2025 Graduates & Award Recipients

POLITICAL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT
AWARDS & Recognitions
Kenneth F. Janda Prize for Distinguished Honors Thesis in Political ScienceThis prize is in honor of Kenneth Janda, who taught in the Department of Political Science for 41 years. The Janda Prize is awarded for the best undergraduate honors thesis. The winner is selected by the Honors Committee and is based on the nominations and feedback received from the honors thesis readers. |
Julian Fefer"We are the Union": A Case Study of UNITE HERE Local 1's Internal StructureAdvised by Professor Chloe Thurston, Associate Professor of Political Science; Faculty Fellow, Institue for Policy ResearchBen HempkerManipulated Maps, Mainpulated Participation: How Partisan Gerrymandering Influences Conventional and Unconventional Political EngagementAdvised by Professor Laurel Harbridge-Yong, Professor of Political Science |
William M. McGovern Award for Academic Excellence, Leadership, and CitizenshipThe McGovern Prize is in honor of William M. McGovern, who taught comparative politics and political theory in political science at Northwestern from 1929 until his death in 1964. In recognition for his devotion to his students and for making significant strides to enhance academic life in the Political Science Department, the McGovern Prize is awarded to an outstanding graduating political science major who has demonstrated excellence in scholarship, leadership, and University citizenship. |
Grace Kathryn CoolidgeGrace graduates with a double major in Political Science and International Studies with a minor in Legal Studies. While at Northwestern, Coolidge was inducted into Pi Sigma Alpha and Phi Beta Kappa honors societies. Coolidge was a Farrell Fellow research assistant under the supervision of Prof. Chloe N. Thurston. Coolidge served as President of NU Swing Left, mobilizing voters in swing states, as the Journal Editor for the Northwestern Undergraduate Law Journal, and as a leader with Dance Marathon, raising funds for Little Heroes League. Coolidge interned at the Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts, volunteered weekly at Evanston’s YWCA, and, through Books and Breakfast, supported efforts to strengthen literacy and math skills at Dewey Elementary School.
Kurtis NelsonKurtis graduates with a double major in Political Science and Data Science. While at Northwestern, Nelson was inducted into Pi Sigma Alpha, Phi Beta Kappa, and the Mortar Board honors societies. Nelson was a Farrell Fellow research assistant and IPR Summer research assistant under the supervision of Prof. Brian Libgober. Nelson was the Chair of External Research for the Policy Research Committee and Chair of Academics for Northwestern’s Associated Student Government (ASG), as well as Chair of Public Relations for UNICEF Northwestern. Beyond Northwestern, Nelson worked as a research intern at the Brookings Institution, where he co-authored two articles. |
R. Barry Farrell Prize for Academic Achievement in Political ScienceNamed for his outstanding commitment to undergraduate students both within and beyond the classroom, the R. Barry Farrell Prize for Academic Achievement in Political Science, a committee of faculty recognizes student(s) for the best-written undergraduate research seminar paper. |
Jessica ZengJessica Zeng, Framing the Fires Across Time: Racial Capitalism in Political Responses to the 1965 Watts Uprising and the 1992 Los Angeles Uprising Submitted to Professor Reuel Rogers for Winter 2025’s Racial Politics in American Cities Aby JamesAby James, ¡Speak English! Examining the factors that affect bilingual education policy in the United States Submitted to Professor Danielle Gilbert for Spring 2024’s Nationalism and Ethnicity |
Senior MarshalThe Department of Political Science chooses one graduating senior to carry the Department’s banner at the Weinberg College Convocation. Nominations are submitted by graduating students and Political Science professors and chosen by the Undergraduate Program Committee. |
Shanthan T. Benjamin-WebbFor his academic achievement and contributions to the Department, Weinberg College, and Northwestern community as a whole
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Distinguished Accomplishments
\ Farrell Fellows \
Nancy Barrera | Carmine Cultrona | Aidan Klinges | Amaya Mikolic-Berrios |
Paz Baum | Keira Embler | Sara Kurniawan | Noraan Mohamed |
Jiah Choe | Addie Fleming | Ashley Yeonwoo Lee | Kurtis Nelson |
Kenyan Cole-Suggs | Ann Gaither | Douglas Yi De Lee | Johanna Tam |
Grace Kathryn Coolidge | Hamza Haq | Vanessa Ma | Daniel Wright |
Regan Cornelius | Ben Hempker | Isabel Salwa Machlab | Jessica S. Zeng |
\ Departmental Honors \
Learn more about each of the honors theses here.
Paz Baum | Ava Earl | Dylan Meretsky |
Shanthan T. Benjamin-Webb | Catherine Erickson | Kurtis Nelson |
Regan Cornelius | Julian Fefer | Suejin Clara Oh |
Loretta Osarumwense David | Ben Hempker | Tess Wagner |
\ Phi Beta Kappa \
Nancy Barrera | Ava Earl | Jovana Lakic | Alexander W. Suddmann |
Paz Baum | Julian Fefer | Nicole Medina | Alessandra Valladres |
Bryan Anthony Carcamo | Addie Fleming | Kurtis Nelson | Daniel Wolf* |
Grace Katheryn Coolidge | Ben Hempker | Erin Healy Poe | Daniel Wright |
Regan Cornelius | Aby James | Jennifer Andrea Salvador Santos | Jessica S. Zeng* |
*inducted as a Junior
\ Pi Sigma Alpha \
Pavan Manish Acharya* | Addie Fleming | Nicole Markus | MJ Sasse* |
Paz Baum* | Dylan Friedland | Serena Bela Mehta* | Erica Schmitt* |
Shanthan T. Benjamin-Webb | Ann Gaither* | Dylan Meretsky | Alianna Taitano* |
Jessica Bradford* | Amey Haridhas | Benjamin Meyer | Johanna Tam* |
Paloma Bushofksy | Ben Hempker* | Rand Meyer* | Nicole Tan* |
Alexa Camilleri | Kevin Kim* | Amaya Mikolic-Berrios* | Shannon Tyler |
Bryan Anthony Carcamo | Aidan Klinges | Jocelyn Mintz* | Luke Vredenburg* |
Jiah Choe* | Sara Kurniawan | Kurtis Nelson* | Jacob Wendler* |
Grace Kathryn Coolidge* | Jovana Lakic* | Suejin Clara Oh | Jeremy White* |
Keira Embler* | Ashley Yeonwoo Lee* | Catherine Osborne* | Daniel Wolf* |
Catherine Erickson | Douglas Yi De Lee* | Katherine Payne* | Erin Eunjin Yong |
Julian Fefer* | Christine Mao* | Erin Healy Poe* | Jessica S. Zeng* |
\ Certificates of Achievement \
Catherine Erickson, Quantitative Methods | Chelsea Nelson, Quantitative Methods | Gwen Lakshmi Setia, Quantitative Methods |
Ben Hempker, Quantitative Methods | Kurtis Nelson, Quantitative Methods | Tess Wagner, Quantitative Methods |
Aidan Lichamer, Quantitative Methods | Suejin Clara Oh, Quantitative Methods & Foreign Language | Erin Eunjin Yong, Quantitative Method |
\ Department Majors \
Pavan Manish Archarya* | Genevieve Francios | Christine Mao* | Katherine Sandhu |
Bridgette Adu-Wadier* | Sadie Frankel* | Pel Marks-Bienen | Charlotte Sandler |
Blessing Agyare* | Dylan Friedland* | Rowan McCloskey | MJ Sasse |
Nancy Barrera | Ann Gaither* | Cindy Meco* | Logan Schiciano* |
Paz Baum | Talia Hope Ginsberg | Nicole Medina | Erica Schmitt* |
Bryden Behrens | Stephen Greenberg* | Serena Bela Mehta | Joseph Scott |
Kaitlin Bender-Thomas* | Biego Guerrero | Dylan Meretsky | Sofia Serna* |
Shanthan T. Benjamin-Webb | Nate Hanrahan | Benjamin Meyer | Gwen Lakshmi Setia* |
Aidan Boleyn-Fitzgerald | Hamza Haq | Rand Meyer* | Emmie Slachowitz |
Jessica Bradford* | Isabel Harkins | Amaya Mikolic-Berrios | Junho Son* |
Samuel Bull* | Ben Hempker | Jocelyn Mintz* | Srinija Srinivasan* |
Bryan Anthony Carcamo* | Adam Herman | Dominic Miranda* | Parker Stava* |
Oscar Cardenas | Breanna Hibbert* | Noraan Mohamed* | Rohan Subramaniam |
Dylan Carey | Sophia Jackson* | Ryan Moorhead | Alexander W. Sudmann |
Benjamin Carris | Aby James* | Chelsea Nelson | Alianna Taitano |
Connor Caserio | Lauren Jao* | Kurtis Nelson* | Johanna Tam* |
Omer Celik* | Rafaela Jinich Kassin* | Innocent Nkubito | Edison Tan |
Katya Chadha | Andrew Khanin | Aniekan Odong | Samuel Torno |
Leo Chen* | Hasan Khokhar | Suekin Clara Oh | Shannon Tyler* |
Jiah Choe* | Kevin Kim | Lynne Park* | Fuma Ueda* |
Angie Chung | Amy Kim | Leonard Pasquier* | Alessandra Valladares |
Kenyan Cole-Suggs | Aidan Klinges* | Katherine Payne | Luke Vredenburg* |
Alexander Converse | Sara Kurniawan | Tolani Pecko Bademosi* | Tess Wagner |
Grace Katheryn Coolidge | Jovana Lakic | Erin Healy Poe | Kate Walter* |
Regan Cornelius | Ashley Yeonwoo Lee* | Leah Pothel | Leigh Wang |
Carmine Cultrona | Doulgas Yi De Lee* | Coby Potischman* | Jacob Wendler* |
Loretta Osarumwense David | Peter Chengru Li* | Tharin Potuhera* | Jeremy White* |
Ralph Destin | Aidan Lichamer* | Ava Kavoosi Prezant | Daniel Wolf* |
Jay Dugar | Aidan Lichamer* | Claire Quan | Daniel Wright |
Ava Earl | Zachary Lori | Maya Resnick* | Matthew Wylie |
Joshua Eichbaum | Chelsea Lu | Reis Revai | Erin Eunjin Yong |
Jonah Elkwoitz* | Victor Lujan* | Jonathan Rodriguez | Gina Yoo |
Keira Embler | Jessica Ma* | Christian Rodriguez | Tibi Zabasajja |
Catherine Erickson | Vanessa Ma | Amelia Rolighed* | Jessica S. Zeng |
Julian Fefer | Isabel Salwa Machlab | Jennifer Andrea Salvador | Angela Zhang* |
Addie Fleming | Nikos Madianos |
\ Department Minors \
Paloma Bushofsky |
Michael Fuma |
Megija Medne |
Abe Rubin |
Alexa Camilleri |
David Gold |
Patrick O'Hara |
Alexis Schwartz
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Connor Capoot |
Oliver Goldman |
Catherine Osborne |
Simone Spalding |
Oliva Case |
Amey Haridhas |
Anna Patten |
Nicole Tan |
Janell Contreras |
Hayden Jones |
Kayla Payvar |
Max Weldon |
Maggie Farina |
Samir Khatri |
Mahima Ramesh |
Jenna Wiseltier |
Dylan Fox |
Nicole Markus |
Fiona Roach |
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