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Twenty-three Receive Awards Recognizing Excellence and Impact

By Katya Hrichak

The 2026 Excellence and Inclusion Awards are lined up on table.

The Graduate School Office of Inclusion and Student Engagement presented the 2026 Graduate Excellence and Impact Awards at the annual awards celebration on May 13 in G10 Biotech.

This annual event recognizes the excellence represented within the graduate community and celebrates students and organizations for the significant impacts they have made to advance access, engagement, and belonging through their service and leadership.

“The Graduate Excellence and Impact Awards Celebration is a wonderful opportunity to recognize and showcase the great work taking place at Cornell and in the surrounding area,” said Sara Xayarath Hernández, associate dean for inclusion and student and faculty engagement. “We are so proud of our graduate community for the ways they go above and beyond both on and off campus.”

Faculty and staff were also recognized with awards for their unwavering commitment to mentoring graduate students and supporting their sense of belonging, overall well-being, and achievement.

2026 Award Winners:

  • Exemplary Leadership and Service Award for Early Career Graduate Students: Olivia Jäggi, psychological sciences and human development doctoral student; Anne-Solène Bayan, history of art, archaeology, and visual studies doctoral student; and Alexis Smrekar, biomedical and biological sciences doctoral student
  • Exemplary Leadership and Service Award for Advanced Career Graduate Students: Kaitlin Diggins, plant pathology and plant-microbe biology doctoral candidate; Lizemarie Cirone, neurobiology and behavior doctoral candidate; Miranda Farricker, animal science doctoral candidate; Aminat Ibrahim, biomedical engineering doctoral candidate; and Sujata Nandi, chemistry and chemical biology doctoral candidate
  • Community Access and Outreach Award for Impact on Communities Within Cornell: Big Red Tech Club, Keeping it Urban, and Master of Engineering Programs Support Team
  • Community Access and Outreach Award for Impact on Communities Beyond Cornell: Graduate Student Veterans Association
  • Casey Moore Impact Award: Sam Benson, assistant director for graduate affairs in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Donna Wakeman, administrative assistant to the chair in the department of animal science; Joanna Alario, graduate field administrator in the department of communication; and Sharifa A. Wip, associate dean of students and director of Black Student Empowerment
  • Faculty Champion Award for Early Career Faculty: Jaleesa Reed, assistant professor in the department of human centered design; Carmel Raz, assistant professor in the department of music; and Megan Holycross, assistant professor in the department of earth and atmospheric sciences
  • Faculty Champion Award for Advanced Career Faculty: Tory Hendry, associate professor in the department of microbiology; Clifford Whitcomb, professor of practice in the systems engineering program; Matthew Pritchard, Sidney Kaufman Professor of Geophysics in the department of earth and atmospheric sciences; and Valerie Reyna, Lois and Melvin Tukman Professor in the department of psychology

“I believe that a united and supportive graduate community is critical to student well-being and fosters academic and professional growth,” said Anne-Solène Bayan, a history of art, archaeology, and visual studies doctoral student and recipient of the Exemplary Leadership and Service Award for Early Career Graduate Students. “It has been gratifying to work alongside my peers toward this goal, and I am grateful to be recognized for my contributions.”

Lizemarie Cirone, a neurobiology and behavior doctoral candidate and recipient of the Exemplary Leadership and Service Award for Advanced Career Students, also acknowledged that the role she has played in making a positive impact on the graduate community is part of a larger whole.

“It is humbling to be recognized for leadership and service because it serves as a reminder of the great impact that each of our small actions can have on the people and the world around us,” she said.

Students in attendance were also recognized for achievement in the areas of academics, funding, community service, and milestones and completion. Graduate School Dean’s Scholars, members of the Bouchet Graduate Honor Society, and NextGen Professors Program participants were also acknowledged.