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 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
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