Awards and Honors
The Department of Physics and Astronomy is proud of the accomplishments of all of our students. Our majors frequently receive awards and recognition for their outstanding academic and extracurricular achievements at Tufts and beyond.
Undergraduate Awards
2021 Recipients:
- Abigail E. Wilson received the Prize Scholarship of the Class of 1882, which honors an undergraduate student with great potential for intellectual leadership and creativity.
- Sadhya Garg received the Class of 1911 Prize Scholarship, honoring seniors of engaging personality who, from matriculation as freshmen to their senior year, have made the most progress as measured both by academic record and by successful participation in extracurricular activities of enduring worth.
- Allison E. Culbert received the Class of 1942 Prize Scholarship, awarded annually to seniors considered as the most likely to become outstanding university teachers, counselors, or administrators.
- Eoghan B. Downey received the Alex Elias Memorial Prize Scholarship, awarded to juniors or seniors who best display those high standards in community activities and in athletic and scholarly pursuits for which Alex Elias was well known.
- Jacob P. Sunnerberg received the Class of 1947 Victor Prather Prize, awarded to engineering or science majors who have demonstrated excellence in scientific research, enthusiasm for the pursuit of knowledge, and a dedication to scholarly achievement.
- Maxwell H. Kaye received the Philip E. A. Sheridan, M.D. Prize, awarded annually to the student who has shown the most improvement through the junior year in the bachelor of arts course.
- Samantha M. Livermore received the Audrey Butvay Gruss Science Award, recognizing outstanding academic work in any of the sciences by a student who is a scholarship recipient.
- Theodore O. Pena and Reed D. Spitzer received the N. Hobbs Knight Prize Scholarship in Physics, recognizing outstanding ability in theoretical and experimental physics.
- Bayley E. Cornish received the Amos Emerson Dolbear Scholarship. The Dolbear scholarships are awarded to seniors who have shown promise in the field of either physics or electrical engineering.
- This year's recipients of the Howard Sample Prize Scholarship in Physics for outstanding performance in Physics 11 and Physics 12 are:
- Khaled Ajaj
- Seixas O. Aldrich
- Brigid M. Barrick
- Miles E. Izydorczak
- Sofia A. Levy
- Hannah W. Magoon
- Zachary R. Osman
- Sholke Sahay
- Kevin J. Schult
- Mary-Joy I. Sidhom
- Patrick Song
- Deepti Srinivasan
- Brandon C. Sun
- Finn I. Tekverk
- Matthew Vivian
- John K. Youssef
- Nicolo B. Zucchi
2021 Sigma Pi Sigma
Founded in 1921, Sigma Pi Sigma is a member honor society of the Association of College Honor Societies. It exists to honor outstanding scholarship in physics; to encourage interest in physics among students at all levels; to promote an attitude of service of its members towards their fellow students, colleagues, and the public; to provide a fellowship of persons who have excelled in physics. Election to Sigma Pi Sigma is a lifetime membership, and the society has some 75,000 historical members. We are pleased to honor our Tufts majors who have been nominated for membership in this society.
- Henry Adair
- Matais Aranguiz
- Eli Beutel
- Allison Culbert
- Alexander Denby
- Marc Descoteaux
- Will Deucher
- Eoghan Downey
- Alyssa Eakman
- Benjamin Harris
- Lilianna Houston
- Joseph Hyatt
- Maxwell Kaye
- Benjamin Maloy
- Sean Moushegian
- Reed Spitzer
- Cole Wennerholm
- Jacob Whitney
- Abigail Wilson
- Joseph Xiong
- Jesse Yang
- Felix Yu
Graduate Awards
Jeremy Wachter received the 2017 Robert P. Guertin Student Leadership Award, given by the Tufts University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding leadership.
Christopher Burke received the 2016 Outstanding Contribution to Undergraduate Education Award, given by the Tufts University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence as a teaching assistant or in other roles.
Dave Thomas received a 2015 student award from the North American Thermal Analysis Society. This award recognizes the best original contribution by a graduate student to the advancement of the field of thermal analysis.
Catherine Weigel was selected for the 2014 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award sponsored by the American Association of Physics Teachers, and received the 2015 Outstanding Contribution to Undergraduate Education Award from the Tufts University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
Wenwen Huang was awarded the 2013 Tufts University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Award for Outstanding Academic Performance at the Doctoral Level.
Spencer Smith was recognized for his exceptional teaching efforts with the 2012 Tufts University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences' Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education award recognizing excellence as a teaching assistant or in other roles such as mentoring undergraduates for students in the arts, humanities, natural sciences, or social sciences.