The University Scholars Program Congratulates the Class of 2018
Above: Abena Ansah-Yeboah, undergraduate University Scholar, proudly displays the banner for the Duke University Class of 2018.
The University Scholars Program is thankful for the many contributions the students graduating this year have contributed to the USP during their time at Duke. We wish them all the best in their future endeavors.
Pratiksha Sharma (left) and Jihane Bettahi (right), proud members of Pratt School of Engineering’s Class of 2018, in the Sarah P. Duke Gardens.
UNDERGRADUATE CLASS OF 2018:
Abena Ansah-Yeboah
Hometown: Dumfries, VA
Degree: BS Evolutionary Anthropology, minors in Chemistry and Visual Media Studies
Thesis: “The Role of Sex Differences in Red-Fronted Lemurs in Resource Acquisition of Water”
Honors/Awards/Fellowships: Cardea Fellow; BioCoRE Scholar; Graduation with Distinction in Evolutionary Anthropology
Future Plans: work with Higgs Boson Health in Durham, NC, then apply to medical school
Monica Arniella stands proud in her graduation regalia
Monica B. Arniella
Hometown: Royal Palm Beach, FL
Degree: BS Biology, minors in German and Computational Biology & Bioinformatics
Thesis: “Signaling between the lines: early intervein development and its effect on vein positioning in the lepidopteran wing”
Honors/Awards/Fellowships: Dean’s List; Graduation with Distinction in Biology;
Future Plans: work as associate computational biologist at the Broad Institute, in Cambridge, MA, then apply to PhD programs
Jihane Bettahi
Hometown: Fes, Morocco
Degree: BSE Electrical & Computer Engineering; BS Computer Science, minors in Mathematics and Education
Thesis (ECE): “Dynamic Online Task Planning in an Environment with Uncertain Wireless Communication”
Thesis (CS): “Ontology-Based Curriculum Sequencing for Learning Path Generation” Education Research: “Personalized Learning: One-Size-Fits-One”
Honors/Awards/Fellowships: Student Marshal, Katsouleas NAE Grand Challenge Scholar, Pratt Fellow, Dean’s List (every semester), IEEE- Eta Kappa Nu Honor Society, Tau Beta Pi Honor Society, Winifred Quinton Holton Prize for Innovative Work in the Field of Education (2018); magna cum laude
Future Plans: working as a software engineer at Microsoft before heading to PhD program
Shivam Narayan Dave
Hometown: Pearland, TX
Degree: BS in Biology; BA in Asian & Middle Eastern Studies with a concentration in Hindi; minor in Neuroscience
Thesis (Biology): “Identification of Conformationally Selective Nanobodies for Allosteric Regulation of the Beta-2 Adrenergic Receptor”
Thesis (AMES): Translation of Maithilisharan Gupt’s Saket
Honors/Awards/Fellowships: Dean’s List with Distinction; graduation cum laude
Future Plans: College Advisor at Hobbton High School in Sampson County, NC, through Duke College Advising Corps, then apply to medical school
Attyat Mayans (right) stands with her advisor, Dr. Eileen Chow (left)
Attyat Mayans
Hometown: Santa Fe, NM
Degree: BA in Asian & Middle Eastern Studies with a concentration in Chinese; BA in Cultural Anthropology; Certificate in Child Policy Research
Thesis: “Evaluating changing attitudes towards education in the People’s Republic of China: Western disruption and the rise of the study abroad movement”
Honors/Awards/Fellowships: Mellon-Mays Fellowship, Dean’s List; Outstanding AMES Honors Thesis; Graduation with Highest Distinction in AMES
Future Plans: Fulbright Scholar at East China Normal University researching international public secondary education in Shanghai, China, then PhD program in Anthropology at Boston University
Chandler McMillan
Hometown: Long Beach, NY
Degree: BA in Sociology, minor in Chemistry
Thesis: “The Association Between Preconception Care and Infant Health Outcomes in the U.S”
Honors/Awards/Fellowships: Dean’s List; Graduation with Distinction in Sociology
Future Plans: working as a Doctor’s Assistant at Kuchnir Dermatology in Boston prior to attending medical school in the summer of 2019
Ha Nguyen
Hometown: Hanoi, Vietnam
Degree: BA in Public Policy and Asian & Middle Eastern Studies with a concentration in Japanese, minor in Education, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Thesis: “How Does Autonomy Matter? Exploring Teachers’ Perceptions of Autonomy, Efficacy and Job Satisfaction in Elementary Public Schools”
Honors/Awards/Fellowships: Graduating with Highest Distinction in Public Policy; Winifred Quinton Holton Prize for Innovative Work in the Field of Education (2018); Dean’s List with Distinction; Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society; Dean’s Global Education Summer Fellowship (2016); graduation magna cum laude
Future Plans: PhD program in Education at University of California-Irvine
Sanjukta Santra
Hometown: Fort Collins, CO
Degree: BS in Economics; minor in Cultural Anthropology; certificate in Markets & Management
Honors/Awards/Fellowships: Dean’s List
Future Plans: employment with Public Consulting Group
Dejana Saric presents her poster for her senior thesis in Political Science
Dejana Saric
Hometown: Loma Linda, CA
Degree: BA in Political Science, BA in Public Policy
Thesis: “Probe with a Bayonet: The Relative Efficacy of Russia’s Strategy to Undermine Trans-Atlantic Unity”
Honors/Awards/Fellowships: Dean’s List, Graduation with Distinction in Political Science
Future Plans: Moving to DC to find gainful employment in her field
Pratiksha Sharma
Hometown: Pithauli, Nepal
Degree: BSE Electrical & Computer Engineering; BS in Computer Science
Awards/Honors/Fellowships: Google Society of Women Engineers Travel Grant, The Linux Foundation Diversity Scholarship
Future Plans: working with Goldman Sachs as a New Technological Analyst
Shadman Uddin presents his poster for his senior thesis in Public Policy
Shadman Mohammed Uddin
Hometown: Roswell, GA
Degree: BA in Public Policy, minors in Economics and Spanish
Thesis: “Neither White, Nor Black, But Fully Southern: The Jindal & Randhawa Families Resist Stigmatization In Wake of the Civil Rights Revolution”
Honors/Awards/Fellowships: Graduation with Distinction in Public Policy; Dean’s List; Levey Memorial Leadership Award Finalist, Coro Fellowship Finalist, and Venture for America Fellowship
Future Plans: Working at a start-up through the Venture for America Fellowship
GRADUATE CLASS OF 2018:
Jennifer L. Benedict
Undergraduate Institution: College of William and Mary
Degree: PhD in Religion
Dissertation: “Truth to Power: The Politics of Theological Free Speech in the Cappadocian Fathers and Augustine of Hippo”
Awards/Honors/Fellowships: James B. Duke Fellowship
Eleanor Caves celebrates her dissertation defense.
Eleanor Caves
Hometown: Albuquerque, NM
Undergraduate Institution: Pomona College
Degree: PhD in Biology
Dissertation: “The Visual Ecology of the Cleaner Shrimp-Client Fish Mutualism”
Awards/Honors/Fellowships: National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship, Young Explorers Grant from National Geographic Society, James B. Duke Fellowship, Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring, Rosemary Grant Award for Graduate Student Research, Duke University International Dissertation Research Travel Award, Journal of Experimental Biology Travelling Fellowship
Future Plans: Post-Doctoral Researcher at Duke University
Brian Smithson stands tall in his PhD robes
Brian Smithson
Degree: PhD in Cultural Anthropology
Dissertation: “Piety in Production: Video Filmmaking as Religious Encounter in Bénin”
Awards/Honors/Fellowships: James B. Duke Fellowship; Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, Weatherhead Resident Scholar Fellowship, SSRC International Dissertation Research Fellowship, National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant, Fulbright U.S. Student Grant, Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant, Bennetta Jules-Rosette Graduate Essay Award
Future Plans: job offer for a 1-year Visiting Assistant Professorship in Anthropology at Bowdoin College; finalist for a 2-year Postdoctoral Fellowship with the Council on African Studies at Yale University
PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS CLASS OF 2018:
Zachary N. Ferguson
Undergraduate Institution: Williams College
Degree: JD from Duke Law School
Honors/Awards/Fellowships: Mordecai Scholar
Kavya Sekar
Hometown: Durham, NC
Undergraduate Institution: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Degree: Master of Public Policy, Certificate in International Development Policy at the Sanford School of Public Policy
Master’s Thesis: “Do women spend increased earnings differently from men? Evidence from the LEVE project in Haiti”
Future Plans: Finding gainful employment in her field
Danyel Specht
Hometown: Houston, TX
Undergraduate Institution: The University of Texas at Arlington
Degree: MBA from Fuqua School of Business; Certificate in Health Sector Management
Honors/Awards/Fellowships: COLE Fellowship; Admissions Fellow
Dolores Cristina Villar
Undergraduate Institution: University of Central Florida
Degree: Master of Health Sciences, Physician Assistant Program, Duke School of Medicine
Master’s Thesis: “The effect of steroids on mortality in patients with septic shock”
Future Plans: Postgraduate Advanced Practitioner Residency in Trauma and Critical Care at George Washington University Hospital
