UNC Asheville Honors Students and Faculty with Academic and Leadership Awards

UNC Asheville presented academic and leadership awards to UNCA students and faculty at a ceremony on Wednesday, April 27, at the Asheville Community Theatre. The 19th annual Academic and Leadership Awards Celebration was sponsored by UNC Asheville’s Division of Student Activities and Integrative Learning.

The following awards were presented:

Campuswide Leadership Awards: Emerging Leaders of the Year to Whitney Abbott, Kylie Allen, Whitney Blume and Kyle Ingram; Leaders of the Year to Michael Bowers and Ashley Bowman; Organization of the Year Awards to All Girls Staff, Alpha Xi Delta and Headwaters; Organization President of the Year to Megan Gray (Alpha Phi Omega) and Jennifer Marshall (Phi Eta Sigma); Organization Advisor of the Year to Lora Holland (Classics Society and Eta Sigma Phi); Carolyn Briggs Diversity Awards to Tarik Glenn and Vanessa Manzi; and Community Service Awards to Stephanie Hedrick and Suzanna Hernandez

Atmospheric Sciences: Academic Excellence Award to Scott D. Scallion; Outstanding Service Award to Sean Patrick Heuser

Biology: Harry Henry Johnston Award for Excellence in Biology to Meredith Westling and Jaime BeVille; Bernhardt-Perry Award for Excellence in Undergrad Research to Stephen Stern

Chemistry: American Chemical Society Western Carolinas Section and Chemistry Department Award for Outstanding Chemistry Senior to Lani Stover; Most Valuable Senior Award to John Molloy Glenn III; Outstanding Performance in Organic Chemistry Award to Natasha Lucki; Outstanding Performance in Analytical Chemistry Award to Jason Crawford; Outstanding Performance in General Chemistry Award to Erin Enstice; Outstanding American Chemical Society Student Affiliate Member Award to Sara Boshamer

Classics: Department Award to Joe Deveaugh-Geiss

Drama: Leadership in Drama Awards to John Jacobs, Katie Haynes, Jessica Kammerud, Ashleigh Poteat, Jessica Short and Ariel Vetter

Economics: Outstanding Performance Award to Kate Fuller; Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Excellence in Finance Award to Taylor Ricketts; Keith and Kevin Davis Research Award to David O'Brien-Gamble; David Reiner Award to Lindsay Benedict and Elizabeth Dews; Dana Zimmerman Service Award to Jason Douglas Holland and Andrea Pollock

Education: Leadership Awards to Nathaniel Blalock, Rhi O'Conner, Erin Wood, Kimberly Gentry, Jacquelyn Naylor and Aja Wright; Academic Awards to Jimmy Autrey II, Heather Dawes, April Franklin, Christie Ohem and Karissa Saville

Environmental Studies: Audubon Scholarships to Natalya Gryson and Tara Luekenhaus; Environmental Studies Alumni Scholarship to Erin McDonald; Environmental Studies Alumni Scholarship to Liah Wallace; Friends of the Earth Garden Club Scholarship to Mary Schultz; Environmental Studies Scholarship to Amy Hamilton; North Carolina Department of Transportation Scholarships to David Bell, Katie Potter and Lisa Schleicher; Southern Appalachian Mountains Initiative Scholarship to Jena Roberts; North Carolina Beautiful Environmental Research Fellowships to Ezra Cates, Erin McDonald and Johanna O'Briant; North Carolina Environmental Scholarship to Dawn Reardon

Foreign Languages: Lawrence Little Book Award in Spanish to Suzanna Hernandez; German Book Award to Caroline Grady; Foreign Language Scholarship Fund to Lynda Frei and Sarah Mills; French Book Award to Emily Cullen

History: Greenawalt/Ready Best Senior Thesis Award to Emily Lancaster; Ruth Feldman Outstanding Senior Award to Ian Brater; Phi Alpha Theta Student Service Award to Christina Dupont

Literature and Language: Virginia Bryan Awards for Best Senior Paper to Maggie Alverez and Josh Tinsley; Comfort Scholarship Award for Excellence in Creative Writing to Antonio del Toro and Caitlin Shanley; Gerald Gullickson Award for Outstanding Rising Senior to Antonio del Toro; Carl Sandburg Award in Poetry to Chapin Gray; Thomas Wolfe Award in Fiction to Caitlin Shanley; Wilma Dykeman Award in Non-Fiction to Casey Colahan; Topp/Grillot Poetry Scholarship to Nicole Van Meter; Departmental Distinction Awards to Maggie Alvarez, Sally Averette, Emily Barrows, Anne Kirkpatrick Brown, Casey Colahan, Caryn Gibson, Michael Ginnane, Daniel Gnidovic, Sarah Vance Goodman, Ryan Hennessee, Anushka Jagdeo, Genessa Jagdeo, Emily MacWilliams, Marshall Peck, Joseph Telegen, Will Walker, Jessica Woodside, Danielle Zynda

Management and Accountancy: Academic Excellence in Accounting Awards to Adam Cook and Carole Owenby; Academic Excellence in Management to Ann Taylor and April Wilson; Outstanding Research Project Award to Rebekah Owens; ALCAN Outstanding Senior Design Project Award to Samuel Roberts; Western Carolina Industries Awards for Outstanding Internship to Naomi O'Dell and Heather Stansel; Robert D. Williams Outstanding Leadership, Service and Scholarship Award to Tracy Burkhardt; ALCAN Excellence in Industrial and Engineering Management Award to Samuel Roberts; Award for Outstanding Service to the Department and Community to Tracy Burkhardt

Mass Communication: Mort Cohn Oustanding Senior Scholar Award to Lindsay LaClair; Mort Cohn Outstanding Rising Senior Award to Shannon Roberts; Outstanding News Reporting Award to Sarah Schmidt; Outstanding Sports Reporting Award to Dustin Jordan; Outstanding Achievement in Visual Media Awards to Kathryn Gunthorpe and Rebekah Andrews

Mathematics: Top Mathematics Student Award to Nick Christian; Martha Game Scholarship to Stephanie Williamson; Parsons Scholarship to Keith Schneider; Mathematics Association of America Awards to Jess Walls, Keith Schneider, Justin Wilkins and Sam Williams

Multimedia Arts and Sciences: Distinction to Nathan Batson

Music: Departmental Awards to Justin Baumann, Maria Potapov, Paul Stroebel, Kara Poorbaugh and Ryan Kelly

Philosophy: Departmental Awards to Kosta Harlan and Margaret Mahlin

Physics: National Physics Honor Society pins to Chuck Fultz, Ryan Kapler and Andrew Nicholson

Political Science: Academic Excellence Award to Brandon White; Outstanding Student Research Award to William White; Gene Rainey Service Awards to Klanesha Thomas and Jamal Mullen; Chair's Awards to Vanessa Manzi, Rhi O'Conner and Holly Minton; Internship Presentation Award to Mateusz Pucilowski; Internship Paper Award to Robin Horne; Department Distinction Awards to Vanessa Manzi, Holly Minton, Rhi O'Conner, Mateusz Pucilowski, Brandon White, William White and Natalie Williams

Sociology: Senior Scholar Award for Sociology to Carmin Mazzotta and Meghan Bean-Smith; Senor Service Award for Sociology to Meghan Bean-Smith; Senior Scholar Award in Anthropology to Laura Simmelink; Senior Research Award in Anthropology to Laura Simmelink; Senior Service Award in Anthropology to Laura Simmelink

University Ambassadors: Honorary Ambassador Awards to Clarence Gray and Dr. Alan Hantz; Dr. James H. Mullen Rising Star Award to David Cox; John White Ambassador of the Year Award to Jeff Cox

Media Contacts:

• Meg Dutnell, UNC Asheville Associate Director of Student Activities, 828/251-6990
• Jill Yarnall, UNC Asheville Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526