The Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences celebrated faculty, staff, teaching, mentorship, and academic excellence in ceremonies recently.

The Building 46 Awards Ceremony was held in Singleton Auditorium April 11, where the following individuals were presented with 2024 faculty awards:

• Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching: Mehrdad Jazayeri
• Faculty Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching: Josh Tenenbaum
• Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Mentorship: Steve Flavell
• Faculty Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Advising: John Gabrieli
• Faculty Award for Excellence in Postdoctoral Mentorship: Ed Boyden

The Angus MacDonald Awards, named after the MIT alumnus and Corporation Member who was a key supporter of BCS -- particularly of the department’s undergraduate educational mission -- recognizes excellence in undergraduate teaching by a graduate student. The following individuals received Angus MacDonald Awards: 

• Minqing Jiang
• David Stoppel
• Moshe Poliak
• Nicole Coates 
• Daniel Leible 
• Verna Peng

The Walle Nauta Awards are named after the renowned neuroanatomist and founding member of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. There are two categories: Excellence in Graduate Teaching, and Continuing Dedication to Teaching. The following individuals were recognized with Walle Nauta Awards for Excellence in Graduate Teaching:

• Cheng Tang 
• Amanda Fath

The following individuals were recognized with Walle Nauta Continuing Dedication to Teaching Awards: 

• Fernanda De La Torre 
• Shannon Knight 
• Thomas Clark

BCS Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Impact Awards are given to those who have shown outstanding leadership in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in Building 46. The following individuals and groups were recognized with Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Impact Awards:

• Quilee Simeon
• Jamie Wiley
• Building 46 Post-Doctoral Association

The following individuals were recognized with staff awards:

• The Go-to Person Award recognizes a staff member who is known for being the person others rely on for answers, support, or guidance. This year’s winner is Rhonda Valenti.
• The Problem Solver award goes to a person who has initiated projects or procedures that demonstrated exceptional problem-solving skills. This year’s winner is Alicia Evans.
• The Morale Booster acknowledges an individual who has made significant contributions to a positive and supportive workplace culture. This year’s winner is Michelangelo Naim.
• A special one-time staff award was presented to Kim DeMayo and Jamie Wiley for their work in bringing back the staff awards after a haitus.

Undergraduate academic award winners were celebrated at a dinner April 16. The following students were recognized with BCS Academic Awards for achieving a 4.9 GPA or higher.

Year 4 students, 6-9:

• Jake Chuharski
• Preston Hess
• Elaine Jutamulia
• Quinn Langford
• Rachel Park
• Anna Plank
• Nicole Shigiltchoff
• Kelly Wang
• Harley Yoder
• Andrii Zahorodnii
• Kristine Zheng
     
  Year 4 students, course 9:
• Allison Brattley
• Melody Guo
• Jason Li
• Claire Lu
• Melody Yu

Year 3 students, course 6-9:

• Alvin Chen
• Jason Chen
• Angeles Cibils Bernardes
• Audrey Douglas
• Janvi Huria
• Nnamdi Obi
• Sophie Sun
• Claire Camacho
• Alicia Chen
• Harry Chen
• Wells Crosby
• Renee Ge
• Willow Huang
• Jada Li
• Claire Southard
• Diego Swaddipong
• Jocelyn Zhu

Additionally, the following students were recently recognized with the following awards and honors:

BCS Undergraduate Research Award:

• Bianca Santi
• Amy Wang
• Jack Horgen
• Kristine Zheng
• Megan Eberts

Phi Beta Kappa honor society inductees:

• Allison Brattley
• Melody Guo
• Carol Jiang
• David Koplow
• Jason Li
• Claudia Lozano
• Melody Yu
• Kristine Zheng