Prizes & Awards 2016
The following prizes were awarded at the Ivy Day Awards Convocation, May 14, 2016.
Alumnae Association
The Nancy Cook Steeper ’59 Prize to a senior who, through involvement with the Alumnae Association, has made a significant contribution to building connections between Smith alumnae and current students to Karla Sáenz ’16
American Studies
The Newton Arvin Prize in American Studies for the best long paper in the introductory course on the Study of American Society and Culture to Heather Rick ’16
The Gladys Lampert ’28 and Edward Beenstock Prize to a student who excels in either American studies or American history to Madison Tierney ’16
The Eleanor Flexner Prize for the best piece of work by a Smith undergraduate using the Sophia Smith Collection and the Smith Archives to Margaret King ’16
The Nancy Boyd Gardner Prize, awarded for a single outstanding paper or other project by a Smithsonian intern during the current year for work related to the Smithsonian Internship Program to Laura Grant ’17 and Samantha Page ’17
The Donald H. Sheehan Memorial Prize for outstanding work in American studies to Kayla Bernier-Sontag ’16, Margaret King ’16, Katelynn Mikulka ’16 and Madison Tierney ’16
Anthropology
The Samuel Bowles Prize for the best paper on an anthropological subject to Enu Otsyina ’16 and Meredith Shanoski ’16
Art
The Megan Hart Jones Studio Art Prize for judged work in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, graphic arts or architecture to Ika Chang ’16
The Phyllis Williams Lehmann Travel Award to a graduating senior majoring in art, with preference given to students interested in studying art history, especially classical art, at the graduate level to Isabella Galdone ’16 and SallyAnn Garvey-Lumumba ’16
The Elizabeth Killian Roberts Prize for the best drawing by an undergraduate to Janell Lin ’18
The Enid Silver Winslow ’54 Prize in Art History for the best student paper written in an art history course taught at Smith to Adela Goldsmith ’19
Museum of Art
The Tryon Prize for Art to a Smith student for installation, performance, video, sound, digital, internet and interactive art of a high level of artistic expression and presentation to Cherylynn Lima ’18, Arabia Simeon ’19 and Baillie Vensel ’16
The Tryon Prize for Writing to a Smith student for outstanding work in any written form that examines art or ideas associated with the museum to Joan Brunetta ’17J, Brenda Njoroge ’18 and Samantha Page ’17
Athletics
The Sarah Winter Pokora Prize to a senior who has excelled in athletics and academics to Bethany Claps ’16, Jamie Cyr ’16, Marianna Mapes ’16, Anna Partridge ’16 and Yijin Wei ’16
Biological Sciences
The Margaret Wemple Brigham Prize to a senior for excellence in the study of microbiology or immunology to Mary Badger ’16, Cynthia Masai ’16, Jiaqi Mei ’16, Esther Nwaka ’16, Natalie Phillips ’16, Meghna Purkayastha ’16, Eirini Tsekitsidou ’16, Zuliat Owoade ’16 and Madeleine Sutherland ’16
The Amey Randall Brown Prize in Botany to Elizabeth Besozzi ’16, Elena Karlsen-Ayala ’16 and Elizabeth Tan ’16
The Esther Carpenter Biology Prize in general biology to a first-year woman graduate student to Jennifer Christensen GR, Windy Kelley GR and Carla Velez GR
The Harriet R. Foote Memorial Prize for outstanding work in botany based on a paper, course work or other contribution to the plant sciences at Smith to Noemi Collazo ’16 (posthumously)
Buddhist Studies
The Subul Sunim Prize for the best academic paper written by a Smith or Five College undergraduate for a class taken at Smith on a subject in the field of Buddhist studies to Anarmily Nazir ’17, Hampshire College, and Casey Rau ’16
Helen Hills Hills Chapel
The Newman Association Prize, awarded annually to a student for outstanding leadership, dedication and service, to Karen Mayorga ’16 and Gisele Pineda ’16
The Mollie Rogers/Newman Association Prize to a student who has demonstrated a dedication to humanity and a clear vision for translating that dedication into service that fosters peace and justice among people of diverse cultures to Micah Collins-Sibley ’16
The Deborah Sosland-Edelman Prize to a senior for outstanding leadership in the Jewish community at Smith and valuable contribution to Smith College campus life to Isabella McNamara ’16
Chemistry
The American Chemical Society Analytical Chemistry Award to a chemistry major who has excelled in analytical chemistry to Quinn Anex-Ries ’17
The American Chemical Society Award in Inorganic Chemistry to a chemistry major for excellence in inorganic chemistry and to encourage further study in the field to Katherine Blackford ’17
The American Chemical Society Division of Organic Chemistry Award in Organic Chemistry to Clare Jacobson ’16
The American Chemical Society/Polymer Education Division Organic Chemistry Award to Aditi Aryal ’18
The Connecticut Valley Section of the American Chemical Society Award to a student who has done outstanding work in chemistry, biochemistry or chemical engineering to Anna Carroll ’16 and Isabella McNamara ’16
The American Institute of Chemists/New England Division Prize to an outstanding chemist, biochemist or chemical engineer in the graduating class to Noelia Martinez-Muñoz ’16
The C. Pauline Burt Prize to a senior majoring in chemistry or biochemistry who has shown high potential for further study in science to Ana Emilia Arguello ’16 and Claire Keller ’16
The CRC Press Introductory Chemistry Achievement Award in introductory chemistry to Xingyi Guan ’19, Ayumi Mizuno ’19, Claire Roycroft ’19 and Vivian Wang ’19
The Hause-Scheffer Memorial Prize to a senior majoring in chemistry with the best record in that subject to Catherine McGeough ’16
The Hellman Award in Biochemistry for outstanding achievement in the second semester of biochemistry to Natalie Smith ’16
The Rosenfeld Award in Organic Chemistry for excellence in the first semester of organic chemistry to Aditi Aryal ’18 and Sarita Chiu ’18
Classics
The John Everett Brady Prize for excellence in translation of Latin at sight to Joan Brunetta ’17J; and for the best performance in the beginning Latin course to Marianna Mapes ’16
The Julia Harwood Caverno Prize for the best performance in the beginning Greek course to Margaret Nolting ’19
The Alice Hubbard Derby Prize to a member of the junior or senior class for excellence in translation of Greek at sight to Isabella Levy ’17 and Erin Pratt ’17 and for excellence in the study of Greek literature in the year in which the award is made to Joan Brunetta ’17J, Isabella Levy ’17, Marianna Mapes ’16 and Erin Pratt ’17
The George E. Dimock Prize for the best essay on a classical subject to Isabella Levy ’17
Jandon Center for Community Collaboration
The Kathleen Bostwick Boyden Prize to a member of the Service Organizations of Smith demonstrating initiative in her volunteer contributions to the community to Tziona Breitbart ’16 and Gisele Pineda ’16
The Rita Wilkins Award to a senior who has volunteered all four years with a Community Service Organization community partner and who has demonstrated significant leadership and commitment to community service to Emily Boerger ’16 and Karla Sáenz ’16
Computer Science
The Bert Mendelson Prize for excellence in the computer science major to a senior to Mariem Ayadi ’16 and Giovanna Diaz ’16, and for excellence in computer science to a sophomore to Syeda Zainab Rizvi ’18
Office of the Dean of the College
The David C. Burres Memorial Law Prize to a senior or an alumna accepted at law school intending to practice law in the public interest to Nicole Mauri ’14
The Arthur Ellis Hamm Prize awarded on the basis of the best first-year student’s record to Sarita Chiu ’18, Jeesoo Chung ’18, Suroor Gandhi ’18, Mariya Germash ’18, Molly Hurd ’18, Van Nguyen ’18, Maya Salvio ’18, Sofia Sheri ’18, Maya Sleiman ’18 and Sarah Smith ’18
The Barbara Jordan Prize for the Study of Law and Public Policy to a senior or an alumna to Kasha Ambroise ’10
The Samuel Michelman Prize to a senior from Northampton or Hatfield with a distinguished academic record and who has contributed to the life of the college to Sadie Gold-Shapiro ’16
The Juliet Evans Nelson Award to graduating seniors for their contributions to the Smith community and demonstrated commitment to campus life to Karen Chau ’16, Ellen Davis ’16 and Gabriella Zutrau ’16
The Victoria L. Schrager Prize to a senior who has maintained a distinguished academic record and has also taken an important part in student activities to Medina Cecunjanin ’16, Pooja Hindocha ’16, Zuliat Owoade ’16, Gillian Tisdale ’16 and Emma Un ’16
The Ruth Dietrich Tuttle Prize to encourage further study, travel or research in the areas of international relations, race relations or peace studies to Sasha Gayle-Schneider ’16 and Hannah Sachs ’16
Debate Society
The Andrew C. Slater Prize for excellence in debate to Emily Coffin ’16; for most improved debater to Endi Mato ’19; and for distinguished service to the team to Sushmitha Ram ’18
Program in East Asian Studies
The Mary Maples Dunn Prize, awarded for an essay written in a regular course in the Program in East Asian Studies to Victoria Gilligan ’16
Economics
The Samuel Bowles Prize for the best thesis on an economics subject to Nutcha Wattanachit ’16 and Huafeng Yu ’16
The Sidney S. Cohen Prize for outstanding work in the field of economics to Mallory Durlauf ’16,
Harleen Kaur ’16, Aanchal Khanna ’16 and Lixin Lin ’16
The Larry C. Selgelid Memorial Prize for the greatest contribution to the Department of Economics by a Smith senior to Alina Tomeh ’16
Engineering
The Ford Motor Company Prize for Sustainability to a student who has distinguished herself for her work in support of a sustainable environment to Brittany Bennett ’16 and Emma Rocco ’16
The Nancy Hellman Prize to the Smith engineering student who has made extraordinary contributions to the advancement of women in engineering to Brittany Bennett ’16
The Adeline Devor Penberthy, Class of 1945, Memorial Prize to an undergraduate engineering major for academic excellence in engineering and outstanding contributions toward building a community of learners within the Picker Engineering Program to Bethany Claps ’16 and Dakota Murray ’16
English
The Elizabeth Babcock Poetry Prize for the best group of poems to Julia Falkner ’19 and Emma Watson ’17
The Anne Bradstreet Prize from the Academy of American Poets for the best poem or group of poems submitted by an undergraduate to Micah Collins-Sibley ’16
The Eleanor Cederstrom Prize for the best poem by an undergraduate written in the traditional verse form to Liza Jeswald AC
The Ethel Olin Corbin Prize to an undergraduate for the best original poem or informal essay in English to Sabrina Ko ’18
The Elizabeth Drew Prize for the best honors thesis to Sydney Brown ’16; for the best fiction to Natalie Wisehart ’16; for the best critical essay to Emma Watson ’17
The Ruth Forbes Eliot Poetry Prize for the best poem submitted by a first-year student or sophomore to Janelle Tan ’18
The Clara French Prize to a senior who has advanced furthest in the study of English language and literature to Julia Greider ’16 and Natalie Wisehart ’16
The Helen Kate Furness Prize for the best essay on a Shakespearean theme to Marianna Apostolakis ’18
The Elizabeth Wanning Harries Prize to a graduating Ada Comstock Scholar for academic distinction and demonstrated commitment to the study of literature in any language to Heather Rick ’16
The Vernon Harward Prize to the best student scholar of Chaucer to Lu Liu ’18
The James T. and Ellen M. Hatfield Memorial Prize for the best short story by a senior majoring in English to Julia Greider ’16
The Mary Augusta Jordan Prize to a senior for the most original piece of literary work in prose or verse to Christina Cook ’16
The Norma M. Leas, Class of 1939, Memorial Prize to a graduating English major for excellence in written English to Julia Greider ’16
The Emogene Mahoney Memorial Prize for the best essay on a literary subject written by a first-year student to Hanna Bredvik ’19J, Quynh Anh Giang ’19 and Emily Smith ’19
The Elizabeth Montagu Prize for the best essay on a literary subject concerning women to Liza Jeswald AC
The Gertrude Posner Spencer Prize for excellence in writing fiction to Heather Rick ’16; Honorable Mention: Ruth Allard AC, Kaitlin Carr ’16 and Caroline Previte ’18; and for excellence in writing nonfiction prose to Ruth Allard AC; Honorable Mention: Heather Rick ’16
The Rosemary Thomas Poetry Prize for the best group of poems to Micah Collins-Sibley ’16 and Elizabeth McCormack ’16
French
The Césaire Prize for excellence in an essay or other project in French by a junior or a senior on campus to Sarah Posont ’16
The Ruth Alpern Leipziger Prize to an outstanding French major participating in the Smith Study Abroad Program in Paris to Isabelle Galdone ’16, Yvonne Ho ’16, Céline Rosak ’16, Yinan Song ’16, Kathryn Wells ’16 and Tiejin Zhang ’16
The Josephine Ott Prize to a junior participating in the Smith Study Abroad Program in Paris or Geneva for her commitment to the French language and European civilization to Catherine Ellsberg ’16, Zhiting He ’16, Rui Huang ’16, Arcadia Kratkiewicz ’16, Meredith Shanoski ’16, Madison Tierney ’16 and Ke Zhang ’16
The Rousseau Prize for academic excellence to a Smith or non-Smith student participating in the Smith Study Abroad Program in Geneva to Elise Smith ’16
The Voltaire Prize to a first-year student or a sophomore for an essay or other project in French that shows originality and engagement with her subject to Sophie Smith ’19
Geosciences
The Mineralogical Society of America Undergraduate Award for excellence in the field of mineralogy to Emily DiPadova ’16
German
The Anita Luria Ascher Memorial Prize to a senior major who started German at Smith and has made exceptional progress to Michaela Gill ’16; to a senior major who knew some German when she arrived at Smith and whose progress in four years has been considerable to Katarina Ahlberg ’16; and to a senior major who knew some German when she arrived at Smith and whose progress in four years has been remarkable to Eilis Goshow-Snook ’16
Government
The Dawes Prize for the best undergraduate work on political science to Najwa Alsheikh ’16 and Sarah Cassidy-Seyoum ’16
History
The Vera Lee Brown Prize for excellence in history to a senior majoring in history in regular course to Sadie Gold-Shapiro ’16 and Kathleen Higgins ’16
The Merle Curti Prize for the best piece of writing on any aspect of American civilization to Catherine Bradley ’17, Sarah Goldberg ’16 and Magaret King ’16
The Hazel L. Edgerly Prize to a senior honors history student for distinguished work in that subject to Madison White ’16
The Thomas Corwin Mendenhall Prize for an essay evolving from any history course, excluding special studies, seminars and honors long papers, to Mallory Strider AC
Italian
The Michele Cantarella Memorial “Dante Prize” to a Smith College senior for the best essay in Italian on any aspect of The Divine Comedy or Boccaccio’s The Decameron to Isabella Grezzi ’16 and Amanda Morgida ’16
The Anacleta C. Vezzetti Prize to a senior for the best piece of writing in Italian on any aspect of the culture of Italy to Keti Lako ’16, Carmen Pullella ’16 and Eva Theriault ’16
Jewish Studies
The Sidney Balman Prize for outstanding work in the Jewish Studies Program to Emily Bell ’16
Landscape Studies
The Susan Cohen ’62 and Paula Deitz ’59 Prize in Landscape Studies for excellence in a thesis, paper or project that examines the science, design or culture of the built environment to Mary Kate Fessler ’18, Julia Franchi Scarselli ’18, Laura Thurber ’16 and Sylvie Wise ’17
Mathematics
The Suzan Rose Benedict Prize to a sophomore for excellence in mathematics to Samantha Comeau ’18, Isabelle Fitzpatrick ’18 and Mariya Germash ’18
The Ann Kirsten Pokora Prize to a senior with a distinguished academic record in mathematics to Jamie Cyr ’16, Jordan Menter ’16 and Yijin Wei ’16
Office of Multicultural Affairs
The Unity Award of the Office of Multicultural Affairs to the student who has made an outstanding contribution toward promoting diversity and multiculturalism in the Smith College community to Alexys Butler ’16
Music
The Margaret Collins Stoop Adesso Prize for the best new choral work composed by a Smith student to Jessica Marlor ’16
The Harriet Dey Barnum Prize for outstanding work in music to the best all-around student of music in the senior class to Yunzhu Chen ’16
The Carlile Prize for the best original composition or transcription for carillon to Yunzhu Chen ’16
The Constance Kambour Edwards Prize to the student who has shown the most progress in organ to Laura Rosenbauer ’18
The Settie Lehman Fatman Prize for the best composition in music in small form to Claire Baumgardner ’19 and Yunzhu Chen ’16
The Heidi Fiore Prize to a senior student of singing to Jessica Marlor ’16
The Ida Deck Haigh Memorial Prize for distinguished achievement in piano to Xi Jiang ’16
The Sarah Hamilton Memorial Prize for the best essay on music to Erin Pratt ’17
The Emogene Mahony Memorial Prize for proficiency at the organ to Bella Chou ’18
The Judith Raskin Memorial Prize for the outstanding senior voice student to Erin Pratt ’17
The Ernst Wallfisch Prize to a student of music for outstanding talent, commitment and diligence to Gabriella Grange ’16
Philosophy
The Florence Corliss Lamont Prize for excellent work in philosophy to Nikila Lakshmanan ’16
The John S. Mekeel Memorial Prize to a senior for outstanding work in philosophy to Marianna Mapes ’16 and Gillian Tisdale ’16
Physics
The Adelaide W. Bull Paganelli ’30 Prize for outstanding work in physics and high potential for further study to Yumeng Melody Cao ’16, William Gammel ’16 and Emily Kaplan ’16
Psychology
The William Sentman Taylor Prize for significant work in human values, a quest for truth, beauty and goodness in the arts and sciences to Cara Tomaso ’16, Xiaozhou Wang ’16 and Yiwen Zhu ’16
Religion
The Henry Lewis Foote Memorial Prize for excellence in biblical studies to Leigh Cappabianca ’16J
The James Gardner Buttrick Prize for the best essay in the field of religion and biblical literature to Heather Rick ’16
Russian
The Department of Russian Prize for the best work in Russian literature by a senior majoring in Russian to Valeria Flores ’16
South Asia Concentration
S. Mona Ghosh Sinha Prize for the best paper from any academic discipline written by a Smith undergraduate on a subject concerning South Asia to Shabia Furkan ’16 and Tanvi Kapoor ’17J
Theatre
The Yvonne Sarah Bernhardt Buerger Prize to the students who have made the most notable contribution to the dramatic activities of the college to Samantha Biatch ’16, Jaskirat Kaur ’16, Lixin Lin ’16, Emma Olson ’16, Hannah Sachs ’16 and Josephine Verchomin ’16
The Marilyn Knapp Campbell Prize to the student excelling in stage management to Emma Olson ’16
The Samuel A. Eliot, Jr./Julia Heflin Award for distinguished directing in the theatre to Jaskirat Kaur ’16
The Denis Johnston Playwriting Award for the best play or musical written by an undergraduate at any of the Five Colleges to: First Prize—Zoe Kriegler-Wenk ’18; Second Prize—Lena Wilson ’16
The Peggy Clark Kelly Design Prize for a student demonstrating exceptional achievement in lighting, costume or set design to Suzu Sakai ’16J
The Jill Cummins MacLean Prize to a drama major for outstanding dramatic achievement with a comic touch in writing, acting or dance to Siobhan McManamon ’17
The Rita Singler Prize for outstanding achievement in technical theatre to Josephine Verchomin ’16
The Denton Snyder Acting Prize to a student who has demonstrated distinguished acting in the theatre to Ellen Davis ’16 and Maya Rivera ’16
Program for the Study of Women and Gender
The Schuster Van Dyne Prize in Queer Studies, awarded annually by the Program for the Study of Women and Gender for excellent work in queer studies, to Eden Bonjo ’16
The Jeanne McFarland Prize, awarded annually by the Program for the Study of Women and Gender and the Project on Women and Social Change for excellent work in the study of women and gender, to Shabia Furkan ’16 and Jocelyn Proietti ’16
The Meg Quigley Prize, awarded annually for the best work in SWG 150 Introduction to the Study of Women and Gender, to Eleanor Adachi ’17, Brianna Barrett ’19, Catherine Hartup ’19, Mia Lloyd ’19 and Monika Song-Ngam ’17
The Valeria Dean Burgess Stevens Prize, awarded annually by the Program for the Study of Women and Gender and the Project on Women and Social Change for excellent work in the study of women and gender, to Rachel Farber ’16 and Tanvi Kapoor ’17J