HSS Congratulates the 2021 Student Prizewinners

Following more than a year of remote learning, with all its challenges, the Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences is especially proud to present the students awarded HSS prizes for the 2020–2021 academic year. Caltech students have demonstrated an incredible commitment to their education, and today we celebrate the class of 2021 in a virtual commencement ceremony. For now, we offer a toast from afar and look forward to the day that we can celebrate together again!

HSS faculty awarded the division's prizes to the following students:

Gordon McClure Memorial Communications Prize in English
Victoria Liu, "Ahab's Solipsism and the Illusion of Self-Reliance"

Gordon McClure Memorial Communications Prize in History
Saehui Hwang, "History of Hearing Aids"

Gordon McClure Memorial Communications Prize in Philosophy
Ryan White (BS '21, Physics and Philosophy (Minor)), "Fairness, Morality, and Pursuing an Ideal System of Distributive Justice"

Hallett Smith Prize
Andrew Chan (BS '21, Geophysics and English), "Messy Definitions and Blurred Lines: Marriage, Autonomy, and Reconciliation in Shakespeare's Measure for Measure"

David M. Grether Prize in Social Science
James (Jamie) Vinson (BS '21, Mathematics and Economics and Chemistry (Minor))
Anthony (Tony) Kukavica (BS '21, Mathematics and Economics)

Mary A. Earl McKinney Prize in Poetry
Shiva Mudide (BS '21, Physics), "Savor"
Honorable Mention: Maggie Sui, "The Box"

Mary A. Earl McKinney Prize in Prose Fiction
Hrishika Basava, "Unravel at the Seams"

Rodman W. Paul History Prize
Anirudh Rangaswamy (BS '21, Computer Science and Business, Economics, and Management and Information and Data (Minor))

Eleanor Searle Prize in Law, Politics, and Institutions
Myra Cheng

Alexander P. and Adelaide F. Hixon Prize for Writing
Bradley (Kaulana) Chun, "The Relevance of Jazz in Modern Historiography"

John O. Ledyard Prize for Graduate Research in Social Science
Po Hsuan Lin, "Cognitive Hierarchies in Extensive Form Games"

To learn more about the history of each HSS prize and see a list of winners from the last five years, click here.

At Caltech's virtual commencement ceremony, the Institute also honored these students who completed an HSS option or minor:

Senior Undergraduate Thesis Prize
Laura Daisy Hu (BS '21, Computer Science and English) for "Navigating the Temporal Landscape of Trauma"

Fritz B. Burns Prize in Geology and the Residential Experience Team Award (as part of the Science Olympiad Team)
Xueer "Sherry" Liang (BS '21, Planetary Science and Business, Economics, and Management)

Student Residential Life Award
Ariel Jacob Rosner (BS '21, Mechanical Engineering and Business, Economics, and Management and Computer Science (Minor))

The Bhansali Family Prize in Computer Science
Maya Sharanya Srikanth (BS '21, Computer Science and Business, Economics, and Management)

Updated 11/10/2021