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Lady Elli 

W.A. Franke Honors College Outstanding Senior

Lady Elli, a senior from Tucson, is graduating with majors in Public Health and Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. Lady has been very active as a leader on campus, including her roles as Student Body Senator for ASUA, President for the Public Health Undergraduate Network, and Creator and President for the Pan Asian Council and Coalition. She has a myriad of commitments on campus and in the community, selecting opportunities for involvement that enable her to use her leadership, creativity, and compassion to serve her fellow students and community members. She has a special talent for engaging and inspiring other people through her leadership, service as a preceptor, and involvement in community organizations like Arizona Justice for Our Neighbors that supports legal clinics for refugees and immigrants in Tucson. 

Lady immigrated from the Philippines as a high school student and her experiences have inspired her career goals, which involve working in either medical malpractice or global health policy research to create positive change in the lives of underrepresented and marginalized communities. She has multiple options available for graduate study, including acceptance into the Master of Public Health in Health Policy and Management at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. 

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Shawn Yang

W.A. Franke Honors College Outstanding Transfer Student

Shuo (Shawn) Yang, a senior from Tucson, originally hails from China and came to the W.A. Franke Honors College as a transfer student from Pima Community College. Shawn aspires to be a counselor and has demonstrated positivity, persistence, and drive in reaching this point in his life and career. With majors in Philosophy and Psychology, Shawn has undertaken research, including his senior thesis, that will prepare him for his intended career goals. He is described as a thoughtful and supportive classmate who provides mental and emotional support to his teams, a characteristic that points toward excellence as a future counselor.  

Prior to moving to the United States, Shawn was a small business owner and marketing professional who created and served as President for Yang Shuo Rare Disease Care Center, an organization that advocated for disabled, lower income people so they could access the medical care they needed. Shawn brought this commitment to his work as an intern with the University of Arizona’s Disability Resource Center.  

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Farah Sawal

W.A. Franke Honors College Dean’s Award of Excellence

Farah Sawal, a senior from Chandler, Arizona, has a major in Neuroscience, Cognitive Science as well as minors in Biochemistry and Philosophy, Politics, Economics and Law. Farah has been involved deeply in the W.A. Franke Honors College, serving as a PATH mentor and then PATH lead over three of her years as an Honors student. She also served as co-chair of the inaugural Franke Fling dance that occurred in April. In addition, Farah has been involved in multiple research experiences, beginning with her First Year Project and extending to her thesis work focused on therapies for Down’s Syndrome. Farah also participated in Honors Alternative Spring Breaks and in the Explore Italy study abroad program. 

An aspiring physician, Farah has served as a scribe and also has stepped up to serve in a variety of settings on campus and in the Tucson community. These commitments demonstrate her empathy and concern for others as well as her desire to use her talents and education to improve life for others so they can thrive. She has pushed through her own obstacles and challenges to lead and serve with passion, joy, and a keen sense of purpose. 

Ethical Reasoning Award Winners

The Ethical Reasoning Award was created to promote the inclusion of ethics related to students’ honors thesis projects. The goal is to stimulate students to consider and contextualize the role that ethics and ethical reasoning plays in their area of study. Ultimately, we hope that students are encouraged to engage with a diversity of ethical perspectives while gaining greater insight into their own views, values, and beliefs in a culturally thoughtful way.

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Caroline Blethen
Care, Health, and Society

COMMUNITY-BASED PEDIATRIC PROVIDERS ON MEETING THE UNIQUE NEEDS OF LGBTQ+ IDENTIFYING YOUTH: A FOCUS GROUP

Sydney Dicker
Family Studies and Human Development

ARE WE ONE?: HOW THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS REVEALED THE IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN COOPERATION, ESPECIALLY IN MATTERS PERTAINING TO THE FUTURE STATE OF THE WORLD

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Katie Slaughter
Geosciences & Mining Engineering

METALLIC DESIGN COMPETITION

Silver Award Winners

The Silver Award is presented to Franke Honors Graduates who maintains a 4.0 GPA through graduation.

Da Vinci Award Winners

The da Vinci Award is presented to Franke Honors Graduates who graduate with honors in more than one discipline by completing two or more Honors Thesis Projects.