HONORS DAY 2024
To Our Andrew Young School
We are all thrilled in this college to recognize you for your excellence during our annual Honors Day celebration – the highlight of our academic year. We are very proud of you and your accomplishments, and we celebrate you as you look ahead to your continued learning and future careers.
Many, if not most of you began college during a pandemic, and you worked right through it. You deserve our recognition, our admiration and our congratulations for your accomplishments — as well as for your perseverance — during those exceptional times. We celebrate your ongoing dedication to knowledge and your service to our institution and our community, despite the challenges you faced when you began your journey with us.
We also expect that each and every one of you will have an impact on our larger world. You are our promise, our future. With joy and pride, we anticipate the many benefits your gifts will bring to the communities you serve, now and in your future. We thank you for your hard work and excellence.
You are the role models for all students, present and future, at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. Our deepest congratulations to you and your families as we celebrate your awards during this year’s Honors Day recognition.
With gratitude,
Dean Thomas Vicino
Keynote Speaker
Andrew J. Young has earned worldwide recognition as a pioneer in and champion of civil and human rights.
Young’s lifelong dedication to service is illustrated by his extensive leadership experience of over sixty-five years, serving as a member of Congress, African American U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Mayor of Atlanta, and ordained minister, among other positions.
During the 1960s, Andrew Young was a key strategist and negotiator during Civil Rights
campaigns that led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of
1965. Appointed as an Ambassador to the United Nations in 1977, Young negotiated an end to white-minority rule in Namibia and Zimbabwe and brought President Jimmy Carter’s emphasis on human rights to international diplomacy efforts.
Later, as two-term Mayor of Atlanta, Young brought in over 1,100 businesses, over 70 billion in
foreign direct investments, and generated over a million jobs. Young has received honorary degrees from more than 100 universities and colleges in the U.S. and abroad and has received various awards, including an Emmy Lifetime Achievement award in 2011 and the Dan Sweat Award in 2017. His portrait also became part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.
Ambassador Young also serves on a number of boards, including, but not limited to, the Martin
Luther King Center for Non-Violent Social Change, Morehouse College, Andrew Young School
of Policy Studies at Georgia State and Americas Mart.
In 2003, he and his wife, Carolyn McClain Young, founded the Andrew J. Young Foundation to
support and promote education, health, leadership, and human rights in the U.S., Africa, and the
Caribbean. Young currently serves as the Chairman of the Andrew J. Young Foundation.
In 2012, Young retired from GoodWorks International, LLC, after well over a decade of
facilitating sustainable economic development in the business sectors of the Caribbean and
Africa.
Young was born in 1932 in New Orleans, and he currently lives in Atlanta with his wife, Carolyn
McClain, who serves as Vice Chair of the Andrew J. Young Foundation. He is also a father of
three daughters and one son, a grandfather of nine, and a great-grandfather of one.
AYS HONORS
Endowed Study Abroad Experience Scholarship
Proteek Basu
Naomi Garcia-Hector
Summer Accelerator Scholarship
The Summer Accelerator Scholarship provides financial assistance to seniors who take one or two summer courses to complete their Andrew Young School undergraduate degree.
Aerial Edwards
Undergraduate Scholarship
Established to provide financial assistance to outstanding undergraduate leaders and scholars in the Andrew Young School, this scholarship is awarded for academic merit, leadership and need.
Jada Harris
Byars Family Undergraduate Scholarship
Established by alumna Linda Byars (B.B.A. ’68, M.A. ’73), this award provides financial assistance to first generation college students in good academic standing with a 3.0 GPA or higher.
Abigail Ababio
The Jean Childs Young Fellowship
Established in honor of Jean Childs Young through the generosity of R. Charles Loudermilk, Sr., chairman emeritus and founder of Aaron Rents, Inc., who attended Georgia State University in 1948 and was inducted into the Robinson College of Business Hall of Fame in 2005. This endowment, which honors the life and legacy of Jean Childs Young, provides fellowships for graduate students in the Andrew Young School and supports the Jean Childs Young lecture series.
Alicia Graham
Karla Ilic
Olasubomi Olaoluwakitan David Ayeni
RISE Award
Established through the generosity of Sam and Angie Allen, this award provides financial assistance to outstanding undergraduates in the Andrew Young School. This scholarship is awarded for academic merit, commitment to community service, and financial need.
Gloria Smith
Aveda Torres
Anthony Hill
The Allison Powell Scholarship for Graduate Students
Provides scholarship support to students who have been accepted and admitted into a graduate program within Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies and are in good academic standing with a 3.5 GPA or higher.
Josephine Obamwonyi
Dissertation Fellowship
This fellowship supports research expenses for doctoral students who have defended their dissertation proposals and need funding to complete their dissertation research.
Hye Su Im
Kyela Gadi
Social Action Alliance Scholarship Fund
Provides scholarships to undergraduate students who are in good academic standing and participating in the Social Action Alliance certificate program at GSU.
Kennedy Crawford
Elizabeth Gallatin
Brittany O’Neal
Julia Thompson
4MHT Scholarship
Aanyra Maddox
Abigail Waldron
Nance Lu Mescon Scholarship
Jonathan Barr
CRIMINAL JUSTICE & CRIMINOLOGY
The James L. Maddex Jr. Scholarship
Established in honor of James L. Maddex, Jr., professor emeritus of criminal justice, this merit-based scholarship is awarded annually to undergraduate or graduate criminal justice majors.
Caitlin Dorsch
Danye Medhin
Jakhalia Fletcher
Karla Ilic
Murat Uzer
Reuben Okafor
Selina Adenka
The Chris Perrin Memorial Scholarship
Shared by the Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology and the School of Social Work, this merit-based scholarship is presented annually to a rising junior or senior majoring in each area. It was established by the Georgia Council of Juvenile Court Judges in memory of Chris Perrin, executive director of the council and an alumnus of Georgia State University.
Denise Harris
Lonnie Benn
The Phil Peters Scholarship
Presented in memory of E.P. “Phil” Peters, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (1980-1985), this merit-based scholarship is given annually to a junior majoring in criminal justice.
Aveda Torres
The Undergraduate Academic Achievement Award
Presented to the student who has maintained the highest grade point average in the Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice program during their junior or senior year.
Lorenzo Argueta
The Graduate Academic Achievement Award
Presented to the students who have maintained the highest grade point average for the calendar year in the Master of Science in Criminal Justice Program.
Natisha Hall
The AYSPS Excellence in Teaching Criminal Justice Award
The Andrew Young School values excellence in teaching along with excellence in research.This award recognizes the student who, in the judgment of the faculty, has performed exceptionally well in teaching.
Sierra Bell
The AYSPS Criminal Justice & Criminology Student Leadership Award
The Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology recognizes students who exhibit exemplary leadership and service.
Perjah Roberts
The AYSPS Excellence in Criminal Justice & Criminology Doctoral Research Award
The Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology recognizes outstanding research produced by doctoral students.
Logan Ledford
Judge Andrew A. Mickle Scholarship in Criminal Justice
This merit-based scholarship recognizes an exceptional undergraduate or graduate student pursuing a degree in criminal justice.
Aaliyah Valcourt
Karla Ilic
The Bobby Joe Chancey Sr. Memorial Scholarship
Provides scholarships to full-time criminal justice students planning a career in law enforcement who are entering their sophomore or junior year, considered “at-risk” and have financial need. Recipients may continue to receive the scholarship each year until graduation as long as they remain in good academic standing.
Jada Harris
Keniya Fung
ECONOMICS
The Carole Keels Endowed Scholarship
Christian Saenz
Sukriti Beniwal
Olanrewaji Yusuff
The E.D. ``Jack`` Dunn Fellowship
Gil Eris
Tomoyiki Fujimoto
Yiwei Duan
Wenwen Li
Nikita Dhingra
Siru Liu
Md Twfiqur Rahman
Yanan Shang
Young Yun Choi
Yue Bao
Raka Data
Jaewook song
Ungtak Choi
Yu Ting Huang
Godwin Aipoh
Russell Mosier
Xiaoqian Zhang
Zachariah Emmanuel
Erica Mtenga
Thomas Kouwe
Sarah Akyena
Salma Mohammad Ali
Wen Lu
Reginald Hebert
Jafar Jafarov
Mahta Ghafarianghadim
Jiaojing Ding
Bogyung Kim
Giseong Kim
Deborah Gaisie
Eye Eoun Jung
Sherajum Farin
Ruslan Galyamov
Matthew Lawson
The Economics Award
Presented by the faculty to the undergraduate who achieves the highest grade point average in economics courses above the 2000 level and demonstrates a commitment to the study of economics.
Fatima Yusuf
Emeriti Scholarship for Graduate Students
Jaewook Song
Matthew Barrett Young
The George Malanos Scholarship
Given in memory of George Malanos, professor of economics and the first chair of the department, to Ph.D. students selected by the faculty as best exemplifying a commitment to the exchange of ideas and creation of a community of scholars.
Ricardo Ang
Tejendra Pratasingh
Jose Xilau
Graduate Achievement Scholarship
This award provides financial assistance to promising MA and/or PhD graduate students in
the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies who have demonstrated talent in economics.
Rasaki Ahmed
The AYSPS Excellence in Teaching Economics Award
Henry Woodyard
The IEML Award
Hannah Skiotis
The Excellence in Microeconomics Award
Tsion Yetwale
The Quantitative Economics Award
Ungtak Choi
PUBLIC MANAGEMENT & POLICY
The Governor Joe Frank Harris Award
Given in honor of Georgia Gov. Joe Frank Harris, whose administration was noted for improvements in education and who served as a Distinguished Executive Fellow in the Andrew Young School, to one or more Georgia resident students based on academic merit.
Letayia Anderson
Aidan Rickaby
Jasmine Uddin
Dan E. Sweat Dissertation Fellowship
Elizabeth Diamanduros
Elizabeth Dudley
Kyela Gadi
The Excellence in Scholarship Award
This award recognizes high academic standing and professional promise.
UNDERGRADUATE
Taylor Pessin
MPP
Mayah Waltower
MPA / MPA-JD
Sydney Gunter
The Public Management & Policy Student Leadership Award
Janet Goodwin
The Best Research Paper Award
Presented annually to a graduate student in the public management and policy program, as selected by a faculty committee. Student papers nominated by faculty examine topics such as privatization, human resource issues in the public and private sector, and public finance and financial management.
Virginia Spinks
The Outstanding Intern Award
This award recognizes undergraduate and graduate students who, in the judgment of the faculty, have performed exceptionally well as interns.
UNDERGRADUATE
Ann Philip
GRADUATE
Omotola Oladapo
The Outstanding Doctoral Student in Public Policy Award
Awarded by the faculty to Ph.D. in Public Policy candidates who best exemplify academic excellence and an ongoing commitment to scholarship in the field of public policy.
Ximena Pizarro-Bore
The AYSPS Excellence in Teaching Policy Award
The Andrew Young School values excellence in teaching along with excellence in research.This award recognizes a student who, in the judgment of the faculty, has performed exceptionally well in teaching.