Heather Gernenz
April 27, 2026
Undergraduate Award recipients stand in a group

The Department of History is pleased to announce the winners of our 2025-2026 annual awards. These awards celebrate our faculty, staff, undergraduate, and graduate students to thank them for their dedicated service to our department. They also provide funding and scholarships for their research and education and honor the excellence of their work. We are grateful to the support of our donors for making these awards possible. 

Undergraduate Award Winners

Undergraduate Award recipients stand in a group
2026 undergraduate award recipients. Back row from left to right: Ava Buckley, Hannah Hendrick, Max Kogan, Aiden Wright, Michael Zimmerman, Katherine Mayer, Christine Park, Lyndon Shi. Front row from left to right: Graciela Best, Marica Szczybura, Rosette Pavkov, Jai O'Dell, Vicka Liokumovich, Naomi Saathoff, Alisha Benavides. Not pictured: Lillian Webb

John & Judith Steinberg-Alfonsi Scholarship for Outstanding History Undergraduate & Academic Excellence

  • Lillian Webb    
  • Naomi Saathoff

Martha Belle Barrett Scholarship for Undergraduate Academic Excellence

  • Rosette Pavkov            
  • Marica Szczybura

Walter N. Breymann Scholarship for Outstanding Undergraduate History Majors

  • Alisha Benavides      
  • Katherine Mayer 
  • Michael Zimmerman

C. Ernest Dawn Undergraduate Research Travel Award

  • Michael Zimmerman

History Distinguished Service Award

  • Lillian Webb

Robert W. Johannsen Scholarship for Promising Honors Thesis Research

  • Max Kogan

Thomas A. Manning Memorial Scholarship

  • LiAn Barclay

Michael Scher Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Paper

  • Naomi Saathoff: "Kendo as a Feminist Sport: Kendo and the Japanese Women’s Liberation Movement"

Winton U. Solberg Family Scholarship

  • Christine Park

Winton U. Solberg Memorial Scholarship

  • Lyndon Shi

Winton U. Solberg History Award

  • Ava Buckley

William and Virginia Waterman Scholarship in Academic Excellence

  • Vicka Liokumovich

Adele Mazurek Suslick Award for Excellence in Research

  • Hannah Hendrick "Prairie Prisons"

Robert H. Bierma Scholarship for Superior Academic Merit in History (College of LAS)

  • Graciela Best         
  • Aidan Wright      
  • Jai O’Dell     
  • Vicka Liokumovich

Graduate Award Winners

J. David Hoeveler Summer Research Scholarship

Graduate award recipients pose with award certificates
2026 graduate award recipients. From left to right: Dale Mize, Alex Jacobs, Katie Horan, Vongai Sagonda. Not pictured: Richard Byington, Esther Simon, Nicola de Angelis, Érika Francelino Vieira, Andrew Thomas, You Lan, Stephanie Birch, Julian Polanski. 
  • Richard Byington

Daniel J. Jares Travel Award

  • Vongai Sagonda

Irene B. Katele Research Travel Fund

  • Katie Horan

Sally Gregory Kohlstedt and David L. Kohlstedt Travel Award

  • Esther Simon

Robert McColley Graduate Student Research Fund Award

  • Nicola de Angelis

Frederick S. Rodkey Prize in Russian History

  • Richard Byington

Wilda M. Smith Scholarship

  • Érika Francelino Vieira

Winton U Solberg Family Scholarship

  • Andrew Thomas

Winton U Solberg Memorial Scholarship

  • You Lan

Winton Solberg History Award

  • Dale Mize

Chester G. Starr Dissertation Research Travel Award

  • Stephanie Birch

Joseph Ward Swain Prize

  • Alex Jacobs

William and Virginia Waterman Scholarship in Academic Excellence

  • Alex Jacobs     
  • Julian Polanski

 

Teaching Awards

George S. & Gladys W. Queen Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award in History

Dr. Laura Goffman

Dr. Charles DeBenedetti Award for Teaching Excellence by a Teaching Assistant

Brunna Bozzi

Other Awards

Chair's Award

Anthony Frasca

Related topics
Awards