Honors Research Scholars In Psychology

This year, we expect 700+ students to graduate as Psychology majors. Of those 700+ majors, only 19 will graduate with the designation “Honors Research Scholar in Psychology”. These 19 represent our most accomplished, intellectually engaged, and outstanding students. ALL the Honors students did excellent work in the planning, execution, and presentation of their projects. Everyone (and every project) was outstanding! We should be proud as a department to have such a talented group of students, and the students (and their families and friends!) should be proud of the excellent work that they have done. I would also like to thank all the advisors, grad students, postdocs, and staff who helped mentor these excellent students. A special thanks as well to Dr. Lou Matzel, who chaired the Honors Committee for several years before retiring at the end of last year and to Colleen Lord, who organizes the entire Honors Program! As determined by the Honors Committee, the following students will graduate with the distinction of "Honors Research Scholar in Psychology": Gabriella Avagyan (mentored by Dr. Karin Stromswold) Hiba Babekr (mentored by Dr. Jessica Hamilton) Brianna Clark (mentored by Dr. Valerie Jones Taylor) Cortney Hilliard (mentored by Dr. Ben Samuels) Lauren Hunsdorfer (mentored by Dr. Alex Kusnecov) Sandra Lee (mentored by Dr. Jessica Salvatore) Rachel Mesa (mentored by Dr. Diana Sanchez) Emily Milo (mentored by Dr. Jenny Wang) Catherine Montgomery (mentored by Dr. Ben Samuels) Raynold Pandi (mentored by Dr. Diana Sanchez) Khushi Shah (mentored by Dr. Alan Leslie) Shaiza Shahzad (mentored by Dr. Jenny Wang) Daniel Soler (mentored by Dr. David Barker) Eli Tarlow (graduated in Fall; mentored by Dr. Lou Matzel) Athena Thai (mentored by Dr. Jessica Hamilton) Shurafa Thowfeeq (mentored by Dr. Shana Cole) Angelica Varughese (mentored by Dr. Elisa Shernoff) Anjali Vijan (mentored by Dr. Jessica Hamilton) JY Yang (mentored by Dr. Gandalf Nicolas) Madison Yip (mentored by Dr. Kasia Bieszczad) On behalf of the Department of Psychology, a warm congratulations to all these amazing students! In addition to determining the designation of Honors, each year the Honors Committee assigns several special awards. This is always a difficult task, as the Psychology Honors students are exceptional. Nevertheless, the committee determined that the following students would be this year’s recipients: Madison Yip: Alice and Walter Phillips Award for Outstanding Thesis Proposal (determined in Fall) Rachel Mesa: Alice and Walter Phillips Award for Outstanding Thesis Daniel Soler: The Charles Flaherty Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research Khushi Shah and JY Yang: Marilyn Shaw Award for Research Promise Hiba Babekr and Athena Thai: John Abela Award for Excellence in Research in Clinical Psychology Madison Yip: Tracey Shors Award for Excellence in Behavioral Neuroscience Cortney Hilliard: Jacqueline Lewis Memorial and Charles Kaden Awards for Non-Traditional Seniors Based on several criteria, the Honors Committee nominated the following students for consideration for the Henry Rutgers ScholarAward. The final decision on these awards is now with the Dean's Office, but they are certainly all highly deserving: Hiba Babekr Brianna Clark Cortney Hilliard Rachel Mesa Catherine Montgomery Raynold Pandi Khushi Shah Shaiza Shahzad Daniel Soler Athena Thai Shurafa Thowfeeq Anjali Vijan JY Yang Madison Yip Congratulations again to ALL the Psychology honors students. Thank you for your invaluable contributions to the research programs throughout our department.