On Monday, April 19, the University of Maine College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) hosted a ceremony to honor the work of outstanding graduate and undergraduate students. The event was hosted online via Zoom, and hosted many students and staff from around the CLAS.
The event was opened with introductions from Emily Haddad, the dean of CLAS, who thanked everyone for their attendance and hard work. She then introduced John Volin, UMaine provost and vice president for academic affairs.
Volin spoke to the resilience of the students during these difficult times.
The event then turned to the awards ceremony, starting with the awards for outstanding graduating seniors. Associate professor of art Andy Mauery introduced and awarded Caroline Strolic, a fourth-year art history student, with the Outstanding Graduating Senior award. Mauery spoke to the nature of her honors thesis work, titled “Benjamin West and His Studio: The Making of an Anglo-American Identity,” and to Strolic’s extracurricular work with the UMaine swimming and diving team.
Hana Davis was awarded Outstanding International Student. Davis is a fourth-year communications student from Tsawwassen, British Columbia. Davis serves as the captain of the UMaine field hockey team, and as a volunteer at UMaine’s Mind Spa. Davis is planning on pursuing an MBA at UMaine after graduation.
The next section of awards was presented to outstanding graduate students. The first award was presented to Prakash Raut for Research and Creative Activity. Raut is a Physics Ph.D. student researching spectroscopy, however, he has applied his work to the fields of molecular biology, virology and toxicology, and has helped greatly in the research on COVID-19.
CLAS gave James Deaton an award for teaching. Deaton is a graduate student in the physics and astronomy department. Students praised his teaching and tutoring skills for their creativity.
The award for outstanding interdisciplinary work was presented to Emily Blackwood, for her work with the virtual reality reconstruction of archeological sites. Dan Sandweiss, a professor of anthropology at UMaine, introduced her.
The final recipient of an award for outstanding graduate student was Colin Bosma, a Ph.D. student studying clinical psychology. Emily Haigh, a professor of psychology, spoke to Bosma’s excellent research capabilities.
Haddad then moved on to the undergraduate awards, which were given to one undergraduate student in each of the 14 CLAS departments. Each recognized student got a moment to talk about their work and their plans following graduation.
Jake Tauke, an anthropology student, was recognized for his work. Strolic was once again mentioned by the Department of Art. Chelsea Sainsbury was recognized as an outstanding senior in the chemistry department, and Leanne Nesbit was recognized for her work in communications and journalism. For computing and information science, the CLAS recognized Devin Christianson as an outstanding graduating senior. Sarah Penney was recognized for work in the english department, Hailey Cedor for her work in the history department, and Caitlyn Rooms for work in international affairs. For mathematics and statistics, Cole Butler was awarded. Alexandria Hill was awarded for modern language and classics, Emma Hodge for new media studies, and Ashley Paul for philosophy. The school of visual and performing arts awarded two students, Pooja Rawat for work in theatre, and Natalie Lisnet for her work in music. Aidan Breenlee was awarded for physics and astronomy, Emily Scruton for political science, Cassidy McCusker for psychology, Sabrina Paetow for sociology, and Aiden Ciffaglione for women, gender, and sexuality studies.
For full information on each of these student’s work and academic accomplishments, visit the CLAS website.
CLAS’ next event will be on May 6 to honor faculty awards.
