2021 Prize Winners (online due to covid)

 

Lowell House Prizes (PDF)

SENIOR PRIZES

DIANA L. ECK & DOROTHY A. AUSTIN PRIZE
Diana L. Eck (Ph.D. '76) and Dorothy A. Austin (Th.D. '81) were faculty deans of Lowell House from 1998 to 2019. Diana's teaching and scholarship focused on the spiritual traditions of India, interfaith dialogue, and religious pluralism in America.

Dorothy worked as a professor in psychology and religion and served as a minister and pastoral counselor in The Memorial Church. Upon their retirement from Lowell House, the Senior Common Room established a prize in their honor. The prize is awarded to a Lowell House senior who exemplifies the qualities of curiosity, engagement, understanding, and respect that are fundamental to a pluralistic community.

ABA SAM

JOHN PETERSEN ELDER PRIZE

The Senior Common Room established a prize recognizing the long service of the late John Petersen Elder to Lowell House on the occasion of his retirement in 1980. Peter Elder was Professor of Greek and Latin and served as Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences from 1955 to 1971. He first joined Lowell House in 1941. In 1946, after service in the army during World War II, he returned as resident Tutor in Greek and Latin. He later became a nonresident Tutor and Associate. The prize is awarded to a scholarly Lowell House student who has made a unique contribution to the House and shows wit and loyalty.

ANDREW CASTILLO

CAROLINE ISENBERG AWARD

Caroline Isenberg ’84 was a promising actress who went on to pursue an acting career in New York City. When her life was taken during her first year there, her friends established this prize in her memory. The prize is awarded to that student who has made the most outstanding contributions to the performing arts and who best exemplifies Caroline’s talent, enthusiasm, and generosity to others.

THOMAS BURR 

SYDNEY McDONALD

INTRAMURAL ATHLETICS AWARD
Each year the Senior Common Room recognizes the person who, by participation and talent, has done the most to further intramural athletics at Lowell House and Harvard College.

JOEY MINATEL

KOREAN WAR MEMORIAL PRIZE

This prize was established through the gift of men who lived in Lowell House during the years 1950, 1951, and 1952, in honor of Lowell House men who saw combat in the Korean War, and more particularly in memory of Sherrod Skinner, Thomas Hubbard, Franklin Dunbaugh, and Wilbur Van Bremen, of the Class of 1951, all of whom were killed in action. The prize is to be awarded to a Harvard College senior in Lowell House who, in the opinion of the Master and Tutors, possesses those qualities of unhesitating responsibility and strength of character which were possessed in so marked a degree by Skinner, Hubbard, Dunbaugh, and Van Bremen.

ROSS SIMMONS

JOHN V. KELLEHER PRIZE

Awarded by the Senior Common Room, this prize honors John V. Kelleher, Professor of Irish Studies Emeritus. It is given to a student who exemplifies John Kelleher’s values, academic and intellectual interests, dependability, and loyalty to Lowell House.

THOR LARSON

OLIVER YORK

ERNST KITZINGER PRIZE

Established in 2000, this prize honors Ernst Kitzinger, Arthur Kingsley Porter University Professor, Emeritus, and a long-time member of Lowell House. One of the foremost twentieth-century scholars of Western and Eastern Medieval art, Professor Kitzinger is also remembered for his intellectual integrity, love of the arts, and his generosity to his students and peers. This award seeks to recognize that student at Lowell House who best exemplifies Ernst Kitzinger’s qualities as a scholar and citizen.

SETU MEHTA 

AUSTIN TAYLOR

PATRICK MELENDEZ AWARD
A Lowell House student in the class of 1977, Patrick Melendez died of a head injury sustained in a boxing match in pursuit of a career in athletics. Patrick shared his commitment to sports with young people. He widened their horizons and stimulated their drive for personal development. He also provided a goal for others by his high standards of athletic achievement and his generosity. This award is given to that senior who has shown loyalty to his or her chosen sport and dedication to Harvard athletics, with a generous concern for young people in the community.

JAYCEE YEGHER

DAVID MCCORD PRIZE

A gift of James N. White ’21 provides for a prize in honor of David Thompson Watson McCord ’21, poet, essayist, Cambridge/Boston litterateur, honorary Lowell House Senior Common Room member, editor of the Harvard Alumni Bulletin, and, from 1925 until his retirement in 1962, Executive Director of the Harvard Fund Council. The prize is “awarded to undergraduates who have shown unusual creative talent in writing, drama, music, painting, drawing or sculpture.” One or two winners are chosen annually by the Faculty Deans and tutors in each House.

MARYAM HIRADFAR

SAMYRA MILLER

 JAMES BUELL MUNN PRIZE

Established in 1971 in honor of the late James Buell Munn, Professor of English, Emeritus, and longtime Associate of Lowell House, this prize is awarded by and at the discretion of the members of the Senior Common Room of Lowell House to one or more graduating seniors. The winners must have outstanding academic records and strong literary talents and interests which have not been recognized in some official way.

ANDREW AOYAMA

CASSANDRA KOPANS-JOHNSON

MAURICE M. PECHET PRIZE (IN MEDICINE)

A physician-scientist, inventor, and philanthropist, Maurice M. Pechet, Ph.D. ’44, M.D. ’48, made major contributions to medicine in both endocrinology and cancer treatment. He mentored generations of Lowell House chemistry and pre-medical students. In honor of his 70 years of dedicated service to Lowell House, the Senior Common Room established a prize to be given annually to a senior of exceptional academic ability who through a career in research and/or clinical practice is committed to solving outstanding problems in human health and disease.

INDRANI DAS 

STEPHEN FREEMAN

B.J. WHITING PRIZE

The B. J. Whiting Book Prize was established in 1975 in honor of Bartlett Jere Whiting, Gurney Professor of English Literature, Emeritus and Associate of Lowell House. The prize is awarded by the members of the Senior Common Room of Lowell House at their discretion to the senior in Lowell House who adds wit and charm to the House, shows loyalty to the House, and makes it a desirable place for interaction.

ALISON CRUMP

LONDON LOWMANSTONE

WASSIM MARRAKCHI

CHARLES WYZANSKI AWARD
A longtime member of the Society of Fellows and an active force on the Board of Overseers, Judge Wyzanski was for many years a valued Associate of Lowell House. With this award, Lowell House seeks to recognize a student interested in the law, who shares Judge Wyzanski’s love for vigorous conversation and his concern for the theoretical and practical issues of justice.

REMEDY RYAN

FACULTY DEANS’ PRIZE
Awarded each year to a senior or seniors who, in the estimation of the Lowell House faculty deans, show consistent leadership and devotion to Lowell House and to the people in the community.

PEYTON DUNHAM

ABIGAIL JOSEPH 

ANNA TAVORMINA

RESIDENT DEAN (SENIOR TUTOR) PRIZE
This prize is given annually at the discretion of the Lowell House resident dean to a student or students who show honor, resilience, and intelligence or other characteristics that make Lowell House such an inspiring community.

MELISA SANTIZO
 

SOPHOMORE / JUNIOR PRIZES

WILLIAM & MARY LEE BOSSERT PRIZE
For 23 years, William H. Bossert, David B. Arnold Professor of the Sciences, and Mary Lee Norman Bossert served as co-masters of Lowell House. After their retirement from the House in 1998, the Senior Common Room established a prize to be given annually to a sophomore or junior of exceptional academic ability with a commitment to a broad range of the sciences who shares one or more of the Bosserts’ many interests.

KAVYA KOPPARAPU

LERATO TAKANA

JANE COOLIDGE & WALTER MUIR WHITEHILL PRIZE

Walter Muir Whitehill ’26, A.M. ’29, was a former Senior Tutor and longtime Associate of Lowell House. He “labored joyfully and with unique powers for the advancement of the means, the amenities, and the ends of humane learning.” Jane Coolidge Whitehill was the daughter of the first Master, Julian Coolidge. Recipient of a Radcliffe A.M. ’26, she edited a collection of the letters of Charles Eliot Norton and produced a variety of scholarly and literary works over the years. Upon Walther Muir Whitehill’s death in 1978, the Senior Common Room established a prize in the Whitehills’ honor for a junior who as a scholar and a citizen best represents the tradition of the humane letters and arts (perhaps in history, history and literature, or history of art and architecture).

MARI BOTHNER

ZOE HOPKINS

JASPER SCHOFF

FRANKLIN FORD AWARD

As a Professor of History and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Franklin Ford enriched the lives of many undergraduates. His service as a Senior Tutor at Lowell House and his lengthy tenure in the Senior Common Room particularly endeared him to Lowell House students. The prize is awarded to a Lowell House student who shares “Franklin’s scholarly interest in academic subjects, strong intellectual ability, and dry wit.”

MICHEL NEHME

ELLIOTT & MARY PERKINS PRIZE
Upon the retirement of Professor of History Elliott Perkins ‘23, A.M. ‘28, Ph.D. ‘36, as Master, a fund was established by Lowell House members and other friends for the Elliott and Mary Perkins Prize. The prize is awarded to a sophomore or junior with high academic standing and an interest in contributing to the community both in Lowell House and in extracurricular activities.

MICHAEL PAK

BRAMMY RAJAKUMAR

ZEPH & DIANA STEWART PRIZE
From 1963-1975, Professor of Greek and Latin Zeph Stewart was master and Diana Stewart was associate master of Lowell House. When they left the House, the Senior Common Room established a prize to commemorate their service. The prize is awarded to “an undergraduate who has contributed notably, whether through personal qualities or through activities to the sense of community in Lowell House and Harvard.”

BRIDGER GORDON

RACHEL REYNOLDS