Students Celebrated for Academic Achievement During Commencement Weekend
During an award ceremony held on Saturday, June 6 students were recognized for their achievements in academics.
As part of Commencement 2026, Knox College honored various students for their achievements and awards earned during the school year. During an award ceremony held on Saturday, June 6 inside Kregse Recital Hall, students were recognized for their achievements in academics.
“You took what you knew and expanded it, you tested it, and you transformed it into something bigger, and now you will carry whatever you have learned at Knox forward into all the learning that your future holds,” said Provost and Dean of the Faculty Melissa Glenn. “Congratulations to all our honorees and thank you for being part of this community.”
Honors Societies
Honor societies recognize excellence in scholarship, leadership, or service. The ceremony honors students who had high academic achievement in specific disciplines or overall academic achievement. Members of the Class of 2026 were inducted into the following societies.
Psi Chi - National Honor Society in Psychology
Tsuzumi Hosokawa; Julia Maron; Ha Phuong Nguyen ; Sania Shetty
Members inducted in 2024:
Siena Adwere-Boamah; Daeun Kim; Evan Morris
Eta Sigma Phi - National Honor Society in Classics
Bee Allen; Ella Faith Anderson ; Elizabeth Orswell; Casey Witek
Nu Rho Psi - National Honors Society in Neuroscience
Seung (Sky) Choi; Yusei Kaburaki; Shino Okamoto
Pi Sigma Alpha - National Political Science Honor Society
Gunner Goff; Tiffany Karki; Elena King; Evan McClusky; Zoe Pav; Josh Rosenberg; Bryce Woodard
Phi Beta Kappa - Academic Achievement
Nathan Brooks; Lee Buell; Austin Cernich; Selene Chew; Rosa Echeverria Escobar; Bria Gilliam; Maddie Goss; Phuong Yen Nhi Hoang; Naysha Jain; Storm Janosky; Emily Jordan; Anne Kashiwagi; Ryudo Kawanami; Jack Lubbs; Grael Mulata; Ha Phuong Nguyen; Precious Odejimi; Zoe Pav; Nysa Phulwar; Jessica Shannon; Sania Shetty; Sarah Strauss; Sam Vander Meulen; Patience Wagner; Bryce Woodard; Vansh Chugh.
Elected as juniors: Olivia Dunn; Avery Leigh; Lance Miller.
Sigma Xi
Siena Adwere-Boamah; Dipsha Budhathoki; Sophie Gartner; Tsuzumi Hosokawa; Ryudo Kawanami; Daeun Kim; Avery Leigh; Julia Maron; Lance Miller; Ethan Rompala-Matthews; Sania Shetty; Patience Wagner
(awarded during her junior year) Precious Odejimi
Academic Awards
Anthropology & Sociology
Howell Atwood Award: Ha Phuong Nguyen, Lee Buell, Anne Kashiwagi, Carly Danielle Smith
Art
Matthew Dale Gunther Memorial Award in Drawing: Katie Isabel Ponce - 1st; Amelia "Mia" Palmer - 2nd
Blick Art Materials Award: Ceramics Alice Rowan Harwood - 1st
Blick Art Prize - Painting: Grayson Patricia Zeman - 1st
Blick Art Materials Award: Mixed Media; Ha Phuong Nguyen - 2nd
Blick Senior Award: Grayson Zeman; Inn-Siang Ooi Prize: Avery Celia Leigh
Alvah Peterson Biology Prize: Selene Chew Chien Huei; Nysa Deepak Phulwar
Chemistry
Leland Harris Award in Chemistry: Precious Mofiyinfoluwa Odejimi
Russell P. Sutton Prize in Organic Chemistry: Avery Celia Leigh
ACS Illinois Heartland Local Section Collegiate Scholastic Award: Jack Kennison Lubbs
ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry Undergraduate Award in Inorganic Chemistry: Ryudo Kawanami
ACS Division of Physical Chemistry Undergraduate Award in Physical Chemistry: Ryudo Kawanami
ACS Division of Organic Chemistry, Undergraduate Award in Chemistry: Jack Kennison Lubbs
Computer Science
Paul's Prize in Computer Science (Smith Prize - Computer Science): David Sulpice
Dance
John Hofsas Prize in Dance: Alexandria Flowers
Economics
Sylvia & Irwin Jaffe Memorial Prize: Phuong Yen Nhi Hoang
Vinton C. Johnson Prize: Daniyal Ahmed
Education
Educational Studies Department, Dr. Diana Beck - Senior Honors Award: Luke David Mathieu
English
Nina Marie Edwards Memorial Award: Julia Maron
William E. Brady Fund in English Literature: Beth Duffey; Emily Jordan
Eugene & Ella Stewart Davenport Literary Award in Creative Nonfiction: 1st: Julia Maron
Eugene & Ella Stewart Davenport Literary Award in Poetry: 1st: Bethany Duffey; 2nd: Olivia Canalizo-Kutner;
The Scripps Prize: Sam Vander Meulen
Proctor Fenn Sherwin Short Story Award: Edith Flachmeyer
Howard A. Wilson Prize: 1st - Bethany Duffey; 3rd - Emily Jordan
Environmental Studies
Desmond Fortes Environmental Studies Prize Fund: Sarah Lorek Strauss
Lawrence L. DeMott Prize: Avery Celia Leigh, Patience Claire Wagner
Gender and Women's Studies
Gender and Women's Studies Prize: Bruno Santana Freitas
History
Dennis E. Donham Prize in History: Nathan Andrew Brooks
Dorothy Inness Stanford Award: Bryce Sebastian Woodard
Szold Prize in History: Nathan Andrew Brooks
Journalism
Theodore Hazen Kimble Memorial Award in Journalism: Megan Kathleen Shafar
Ida M. Tarbell Memorial Prize for Investigative Reporting: Julia Maron
Mathematics
Victoria Legner Junod Prize in Mathematics: Lucas Dahlborg
Modern Language
French
Helen Rudd Arnold Prize: Grael Ilunga Mulata
German
Lilly Lindahl Prize in German: Paula Martina Flores Cevallos
Spanish
Sally Coleman Prize in Spanish Literature: Paula Martina Flores Cevallos
Music
Don C.M. Bracker Award in Music: Ian David Smith
Ruth Lockwood Goodsill Prize: Tsuzumi Hosokawa
Janet Greig Post Prize in Music: Patience Claire Wagner
Lucile Sudbury Prize: Ian David Smith
David Lowry Jazz Prize: Eileen Christina Sheetz
Peace and Justice Studies Student Prize: Lee Buell, Aswini Venkatesh
Philosophy
Merritt H. Moore Prize in Philosophy: Aswini Venkatesh
Physics
Winner of the Porter Prize and Andreas Prize: SeongKyung Jung
Smith Prize in Physics: Ruben Castro, Naysha Jain
Political Science and International Relations
John W. Burgess Prize in Political Science: Bryce Sebastian Woodard
Robert F. Seibert Prize: Sarah Lorek Strauss
Pre-Law
Lane V. Sunderland Prize for Excellence in American Constitutional Studies: Reese Antonio Miller
Pre-med (Medical Sciences)
Sylvia and Erwin Jaffe Memorial Prize (Medical Sciences): Zoe Araceli Pav
Psychology
Robert Stevens Harper Prize (for Graduate Study in Psychology): Ha Phuong Nguyen
Robert Stevens Harper Prize (for Outstanding Psychology Senior Research Poster): Tsuzumi Hosokawa; Kylie Thomson; Siena Adwere-Boamah
Edith Powers Van Dyke Memorial Award in Psychology: Leah Aiyuan Binzel
Theatre
Linda Elizabeth Karger Award in the Theatre Arts: Grace Elizabeth Seehafer Dinges
Van Clute Prize: Noelle Máire Brown, Kai Eiko Woitalla
Non-Departmental announced at Honor's
Philip Haring and John Houston Award: Aksungil Djoldasova
Outstanding Senior Award: Reese Antonio Miller
Dean Deborah Wing Award: Patience Claire Wagner
Bookfellow Library Prize: Nathan Andrew Brooks
Inman Fox Prize: Lance Miller
John C. Weigel Prize: Avery Leigh, Lance Miller
Lincoln Academy Student Laureate: Zoe Araceli Pav
Special Award
The Donald R. Stroben Entrepreneur Fund: Yosuke Yabuki
Athletics
Evelyn Bielefeldt Award: Kylee Callahan
Cleave Bridgman Trophy: Lance Miller
John W. Hilding Prize: Lance Miller
Harley Knosher Male Athlete of the Year Award: Lance Miller
Jeff Sandburg Mental Toughness Award: Carl Dortch
Dean Trevor Memorial Award for Men: Reese Miller
Dean S. Trevor Award for Women: Avery Leigh
Moller Cup: Eileen Sheetz
Hunter Trophy: Lance Miller
To read more about Commencement weekend, visit www.knox.edu/commencement.
Published on June 09, 2026
- Scott Holland, Knox College Office of Communications