Arts & Sciences Accolades

We celebrate our faculty, staff, students, and alumni for their teaching, advising, impact, leadership, and commitment and dedication to our community.

Faculty Accolades

Arts & Sciences faculty members are recognized within the University and across the world for their outstanding scholarship and cutting-edge research, which they bring into the classroom so students can gain new perspectives and learn from leaders in the field. Below are just some of the awards and honors that our faculty received in 2021-2022

External Awards and Honors

Clare Boothe Luce Associate Professor of Mathematics Jennifer Balakrishnan was named the 2022 Research Prize in Algebra and Number Theory by the Association for Women in Mathematics.
Kathryn Bard, Professor of Emerita of Archaeology and Classical Studies was awarded the MLE of Egyptology Award from El Museo Liceo Egipcio de León.
Assistant Professors of Biology Jennifer Bhatnagar and Jeffrey Marlow received Department of Energy grants.
Célia Bianconi, Master Lecturer and head of the Portuguese Language Program was recognized for her contributions to the teaching of Portuguese in the United States by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
Assistant Professor of Computer Science Mark Bun won a 2022 Sloan Research Fellowship, a selective award given to the most promising junior researchers.
Director of the Center for Innovation in Social Science and Sociology Professor Deborah Carr received the 2022 Matilda White Riley Distinguished Scholar Award from the American Sociological Association.
Qiang Cui, Professor of Chemistry & Research Fellow at the Hariri Institute, received a Machine Learning in the Chemical Sciences & Engineering Award from The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation.
María Datel, Lecturer of Spanish received recognition for her presentation, “Integrating Indigenous Perspectives into the Spanish Curriculum,” at the Massachusetts Foreign Language Association Conference, and was invited to develop a talk for the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (NECTFL) in New York City.
Luke Glowacki, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, received a grant from the National Science Foundation to study the formation of social relationships across distinct groups in Ethiopia.
Professor of Chemistry Mark Grinstaff was named an honorary fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), one of a small number of chemists chosen for the distinguished title; was accepted into the Secretary-General of the Oriental Numismatic Society; and was named a William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor at Boston University.
Maria (Masha) Kamenetska, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Physics, received a National Science Foundation grant that will fund the purchase of optical tweezers.
A BU Today op-ed by Malika Jeffries-EL, Associate Dean of the Graduate School in Arts and Sciences, “Where are the Tenured Black Female Professors,” won gold in the category of “Writing: Column or Opinion Piece” in the annual CASE Awards, run by the Council for Advancement and Support of Higher Education.
Professor of Economics Kevin Lang was named the inaugural Laurence A. Bloom Professor in Economics, a professorship that was created through a bequest from CAS alumnus Laurence A. Bloom (DGE‘66, CAS‘68).
Christopher Maurer, Professor of Spanish, inducted into the Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española.
A BU astronomy research team led by Professor of Astronomy Merav Opher won a highly competitive five-year grant from NASA for the SHIELD DRIVE Science Center at BU.
Donna Pincus, Director, Child and Adolescent Fear and Anxiety Treatment Program; CAS Feld Family Professor of Teaching Excellence; and Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences, was awarded an Inaugural University-Community Partnerships Grant through the Institute for Early Childhood Well-Being.
Psychological & Brain Sciences Assistant Professor Steve Ramirez was selected by the Pew Charitable Trusts as a Pew Scholar in Biomedical Sciences.
Leo Reyzin, Professor of Computer Science, was recognized by the International Association for Cryptologic Research.
Christopher Schmitt, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Biology, was elected Vice President of the American Association of Anthropological Genetics.
Bruce Schulman, Professor of History and Director of the Institute for American Political History, was granted the Harold V. Harmsworth Distinguished Visiting Professorship at Oxford University.
Professor of History Nina Silber was named the inaugural holder of the Jon Westling Professorship, created through the philanthropic support of Trustee Emeritus Richard B. DeWolfe and other donors in honor of former BU President and Professor of History Jon Westling.
Assistant Professor of Physics Indara Suarez received a five-year, $750,000 Early Career Award from the Department of Energy
Yoon Sun Yang, Associate Professor of Korean & Comparative Literature in World Languages & Literatures, was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities grant.
Meg Younger, an incoming Assistant Professor of Biology, was named a 2022 Searle Scholar, one of 15 exceptional young faculty in the biomedical sciences and chemistry who have recently been appointed as assistant professors on tenure-track appointments.

Internal Awards and Honors

Staff Accolades

Staff Awards and Honors

Student Accolades

Arts & Sciences students are recognized for achievements in their academic and extracurricular activities, as well as their community involvement and leadership. Following are some of the many awards, honors and fellowships that our students received in 2021-2022.

External Fellowships & Scholarships

Phoebe Brosnan (PhD Candidate, Clinical Psychology); Emily Dewhurst (CAS’22, International Relations); and Guthrie Kuckes (CAS’22, International Relations) received Critical Language Scholarships.
Andrea Burns (PhD candidate in Computer Science) received a Google PhD Fellowship.
Kimber Chewning (PhD Candidate, History of Art & Architecture); Catherine Devlin (CAS’22, History); Jade Isabella Lau (CAS’21, Cultural Anthropology and Religion); Evan McDuff (PhD Candidate, Anthropological Archaeology); Althea Ruoppo (PhD Candidate, History of Art & Architecture); Anna Stroinski (CAS’19, History & Philosophy); Kahjirah Taylor Harris (CAS’22, Sociology); and Margaret Vatter (CAS’22, International Relations, Economics) received prestigious Fulbright Awards for Academic Year 2022-23, enabling them to travel to England, Germany, Israel, and Scotland to conduct research and attend graduate school; and to teach English in Vietnam and South Korea. Learn more.
Tima Dasouki (CAS’22, International Relations and Middle East and North Africa Studies) was named a Pickering Fellow in the Pickering Foreign Affairs Program.
Nik Gjonbalaj (CAS’22/GRS’22, Physics) and Kevin Reiss (CAS’22, Physics) were named Goldwater Scholars.
Andy Huyn (PhD candidate in Computer Science) received an IBM PhD Fellowship.
Claire Qiao (CAS’22, Biology and Psychology) was named a Yenching Academy Scholar
Madison Romo (CAS’22, International Relations, with a minor in Russian Language and Literature) was named a Rangel Scholar in the Charles B. Rangel Summer Enrichment Program.
Margaret Rowley (PhD candidate in Musicology) was awarded a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) Fellowship.
Chenyu Wei (CAS’24, Middle East and North Africa Studies, History), was named a Boren Scholar
Andrea Wetzler (CAS’23, Comparative Literature) received the DAAD Summer Course Grant through the German Academic Exchange Service.
Biology PhD Candidate Brandon Güell was named National Geographic Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Maritere Urióstegui-Arcos, a Postdoctoral Fellow in Lab of Assistant Professor of Chemistry Ana Fiszbein, was named a Pew Latin American fellow.

Internal Fellowships & Scholarships

Research and Internship Funding

387 CAS students received funding through Boston University’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) during the 2021-2022 academic year. This included math and computer science major Sam Wu (CAS’24), who conducted a multidisciplinary research project analyzing miRNA Seed Genesis with Professor Daniel Cifuentes (BUSM); and linguistics major Leela Munsiff (CAS’23), who collaborated with Linguistics Professor Kate Lindsey on a research project analyzing Changing Attitudes on Multilingualism in Limol, Papua New Guinea. Leela presented her research at an international research conference in December. In October, more than 250 undergraduate students presented research they conducted during the 25th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. Read the program from the event. See student spotlights.
12 students received funding through the CAS Student Academic Enhancement Fund, designed to support undergraduate CAS students and student groups in the pursuit of academic interests, endeavors, and achievements outside of the classroom. This included:
- Janki Bhatt (CAS’23), who used funding to create “Kalaa,” a BU student literary magazine published by the newly-established BU Arts & Literary Club.
- Grace Beer (CAS’22), a BA/MS student in biology with a specialization in Ecology and Conservation and a minor in marine science, who used funding to attend the 2022 Ocean Sciences meeting in Honoloulu, where she presented her summer research with mentors form BU and the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.
- Zoe Shehan (CAS’22), a psychology major and Spanish minor who used the funding to attend a conference where she presented an art analysis of the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston that explores the possible implications of multidirectional memory and American exceptionalism.
- Michalina Jadick, a biology major with a specialization in neurobiology with honors, who used the funding to attend the Women in Surgery (WIS) Career Symposium, dedicated to creating a platform for women and other minorities in the surgical field to share successes and advice for paving the way as a surgeon.

Students in the Social Sciences Undergraduate Internships in Social Justice and Sustainability program studied cutting-edge social issues with BU faculty members.
- Nikki Huang (CAS’23), a junior majoring in International Relations, and Will Regan (CAS ’23), a junior majoring in Computer Science and Statistics, worked with Sociology Professor Jonathan Mijs on a project titled Correcting Discrimination: Experimental evidence of the impact of information addressing misperceptions about ethnic and racial inequality in the United States and the Netherlands.
- Carly Mast (CAS’22), a senior majoring in history and minoring in sociology, worked with CAS Sociology Professor Jessica Simes on a project titled Studies of Structural Racisms in Community Health and Criminal Justice.
- Shradda Pingali (CAS’22), a senior in the Environmental Analysis and Policy/Energy and Environment program, worked with CAS Earth & Environment Professor Ian Sue Wing on a project titled, “Climate Change Mitigation-Adaptation Tradeoffs: Evidence from an Analytical General Equilibrium Model.”
- Kate Sandage (CAS’23), a junior majoring in Sociology, worked with Theology Professor Wesley Wildman on a project titled Strategies Against Rural Suicide Project (STARS).

Five students received stipend-supported internships through the Boston University Center for the Humanities to work at The Boston Globe, the Brattle Film Foundation, Beacon Press, the BU School of Public Health, and Burns & Levinson, LLP.
- Julia Bulafka (CAS’22, English): Beacon Press — “. . . I [got] a full picture of the many different roles and responsibilities that editors take on. . . [and] a completely different perspective of the work that goes into bringing a book to the shelves. . .I felt valued as a team member here, and I gained more knowledge and experience than I knew was possible in just eight weeks.” Read more about Julia’s internship experience here.
- Catherine Devlin (CAS’22, History): Burns & Levinson LLP — “Interning as a paralegal in a mid-size law firm put me in the right place to ask questions not only about being a paralegal but about multiple different legal paths. In doing so, I learned about the significance of the humanities in preparing students for careers that require understanding and expressing complex information in multiple formats.” Read more about Catherine’s internship experience here.
- Kelsey Lu (CAS’22, Philosophy and Political Science): The Boston Globe — “The Boston Globe is a wonderful place for interns. . . . Everyone was friendly, insightful, and passionate. It was always fascinating to come to the office and talk to the staff about published stories. . . . I truly learned so much.” Read more about Kelsey’s internship experience here.
- Lukas Ruschak (CAS’22, History): Brattle Theatre — “My internship at the Brattle Theater was . . . a rewarding experience that taught me a lot about working at nonprofits and cultural institutions. I am proud of the projects that I worked on.” Read more about Lukas’s internship experience here.
- David Winner (CAS’22, Philosophy and World Languages & Literatures): BU School of Public Health — “There are so many good things to say about the SPH internship. I won’t write a laundry list, but I’ll sum up the details: the work was refreshingly real, it was challenging, it was fascinating, it was invigorating. I got paid to interview exciting people and write about emerging public health scholarship. There’s not much more I can ask of a summer.” Read more about David’s internship experience here.
34 undergraduate and 10 graduate students won awards from the Boston University Center for Humanities and 4 graduate students won Dissertation Fellowships from the Boston University Center for Humanities. Read more about all of the awards here.

Melissa Boberg (CAS’22, English and Philosophy), Luca Del Deo (CAS’22, Philosophy and Religion), Victoria Keefauver (CAS’24, Psychology), Sara Kullnigg (CAS’22, Philosophy and Political Science), Selena Lee (CAS’23, Philosophy and Psychology), Juan Ruiz (CAS’23, Biology and Philosophy), Kimberly Schneider (CAS’24, Philosophy and Political Science), Liz Smith, and Ethan Thwaites (CAS’22, Economics) received grants as part of the 2021 Karbank Fellowship, made possible by a generous gift from Steven Karbank, a graduate of Boston University’s Philosophy Department
- Melissa Boberg (CAS’22) created Journey to the Center of the Self: A Limited Podcast Series, a podcast interviewing philosophers and exploring philosophical dialogues through literal dialogue.
- Luca Del Deo (CAS’22) wrote “A Meditation Guide to Socrates’ Daimonion,” a paper exploring the concepts of a daimon and a tulpa.
- Victoria Keefauver (CAS’24) produced a research project consisting of exploring the link between legal and moral philosophy with respect to mental health in public schools.
- Sara Kullnigg (CAS’22) explored the complexities of living during and in the aftermath of a refugee crisis in a research project.
- Selena Lee (CAS’23) conducted interviews exploring ways philosophy is present in everyone’s life for Exploring “Practical” Philosophy.
- Juan Ruiz (CAS’23) conducted interviews for a research project to introduce non-Anglo-Saxon ideas to Western academia.
- Kimberly Schneider (CAS’24) worked on a project documenting work at a non-profit focused on philosophy of race issues.
- Liz Smith created Emergence and Eudaimonia, a multi-media exhibit exploring eudaimonia with respect to COVID-19.
- Ethan Thwaites (CAS’22) worked on an engineering-adjacent project about capturing and recycling CO2.

Campus Awards and Honors

Innovate@BU Challenges
- Alexia Lancea (CAS’22), Eunice Lamothe (CAS’22, SPH’23), Mary Campion (CAS’22), and others of Food@BU won $10,000 Prize at Innovate@BU’s Hunger Challenge event for their idea to solve campus hunger. Learn more.
- Computer Science major Nsikan Umoh (CAS’23) won third place and $6k at Innovate@BU’s #NewVentureCompetition finale in April for CompSciLib, an all-in-one platform for computer science and technology tools, helping ease the process of learning Computer Science for students as well as professionals. Learn more.
CAS students presented their projects BU Spark’s 2002 Demo Day. These included: “Empower,” a web application created by computer science majors Daniel Gonzalez (CAS’24), Anulika Odisaokwu Nnadi (CAS’24), and Roberto Rodas-Herndon (CAS’23), along with a classmate from the College of Fine Arts, that provides undocumented workers the ability to search for a company in Massachusetts and see that company’s workforce violations; Bullyproof, a social media filtering created by computer science majors Ruiqi Liu (CAS’23) and Ethan Seow (CAS’25), along with classmate from the College of Fine Arts and the Faculty of Data Science, that protects vulnerable or at-risk individuals from bullying based on semantic model, search bots, and an interface that allows users to easily apply the tool to their social media feeds; and CollaborArt is a virtual reality platform created by computer science majors Akhil Uhappa (CAS’23), Sitong (May) Li (CAS’24), and Roubing Liao (CAS’24), along with a classmates in the College of Fine Arts, to create digital artworks together.
Environmental Analysis and Policy major Olivia Henning (CAS ’22) and Statistics and Computer Science major Lucia Vilallonga (CAS ’22) received the BU Campus Climate Lab student award, the Anthony Janetos Climate Action Prize, for their project, “Quantifying Scope 3 Emissions Associated with Employee Travel at Boston University.
Ana L. Obergfell (CAS’22) won the 2022 Department Prize for Academic Excellence in Political Science
Esteban Dominguez-Lash (CAS’22) won the 2022 College Prize in Political Science

Read about the awards and prizes that Arts & Sciences students received at the end of the 2021-2022 academic year.

Alumni Accolades

Arts & Sciences alumni are recognized for their loyalty and dedication to Boston University, as well as for their professional achievement. Following are the awards presented by Boston University to Arts & Sciences alumni in 2021-2022. Alumni are also recognized each year by many Arts & Sciences departments.

Undergraduate Admissions

Graduate Admissions

MA & MS Applicants

PhD & MFA Applicants

Our Accolades