Thirty-one sophomores and juniors have been selected as Burchard Scholars in the School of Humanities and Social Science for 1996.
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 the School. According to Dean Philip S. Khoury, co-founder of the Burchard Program and chair of the Selection Committee, the students selected in the eleventh year of competition for the awards "are from exciting and diverse backgrounds and are a wonderful 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, followed by a discussion. This will allow students and faculty members to mix and will give students in particular an opportunity to engage in the kind of intellectual exchange that characterizes scholarship in the humanities, arts, and social sciences. The emphasis throughout the program will be interdisciplinary.
In addition to Dean Khoury, the selection committee consisted of Professors Jean Jackson (anthropology), Stephen Van Evera (political science), James Buzard (Literature Section), Lowell Lindgren (music and theater arts), and Edward Turk (foreign languages and literatures).
The Burchard Scholars listed by class are as follows.
Juniors:
Martin M. Calles of Old Lyme, CT, economics; Lawrence K. Chang of Sterling Heights, MI, electrical engineering and computer science (EECS); Guang-Ien Cheng of Potomac, MD, EECS; Karyn J. Cheng of Potomac, MD, biology; Rajat Deo of Northville, MI, biology; Carl A. (Andy) Frank of Omaha, NE, biology/mathematics; Eugenia L. Hahn of Winnetka, IL, biology; Teresa Huang of Sudbury, MA, Science, Technology and Society; Vassiliki Koumandou of Athens, Greece, biology/foreign languages and literatures; Anna E. Lee of Great Falls, VA, biology; Richard Y. Lee of Miami, FL, economics; Juliana Leung of New York, NY, biology; Andrew D. Lobban of Palo Alto, CA, mathematics; Jennifer A. Markowitz of Linwood, NJ, brain and cognitive sciences; Mala Murthy of Beaumont, TX, biology; Radha Nandagopal of Spokane, WA, biology; Jacobo M. Orenstein-Cardona of San Juan, Puerto Rico, chemistry; Luis A. Pizano of Tucson, AZ, materials science and engineering; Pardis C. Sabeti of Orlando, FL, biology; Grant Y. Smith of Chevy Chase, MD, EECS; Mayukh V. Sukhatme of Vadenais Heights, MN, literature/biology; Wilson W. Tai of Madison, WI, economics; Cindy W. Tom of Milpitas, CA, literature/biology; and Savalai K. Vaikakul of Huntington Beach, CA, biology.
Sophomores:
Lin-Ann Ching of Rancho Pv, CA, architecture/music and theater arts; Louise D. Forrest of Lafayette, CA, biology; Ryan J. Kershner of Williamsburg, VA, materials science and engineering/foreign languages and literatures; Donald E. Lacey, Jr. of Quincy, IL, economics; Leslie A. Martin of Wilmette, IL, mathematics; David R. Montgomery of Lexington, GA, EECS/materials science and engineering; and Kevin A. Simmons of Castle Rock, CO, philosophy.
