We Celebrate! Franke Honors Fall '25 Convocation Awardees
On December 18 at Marroney Theatre, the W.A. Franke Honors College will be celebrating the winter graduating class of 2025. Every semester, we acknowledge select students that have exemplified the values of the college; what it means to seek, connect, create, evolve and celebrate, both personally and academically. The Outstanding Senior and Outstanding Transfer, are chosen via nominations from Franke Honors faculty & staff, and are awarded to graduating seniors that have embodied a spirit of inquiry, pursued their passions, and overcome adversity throughout their time in honors.
Emmett Bauer
W.A. Franke Honors College Outstanding Senior, Winter 2025
Emmett Bauer, a native of Baldwinsville, New York, has a degree in Plant Sciences with a minor in Microbiology. He was drawn to the university by the exceptional opportunities offered through the W. A. Franke Honors College and the strength of the Plant Sciences faculty. During his undergraduate studies, Emmett curated species descriptions for many plants on campus and was an active member of both the campus arboretum and the Plant Science Club.
He conducted extensive laboratory research and received a National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF REU) award, supporting his participation in multiple large-scale, NSF-funded projects. His research has included fieldwork in the Canadian Arctic, and he earned two consecutive travel awards to present his work at national meetings of the Mycological Society of America. Through an Honors Research Grant, Emmett expanded his research to investigate fungal and plant communities in the rainforests of Central America. He later served as a research assistant at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Gamboa, Panama.
Emmett has authored two first-author scientific publications and presented his work at major conferences. He plans to pursue a PhD focusing on mycology and fungal symbioses.
Jack Flanigan
W.A. Franke Honors College Outstanding Transfer Student, Winter 2025
This year we are also excited to celebrate Wesley Warshawer as the W.A. Franke Honors 2025-26 Young Alumni of the Year. This award is bestowed on an early career Franke Honors College graduate who has demonstrated outstanding achievements in their field.
Wesley Warshawer
W.A. Franke Honors College Young Alumni of the Year, 2025-26
Wesley Warshawer is a supply chain and operations professional at Lam Research—a semiconductor equipment and technology company—in San Jose, California. He has experience working at the intersection of Operations, Analytics, and Project Management to solve big problems by diagnosing root causes through an international perspective. Wesley is dedicated to process optimization through collaboration. He works with data visualization and analytics tools to present the right data to the right person at the right time.
Before moving to Silicon Valley, he was a U.S. Fulbright Recipient in South Korea for two years, where he received a Master’s in Global Economy and Strategy from Yonsei University in Seoul. He has spent significant time overseas, including two years in South Korea, 3+ months in India, 5+ months in China, 3+ months in East Africa, one year in South America, and 6 weeks working at a semiconductor facility in the Philippines.
Before his Master’s program, he worked as an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Implementation Consultant and Project Manager. He traveled to engineering and manufacturing companies around the US to effectively streamline their supply chain and implement long-lasting IT solutions. He collaborated with the CEO, CFO, CIO, and other department heads to discuss their ERP system requirements based on their unique business needs. His job did not confine him to a particular department but rather allowed him to follow all corporate processes.
Wesley graduated Summa Cum Laude with Honors from the University of Arizona Eller School of Business with degrees in Management Information Systems (MIS), Operations Management, and Entrepreneurship. While at the U of A, Wesley won the McCord Scholarship to study for a semester in India and the Critical Languages Scholarship (CLS) to study in South Korea for a summer.
Wesley is APICS CPIM certified, a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, PMP Certified, and Scrum Alliance CSM certified. He also volunteers on the Young Professional Committee of the Association of Supply Chain Management (ASCM) and has volunteered as a Mentor for the University of Arizona Honors College. He also served as a Board Member for the Big Data Program at California State University, East Bay.
Stay Tuned!
Wesley will be featured on an upcoming episode of It’s an Honor, a podcast from the W.A. Franke Honors College. We are excited to share the conversation soon! In the meantime, check out past conversations between Dean Pollard and leaders from across the University of Arizona and beyond.