FAU Hosts 57th Annual Honors Convocation

From left, FAU President Adam Hasner, Distinguished Teacher of the Year Parvathi Perumareddi, and Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Ken Dawson-Scully

Florida Atlantic University President Adam Hasner, along with Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Ken Dawson-Scully, recently hosted the 57th annual Honors Convocation to recognize the university's most outstanding students and faculty.

Awards and recognition included eight university scholars; the Distinguished Student award; the University Club Merit award; the Hersker, Shaw, Gosser Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi scholar; the Stan and Renee Wimberly scholar; the Undergraduate Researchers awards; the Student-Athletes of the Year awards; and the Fraternity and Sorority scholars. Faculty honors included the FAU Alumni Association's Degree of Difference award; Researchers and Scholars of the Year awards; FAU Online Faculty award; Teaching and Advising awards; as well as the Distinguished Mentor of the Year in Undergraduate Research award.

The winner of the Distinguished Teacher of the Year award, determined by FAU students, was awarded to Parvathi Perumareddi, D.O., an associate professor in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. A board-certified family medicine physician, Perumareddi joined the faculty in 2015 and teaches and mentors medical students across all four years of the curriculum. With a primary focus on first- and second-year learners, she serves as course director for the foundational pathophysiology and therapeutics course - encompassing the renal, reproductive and endocrine systems - and also teaches across a spectrum of small-group sessions ranging from cardiology to clinical documentation to diabetes. Nationally, she has contributed to the medical licensing exams taken by all U.S. medical students and interns by authoring exam items.

2026 Florida Atlantic University Honors Convocation Awardees

University Scholars

Marissa Spurr, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Annika Zarazua, College of Business

Layann Abdallah, College of Education

Reza Zilouchian, College of Engineering and Computer Science

Valentina Campos, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College

Sydney Taylor Gibbons, Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing

Siena Botzer-Gunter, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

Sarah G. Hamel, College of Social Work and Criminal Justice

Distinguished Student award

Isabelle Solages, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College

University Club Merit award

Macy Butler, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

Stan and Renee Wimberly Scholar

James Levi, College of Engineering and Computer Science

Hersker, Shaw, Gosser Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi Scholarship award

Aaron Thon, College of Business

Undergraduate Researchers of the Year

Kezia Abraham, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Taylor Smith, College of Business, Allen E. Smith Awardee

Isabelle Yi, College of Education

Mark Zagha, College of Engineering and Computer Science

Shyla Grant, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College

Adina Silverstein, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine

Sarah Lievano, Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing

Kayla Mosteller, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

Gilman Scholarship

Celeste Diaz, Recipient

Goldwater Scholarship

Danylo Fedkiv, Awardee

Kyle Loh, Awardee

Distinguished First-Year Undergraduate Student of the Year

Domenico Guadalupe, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

Fraternity and Sorority Scholars

Melyssa Mitchell, Alpha Kappa Alpha

James Levi, Alpha Epsilon Pi

Student-athletes of the Year

Autumn Courtney, Softball

Daniel Laureyssens, Men's swimming and diving

Alumni Degree of Difference award

Mary Ann Leavitt, Ph.D., associate professor, Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing

Researchers of the Year

Borko Furht, Ph.D., professor, College of Engineering & Computer Science

James VanZwieten, Ph.D., associate professor, College of Engineering & Computer Science

Lea Sacca, Ph.D., assistant professor, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine

Scholars of the Year

Waseem Asghar, Ph.D., professor, College of Engineering & Computer Science

Kevin Wilt, DMA, associate professor, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Diana Sun, Ph.D., assistant professor, College of Social Work & Criminal Justice

FAU Online Faculty award

Donna Marion, Ph.D., university instructor, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

Excellence and Innovation in Undergraduate Teaching

Heather Ligler, Ph.D., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Armiel Suriaga, Ph.D., Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing

Sareh Taebi, Ph.D., College of Engineering and Computer Science

William O'Brien, Ph.D., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College

Excellence and Innovation in Undergraduate Advising

David Flanigan, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College

Elizabeth Kennedy, Undergraduate Studies

Casey Thomas, College of Business

Distinguished Mentor of the Year in Undergraduate Research

Rindy Anderson, Ph.D., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

2026 Distinguished Teacher of the Year

Parvathi Perumareddi, D.O., Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine

-FAU-