Spring 2023: CHC Award Winners

CHC Banquet Awards

• Angela Boatwright (‘23), a transfer student majoring in both Urban Studies and Psychological Sciences, received this year’s Transfer Student Excellence Award, which recognizes transfer students’ excellence in academic achievement and engagement in the CHC and at UCI. A photographer and director, Angela directed a full-length documentary, “Los Punks: We are all we have,” and completed a CHC thesis project examining the effect of socioeconomic status on individuals’ experiences within the mosh pit at punk and heavy metal shows.
• Ethan Nguyen (‘23), a Public Health Sciences major and President of CHSC received the Tiffany Yu Award, which is presented to a graduating senior who has significantly contributed to the Campuswide Honors Student Council over their time at UCI.
• Emma Marting (‘23), completed two vastly different majors – Drama and International Studies, studied abroad in France, and completed her honors thesis in the area of Public Health, earning her the Sircello Award which is given to a graduating senior, recognizing the student’s commitment to, and demonstration of, “excellence and breadth of scholarship,” in various fields.
• Rachel Wang (‘23), an English major, has held top leadership positions in multiple student organizations and in the CHC, authored multiple self-published books, and taught their own U Teach course on the topic of Webtoons.  Rachel received this year’s McWilliams Award which is given to a student who demonstrates excellence in a number of fields, and a curiosity that drives them to explore and develop skills in many different areas.
• Samy Haidar (‘23), a Human Biology major, received The Mira Sanghera Award for outstanding peer mentorship due to his excellence as a CHC Peer Mentor, CHSC officer, CHC Ambassador, and CHC Peer Academic Advisor.

Nellie Ansley Reeves CHC Thesis Awards

Nellie Ansley Reeves CHC Thesis Awards are given to graduating CHC seniors for outstanding Honors Theses.  The 2023 winners include:

• Rachel Wang (‘23) for the thesis “Designing Women,” with Professor Jayne Lewis, English.
• Daisy Kim (‘23) for the thesis “Comparing Changes in Maternal Psychological States Following Two Types of Mindfulness Interventions in Pregnancy,” with Professor Karen Lindsay, Pediatrics – School of Medicine.
• Alexander Erving Dashuta (‘23) for the thesis “Combinatorial Generation of an Extensive Dataset of Polar Elementary Organic Mechanistic Steps,” with Professor David Van Vranken, Chemistry.
• Harsimrat Kaeley (‘23) for the thesis “Support for Stock Trend Prediction Using Transformers and Sentiment Analysis,” with Professor Nader Bagherzadeh, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
• Brandon Cove (‘23) for a thesis related to the computational design of a novel, synthetic defensin, a class of peptides that have antimicrobial properties, under the guidance of Professor Melanie Cocco, Molecular Biology & Biochemistry.

Prestigious Scholarships

The UCI Scholarship Opportunities Program advises competitive UCI undergraduate students, like these recent CHC graduates, in applying for prestigious merit scholarships.

• Emma Rosandich (‘23), an Urban Studies major, received a Fulbright U.S. Student Award to study, conduct research and/or teach abroad in her chosen country.
• Michelle Wei (‘22), an Education Sciences and Social Policy & Public Service double major with a minor in political science, received a Fulbright U.S. Student Award to teach English in South Korea.

Chancellor’s Award of Distinction

The Chancellor’s Award of Distinction acknowledges the University of California, Irvine’s most outstanding graduating seniors.  These students represent exceptional academic achievement and a commitment to cutting-edge research, leadership, and service to UCI.

• Angela Lynn Boatwright (‘23), School of Social Ecology
• Jessica Cai (‘23), School of Education; School of Humanities
• Catherine Yoonsuh Choi (‘23), School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences 
• Zachary Richard Griggy (‘23), School of Social Ecology; School of Social Sciences
• Julia I. Lin (‘23), School of Social Ecology            
• Sakhi Gaurang Patel (‘23), School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences   
• Jira Trinetkamol (‘23), School of Social Ecology; School of Social Sciences         
• Jasmine Yeen Wang (‘23), Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing
• Joshua Christopher Wang (‘23), Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences; School of Physical Sciences       
• Rachel Juei-Han Wang (‘23), School of Humanities

Other Campus Awards

The Order of Merit is awarded annually to approximately 2% of the Social Sciences graduating class. Students are recognized for their academic excellence, original research, leadership activities, and service contributions to the School of Social Sciences, UCI campus, or community.  These CHC students were among the 17 recipients for 2023:

• Emily Lee (‘23), Cognitive Sciences
• Janette Padilla (‘23), Sociology
• Eisa Razzak (‘22), Political Science
• Shannon Syracuse (‘23), Language Science
• Sara Tang (‘23), Quantitative Economics
• Ren-Hui Michelle Tham (‘23), Cognitive Sciences