Library Wall of Scholars Honors USC’s Exceptional Graduates

Long after they doff their robes and mortarboards, 65 members of USC’s class of 2015 will be able to return to Leavey Library and find their academic achievements inscribed on the Wall of Scholars.

A May 14 ceremony inside the library’s Weingart Reading Room honored these exceptional graduates. Surrounded by the names of past honorees, USC President C. L. Max Nikias, USC Libraries Dean Catherine Quinlan, and Skull and Dagger Society President Jerry Papazian ’77 joined hundreds of family members, friends, faculty, and staff in congratulating the students.

The Skull and Dagger Society created the Wall of Scholars in 1995. Each year, the names of graduates who have won a national or international scholarship, or who have earned certain USC academic accolades are etched into the wall’s glass panels.

Papazian served as master of ceremonies and, before welcoming Nikias to the podium, secured a round of applause “for the parents and other family members who have supported these scholars for the last four years.”

Nikias described the students’ inclusion on the Wall of Scholars as “a wonderful tribute to their exceptional intellectual gifts and to their remarkable devotion to the pursuit of knowledge” and invited students to visit Leavey Library as alumni.

“When you do you can proudly show your friends your families, your children—even your grandchildren—that you have a special place in the history of this university,” the president said.

In her remarks, Quinlan stressed “how deeply students are invested in our libraries as vital partners in their academic success” and acknowledged the role of their advocacy in the ongoing renovations to Leavey Library.

“Our spaces and our buildings evolve, as they must, alongside changing study habits and ways of conducting research,” she said. “But a great library champions permanence as well—the persistence of knowledge through history, the continuity of the intellectual record. So even as the physical character of this building evolves, the Wall of Scholars remains a permanent commemoration to the achievements of our outstanding students.”

This year’s Wall of Scholars honorees are:

VALEDICTORIAN
Alexander Daniel Yuen

SALUTATORIAN
Carrie R. Moore

UNIVERSITY TRUSTEES AWARDS
Harrison H. Lee
Manan P. Shah
Jason C. Silverman
Alexander Daniel Yuen

EMMA JOSEPHINE BRADLEY BOVARD AWARD
Sarah Anne Jackson

USC PROVOST’S AWARDS
Sakura Kato
Nicole Pearl Kleinman
Brandon J. Loureiro
Leslie Jay McCracken

ROCKWELL DENNIS HUNT SCHOLASTIC AWARD
Katherine A. Fu

GOLDWATER SCHOLARSHIP
Luke G. Bouma

BOREN SCHOLARSHIPS
Jason Finkelstein
Linda Wang

TRUMAN SCHOLARSHIP
Oscar De Los Santos

FULBRIGHT GRADUATE STUDY AND RESEARCH ABROAD GRANTS
Stefani Feldman
Maria Fish
Maracel Guevarra
Andrea Valenzuela

ARNOLD S. DUNN RENAISSANCE SCHOLARSHIP FOR THE SCIENCES, ARTS, AND HUMANITIES
Caitlin E. Martin

ANDREW W. MELLON MAYS UNDERGRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS
Michael Fretwell
Jheanelle Garriques
Rachel Jones
Carrie R. Moore 
Roxana Ontiveros 
Luna White

STEVEN AND KATHRYN SAMPLE RENAISSANCE SCHOLAR PRIZE WINNERS 
J. Michael Alberto Bell 
Megan Goldring 
Nathaniel A. Hsieh 
Rachel Jones
Jung-Gi Min
Sara Newman
Jori Lynn Richman 
Kathleen M. Siswanto 
Natasha Sosa
David Y. Zhang

GLOBAL SCHOLAR PRIZE WINNERS
Thomas Armstrong 
Kelly Belter
Rachel Bensimon 
Jason Finkelstein 
Miki Fujiwara
Alice Lee
Katelyn Masket 
Danielle Pappas 
Linda Wang 
Christina Zdawczyk

DISCOVERY SCHOLAR PRIZE WINNERS
Daniel Allas 
Karen Arcos 
Luke G. Bouma 
Sarah Herald 
Uriel Kim
Yo-Yo Lin
Zachary Matthews 
Katherine McCormick 
Carrie R. Moore 
Christopher Sandino

DEAN JOAN METCALF SCHAEFER SCHOLARSHIPS 
Ehrenstrom X. Elder 
Durga M. Ghosh 
Ruby Hwang
Hanna Jolkovsky 
Kathryn Kelly
John Merritt
Marta Olson
William Orr
Gabrielle N. Pflugradt 
Mackenize Darr Postel 
Michelle M. Prestholt 
David Wang

J. WESLEY ROBB ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIPS IN HUMAN VALUES
Troy Rayder
Kiansiong Tey

HUMANITY IN ACTION FELLOWSHIP
Mushfiqur Chowdhury