Twenty-seven sophomores and juniors have been selected as Burchard scholars in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences for 2009.
The awards, named after the school's first dean, John Ely Burchard, are given to students who demonstrate unusual abilities and academic excellence in the areas embraced by SHASS. Dean Deborah Fitzgerald, overseer of the Burchard Program, said the students selected in the interdisciplinary program's 23rd year "are from exciting and diverse backgrounds and are a remarkable group of gifted young scholars."
The Burchard scholars and a rotating group of faculty will be invited to a series of dinners, beginning in February, at which an MIT faculty member or visiting scholar will present work in progress. The discussions that will follow will encourage students and faculty members to mix, giving students a chance to engage in the kind of intellectual exchange that characterizes scholarship in the humanities, arts and social sciences. The selection committee, chaired by Fitzgerald, consisted of Margery Resnick, associate professor of foreign languages and literatures; Jane Dunphy, director of ELS, foreign languages and literatures; Sara Ellison, senior lecturer of economics; Lowell Lindgren, professor of music and theater arts; Norvin Richards, associate professor of linguistics and philosophy; and Brad Skow, assistant professor of linguistics and philosophy.
The 2009 Burchard Scholars are:
- Ugwechi Amadi (junior, brain and cognitive sciences)
- Paul Baranay (sophomore, biological engineering)
- Peter Bojo (sophomore, biological engineering)
- Warren Chan (junior, economics, mathematics)
- Kristina Cibor (sophomore, economics, mathematics)
- Dorian Dargan (sophomore, urban studies and planning)
- Vasudha Gupta (sophomore, management, urban studies and planning)
- Yuri Hanada (junior, biology)
- Janice Jang (junior, mathematics)
- Long Lam (junior, mechanical engineering, theater arts)
- Cyril Lan (sophomore, electrical engineering and computer science)
- Richard Manfready (sophomore, biology)
- Sriniwasan Mani (junior, civil and environmental engineering)
- Christina Margiotta (sophomore, management science)
- Steven Mo (junior, biology)
- Manisha Padi (junior, economics, mathematics)
- Lan Qin (junior, biology)
- Diane Rak (junior, linguistics and philosophy)
- Sukrit Ranjan (junior, physics)
- Rebecca Rich (junior, electrical engineering)
- Jared Sadoian (junior, computer science and engineering)
- Pablo Spivakovsky-Gonzalez (junior, mathematics)
- Dan Stiurca (junior, electrical engineering and computer science)
- Christopher Su (sophomore, biology)
- Liz Theurer (junior, mathematics, mechanical engineering)
- Jesse Thornburg (sophomore, mechanical engineering)
- Mahesh Vidula (sophomore, biological engineering)
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on February 11, 2009 (download PDF).
