Top student scholars honored at USC Academic Honors Convocation

The university’s leading student scholars were honored Wednesday in the second portion of USC’s 40th annual Academic Honors Convocation. Faculty members were honored at a separate event Monday. Wednesday’s honorees included:

Class of 2020 valedictorian and salutatorians: At USC, it is the custom to name one student to serve as the university valedictorian and one or more students to serve as university salutatorian. The USC selection process recognizes the very highest levels of academic achievement, but it is also more holistic and takes into consideration service and leadership as well.

• Valedictorian: Tianna B. Shaw-Wakeman
• Salutatorians: Ashwin Bhumbla and Jake Bubman

University Trustees Award: Awarded to the graduating students who have attained the highest scholarship average of all undergraduate men at the university.

• Bryant Cong
• John A. Kimble
• Jeremiah A. Miller
• Ryan Storgard
• Jacob Toney

Emma Josephine Bradley Bovard Award: Awarded to the graduating students who have attained the highest scholarship average of all undergraduate women at the university.

• Kiarra Akiyoski
• Katrina B. Chandra
• Prerika Chawla
• Deborah Choe
• Anjali Devgan
• Nastaran Far
• Sophie Hammond
• Julie Han
• Stella Harris
• Catherine Liang
• Lindsey N. Marks
• Anuva Mittal
• Molly N. Sulzer
• Jasmine Siyu Wu

USC Provost’s Award: Awarded to the graduating students who have attained the highest scholarship average of all undergraduate transfer students at the university.

• Alexis Amaradio
• Caitlin G. Gutierrez
• Philip Jung
• Raelyn M. Kelley
• Gina Kim
• Skyler Melnick
• Hunter Nelson
• Kyle M. Popok
• Paige N. Raskin
• Mya Roberts
• Emily Torp
• Kyla-Rose Walden
• Yuchen Wang
• Zhengyu Yang

Phi Kappa Phi Student Recognition Award: Founded in 1897, Phi Kappa Phi is the oldest interdisciplinary honor society at USC. It recognizes scholarship and awards prizes annually to graduate and undergraduate students for creative and scholarly achievements.

• Joanne Lee
• Jung Huyk Lee
• Rintaro Moriyasu
• Isabelle L. Osterholt

Phi Beta Kappa Undergraduate Awards: Devoted to liberal learning in arts and sciences, Phi Beta Kappa, founded in 1776, presents two undergraduate awards to honor creativity, scholarship and leadership in faculty-student community relations.

• Sophie Hammond
• Noah T. Hellum

Rockwell Dennis Hunt Award: Awarded to an alumna or alumnus of USC who is pursuing a graduate or professional degree at the university and who is most representative of the Trojan Family’s traditions and values.

• Ronnelle A. Copes

University Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award: Awarded to three graduate teaching assistants – from diverse areas such as the natural sciences and engineering, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts – who have exhibited consistent excellence in the classroom and thus symbolize the university’s dedication to the education of scholar-teachers.

• Mary Ippolito
• Madeline Thayer
• Maya D. Yanez

Schwarzman Scholarship: Designed to prepare young leaders to serve as a bridge between China and the rest of the world.

• Benjamin J. Ma
• Trenton V. Stone

Charles B. Rangel Graduate Fellowship: Recognizes young people who are committed to serving their country and promoting positive change globally.

• Carolina Cortez

Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship: Designed to prepare outstanding young people for Foreign Service careers in the State Department.

• Betty Zhang Thai

Gates Cambridge Scholarship: Designed to build a global network of future leaders committed to improving the lives of others. Recipients receive a full-cost scholarship to pursue a full-time postgraduate degree in any subject available at the University of Cambridge in the U.K.

• David Jun Lee

The USC Academic Honors Convocation is traditionally held in April and recognizes faculty and student scholars for the academic year that is coming to a close. The convocation held Oct. 22, 2020, was for the academic year 2019-2020 and had been postponed due to the pandemic.