Florida Atlantic University President Stacy Volnick and Interim Provost Russell Ivy recently hosted the University’s 55th annual Honors Convocation

Florida Atlantic University President Stacy Volnick and Interim Provost Russell Ivy recently hosted the University’s 55th annual Honors Convocation at the University Theatre in the 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 Stacy Rubin, M.D., FACP, from the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. Rubin is the Schmidt College of Medicine’s director of the Foundations of Medicine curriculum and an associate director of FAU’s Office of interprofessional Education and Practice. She teaches primarily first- and second-year medical students, helping them translate what they learn in the classroom into patient care.

2024 Florida Atlantic University Honors Convocation Awardees

University Scholars

August Stone, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Mackenzie Chin, College of Business

Daylenis Mendez, College of Education

Shannon Egger, College of Engineering and Computer Science

Gavin Dunsby, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College

Janai Llerena, Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing

Gustavo Mundim, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

Alejandro Rodriguez, College of Social Work and Criminal Justice

Distinguished Student Award

Makenna Simpson, Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing

University Club Merit Award

Emma Leonardo Solórzano, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College

Stan and Renee Wimberly Scholar

Katie Poquette, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College

Hersker, Shaw, Gosser Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi Scholarship Award

Eden Adera, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

Undergraduate Researchers of the Year

August Stone, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Emily Siegelman, College of Business, Allen E. Smith Awardee

Alexis Crowder, College of Education

Ayush Gowda, College of Engineering and Computer Science

Camila Rimoldi Ibanez, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College

Adrianna Tran, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine

Asia Starling, Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing

Joseph Swaress, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

Colette Content, College of Social Work and Criminal Justice

Goldwater Scholarship

Natasha Mayorga, Awardee

Cristian Pena, Awardee

Dana Smith, Awardee

Fulbright Student Scholarship

Marissa Lippinkhof, Semifinalist*

Arismendis Altagracia, Nominee

Amalee Badreddine, Nominee

Bethany Champlin, Nominee

Megan Chin Cheong, Nominee

Marshall Scholarship

Adam Zaidan, Nominee

Truman Scholarship

David Baldwin, Nominee

Udall Scholarship

David Baldwin, Nominee*

Yashwin Adusumilli, Nominee*

*Pending national award decision

Fraternity and Sorority Scholars

Srihith Narahari, Pi Kappa Alpha

Emma Leonardo Solórzano, Alpha Delta Pi

Student-athletes of the Year

Courtney Moon, Beach Volleyball

Federico Maranges, Football 

Alumni Degree of Difference Award

Allan Barsky, College of Social Work and Criminal Justice

Researchers of the Year

Xingquan Zhu, Ph.D., Professor, College of Engineering and Computer Science

Yufei Tang, Ph.D., Associate Professor, College of Engineering and Computer Science

Siddharttha Verma, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, College of Engineering and Computer Science

Scholars of the Year

Brett Laursen, Ph.D., Professor, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

Myeongsub Kim, Ph.D., Associate Professor, College of Engineering and Computer Science

Neeraj Puro, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, College of Business

FAU Online Faculty Award

Korey Sorge, Ph.D., Scientist, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

Excellence and Innovation in Undergraduate Teaching

Kristin Ann Shockley, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Tito Sempertegui, Ph.D., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

Donna Marion, Ph.D., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

Terje Hill, Ph.D., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College

Excellence and Innovation in Undergraduate Advising

Ana-Alicia Cappa, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Joseph Jutan, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Michaela Smolka, College of Business

Distinguished Mentor of the Year in Undergraduate Research

Mahyar Nouri-Shirazi, Ph.D., Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine

President’s Award for Career Achievement

Borko Furht, Ph.D., College of Engineering and Computer Science  

2024 Distinguished Teacher of the Year

Stacy Rubin, M.D., FACP, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine

-FAU-