Honors Day 2016 celebrates student excellence

Honors Day is an annual highlight at North Central College. The day publicly celebrates students and their excellence in the academic and cocurricular life of the College. Honors Day 2016 opened on May 17 with a keynote address by Dr. Julio J. Ramirez as part of North Central’s 19th annual Rall Symposium for Undergraduate Research.

Known for his collaborative research with undergraduate students at Davidson College where he serves as the R. Stuart Dickson Professor of Psychology, Ramirez answered “no” to the question and title of his talk, “Are Broken Brains Doomed to Dysfunction?” He also addressed students, saying, “This is an amazing place. Here, you have the opportunity to learn shoulder to shoulder with your professors, to explore and break new ground together. Your professors are extraordinary men and women.”

The Rall Symposium continued with more than 100 poster and oral presentations by students representing many disciplines. At the 40th annual Honors Convocation, students received outstanding academic major awards. College Scholars, Richter Grant recipients, Scholar All-Americans and others were recognized.

Always a highlight of Honors Convocation is the surprise announcement of the Outstanding Senior Man and Outstanding Senior Woman. In presenting the awards, President Troy Hammond said, “Students considered for these awards by a committee of faculty and staff must have a minimum 3.0 grade-point average, be involved in both the academic and extracurricular life of the College, and demonstrate extraordinary potential for their future lives. Our winners today meet—and far exceed—these criteria.”

The 2016 Outstanding Senior Man is Jack Ryan and the Outstanding Senior Woman is Kori Sye (photo, right, with President Hammond).  

Recipients of all other awards presented during Honors Convocation are listed below.

Division of Science
Outstanding Major in Biochemistry: Ian Braun ’16
Outstanding Major in Biology: Kylie Wolf ’16
Outstanding Major in Chemistry: Kori Sye ’16
Outstanding Major in Computer Science: Chase Smith ’16
Outstanding Major in Actuarial Science: Kevin Schroeder ’16
Outstanding Major in Applied Mathematics: Christopher Pascoe ’16
Outstanding Major in Mathematics: Dana Lacey ’16
Outstanding Major in Physics: Kelly Vazquez ’16
Outstanding Major in Psychology: Anna Wegrzyn ’16

Division of Arts and Letters
Diane Duvigneaud Senior Art Award: Lauren Denler ’16
Outstanding Major in Art: Meaghan Green ’16
Outstanding Major in Theatre: Colleen DeRosa ’16
Outstanding Student in Forensics: Harry Bodell ’16
Outstanding Major in Organizational Communication: Laura Turnroth ’17
Outstanding Major in Speech Communication: Ashley Brackenridge ’16
Outstanding Major in Broadcast Communication: Samuel Reiman ’16
Outstanding Major in Interactive Media Studies: Rachel Maher ’16
Outstanding Major in Journalism: Haylie Berkland ’16
Outstanding Major in English: Emily Johnson ’16
Outstanding Major in Writing: Heather Nawara ’16
Outstanding Major in Literature: Kaitlyn Sparkman ’16
Outstanding Major in Chinese: Joseph Wells ’17
Outstanding Major in Classics: AnnMarie Bachmann ’16
Outstanding Major in French: Emilia Knapczynski ’16
Outstanding Major in German: Joanna Bodigor ’16
Outstanding Major in Japanese: Kamila Grzeskowiak ’16
Outstanding Major in Spanish: Georgie Bierwirth ’16
Clarence Juhnke Outstanding Music Major Award: Sarah Haidinyak ’17
Outstanding Major in Music Education: Jacob Prosek ’15

Division of Economics and Business
Outstanding Major in Accounting: Jordyn Kuhn ’16
Outstanding Major in Economics: Christopher Pascoe ’16
Outstanding Major in Finance: Tyler Thorson ’16
Outstanding Major in Human Resource Management: Rebecca Barnhart ’16
Outstanding Major in Marketing: Alexandria Nichols ’16

Division of Human Thought and Behavior
Outstanding Major in East Asian Studies: Joseph D’Anna ’16
Outstanding Major in Elementary Education: Claire Elsey ’16
Outstanding Major in Secondary Education: Cristian Chacon ’16
Outstanding Major in Global Studies: Ricardo Morales Vivero ’16
Outstanding Major in Athletic Training: Christopher Michaels ’16
Outstanding Major in Exercise Science: Kelsey Hayen ’17
Outstanding Major in Physical Education: Michael Riggio ’16
Outstanding Major in Sport Management: Deanna Brand ’16
Outstanding Major in Social Science/History: Katherine Dickson ’16
James Henry Breasted 1890 Outstanding Major in History: Sarah Vanderheyden ’16
Outstanding Major in Philosophy: Avagelos Andriopoulos ’17
Outstanding Major in Religious Studies: Sarah Vanderheyden ’16
Outstanding Major in Political Science: Lauren Edmunds ’17
Outstanding Major in Sociology & Anthropology: Georgie Bierwirth ’16

Outstanding Student in Interdisciplinary Studies: Rachel Lagorio ’16

Scholar-Athlete Awards
Freshman: Alberto Baldonado, Hailey Dammeier, Jacob Zemba
Sophomore: Sarah Gaither
Junior: Joseph Barsanti
Senior: Daniel Sotiros

College Awards
The Carleen Verstraete Outstanding Resident Student Award: Allison Nazorek ’16
The Mark A. Reid Freshman Leadership Award: Upasna Barath ’19
Outstanding Service to Student Life Awards: Kelly Vazquez ’16 and Alexander Willett ’16
Margaret Youel Award: Phillip Norris ’16
Megan Sweeney Award: Jack Ryan ’16

Harold R. Wilde Distinguished Service Award: Jeff Denard, director of Career Development Center

Photos by Stephanie Snyder ’15/M ’17