin, Louis Filipiak, Michael Foley, Maloney Foster, Kaitlin Frei, Jenna Galuska, Matt Gregory, Gregory Greif, Andrew Grose, Sarah Herzog, Makenzie Huguet, Joshua Kolb, Patrick LeBlanc, Marisa Lucht, Luke Maillie, Maddie McKenna, William Morgenlander, Daniel Moylan, Hannah Mumber, Gabrielle Mungcal, Treasa O’Tighearnaigh, Candice Park, Joseph Pennacchio, Nikolas Pervan, Rosemary Pfaff, Helena Qu, Megan Schomaker, David Shaw, Scot Stanulis, Leigh Anne Tang, Kelly Volk, Brigid Walsh, Elizabeth Wildenhain, Luke Wojtalik, Zofia Zdanowicz, and Yuchen Zou
To conclude the event, select faculty were honored for their contributions to teaching. Juan Migliore, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Mathematics, received the Father James L. Shilts, C.S.C./Doris and Gene Leonard Teaching Award.
The Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C. Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching went to four professors: Patricia Clark, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Paul Huber, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Mark Olsen, associate professional specialist in the Department of Biological Sciences; and Kevin Vaughan, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences.
Additionally, during the diploma ceremony for the Neuroscience and Behavior majors, four awards were presented to graduating seniors by Nancy Michael, Ph.D., director of undergraduate studies for the major:
Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award: Dominic Acri
Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award: Moira Stotz
Outstanding Undergraduate Leadership and Service Award: Adriana Cantos
Universal Scholar Award: Ashley Kyalwazi
Originally published by at science.nd.edu on May 22, 2018.