Student Awards and Accomplishments

Isabella Antonini, a sophomore double majoring in Computer Science and Psychology with a minor in Modern Languages, was selected for the AIAE 2017 Programma Ponte in Pisa. "I feel very honored to have been chosen to attend Programma Ponte, a two-week Italian immersion paid for by the Association of Italian American Educators (AIAE)," Antonini shared. "During the program, I will be staying with an Italian family in Pisa, Italy and attending classes at a linguistic institute to improve my Italian. After classes I will be free to roam the city and on the weekends I will take trips around the country with fellow students. Attending Programma Ponte is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I will cherish for the rest of my life."

Asia Cadet, a junior triple majoring in sociology, criminology, and political science, was awarded the opportunity to study Mandarin in China as part of her Critical Language Scholarship, a program of the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Dana De Greff, a Masters in Fine Arts candidate in fiction, was awarded with a two-year, $45,000 matching grant by the Knight Foundation to kick start her PageSlayers Summer Camp in 2017. Her idea is an inspiring one: exposing kids to the art of creative writing in the city of Opa-Locka by starting a free, six-week summer camp program in its recreation center, known as The ARC. Read more.

Jacob Rudolph, a senior majoring in political science and minoring in LGBTQ studies, is the University of Miami's first ever Point Scholar, a national scholarship awarded to an undergraduate student who has demonstrated extraordinary leadership in the LGBTQ community. Rudolph worked with the Office of Prestigious Awards to apply for the John Lewis Fellowship. The fellowship took Rudolph to Atlanta for a four-week intensive program that looked at the social movements in the U.S. with a focus on civil rights.

Mich‌ael Hoffman, a graduate student in the Department of Psychology, is a recipient of the American Cochlear Implant Alliance CI2017 Scholarship Award. The American Cochlear Implant (ACI) Alliance is a not-for-profit organization created with the purpose of eliminating barriers to cochlear implantation. 

Kara McCormack, a graduate student at the University of Miami (UM) College of Arts & Sciences Department of Mathematics and captain of the UM diving team, was recently awarded the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)Scholarship Award for $5,000. Read more.

Nalini Rao, aneuroscience student at University of Miami (UM) College of Arts & Sciences, has been selected by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) as the Student Poster Competition Winner in the Brain and Behavior category. Read more.

Clarissa Buch, an International Studies major at the University of Miami College of Arts and Sciences, has been selected to join LinkedIn’s inaugural Campus Editor Program. Read more.

Mark Oppenheimer, neuroscience student, presented research related to cancer and health at the 2016 American Psychosomatic Society Conference. He was one of only 80 undergraduates invited to attend scientific forum. Read more.

‌Josh Marzano, a double major in Spanish and Women’s and Gender Studies, received the Fulbright U.S. Student Award to Spain where he will be representing the United States as a cultural ambassador, helping to enhance the mutual understanding between Americans and the people in Spain. His award will take the form of an English Teaching Assistantship, meaning that he will be working in a classroom, helping Spanish students learn English as a foreign language. He was also selected as one out of 50 students to participate in the volunteer program VoluntarItaly, a project sponsored by the Dante Alighieri Society-Michigan Chapter. Read more.

Qian Huang, Zhizhou Wang, and Kevin Sands, graduate students in the Public Administration Program (MPA), competed in a simulation competition on global climate change held by The Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA). Their teams won top honors in the Second Annual Student Simulation Competition on Global Climate Change. Read more.

‌Emily Barbara Prince, a graduate student in the Department of Psychology, was accepted into the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). Read more.

‌Marissa Alert, '17, a graduate student at the University of Miami College of Arts and Sciences Department of Psychology, was inducted into the Edward Alexander Bouchet Graduate Honor Society. Alert is one of 86 graduates from 12 academic institutions that were inducted into the society. Read more.

‌Nayara Sabrina, an exchange student from Brazil and recent biology graduate, earned the first place prize in the undergraduate student category from the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE) 2016 Jorge Perez-Lopez Graduate and Undergraduate Student Award Competition for her collaborative research with engineering student Alexandra Westbrook. Their researched suggested ways to improve the wastewater issues in Havana, Cuba. The paper, which also proposes cost-effective methods to eliminate the transmission of disease and negative ecological impacts from wastewater management plants in the city of Havana, earned Sabrina a complimentary one-year membership to ASCE and an invitation to attend and present the study at the annual ASCE conference. Sabrina also received a travel stipend of $800 plus a $400 cash reward. Read more.