Florida Atlantic University President Adam Hasner and Interim Provost Russell Ivy recently hosted the 56th annual Honors Convocation.
Florida Atlantic University President Adam Hasner and Interim Provost Russell Ivy recently hosted the 56th annual Honors Convocation at the University Theatre, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Boca Raton campus. The ceremony recognizes the university’s most outstanding students and faculty.
Awards and recognition included eight university scholars; the Distinguished Student award; the University Club Merit award; the Hersker, Shaw, Gosser Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi scholar; the Stan and Renee Wimberly scholar; the Undergraduate Researchers awards; the Student-athletes of the Year awards; and the Fraternity and Sorority scholars. Faculty honors include the FAU Alumni Association’s Degree of Difference Award; Researchers and Scholars of the Year awards; FAU Online Faculty award; Teaching and Advising awards; as well as the Distinguished Mentor of the Year in Undergraduate Research award and the President’s Award for Career Achievement.
The winner of the Distinguished Teacher of the Year award is determined by FAU students. This year’s recipient is Maria Mercedes Larrondo-Petrie, Ph.D., a full professor of computer engineering. Larrondo-Petrie serves pro-bono as the executive director of the Latin American and Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions and is the director of the Organization of American States Center of Excellence of Engineering for the Americas. Her research publications have received more than 2,000 citations, and she has been awarded more than $3 million in grants during her career.
2025 Florida Atlantic University Honors Convocation Awardees
University Scholars
Christian Robinson, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Gabriella Figueiredo Borges, College of Business
Orlando Morales Lopez, College of Education
Catherine Hernandez, College of Engineering and Computer Science
Jacob Carlson, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Mary Maccarone, Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing
Brandon Trenta, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science
Ghazal Tajalli, College of Social Work and Criminal Justice
Distinguished Student Award
Tarruck Wheeler, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
University Club Merit Award
Abhishikta Srigiriraju, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science
Stan and Renee Wimberly Scholar
Marisa Zumbrum, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Hersker, Shaw, Gosser Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi Scholarship Award
Rithika Mathew, College of Engineering and Computer Science
Undergraduate Researchers of the Year
Ty Craaybeek, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Alexander Aranda, College of Business, Allen E. Smith Awardee
Vritti Sodha, College of Education
Zade Micallef, College of Engineering and Computer Science
Vincent Stafford, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Gabriella Maxey, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine
Helen Grammen, Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing
Hannah Epstein, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science
Goldwater Scholarship
Aiden Geleta, Awardee
Vincent Stafford, Awardee
Distinguished First-year Undergraduate Student of the Year
Maya Desai, College of Business
Fraternity and Sorority Scholars
James Levi, Alpha Epsilon Pi
Melyssa Mitchell, Alpha Kappa Alpha
Student-athletes of the Year
Michelle Horan, Women’s soccer
Bryan Boully, Baseball
Alumni Degree of Difference Award
Gary Perry, Ph.D., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science
Researchers of the Year
Jeanette Wyneken, Ph.D., Professor, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science
Ayse Torres, Ph.D., Associate Professor, College of Education
Andrea Cippitelli, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine
Scholars of the Year
Cristobal Salinas, Ph.D., Professor, College of Education
Behnaz Ghoraani, Ph.D., Associate Professor, College of Engineering and Computer Science
Masoud Jahandar Lashaki, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, College of Engineering and Computer Science
FAU Online Faculty Award
Katarina Brant, Ph.D., Instructor, College of Business
Excellence and Innovation in Undergraduate Teaching
Marc Decker, DMA, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Marquese McFerguson, Ph.D., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Carmen Cañete Quesada, Ph.D., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Yash Bhagwanji, Ph.D., College of Education
Excellence and Innovation in Undergraduate Advising
Hernan Rico, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Jeff Schering, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Alyssa Ramjohn Ali, College of Engineering and Computer Science
Distinguished Mentor of the Year in Undergraduate Research
Catherine Trivigno, Ph.D., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
President’s Award for Career Achievement
Manhar Dhanak, Ph.D., College of Engineering and Computer Science
2025 Distinguished Teacher of the Year
Maria Larrondo-Petrie, Ph.D., College of Engineering and Computer Science
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