Dean's Award for Excellence

The College of Professional Studies Dean’s Award for Excellence is awarded each year to extraordinary graduating students. Students selected for these awards have more than a high GPA or success in coursework. They deserve campus recognition for academic and creative endeavors that might not otherwise be celebrated. The Dean’s Award honors undergraduate students for exceptional, tangible accomplishments in one (or more) of the following areas:

  • Independent research, student/faculty research or creative project
  • A presentation or publication for a regional or national audience
  • Regional or national academic competitions
  • Client-based consulting projects
  • Superior performance via certificate or specialized programs/projects
  • Superior performance in the performing arts
  • Superior artistic creation in the studio arts
  • Superior performance in classroom-based student teaching
  • Leadership or significant contribution to collaborative success in recognized curricular or co-curricular organizations

Process:

Faculty nominate students for the Dean’s Award via an online process. Final award decisions are made by the Dean in consultation with school/department leadership. The award recipients are announced and honored at end-of-year ceremonies.

Nominations for 2023-24 awards are now closed. 

PREVIOUS AWARD RECIPIENTS

2023-2024

Felicity Ankrom ’24 (Elementary Education)
Caroline Bergren ’24 (Music Education & Music Performance)
Isabella Daltoso ’24 (Music Performance)
Jessa Delos Reyes ’24 (Music Education)
Hanne Laure’l Ferguson ’24 (Theatre – Acting/Directing & Design/Tech)
Luke Harvey ’24 (Studio Arts & Art History)
Cecelia Lerner ’24 (Elementary Education)
Juliana Rodriguez ’24 (Dance & Innovation Studies)
Brian Sung ’24 (Business Administration)
Karen Zamora-Chavez ’24 (Studio Arts)

2022-2023

Rae Hyra ’23 (Music)
Naomi Southard ’23 (Music)
Ella Kalinichenko ’23 (Music)
Anna Van Vleet ’23 (Acting/Directing and Theatre Design/Tech.)
Brooke Nelson ’23 (Dance Minor [Religion & Anthropology major])
Mackenzie Mayhem ’23 (Design)
Fulton Bryant-Anderson ’23 (Communication, Film and Media)
Haley Nguyen ’23 (Strategic Communication)
Alexis Rodriguez ’23 (Business Admin., Accounting)
Vanessa Vazquez ’23 (Education)
Yuliya Yefimov ’23 (Education)

2021-2022

Mathæus Anderson ’22 (Theatre, Acting/Directing)
Cady Bigelow ’22 (Dance [English major])
Lydia Boorsma ’22 (Studio Arts)
Joshua Hansel ’22 (Music, Performance)
Teagan Janes ’22 (Studio Arts)
Brennan LaBrie ’22 (Communication)
Benjamin Martin ’22 (Music)
Seley Nemish ’22 (Communication)
Vivian Shinall ’22 (Communication)
Mackenzie Taylor ’22 (Music, Performance)
TJ Wheeler ’22 (Music, Composition)

2020-2021

Maya Adams ’21 (Music Education)
Bryant Bartlett ’21 (Studio Arts, Graphic Design)
Ben Leschensky ’21 (Communication)
Hallie Harper ’21 (Communication)
Aria Manning ’21 (Music [Chemistry major])
Margaret Matthews ’21 (Studio Arts, Sculpture)
Monique Otter-Johnson ’21 (Theatre, Design/Technical)
Cassie Paulsen ’21 (Theatre, Acting/Directing)
Morgan Roberts ’21 (Theatre, Musical Theatre)
Benjamin Woodbury ’21 (Music Education)

Watch Event Recording

2019-2020

Rachel Bridges ’20 (Music [Nursing major])
Joyce Harden ’20 (Studio Arts)
Hanna McCauley ’20 (Communication)
Chris Nussbaum ’20 (Communication)
Lilian Oellerich ’20 (Theatre, Technical)
Frank Saxton ’20 (Music, Performance)

Watch Recipient Announcement

2018-2019

Lydia Bill ’19 (Music Arts)
Mark Burch ’19 (Music Education)
Siobhan Chachere ’19 (Communication)
Mackenzie Cooper ’18 (Communication)
Julia Grosvenor ’19 (Communication)
Matthew Kusche ’19 (Music, Peformance)
Julie Landes ’19 (Music Education)
Marissa Moultrie ’19 (Music, Performance)
Cecelia Schilling ’19 (Studio Arts)
Aiyana Stephens ’19 (Theatre, Technical)
Nayonni Watts ’19 (Theatre, Acting/Directing)

2017-2018

Madisen Crowley ’18 (Theatre)
Shelden Doyle ’18 (Studio Arts)
Pablo Hernandez ’18 (Music Education)
Kelly Lavelle ’18 (Studio Arts)
Adam Masucci ’18 (Music Education)
Dane Ostlie-Olson ’18 (Theatre)
Matthew Salzano ’18 (Communication)
Ingrid Smith ’18 (Music Education)

2016-2017

Cara Gillespie ’17 (Communication)
Emilio Gonzalez ’17 (Composition)
Kaitlyn Hall ’17 (Communication)
Shelondra Harris ’17 (Communication)
Laura Hillis ’17 (Anthropology and Global Studies)
Rebecca Johnson ’17 (Studio Arts)
Jennifer Kimura ’17 (Studio Arts)
Sarah Martin ’17 (Music Education)
Jacob Viramontes ’17 (Theatre)

2015-2016

Taylor Hardman ’16 (Studio Arts)
Sarah Henderson ’16 (Studio Arts)
Sarah Hubert ’16 (Theatre & minor in Music)
Samantha Lund ’16 (Communication)
Maxfield Marcus ’16 (Music Education)
Amanda Williams ’16 (Communication)

2014-2015

Amanda Brasgalla ’15 (Communication, Global Peacekeeping)
Taylor Cox ’15 (Art and Design, Studio Arts)
Mitchell Helton ’15 (Theatre, Acting/Directing)
Anne Herzog ’15 (Music, Vocal Performance)
Samuel Horn ’15 (Communication, Journalism)
Michael Plagerman ’15 (Music, Organ)
Amy Van Cleave ’15 (Music, Education)
Taylor Whatley ’15 (Music, Composition)

*Awards 2021-22 and prior were for disciplines housed under the former School of Arts and Communication.