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Benjamin Bohr and Curtis Brown have been awarded two of UCI's most prestigious undergraduate awards, according to Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships assistant director Chau Luu.
Bohr, a third year global cultures and political science major, is the 2008-09 recipient of the Dan and Jean Aldrich Award, named in honor of UCI's founding chancellor. Curtis Brown, also a political science major, has received the 2008-09 Nicholas Aeberhard Award for outstanding freshman, honoring the former UCI student who shares the award's namesake.
Both recipients were nominated for the competitive $1,500 prizes by the School of Social Sciences. According to Luu, Bohr was also nominated by the School of Humanities for the Aldrich Award, marking the first time a student has received dual nominations.
Benjamin Bohr
His leadership both in and out of the classroom makes Benjamin Bohr a "model student", wrote political science professor Wayne Sandholtz in his letter nominating Bohr for the Aldrich Award. "He excels academically, but also enriches the UCI community through service."
As an undergraduate at UC Irvine, Bohr has been actively involved with several research projects including his current study on how humanitarian missions and military occupation of countries can impact international laws. Funded by the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, his findings will be presented at the program's yearend symposium in May.
A UC Regents scholar and member of both the national honors society for political science and the UC Irvine campus-wide honors program, Bohr's excellence extends beyond the classroom through his involvement with Model United Nations and the Social Sciences Dean's Ambassadors Council where he has served in several leadership roles. He has also worked as a guest and substitute teacher with the Waldorf School of Orange County where he has led lectures on international social studies topics. In 2006, he was awarded the campus-wide Nicholas Aeberhard Award for outstanding freshman.
In his nominating letter, Mark Petracca, political science department chair, recognized Bohr "not only for [his] stellar academic achievements, but also for [his] authentic sense of what it means to be a university student and a fully self-reflective citizen."
Curtis Brown
While only in his first year at UC Irvine, Curtis Brown has made an impact in the classroom through the "breadth of his questions and his command of classroom materials," wrote Charles Anthony Smith, political science assistant professor. "Brown is a bright and engaging young man with a powerful intellect and quick mind."
Benjamin Thomas, a political science graduate student who taught Brown's Introduction to Government course last quarter, calls him a "passionate, capable student" whose performance on exams and in classroom discussions was "used as the 'gold standard' and as a model to coach other students on how to improve."
Out of the classroom, Brown serves as a student lobbyist with the UC Student Association where he has worked directly with legislators concerning UC tuition rates. He is also the alumni chair of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.
Before arriving at UCI, Brown was an honors student at Thousand Oaks High School where he ran competitively for both the cross country and track and field teams. He was the editor of his school newspaper and was also a prosecution pre-trial attorney on the school's Mock Trial team. During his senior year, he assisted with the California State Assembly campaign and worked as an intern in the Thousand Oaks city attorney's office.
Additional Scholarship Recipients
Additional campus-wide scholarship recipients in the School of Social Sciences include:
Jason Romero, anthropology and biomedical engineering double major
Chang Pin Chun Annual Student Award
Arya Moalemi, international studies major
Sylvia Easton Memorial Scholarship
Graciela Arguelles, sociology and Chicano/Latino studies double major
Dunicliffe Scholarship
Melanie Lim, political science major
MEDELLAS Scholarship
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