School Awards
School Marshal
Joshua Bradley Kruzan
Top Engineering Graduate
Olivia Jane Ryan
Top Construction Management Graduate
Ruben Fonseca
Top Computer Science Graduate
Lauren Stephanie Ramirez
School Marshal
Phuong D. Phan
Dean's Academic Achievement Award in Accounting
Phoung D. Phan
Dean’s Academic Achievement Award in Management
Brooke Amanda LaVallie
Dean’s Academic Achievement Award in Economics
Jacob Paul Sapia
Dean’s Academic Achievement Award in Finance
Asia Aliyah Carter-Lamb
Dean’s Academic Achievement Award in International Business
William Davison Dittman, Jr.
Dean’s Academic Achievement Award in Marketing
Kristina Teresa Renaud
Accounting Faculty Award
Sara Catherine Ward
International Business Faculty Award
Dari Catherine Tavekelian
Management Faculty Award
Riley Elizabeth Thomson
Finance Faculty Award
Robert Anthony McGinnis
Marketing Faculty Award
Haley Rae Watt
Economics Faculty Award
Samuel T. Boyden
PUBLIC HEALTH ACADEMIC AWARDS
Thomas Robert Bernard
Thomas Sorger Award for Interdisciplinary Excellence
This award is the program's top academic award in recognition of a student’s excellence in all aspects of the interdisciplinary major. Thomas's outstanding achievement as a double Major in Public Health (BS) and Biology (BS) with a concentration in Spanish exemplifies the wide range of skills required in Public Health. He is an Honors Program student and has served as a Chemistry tutor for 3 years. His Senior Capstone project on "recruitment and retention of patients in mental health clinical trials" was conducted in conjunction with his summer 2019 internship and subsequent employment at Sage Therapeutics. After graduation, Thomas plans to work in the biotechnology field and eventually pursue a graduate degree in public health.
Allison Kayla Nolan
Outstanding Application of Public Health in Service
The department designates this award for students who have shown extraordinary dedication to public health through participation in internships and service. Allison is a double major in Public Health (BA) and Psychology (BA) with a Minor in Spanish. She used her Hassenfeld Fellowship this year for 2 local internships. In the fall, she worked with the YMCA's wellness program for people in recovery, which formed the basis of her Senior Capstone project. This work expanded her previous service with the East Bay Recovery Center and the Bristol Health Equity Zone. This spring Allison interned with House of Hope Community Development Organization, an interest that developed from her 2019 Health in All Policies conference poster on "The Intersection of Housing Insecurities and Health Disparities." At the global level, Allison is President of the RWU FIMRC Club and she has volunteered for the organization in Nicaragua and Peru. She is also Vice President of the RWU Public Health Club. Currently, Allison works for Code Blue Saratoga, an emergency shelter program, and plans to enroll in graduate classes for Public Health in the near future.
Emma Heubel
Jane Pleskunas Award for Promotion of the Public Health Program
Named in honor of Pleskunas ('11), an epidemiologist and biostatistician, the award shows appreciation for a senior who contributes to the program's growth in multiple ways. Emma is a double major in Public Health (BS) and Biology (BS) with a minor in Educational Studies, who has enthusiastically volunteered to help with student recruitment, organizing program events, and forming the Public Health Club. She has served as a Peer Mentor for 3 years and served in leadership roles with Colleges Against Cancer (VP), TriBeta Biological Honor Society (VP), and FIMRC (Treasurer). Last summer, she volunteered with the club at FIMRC's global health mission in Peru. Emma's Capstone project focused on the challenges of volunteer staffing in non-profit organizations. The project was conducted in conjunction with an internship with the East Bay Food Pantry, where she worked as their Farm Manager and Volunteer Coordinator. After graduation, she hopes to find a job working in the public health education and eventually pursue a graduate degree in public health.
BIOLOGY AWARDS
Allison Surian
Allison majored both in Biology and Chemistry ending with a GPA above 3.8. Not only has she done extremely well in her school courses, but she has worked many hours as a student laboratory assistant in the Aquatic Diagnostic Laboratory during the last 3 1/2 years (she was funded by the FIT program). She also researched and wrote a senior thesis on a protozoan disease in oysters while working in the lab. She presented a poster at the National Shellfish Assoc. as well as at conferences at RWU. She served on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and is a member of the TriBeta Honor Society and the Pre-Health Club. Allison has been a member of the Varsity Swim Team and was team captain her senior year. Allison is heading off to graduate school in the fall at U.CONN. and will enter a Masters Degree program in bioengineering.
MARINE BIOLOGY AWARDS
Gabrielle Baillargeon
Gabrielle is by any measure, is an exceptional student with extraordinary drive and perseverance. Her work in the classroom, as a tutor, and a researcher reached the ideals put forward as a Roger Williams University experiential learner. As evidence of this, Gabbie focused her combined talents in mathematics and marine biology to tackle the problem caused by data limitations in fishery sustainability. During the progression of her work, Gabbie conceptualized her project and graduates as the first and corresponding author of a peer-review publication in a top tear marine ecology journal, Marine Ecology Progress Series. She received accolades from the handling editor and reviewers; “this paper … provides a valuable evaluation and extension of the productive-susceptibility analysis approach. As such it is a valuable contribution to the field of semi-quantitative data-limited fishery assessment.” Gabbie’s career goals are to work in fisheries science, data modeling, and statistics.
Jacob Fies
During his time at Roger Williams University, Jacob Fies has demonstrated that he is self-motivated, independent, hard worker. These qualities combined with this strong intellect has resulted in Jacob graduating as the top Marine Biology major at Roger Williams. In addition to excelling academically, Jacob has excelled as a researcher. Jacob has been doing independent marine biology research with Dr. Sean Colin for the past three years. In this time, he has spent two summers at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA and traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico to present his research on spinal cord regeneration in lamprey. His work will be submitted for publication this summer. Jacob’s time at Roger Williams has not been all work and he has found time to travel and spend a semester abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland. Jacob will start his veterinarian degree at Tufts University in the Fall, congratulation on all of your achievements!
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AWARDS
Joseph Sullivan
Joseph has been an exemplary environmental science student both in and out of the classroom. He completed a year-long internship with Clean Ocean Access conducting field and laboratory research about water pollution and quality in the Narragansett watershed. On campus, he has been engaged in several sustainability projects and served as a leader of the student Eco-Reps organization.
Gibson Leavitt
Gibson is a double major in Environmental Science and Applied Mathematics with a minor in Computer Science and a GPA exceeding 3.8. In addition to his outstanding coursework, he was awarded and National Science Foundation, Research Experience for Undergraduate fellowship for the summer following his sophomore year, which is quite unusual. He spent the summer doing research at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography where he worked on autonomous vehicles and water quality monitoring. In the summer after his Junior year, Gibson worked on a collaborative project with the United States Geological Survey on sediment transport and presented results at the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco, the largest gathering of earth scientists in the world.
MATHEMATIC AWARDS
Abigail T. Small
Senior Academic Award in Mathematical Research. This award is given to the student who has excelled and done impressive body of research in Applied Mathematics. Abigail has won two national poster awards, has presented her work at national and international conferences and has written an impressive thesis (was awarded Distinction for her thesis). She will be attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in fall of 2020 to pursue a Ph.D in Mathematics.
Cole Riley Foster
Senior Academic Award in Applied Mathematics. This award is given to the student who has excelled and done impressive body of course work in Applied Mathematics, with the highest GPA in all courses in Applied Mathematics. Cole has won two national poster awards, has presented his work at national conferences and has done impressive research and has written an excellent thesis (was awarded Distinction for his thesis) and had two internships at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport. Cole will be attending the prestigious Brown University in fall of 2020 to pursue a Ph.D in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Matthew R. D'Amico
Jane Pleskunas Award in Applied Mathematics. This award is given to the student who exemplifies what Jane was and is, hard working, tenacious and who has excelled in Applied Mathematics research and course work at RWU. Matthew has also written an excellent thesis and was awarded Distinction for his thesis and has presented his work at a national conference. Matthew will be attending University of New Hampshire in fall of 2020 to pursue a Ph.D in Applied Mathematics.
Julie Ann Mueller
Senior Academic Award in Mathematics. This award is given to the student who has the highest cumulative GPA in all his or her Mathematics courses taken at RWU.
CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS AWARDS
Matthew Leiskau
The Rhode Island Section of the American Chemical Society Outstanding Student Award. This award is given annually to the graduating Bachelor of Science Chemistry major that has earned the highest overall grade point average in his/her coursework. Matt was actively involved with research throughout his time at RWU, working on and progressing projects under the direction of Dr. Murphy and Dr. Rossi. In addition, he demonstrated leadership character within student teaching (as a Secondary education major) and the RWU Student Affiliates of the ACS and the Science Alliance group.
Alexander Debski
The Richard Heavers Physics Award. This award is given in honor of late Dr. Heavers, the founding Physics faculty at Roger Williams University. Annually, this award is given to a high performing student within the Physics program. We applaud Alex’s hard work within the challenging coursework that he did to not only earn the Physics minor but also to graduate early. In addition, Alex has been a valuable tutor for the Introductory Physics courses over the last two years.
PYSCHOLOGY AWARDS
CaraMia Rose Costa - The Charles M. Trimbach Award for Inclusive Service
CaraMia has worked in the Center for Student Academic Success (SAS) since August 2018, her first semester at RWU. While she attends to office assistant duties (assistance in proctoring exams, fielding phone calls, and answering student and faculty questions), she meets one-on-one with students working to build their organizational and socialization skills. She has often been called upon to assist in advising, offering help to underclassmen in selecting courses and navigating the advisement process. As an SAS ambassador, she attends Open House, Accepted Students Day, and other campus-related Admissions events. Her passion for helping and advocating for RWU students with disabilities has developed into her interest in pursuing this professionally after graduation.
Jennifer F. Reale – Excellence in Psychological Research
Throughout her tenure at Roger Williams, Jennifer has consistently been involved in research. For the past three years, Jenn has been working with Professor Turner as a research assistant on a project examining the impact of educational television on children’s cognitive development. Findings from this project were presented at the National Collegiate Honors Council 2019 Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA in November 2019. Jenn is also working with Professor Tooley on project aimed at examining stress and resilience factors in student tutors. As a Legal Studies double-major, she has also worked as a research assistant with Professor Russano conducting research on the assessment of a science-based interviewing and interrogation training for investigators.
Anna L. Vasaturo – Excellence in Psychological Research
Anna has been involved in research over the last two years, assisting Professor Leguizamo’s graduate students with data entry on their respective thesis projects. This has led to her interest in research and pursuing a thesis. She is currently in the final stages of preparing her thesis project, which empirically examined the moderating influence of setting (academic v. workplace) in the relation between harassment type and whether the harassment was observed. She is planning to submit her findings to the 2021 meeting of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology in Austin, TX . She has been accepted as a full-time student into Brandeis University Master of Arts in Psychology in the Fall.
Drew Anthony Economou (School Marshal) – The Lorraine B. Dennis Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement
A member of the Honors Program and double-major in Psychology and Mathematics, Drew earned Dean’s List throughout his matriculation at RWU. Drew’s Honors Capstone Project examined the effectiveness of the RWU chapter of the Food Recovery Network as measured by an analysis of the nutritional value of recovered food and the impact on student civic engagement. Drew earned a 4.0 grade point average in his psychology major during his tenure at Roger Williams. This included all foundational as well as required elective courses. With a cumulative grade point average of 3.971, Drew will serve as the college marshal for the School of Social and Natural Sciences.
Anthropology/Sociology 2020 Awardees:
Academic Excellence: Senior Award for Academic Achievement in A+S
Emma Rasmussen
Outstanding Thesis: The award for best A+S Senior Thesis
Annie Mongillo “Mortuary Practice Preferences of Individuals Socialized in Catholicism in a Single New England State “
Thesis with Distinction: A+S Senior Thesis that qualify for Distinction
Emma Rasmussen “American Conceptions of Nutritional Health: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Food-Based Dietary Guidelines”
Elizabeth West “The Lavender Lens: Queer Anthropology and Sociology from 1990 to Today”
Academic Achievement Awards
HISTORY AND AMERICAN STUDIES
The Ronald J. Davis Memorial Award: Named after one of the founding members of the History Department, is awarded to the graduating senior with the highest G.P.A. in History.
Samantha DaRocha is a Legal Studies and History double major. Samantha has been a committed History major and has been actively involved with Roger Williams University’s Reacting to the Past. Samantha will be going to Law School in the fall.
Rebecca Farias is a graduating senior majoring in History and minoring in Public and Professional Writing. She also serves her peers as a writing tutor on campus. Additionally, Rebecca is an honors student, teacher’s assistant for the Writing department, and an executive member of Phi Alpha Theta, the History honors society. From her own words, “every day spent studying history at RWU was a new discovery-familiar people and places suddenly yielded hidden mysteries and meanings.” She has surpassed expectations in her courses and has been accepted in the American History MA program at Providence College beginning fall of 2020 and hopes to become a professor of History in the future.
The Herbert Claiborne Pell Award Excellence in Studies in United States History and Culture: Established by the Pell family to honor Herbert Claiborne Pell, American Minister to Portugal and Hungary and father of Senator Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island. The award is based on demonstrated interest and excellence in the study of the United States specifically and is awarded to a graduating senior.
Robert O’Dell Diligent and studious, Robert has maintained a consistent record of excellence in his chosen field. Whether presenting his research at regional conferences or researching for his senior thesis, Robert has exhibited a professionalism and enthusiasm that has been matched by very few undergraduates. Currently completing his senior thesis, Robert has produced exceptional work thus far and I have confidence that his final product will be outstanding.
The Herodotus Award: Is given to a graduating senior who has demonstrated both excellence in their departmental course work and significant service to the department and the university.
Daniel Perkins is a History and Secondary Education major. Daniel has been a committed double major interested in History Education and actively involved with Roger Williams University’s Reacting to the Past.
MODERN LANGUAGES, PHILOSOPHY AND CLASSICS
Overall Achievement
Chloë Knopf has been a superb French student, quickly becoming fluent and showing tremendous enthusiasm for the language. She has interpreted literature with flair, pursued independent studies, and had a fabulous semester abroad. She also wrote and performed in the video for the Modern Languages website, and won a national award for that.
Polyglot Language Award
Danielle D'Aversa has shown wonderful talent in both French and Italian at Roger Williams. She has unusual language ability, but her special gift to us has been her enthusiasm. She is always ready to speak and experience the language in class, and has made every class meeting richer and more fun for both students and teachers.
COMMUNICATION, GRAPHIC DESIGN AND WEB DESIGN
Communication and Media Studies Excellence in Global Communication
Jessica Silvia is a Communication and Media Studies & Dance Double Major with an impeccable academic record who has presented original research at several conferences. Her undergraduate thesis “Exploring Pride Rhetoric: For the People or the Profit?” examines the impact of marketing rhetoric surrounding pride month celebrations in queer and trans communities. She has served as the Marketing and Communication Director of NADI, the RWU virtual magazine that showcases art to promote social justice. Additionally, Jessica is a Head Resident Assistant, an Orientation Advisor, and community volunteer to various local organizations.
Society of Professional Journalists Member of the Year
Megan Willgoos Journalism Class of 2020 with a Graphic Design Minor is President, Society of Professional Journalists. She is also the Managing Editor of The Hawks' Herald. Megan Willgoos will join KTVL in Medford Oregon as Multimedia Journalist, this May.
Public Relations Senior of the Year
Kyrie McCormick is an Honors student, with an excellent GPA in Public Relations. She is currently undertaking an experimental design research paper investigating how people share information within an organization.
Excellence in Graphic Design
Katherine (Katie) Johnson has plans of being a creative mastermind. An exceptionally hardworking, diligent, and motivated student, Katie’s genuine passion for the discipline shines through in everything that she does. Both in and out of class, she is an incredibly enthusiastic student and the work that she produces is of the highest standard. Katie always goes above and beyond handling responsibility incredibly well. She can take the initiative when necessary, whilst also working well as part of a team. With superior communication and leadership skills, Katie is one of the most professional and dedicated students that the Roger Williams University Graphic Design faculty have had the privilege of teaching. Congratulations Katie!
Excellence in Web Development
Kylie Freitas has completed a double major in Marketing Communication and Web Development with an outstanding GPA. Along the way, she added courses in Marketing Research and User Experience Design as well as a semester abroad. She effectively managed and guided her team in The Web Development Center receiving accolades from every client she worked with. Her outstanding “people skills” along with her ability to prioritize and focus make her an absolute joy to work with. We will miss her next year. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to present Kylie with our Outstanding Student Award.
Excellence in Film Studies
Nicholas Stanglewicz is graduating with an Individualized Major in “Video & Web Media Communication.” He combined an array of courses into an innovative, contemporary educational experience that brought together skills, principles, and a deep knowledge of graphic design, marketing, film, and web development. Created from a place of intellectual passion, his individualized degree reflects, in his own words, “my work and experience in front-end, user experience relationships and projects,” to pursue “desired work in fields from creative content to digital marketing... in the rapidly evolving creative media field.”
CREATIVE WRITING
Excellence in Literary Publishing Award
Hannah Little The award honors seniors who have done outstanding work with Mount Hope, the literary magazine produced by the faculty and students of the RWU Creative Writing program. Hannah, a senior, has spent her senior year serving as Managing Editor, the highest student leadership position. Hannah has been with the magazine since her sophomore year, and also served as the magazine’s FIT intern for three years, handling administrative duties on top of her editorial work. Hannah is also a gifted writer who has previously been awarded the department’s Matthew Wolfe Scholarship, and has three times been one of the RWU Library’s Bermont Fellows, in which prominent authors come to the campus for a weekend to work with select student authors.
ENGLISH LITERATURE AWARDS
Senior Thesis Award: To earn this award, a student’s thesis must demonstrate sophistication and originality. In addition, it must demonstrate a high quality of analysis, creative and appropriate research, in addition to well-organized and unified claims building to a clear and persuasive conclusion. This award also recognizes outstanding writing ability, including clarity, syntax, flow and mechanics. Both Kayla and Julia’s theses were outstanding in all of these areas. This year’s thesis topic was critical theory and cultural studies. Students could choose from a variety of popular culture topics.
Kayla Fuller Thesis, entitled “’A Man’s (Wo)man:’ A Gender Role Critique of Seinfeld’s Elaine and Susan” is an extraordinary piece of theoretical analysis with several surprising and well-supported claims that showcase Kayla’s outstanding close reading skills, especially in the service of analyzing and explaining complex ideas. Seinfeld fans might be surprised to learn from Kayla’s thesis that both Elaine and Susan uphold and violate gender roles. By precisely defining aspects of gender ideology, Kayla’s thesis reveals ways in which the LBGQ character Susan is sometimes more feminist than the famously feminist Elaine – and vice versa.
Julia Pina Thesis title asks the multi-layered question, “Is Austen’s Emma Clueless?” Although many scholars have compared Austen’s novel Emma to Director Amy Heckerling’s Clueless, Julia uses cultural theory to compare and contrast not only the feminist aspects in both texts, but also the classist ideologies embedded in the texts. By tracing complex intersections within these two ideologies, Julia is able to elucidate surprisingly radical moments in both texts. She also employs cultural theory to reveal Clueless’s use of feminism to expose classist ideologies—a radical move that transcends Austen’s Emma.
Both Kayla and Julia presented their papers at a public colloquium at RWU in the Fall, fielding questions from the audience. They also both had their papers accepted at the 2020 Popular Culture Association.
EDUCATION
John Dewey Award for Elementary Education: Is presented to a graduating senior who has the highest academic average and has demonstrated excellence in professional practice and scholarship.
Tess Alexandre has demonstrated professional and academic excellence throughout her years at RWU. Her close to perfect GPA reflects Tess’s commitment to her studies, global curiosity (as she studied abroad in Galway), proficiency in Student Teaching at a STEM school, and her passion for writing. Tess looks forward to graduate work in the fall, and she will represent Roger Williams University very well. It is our pleasure to present Tess Alexandre with the John Dewey Medal.
John Dewey Award for Secondary Education
Robert O’Dell III is a model of scholarly thought and academic achievement. He is enthusiastically dedicated to the transformation of our world through rigorous study and innovative research designed to connect technology, history and democratized access to historical information. He is a historian. He has discovered, as John Dewey has pointed out that, “ To find out what one is fitted to do, and to secure an opportunity to do it, is the key to happiness. It is our pleasure to present the John Dewey Medal for Excellence in our Secondary Education Program to Robert O’Dell III.
John Dewey Award for Education Studies: Is presented to a graduating senior who has the highest academic average and has demonstrated excellence in professional practice and scholarship.
Amy Laferriere has demonstrated professional excellence throughout her years at RWU. She is one of the first students to minor in American Sign Language and has completed internships designed to prepare her for graduate work in Speech Pathology. It is our pleasure to present Amy Laferriere with the John Dewey Medal.
MUSIC
Academic Achievement in Music Award: For the graduating senior Music Major, or junior Music Major who had completed at least 24 credits in Music, who has the highest GPA in their Music courses.
Sydney Dawson achievements reflect not only her excellence in academics as a double major in Music and Psychology, but her dedication to musical life on campus. Active in student organizations, she performed with a capella club Drastic Measures and now serves as its Music Director, providing leadership and artistic guidance. At Accepted Students Days, she graciously answered questions as official guide and unofficial representative of the Music Program. As a performer, Sydney has worked hard to develop and polish her vocal and stage skills while here. Her diligence, enthusiasm, and spirit all make her an ideal candidate for this award.
THEATRE
Excellence in Performance
Alex Bowden has demonstrated outstanding growth since he first joined us in his Freshman year. This was an exceptional year for Alex, as he was cast as Jack Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest, Nicia in The Mandrake, and Herr Schultz in Cabaret. Additionally, Alex was the MC for the Fall cabaret show, showcasing his comedic and improvisational skills. Alex has a bright future ahead of him and the Theatre Program is excited to see it unfold in the years to come.
Maggie Everett has been an exceptional leader and performer in the department for the past four years. This was a brilliant year for Maggie on stage, as she was cast as Agatha in The Moors, Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest, Callimaco in The Mandrake (which was her Senior Acting Project, a culmination of her four years studying theatre), and Emcee in Cabaret. Additionally, she served as President for the Theatre club, Stage Company, for a second term. Our hearts are with her as she takes the next steps towards an impressive career on the stage.
Excellence in Production
Jenna Arkontay for her outstanding work as a stage manager and for her contributions in all areas of production. Jenna took a leadership role in a number of productions this year. She was stage manager for Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest; the musical cabaret; and Kander and Ebb's Cabaret, which was in rehearsal during the spring semester. The work on Earnest was also the basis for her Senior Project. These productions were the culmination of her four years developing her management skills. She handled each assignment with the ability and dedication that we have come to expect from her. When she was not stage managing, Jenna was sharing her knowledge and assisting less experienced stage managers on The Vagina Monologues and The Mandrake, where she was also the production sound technician. Beyond her stage management work, she could often be found on many late nights painting floors, building sets, and contributing to the success of productions in whatever way needed.
VISUAL ARTS
Senior Excellence in Visual Arts
Kristen Lepore is a Senior Double Major in Visual Arts and Graphic Design. She has been a consistently strong and hard-working student throughout the entirety of her college career. She approaches her work with a dedication and thoughtfulness that we know will serve her well in both disciplines in the future. - Michael Rich
Excellence in Visual Arts, Minor Student
Tyler Porter is a visionary with social justice issues and blends this with sublime digital media in animation, video and photography projects that are among the best students I've ever worked with. She's a natural leader, is loved and respected by her colleagues and has taught me how to be a better teacher. And although this will probably make her roll her eyes that I mention this, it should be noted that she just got accepted by the prestigious School of the Art Institute of Chicago. - Murray McMillan
Honorable Mention in Visual Arts, Any Major
Danielle D’Aversa I had the pleasure of working with Danni D’Aversa in clay and was impressed with her ability. Not only did she throw well but her meticulous sketch book with all her glaze notes is amazing. She has been doing multiple layers of glaze and approaches it like a scientist. Her results have been beautiful and I hope she can get some recognition. She will be living in Boston and has a ceramic studio that is allowing her to work there and get free studio time. Danni is a perfect RWU student to illustrate the quality and depth of the Art Department. – Denis Leonti
Shannon Mohr Shannon's art has the unique ability to navigate multiple systems simultaneously. Her work is both extremely technical--often leaning on her ability to hand code her own video effects--and surprisingly light. When she performs in her work she also leverages a nuanced layered sensibility by taking it quite seriously and at the same time making fun of herself in a disarming way that connects with her audience. – Murray McMillan
Axel Ruiz produced an amazing set of books in my Artist Books class last semester, always going above and beyond each assignment. Axel is an Architecture major with a strong ability to plan, sketch out ideas and problem-solve. He brings all of this to his artistic practice as well and utilized his drawing skills, keen eye, and perfectionist attitude to book-making. He experimented many different hand sewn book-making techniques and for his final project created a beautiful accordion fold book full of photographs and a colorful gradient...which he printed and folded himself in our photo lab. Axel is hardworking, fun, focused and almost overwhelmingly kind - a real pleasure to have in class! – Brittany McGuire
Adam Carceller has been a serious and yet playful experimenter with the processes of drawing and painting in my class.- Anne Tait
WRITING STUDIES, RHETORIC AND COMPOSITION
2019 Writing Contest Winners
Advanced Writing Category:
First Place: Emma Banks
Formal Proposal Report: Facebook's Manipulation of Minors (Talbot Research and Consulting, Inc.)
WTNG 311: Technical Writing, Prof. Mel Topf
Second Place: Jennifer Reale
Beyond the World of Transition Programs: Examining the Issue of Adult Service Provider Capacity through Capabilities Lens
WTNG 400: Writing for Social Change, Prof. Nancy Nester
Multimodal Writing Category:
Honorable Mention: Jennifer Reale
Rhode Island Transition Academy @ RWU Website
WTNG 400: Writing for Social Change, Prof. Nancy Nester
GRADUATE STUDENT AWARDS
Master of Architecture Program Awards
AIA Henry Adams Medal and Certificate
ech year, The American Institute of Architects awards an engraved medal and certificate of merit to the top-ranking graduating student in each architecture program accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board.
Formerly called "The School Medal," the AIA Henry Adams Medal and Certificate program began in 1914, and was awarded for "general excellence in architecture throughout the course to graduating students of architecture schools recognized by the Institute." The graduate was later presented with a copy of Mont St. Michel and Chartres, written by Henry Adams, which was originally written as a gift to his granddaughters. The copyright of this book was later bequeathed to the Institute by the author, and the Henry Adams Fund was established in 1921 with royalties from the book sales. The School Medal and Henry Adams book awards evolved into the Henry Adams Medal and Certificate Program.
Roger Williams University awards the AIA Medal along with a copy of Mont St. Michel and Chartres by Henry Adams.
The 2020 AIA Henry Adams Medal is awarded to the top ranking graduate, Thomas Lee
Alpha Rho Chi Medal
Since 1931, the Alpha Rho Chi Medal has recognized graduating architecture students for their leadership and service and what they offer the future of the profession.
The fraternity awards the Alpha Rho Chi Medal, cast in bronze, annually to a graduating student at each accredited school of architecture in the United States and Canada. The medal is presented to the graduating student or students who have shown an ability for leadership, performed willing service for his or her school or department, and gives promise of real professional merit through his or her attitude and personality.
The 2020 Alpha Rho Chi Medal is awarded to Nicholas Marchio
Master of Architecture Thesis Awards and Commendations
Each year, the School recognizes outstanding achievement in the development of an architectural design thesis among the graduating Master of Architecture class. These recognitions include Thesis Awards for outstanding work that achieves a superior level, and Thesis Commendations rising to the level of notable insights in aspects of the work.
The Spring 2020 Master of Architecture Thesis Award Winner is Thomas Lee.
The Spring 2020 Master of Architecture Thesis Commendations are awarded to Liam Conners and Daniel Sadowniczyk.
The Fall 2019 Master of Architecture Thesis Commendations are awarded to Dominic Cirillo and Matthew Holmes.
Master of Science in Preservation Practices Awards
The Master of Science in Preservation Practices Program recognizes students annually for outstanding achievement in the degree program, who have demonstrated notable vision, a collaborative ethos, and skill in working toward.
The 2020 MS in Preservation Practices Academic Excellence award winners are William Clarkson and Eline Hilgersom.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT AWARDS
BS in Architecture Program Awards
The BS in Architecture program recognizes senior design excellence at the undergraduate level, to students who have reached the highest levels of achievement in design studios.
The 2020 Architecture Senior Design Excellence Award winner is Sean Smith
BS in Preservation Studies Awards
The BS in Preservation Studies program recognizes overall academic excellence for the top ranking student in the graduating class.
The 2020 Preservation Studies Academic Excellence Award winner is Meghan Rodenhiser
The Preservation Studies Program also recognizes service to the community, which includes service beyond and with the university.
The 2020 Preservation Studies Community Service Award winner is Henry Feuss
BA in Art + Architectural History Awards
The Art + Architectural History program recognizes academic excellence by providing an award to the top-ranking student in the undergraduate program.
The 2020 Art + Architectural History Academic Excellence Award winner is Autumn Bussiere