U. of MD Honors College

Congratulations to the students who received awards at our Fall 2025 Honors College Citation Ceremony last month! The awards fell into four main categories that recognize academic excellence, research, service, and leadership.

Family Endowed Scholarships
Konikoff-Rudman Family Scholarship: Jayden Clugston (IBH)
Labonski Family Scholarship: Nia Jolivet (HGLO)
Morinigo Family Scholarship: Madison Harris (ACES)
O’Rourke Family Scholarship: Ethan Tran (UH) and Nelson Zheng (UH)

Honors College Research Grant
Kenna Costello (GEMS / Biology Honors Program)
Alex Emmert (Linguistics Honors Program)
William Finch (Biology Honors Program)
Xiang Luo (Neuroscience Honors Program)
Bhavya Nileshkumar Patel (Aerospace Honors Program)
Savannah Robbins (Psychology Honors Program)
Bhargav Srinivasan (GEMS / Entomology Honors Program)
Akemi Takeuchi (Aerospace Honors Program)
Akash Raghu (IBH / Biology Honors Program)

David Goff Scholarship
This scholarship honors an Integrated Life Sciences student who demonstrates exceptional achievement, service in life-science-related areas, and a clear commitment to a medical career. This year’s awardee is Amrutha Alibilli, a neuroscience double major with minors in Spanish and data science.

Portz Outstanding Honors Student Awards
Madeline Anson (ACES), Beatriz Moreira Leite (DCC), Tami Mumuney (GEMS), Carmela DeLlano Hernandez (HGLO), Noora Ghahremani (HH), Urszula Cieslak (IBH), James Szot (ILS), Laila Wilson (UH)

Read the full story at go.umd.edu/hcaward25 or at the link in our bio.

📸 Akash Raghu

Check out these highlights from our Convocation Ceremony a couple of weeks ago, welcoming our first-year students to the Honors College! Highlights included Testudo, inspirational student speakers, an incredible Indian classical dance performance, and the traditional ringing of the Honors bell.

Here’s to new friends and new beginnings! ✨



📸 Amina Lampkin

Our next Honors ice cream social is coming up on Tuesday, September 30! Stop by Anne Arundel for free Maryland Dairy scoops and create a vision board for the new year! ✨ 🍨

📣 Heads up! The Honors College Anne Arundel Hall location will be closed from June 1 until at least August 4 for building renovations. We hope to reopen Monday, August 7. Staff will be working remotely during this time. Contact [email protected] for general inquiries or [email protected] for admissions-related matters. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Congratulations to all of the Honors students who received a 2023 Do Good Medallion! Each awardee is recognized for their dedicated commitment to social impact and innovation and their efforts to bolster the University of Maryland's impact as the nation's first Do Good Campus. Recipients include students who were Do Good Accelerator Fellows, Do Good Ambassadors, Impact Interns, Do Good student workers, or finalists or semi-finalists in the Do Good Challenge.

This year, the Honors College had students from University Honors - University of Maryland, Design Cultures & Creativity, University of Maryland, Gemstone Program, Honors Humanities at the University of Maryland and Integrated Life Sciences UMD among the Do Good medallion awardees.

https://dogood.umd.edu/news/60-students-receive-2023-do-good-medallion

Do Good Institute

60 Students Receive 2023 Do Good Medallion | Do Good Institute The Class of 2023 is full of bold thinkers, chance takers and difference makers who are passionate about doing good on campus, in their communities and throughout their careers. The Do Good Institute is happy to award 60 of these driven Terps who make up the Class of 2023 with a Do Good Medallion.

Congratulations to all of the (many!) Honors students named senior marshals for this year's commencement ceremony! The senior marshals, who carry the banners for schools, colleges and departments, are Spring, Winter and Summer graduates who have stood out during their time at the University of Maryland for academic excellence, service to the university community, noteworthy extracurriculars and good character.

https://today.umd.edu/nearly-80-terps-honored-as-senior-marshals

Nearly 80 Terps Honored as Senior Marshals Program Recognizes Students for Academic, Extracurricular and Personal Accomplishments

Congratulations to Gemstone student Isha Yardi '23 on being named this year's university medalist! Sriya Potluri '23 (ILS), Tesia Shi '23 (Gemstone) and Jerry Yang '23 (Gemstone) were also among the highly selective list of finalists.

The highest honor bestowed on a graduating senior, the university medal commends academic achievement, service to the community and exceptional character. Finalists earned at least a 3.96 GPA and 60 or more credits during their undergraduate career at UMD.

https://today.umd.edu/one-medalist-four-finalists-embody-terp-spirit

Gemstone Program Integrated Life Sciences UMD

One Medalist, Four Finalists Embody Terp Spirit Seniors Make a Lasting Mark Through Service, Achievement

Walking around the campus, you may not think twice about the names of the buildings that surround you. But each one has been named after someone or something historically significant. Dorchester Hall, the home of the Honors Global Communities (HGC) program, is named after Dorchester County, the home of the famous abolitionist and social activist Harriet Tubman. HGC students visited Dorchester County last month to learn more about this important figure in American history.

Read the full story at go.umd.edu/hgcdorchester.

Global Communities - UMD

Honors Global Communities Explores the Legacy of Harriet Tubman in Dorchester County - University of Maryland Honors College Walking around the UMD campus, you may not think twice about the names of the buildings that surround you. But each one has been named after someone or something historically significant. Dorchester Hall, the home of the Honors Global Communities (HGC) program, is named after Dorchester County, the....

Congratulations to Professor Michel Cukier, director of the ACES Program at University of Maryland, on being among four leaders from the University of Maryland (UMD) to make the 2023 Higher Education Power List produced by The Daily Record!

The list—which names President Darryll J. Pines, Senior Vice President and Provost Jennifer King Rice, Vice President for Research Gregory F. Ball, and Director of Advanced Cybersecurity Experience for Students (ACES) Michel Cukier—highlights 30 of the most influential figures in Maryland higher education, each selected for their vision and impact on the space.

Cukier, a first-time awardee, was recognized for his over 20-year tenure at UMD. Cukier has served as the director of the ACES program—an undergraduate Honors College program that provides students the opportunity to explore the world of cybersecurity and its real-world applications—for more than a decade. Additionally, he serves as a professor of reliability engineering with a joint appointment in the department of mechanical engineering and was noted for his significant contributions to cybersecurity research.

Read the full announcement: https://research.umd.edu/articles/four-umd-leaders-named-daily-records-higher-education-power-list

Congrats to UH student Ethan Huegler '24 and his team on taking first prize for their violence-detection system, Guardian at this week's Northrop Grumman Student Challenge, an Internet of Things (IoT) hackathon!

The competition was part of Northrop Grumman Day, an all-day event for executives with the aerospace and defense company to connect with University of Maryland leaders, students and faculty. It highlights the university’s close partnership with Northrop Grumman as well as the company’s investment in fostering talent and technology to meet industry needs.

https://today.umd.edu/at-northrop-grumman-day-students-pitch-the-future-of-networked-computing

University Honors - University of Maryland,

At Northrop Grumman Day, Students Pitch the Future of Networked… From Next-Gen Security Cameras to Smart Sorters, Hackathon Winners Provide Innovative IoT Solutions

Congratulations to all who received an award and/or their Honors citation at our citation ceremony last Friday! It was a joyous occasion celebrating the achievements of our community, with an inspiring keynote talk by Dean Kimberly Griffin from the College of Education.

📸 Thai Nguyen

Congratulations to Honors students Jack Yang '24 (ILS) and Kevin Tu ’23 (UH) on winning their respective categories at the 2023 Do Good Challenge. Yang and his team won first place for Kesem, taking home the $5,000 first prize on the project track, along with the $2,500 Finalist Audience Choice Award. Tu won the $5,000 first prize on the venture track for his work with Sustainabli.

The annual Do Good Challenge inspires students to make a difference for the issues, ideas, and communities they care about. Teams competing on the project track focus on advocacy for an existing effort, while the venture track focuses on a new program, business or product.

Damiana Colley '24 (UH) and her team, Preventing Sexual Assault, took the $1,000 third-place prize on the project track, and Katherine-Aria Close ’23 (DCC) and Marie Brodsky ’24 (ACES) took the $1,000 third-place prize on the venture track for WISE Cities.

Congrats to all involved in this inspiring work to do good!

https://today.umd.edu/green-lab-startup-camp-for-kids-dealing-with-parents-cancer-take-first-place-in-do-good-challenge

Green Lab Startup, Camp for Kids Dealing With Parents’ Cancer Take… 6 Student Teams Split $20K for Their Impactful Ventures, Projects Tackling Social Issues