Students honored at Penn State Harrisburg 2024 student awards ceremony

Lion Shrine and Shield outline with blue overlay
Credit: Sharon Siegfried

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — Penn State Harrisburg recognized student award winners at the 2024 Student Awards Ceremony on April 19.

Award winners by academic unit include:

The School of Behavioral Sciences and Education
Outstanding Undergraduate in Human Development and Family Science Award

Grace Capobianco
Marjorie "Marti" Uelmen

Jane Blakely Keat Excellence in Elementary Education
Janai A. Lockhart

Outstanding Residency Candidate in Teacher Education
Madison L. Baumgardner

Outstanding Graduate Student in Applied Behavior Analysis Award
Harley M. Ditzler
Jonathan R. Lyon

Clem E. Gilpin Award for Outstanding Social Science Student
Fabian Vantassell

Outstanding Undergraduate Psychology Student Award
Grayce Berk
Drake A. Collins

Betty Fortner Literacy Education Award
Jenna Beam

Outstanding Graduate Student in Teaching and Curriculum Award
Abigail N. Portko
Rebecca K. Rosten

Roy W. Allison Outstanding Education Alumni Award
Olivia Weidemann

Excellence in Secondary Education Award
Ty Lohr

The Learned Society of Whispering Pines Graduate Student Award in Adult Education
Julie C. Lentes

Outstanding Graduate Student in Applied Clinical Psychology Award
Gabriela R. Bevacqua-Collins

Thomas G. Bowers Award for Excellence in Applied Clinical Psychology
Nicole E. Harris

Outstanding Undergraduate in Kinesiology Award
Ahsan Jawed

The School of Business Administration
Beta Gamma Sigma Graduate Student Award

Kristen Rice

Graduate Student Engagement Award
Pavani Sunku

Outstanding MBA Student Award
Nicholas Rhoads
Tara Valent

Outstanding MSIS Student Award
Sukaynah Al Haji

Beta Gamma Sigma Undergraduate Student Award
Conner Breitenbach

FEI Central PA Chapter Outstanding Student Award
Tyler Jordan

Higher Information Group Business Excellence Award
Ellyn Gomulka
Kyle Serine

The School of Humanities
Academy of American Poets Prize at Penn State Harrisburg

Caitlyn Henzie
Ashon Anthony Calhoun (runner-up)

Composition Writing Award
Sherman Lee

Communication Sciences and Disorders Undergraduate Student Award
Hannah Garland

William J. Mahar Award of Excellence in the Performing Arts
Ryan Hynes

George D. Wolf Award for Academic Excellence in American Studies (B.A.)
Emma Weller

Outstanding Undergraduate Creative Writing Award
Cayla Garman

Effective Speech Speaking Award
Juan Alvarez Figueroa

Sue Samuelson Award for Academic Excellence in American Studies (Ph.D.)
Earl Crown

John S. Patterson Award for Academic Excellence in American Studies (M.A.)
Lydia Jones

Outstanding Achievement Award in Journalism — Undergraduate
Caleb Steindel

Outstanding Analytical/Scholarly Research Writing Award
Tristan A. Glowacki

Creative Achievement Award in the Visual Arts — Undergraduate
Xu Sun

Media Arts Award — Undergraduate
COMM 215: Basic Photography for Communications
Class of Fall 2023
Anna Lynn Braund
Ashon Anthony Calhoun
Rexha Cai
Jorge Chacon
Leandro Rafael Fabian-Curvelo
Emiliano Morales Hernandez
Yasmine J Joseph
Kira Mae Kline
Meghan LeHew
Tairyn Levar Lockhart
Erika Owumi
Alicia Pendergrass
Benjamin Michael Roberts
Nada Mahmoud Roza
Cameron Charles Saich
Tyler Scott Smyers
Jacob Stamper
Xu Sun
Obalolu Elliot Thomas-Ojo
Anabella Angelica Wardhana
Aleeza Zahid

Outstanding Writing Award — Graduate
Jennifer L. Lawhorn

The School of Public Affairs
Criminal Justice Outstanding Master's Thesis Award

Josh Ballard

Andrew S. Donahue Award
Madison Lee

Criminal Justice Community Service Award
Sydney Trostel

Criminal Justice Online Student Award
Sean Roddy

Criminal Justice Outstanding Graduate Student Award
Macy Carroll

James M. Ruiz Criminal Justice Scholar Award
Sarah Toche-Manley

The Robert J. Bresler and Carol R. Nechemias Outstanding Political Science Senior Award
Vaughn P. Hennessey

Kenneth W. Masters Award in Public Policy
Jane Jurosky

Steven A. Peterson Political Science and Public Policy Award
Kayla Clare

Master of Health Administration Academic Excellence Award
Alea Shakil

Public Administration Outstanding Graduate Student Award
Kristen Esquivel

Irving and Mildred Hand State, Urban and Regional Affairs Award
Victoria Williams

The School of Science, Engineering, and Technology
Outstanding Senior Award for Civil Engineering

Tracy Kinzer

SDCET Gerald Brey Award for Outstanding Structural Designer
Andrew Brown

SDCET Outstanding Senior Award
Matthew Gerheart

Mechanical Engineering Outstanding Senior Award
Olivia Lowe

Mechanical Engineering Technology Outstanding Senior Award
Jaylan Cockley

Science Outstanding Student Award
Dhruv T. Kayastha

Computer Science Graduate Student Award
Sumant Suryawanshi

Computer Science Outstanding Student Award
Alex Zeyuan Li

Mathematical Sciences Outstanding Student Award
Kenya Mitchell

Electrical Engineering Scholastic Achievement Award
Michael Cieslak

Electrical Engineering Technology Scholastic Achievement Award
Benjamin Westhafer

Electrical Faculty Outstanding Senior Award
Michael Cieslak

Electrical Faculty Outstanding Senior Award
Michael Villalona Nunez

College Awards
Eric A. and Josephine S. Walker Award

Faaiq Rizwan

Penn State Harrisburg Alumni Society Outstanding Graduate Student Award
Nicole E. Harris

Penn State Harrisburg Alumni Society Outstanding Senior Award
Miranda E. Eichner

DEEC MLK Poster Contest
Giulia Cantella

Linda Rhen Career Studies Award for Excellence as a Peer Mentor
Alvin S. Lukose
Yekaterina D. Mironchik

Linda Rhen Career Studies Award for the Outstanding Career Studies Student
Maggie Kutz

Madlyn L. Hanes Library
University Libraries Research Awards for Excellence in Information Literacy
Research Award Winners
Trisha Campanaro
Zoya Dawar
Miranda Eichner
Dhruv Kayastha
Emily Large
Kenya Mitchell
Mingean Park

Honorable Mentions
Nageshwar Arepally
Carolina Hernandez
Yash Lad
Shreeniket Pawar
Anna Shank
Victoria Williams

University Undergraduate Scholastic Awards
President Walker Award

Gabriella D. Abbott
Isha N. Agni
Carolyn A. Albert
Mohammed A. M. Al-Hamed
Mubarak Zaid E Alkhaldi
Andreas J. Apple
Zophia Argot
Tyler C. Barton
Raphael F. Bastos
Patricio Benitez Palermo
Britney N. Benzie
Sarah C. Bouley
Dylan C. Bowling
Kate O. Bukowski
Yunshu Cao
Antonio J. Castellano
Aadithya Chandramouli
Mattew C. Choi
Gwen D. Daily
Victoria M. Daley
Trinity Dang
Elisabeth H. Davidson
Preethi K. Davis
Asa J. Derk
Yousif A. Dhia
Zoee M. Edmonds
Miranda E. Eichner
Macy E. Eisenhart
Manal Elaamerani
Debra S. Eshleman
Kayla Estorque
Riley J. Fallon
OHara B. Fisher
Savannah Fleming
Zhuyi Gu
Jasmina Guaman
Samantha L. Gurian
Alec S. Haldeman
Keaira L. Haney
Hibatallah Harit
Paul Y. Hwang
Ananya Ananthnarayan Iyer
Steven T. Johnson
Esther Jung
Quentin E. Jurney
Khadga Kafley
Austin J. Kaylor
Caleb V. Kendig
Stacey Kosters
Tesslyn Kou
Danika Kuraica
Devanie M. Lauscar
Jie Lee
Sherman C. Lee
Lei Li
Qianyi Li
XinYan Li
Li Q. Lin
Yingxin Liu
Kyle W. Love
Ethan Luu
Zirui Lyu
Colleen MacAdam
Jacob A. Macklin
Xinke Mao
Zihan Meng
Jenna F. Meyering
Andres Mier Yedid
Anaya M. Milligan
Rezowana S. Mouri
Kaylee N. Musser
Vikas Nanduri
An T. Nguyen
Fang-Qi Niu
Gavin T. Nunn
Tyler A. Owens
Jaime Alessandro S. Panaligan
Pooja M. Patel
Suchi Patel
Trevor Peirce
Mark Petrik
Alexander O. Petrov
Lucas P. Piotrowski
Adam Y. Poum
Ashton H. Price
Zainab Qazi
Varsitaa Rathinam Gunaseelan
Matthew J. Rice
Nicholas R. Rizzo
Dylan C. Sattazahn
Brandon M. Schreffler
Muskaan Seth
Arnav Anand Shah
Lily A. Sharp
Islam M. Shavkatov
Zikai Shen
Michaela R. Shermett
Makayla F. Shutt
Suryansh S. Sijwali
Lillie D. Simmons
Searat Singh
Shaurya Pratap Rajesh Singh
Connor J. Smith
Hsiang-Chien Tai
Isabella Teske
Anuj V. Tirunagari
Kanon Tsuda
Nivip Tuth
Phoenix VanSkyhawk
Yaadhavi K. Venkatesan
Jonathan R. Walborn
Shuxuan Wang
Yinzong Wang
Ajayda A. Williams
Xinyu Xie
Shujun Yao
Lucas R. Yoder
Lening Zeng
Tiffany Zheng
Ada Zorrilla-Genao

President Sparks Award
Danil R. Bachnak
Bramantyo S. Bhaskoro
Tressa L. Burger
Hanata Duraiz
Isaiah Fisher
Jenna A. Frey
Hannah M. Gorrell
Ovgu Guleryuz
Shaoyi Guo
Haoran Huang
Jinhua Jiang
Vishnu V. Lella
Yi Lu
Sebastian D. Pagan Tirado
Jiya Kalpesh Patel
Saatvik Pradhan
Dana M. Riccardi
Faaiq Rizwan
Kumaraguru Sethunarayanan
Matthew G. Sharp
Han K. Trieu
Xinyi Yin
Yilin Yin

Evan Pugh Scholar Award
Juniors

Dongcai Chen
Cade M. Lutz
Angelina C. Memmi

Seniors
Conner Breitenbach
Ashon Anthony Calhoun
Corinna M. Dienner
Paul R. Dixon
Olivia G. Hitz
Dustin J. Hyder
Caden Kurzenknabe
Olivia R. Lowe
Ryan W. Mellinger
Cristina Orozco
Isha Poudel
Caleb Shoemaker
Kimberly M. Ulishney