UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School at Penn State named 110 graduate students as recipients of the 2024-25 University Graduate Fellowships and Distinguished Graduate Fellowships. The students were honored on Oct. 3 at a reception held at the Bryce Jordan Center.   

These awards, sponsored wholly or in part by the Fox Graduate School, are among the most competitive and prestigious University-wide fellowships at Penn State and are intended to support recruitment of the highest caliber prospective students to Penn State’s doctoral research programs. The fellows’ goals are to engage in original research and contribute new knowledge to their perspective fields for the ultimate benefit of society.  

“These graduate students are not just recipients of knowledge, but active contributors, collaborators and innovators within our University and its research. Their efforts enrich our scholarly pursuits, elevate our academic profile and serve as tangible evidence of the value and impact of graduate education,” said Levon Esters, vice provost for graduate education and dean of the Fox Graduate School. “They will engage in innovative projects, collaborate with faculty and play a central role in groundbreaking research and scholarship throughout the University.” 

University Graduate Fellowships are selected by the academic colleges, while Distinguished Graduate Fellowships are selected by academic colleges in partnership with the dean of the Fox Graduate School.  

“Their active involvement in Penn State bolsters and elevates our institution’s reputation for academic excellence, and I am excited to see just where these students help take this University forward into the future,” Esters said.

Distinguished Graduate Fellowships are derived from college endowments. Students with questions pertaining to their specific fellowship should contact their program or college.  

The 2024-25 fellowship recipients are below: 

University Graduate Fellows:

• Akinwale Akintaro, doctoral student in engineering systems 

• Paige Alexander, doctoral student in entomology 

• Fitsum Beyene, doctoral student in computer science and engineering 

• Paula Blanco Ortiz, doctoral student in ecology 

• Emi Cervantes, doctoral student in statistics 

• Nikol Chantzi, doctoral student in bioinformatics and genomics 

• Qi Chen, doctoral student in nutritional sciences 

• Jay Cliftmann, doctoral student in acoustics 

• Kathleen Culhane, doctoral student in biomedical sciences 

• Cassidy Davis, doctoral student in anthropology 

• Nina Devine, doctoral student in entomology 

• Souradip Dey, doctoral student in civil engineering 

• Anushka Dutta, doctoral student in plant biology 

• Shui Li Eu-Balint, doctoral student in plant biology 

• Hongchao Fang, doctoral student in computer science and engineering 

• Natalie Ford, doctoral student in ecology 

• Julian Gay, doctoral student in computer science and engineering 

• Mackenzie Gentz, doctoral student in German 

• Yifei Gong, doctoral student in psychology 

• Maxwell Hahn, doctoral student in statistics 

• Andrew Hamacher, doctoral student in neuroscience 

• Nozomi Hirata, doctoral student in architectural engineering 

• Bailey Hoplight, doctoral student in geosciences 

• Chia-Chen Hsu, doctoral student in energy, environmental, and food economics 

• Caellum Impelluso, doctoral student in kinesiology 

• Juan Jimenez Gaona, doctoral student in electrical engineering 

• Youngjoo Kim, doctoral student in art education 

• Nicholas Kraabel, doctoral student in civil engineering 

• Antara Kulkarni, doctoral student in biology 

• Joshua Langlois, doctoral student in acoustics 

• Woohyoung Lee, doctoral student in architectural engineering 

• Hongjun Li, doctoral student in architectural engineering 

• Xu Liu, doctoral student in architectural engineering 

• Caesar (Chi Meng) Liu, doctoral student in biobehavioral health 

• Natalie Lobach, doctoral student in philosophy 

• Jacob Lockhart, doctoral student in biomedical engineering 

• Leo Lonzarich, doctoral student in civil engineering 

• Liyuan Ma, doctoral student in biomedical engineering 

• Michael Maloney, doctoral student in architectural engineering 

• Alexander Mark, doctoral student in biomedical engineering 

• Douglas Meeker, doctoral student in English 

• Surabhi Menon, doctoral student in acoustics 

• Noor Mensah, doctoral student in comparative literature 

• Madison Miles, doctoral student in psychology 

• Bonam Mingole, doctoral student in informatics 

• Kaylee Neat, doctoral student in geosciences 

• Ian Rowe-Nicholls, doctoral student in sociology 

• Neena Noble, doctoral student in astronomy and astrophysics 

• Waraidzo Nyatsine, doctoral student in health policy and administration 

• Lauren Palmer, doctoral student in art history 

• Amy (Chien-Chang) Pan, doctoral student in educational psychology 

• Xinghao Peng, doctoral student in industrial engineering 

• Marie Peres, doctoral student in French and francophone studies 

• Emily Pettet, doctoral student in American studies 

• Isaac Richards, doctoral student in communication arts and sciences 

• Kelly Sammons, doctoral student in plant biology 

• Ian Schneider, doctoral student in applied linguistics 

• Abigail Simmerman, doctoral student in mass communications 

• Zhaoxu Sui, doctoral student in geography 

• Guoxiong Tan, doctoral student in recreation, park, and tourism management 

• Ryan Tucker, doctoral student in business administration 

• Ijeoma Ugboajah, doctoral student in philosophy 

• Ogochukwu Ukwueze, doctoral student in comparative literature  

• William Vuyk, doctoral student in ecology 

• Chien-Wei Wu, doctoral student in biomedical engineering 

• Sijia Yang, doctoral student in biomedical engineering 

• Jiayun Ye, doctoral student in mass communications 

• Jiahe Zhang, doctoral student in computer science and engineering 

• Qian Zhang, doctoral student in energy and mineral engineering 

• Yijin Zhao, doctoral student in architectural engineering 

Distinguished Graduate Fellows:

• Stanley Baldwin, Verne M. Willaman Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Science, doctoral student in chemistry 

• Nethmi Bathige, Dennis W. and Joan S. Thomson Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, doctoral student in geography 

• Brandon Bickley, Stephen B. Brumbach Distinguished Graduate Fellowship and William Taylor Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, doctoral student in biochemistry, microbiology, and molecular biology 

• Erika Biernbaum, Roger and Barbara Claypoole DGF in the College of Ag Sciences, doctoral student in food science 

• Katherine Billetdeaux, Richard F. & Barbara Knoebel Yoder Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in the College of Liberal Arts in the Field of Psychology, doctoral student in psychology 

• Xiaoran Cheng, Verne M. Willaman Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Science, doctoral student in statistics 

• Kyoungmin Cho, Joseph and Jean Britton Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, doctoral student in human development and family studies 

• Phoebe Coogle, McCourtney Family Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in English, doctoral student in English 

• Charles Costanzo, Stephen B. Brumbach Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in Statistics, doctoral student in statistics 

• Delanie Crabtree, Pritchard Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in the College of Medicine, doctoral student in neuroscience 

• Erica Croft, Ted H. and Tracy Winfree McCourtney Family Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in American History, doctoral student in history 

• Amin Danesh, Bert Elsbach Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Physics, doctoral student in physics 

• Andrew Dorner, Verne M. Willaman Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Science, doctoral student in physics 

• Alexander Grant, Tracy Winfree McCourtney and Ted H. McCourtney Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in English, doctoral student in English 

• Emma Green, Lewis A. and Opal D. Gugliemelli Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in the Eberly College of Science and Dr. Richard A. Gottscho Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in the Eberly College of Science, doctoral student in chemistry 

• Jingyi Guo, Verne M. Willaman Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Science and Stephen B. Brumbach Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in Statistics, doctoral student in statistics 

• Otto Kailing, Eva J. Pell Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, doctoral student in plant biology 

• Katherine Dalton, Verne M. Willaman Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Science, doctoral student in chemistry 

• Maya Kerr Coste, Bruce R. Miller and Dean D. Lavigne Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in the College of the Liberal Arts in the Field of Political Science, doctoral student in political science 

• Dana Kullgren, Bert Elsbach Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Physics, doctoral student in physics 

• Olivia Laske, Verne M. Willaman Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Science, doctoral student in physics 

• Megan Lavigne, Verne M. Willaman Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Science, doctoral student in chemistry 

• Jeffrey Leiberton, Verne M. Willaman Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Science and Bert Elsbach Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Physics, doctoral student in physics 

• Ruiyu Li, Verne M. Willaman Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Science, doctoral student in physics 

• Nolan Alexander McPhaul, Verne M. Willaman Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Science and Paul M. Doty Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, doctoral student in astronomy and astrophysics 

• Silas Mitchell, Verne M. Willaman Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Science, doctoral student in mathematics 

• Yuhang Nie, Stephen B. Brumbach Distinguished Graduate Fellowship II and Verne M. Willaman Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Science, doctoral student in biology 

• Daisy Osoro, Verne M. Willaman Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Science, doctoral student in biology 

• Chandler Pruett, Dennis W. and Joan S. Thomson Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in Meteorology, doctoral student in meteorology and atmospheric science 

• Joshua Sangalli, Beatrice and Alan Schriesheim Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, doctoral student in chemistry 

• Abigail Stocker, William Taylor Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, doctoral student in biochemistry, microbiology, and molecular biology 

• Wenxi Tan, Verne M. Willaman Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Science, doctoral student in statistics 

• Cletus Tindan, Verne M. Willaman Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Science, doctoral student in mathematics 

• Preston Tolley, Dr. Richard A. Gottscho Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in the Eberly College of Science, doctoral student in chemistry 

• Alisha Wang, Verne M. Willaman Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Science and Beatrice and Alan Schriesheim Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, doctoral student in chemistry 

• Ruoxuan Wang, Marjorie M. Knoll Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, doctoral student in human development and family studies 

• Brianna Watts, Paul and Harriet Campbell Distinguished Graduate Fellowship and Verne M. Willaman Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Science, doctoral student in biochemistry, microbiology, and molecular biology 

• Tristan Weaver, Stephen B. Brumbach Distinguished Graduate Fellowship III and Verne M. Willaman Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Science, doctoral student in astronomy and astrophysics 

• Miranda Zak, Paul Berg and Daniel J. Larson Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in the Eberly College of Science and Verne M. Willaman Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Science, doctoral student in astronomy and astrophysics 

• Ruocheng Zhai, Paul M. Doty Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, doctoral student in astronomy and astrophysics