Prizes & Honors 2025

prizes and honors for commencement 2025

Each year at commencement, the Harvard Graduate School of Design confers awards on graduating students who demonstrate exceptional scholarly achievement, leadership, and service. Congratulations to the student award recipients, and to all 2025 graduates for your tremendous accomplishments.

Prize-Winning Thesis Projects

Form Follows Forest

Kei Takanami (MArch I ’25)

model of wood house

The Only Way Out is Through: Architecture, Building and Our Entangled Present in Gary, Indiana

Connor Daniel Gravelle (MArch II ’25)

model on grass

Chemical Occupations: Anti-Colonial Reactions in the Desert

Adam Issam Azzam (MLA I/MUP ’25)

palm tree

After Snow: The Case for an Alpine Public

Cory Robinson Page (MLA I/MUP ’25)

skiing model

Staging Riis

August Earnest Sklar (MLA I ’25)

model of beach and dune

 

VEILED VISIBILITY: SPATIAL MEMORY AND QUEER IDENTITY IN SHINJUKU NI-CHōME 

Michael J. Kaneshiro Chou (MUP/MPH ’25)

veiled man with mask

Laptis

Kevin Hu (MDE ’25)

diagram

 

School Awards

Gerald M. McCue Medal

The Gerald M. McCue Medal is awarded each year to the student graduating from one of the school’s post-professional degree programs who has achieved the highest overall academic record.

  • Connor Daniel Gravelle (MArch II ’25)

Digital Design Prize

The Digital Design Prize is presented by the Graduate School of Design to the students who have demonstrated the most imaginative and creative use of computer graphics in relation to the design professions.

  • Paris Sebastian Bezanis (MArch I ’25)

Peter Rice Prize

The Peter Rice Prize honors students of exceptional promise in the school’s architecture and advanced degree programs who have proven their competence and innovation in advancing architecture and structural engineering.

  • Juan Fernandez Gonzalez (MArch I ’25)

 Plimpton-Poorvu Design Prize

The Plimpton-Poorvu Design Prize recognizes the top team or individual for a viable real estate project completed as part of the GSD curriculum that best demonstrates feasibility in design, construction, economics, and in fulfillment of market and user needs.

  • 1st Prize: R. Kofi Boakye Bempong   (MUP/MPA ’25)
  • 1st Prize: Henry Black (MUP ’25)
  • 1st Prize: Ka Weng Lai (MUD ’25)
  • 1st Prize: Kiara Nahomy Wong Siu (MAUD ’25)
  • 2nd Prize: Brittany Arceneaux (MRE ’25)
  • 2nd Prize: Noemi Iten (MDes, Narratives ’25)
  • 2nd Prize: Andres Lira Vigneaux (MArch II ’25)
  • 2nd Prize: Dennis Sola (MArch II ’25)
  • 3rd Prize: Ian Erickson (MArch I ’25)
  • 3rd Prize: Vincent Jackow (MArch I [MIT] ’26)
  • 3rd Prize: Nathan Lowrey (MRE ’25)
  • 3rd Prize: Nicky Rhodes (MArch I ’26)

Clifford Wong Prize in Housing Design

The Clifford Wong Prize in Housing Design aims to help re-establish the essential role of architects in society to provide not only the fundamental needs of human shelter but to meet the challenge of designing creative solutions for improving living environments. The prize is awarded for the multi-family housing design that incorporates the most interesting ideas and/or innovations that may lead to socially oriented, improved living conditions.

  • Chandler Jordan Caserta (MArch I ’25)

Best Paper on Housing

  • Andres Lira Vigneaux (MArch II ’25)

Frederick Sheldon Traveling Fellowship

Frederick Sheldon Traveling Fellowships are awarded to Harvard graduate students for one academic year of travel, study, and/or research outside the United States.

  • Yihao Li (DDes ’24)

Architecture Awards

American Institute of Architects Medal

The American Institute of Architects Medal is awarded to a professional degree student in the Master in Architecture graduating class who has achieved the highest level of excellence in overall scholarship throughout the course of their studies.

  • Stephanie L Tang (MArch I ’25)

Alpha Rho Chi Medal

The Alpha Rho Chi Medal is awarded to the graduating student who has achieved the best general record of leadership and service to the department and who gives promise of professional merit through their character.

  • Catherine Shuying Chen (MArch I ’25)

James Templeton Kelley Prize

The James Templeton Kelley Prize recognizes the best final design project submitted by a graduating student in the architecture degree programs.

  • MArch I: Kei Takanami  (MArch I ’25)
  • MArch II: Conner Daniel Gravelle (MArch II ’25)

Julia Amory Appleton Traveling Fellowship in Architecture

The Julia Amory Appleton Traveling Fellowship is given to a student in the Department of Architecture on the basis of academic achievement as well as the worthiness of the project to be undertaken.

  • Stephanie L Tang (MArch I ’25)

Kevin V. Kieran Prize

The Kevin V. Kieran Prize recognizes the highest level of academic achievement among students graduating from the post-professional Master in Architecture program.

  • Duncan Angus Steele (MArch II ’25)

Dept. of Architecture Faculty Design Award

The Department of Architecture Faculty Design Award was established by the faculty of the Department of Architecture with the aim of recognizing significant achievement within a body of design work completed by a student at the GSD. This award is given to graduating students from each of the department’s two program.

  • Fernando Garrido Carreras (MArch I ’25)
  • Elias Bennett (MArch II ’25)

Dept. of Architecture Certificate of Academic Excellence

The Department of Architecture Certificate of Academic Excellence is awarded by the faculty of the Department of Architecture to a graduate of the professional degree program in architecture (MArch I) in recognition of their academic achievement throughout their course of study in the program.

  • Jing Yao Liao (MArch I ’25)

Landscape Architecture Awards

Thesis Prize in Landscape Architecture

The Landscape Architecture Thesis Prize is given to the graduating student who has prepared the best independent thesis during the past academic year.

  • Adam Issam Azzam (MLA I/MUP ’25)
  • Cory Robinson Page (MLA I/MUP ’25)
  • August Earnest Sklar (MLA I ’25)

American Society of Landscape Architects Certificates

Nominated by the faculty in the GSD’s Department of Landscape Architecture, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) awards a certificate of Honor and a Certificate of Merit to students enrolled in the Master in Landscape Architecture program who have “demonstrated a high degree of academic scholarship and of accomplishment in skills related to the art and technology of landscape architecture.”

  • Qijia Chen (MLA I ’25), Certificate of Merit
  • Mauricio Cohen Kalb (MLA I AP/MAUD ’25), Certificate of Merit
  • Anne Cecily Field (MLA I ’25), Certificate of Merit
  • Adam Issam Azzam (MLA I/MUP ’25), Certificate of Honor
  • Hayden Issac Bernhardt (MLA I  ’25), Certificate of Honor
  • Pedro Teixeira de Souza Brito (MLA I AP ’25), Certificate of Honor

Landscape Architecture Foundation Olmsted Scholar

Named for Frederick Law Olmsted, the Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF) Olmsted Scholars Program recognizes one outstanding student from each accredited landscape architecture program in the U.S. and Canada, along with the jury-selected graduate and undergraduate national award winners and finalists.

  • Adam Issam Azzam (MLA I/MUP ’25)

Norman T. Newton Prize

The Norman T. Newton Prize is given to a graduating landscape architecture student whose work best exemplifies achievement in design expression as realized in any medium.

  • Justin Andrew Booz (MLA I/MDes ’25, Mediums Domain)

Peter Walker & Partners Fellowship for Landscape Architecture

The Peter Walker and Partners Fellowship for Landscape Architecture is awarded to support travel and study for a graduating GSD student to advance their understanding of the body of scholarship and practices related to landscape design.

  • Cory Robinson Page (MLA I/MUP ’25)
  • Dafne Saint-Hilaire (MArch I/MLA I AP ’25)

Jacob Weidenman Prize

The Jacob Weidenman Prize is awarded to the student of the most distinguished design achievement graduating from the Department of Landscape Architecture.

  • Jorge González Yáñez (MLA I AP ’25)

Charles Eliot Traveling Fellowship in Landscape Architecture

The Charles Eliot Traveling Fellowship is awarded annually as the highest honor by the Department of Landscape Architecture to one of its graduates.

  • Makio Yamamoto (MLA I AP/MUP  ’25)

Urban Planning and Design Awards

Academic Excellence in Urban Planning, Urban Design, and Real Estate

The Awards for Academic Excellence in Urban Planning, Urban Design, and  Real Estate honor graduating students from each of the programs who have achieved the highest academic record.

  • Aanchal Chopra (MUP ’25)
  • Harish Krishnamoorthy (MAUD ’25)
  • Danny Kradjian (MRE ’24)

Awards for Outstanding Leadership in Urban Planning, Urban Design, and Real Estate

The Awards for Outstanding Leadership in Urban Planning, Urban Design, and Real Estate honor graduating students from each of the programs who have demonstrated outstanding leadership during their time at the Graduate School of Design.

  • Hee Young Seung (MUP ’25)
  • Kiara Nahomy Wong Siu (MAUD ’25)
  • Leonard Oscar Allen-Smith (MRE ’24)

Thesis Prize in Urban Planning & Design

The Planning and Design Thesis Prize is given to the graduating students in each of the programs who have prepared the best independent theses during the past academic year.

  • Michael J. Kaneshiro Chou (MUP/MPH ’25)

Award for Excellence in Project-Based Urban Planning

The Award for Excellence in Project-Based Urban Planning is given to students who have demonstrated exceptional ability in urban planning projects including research and design studios throughout their course of study.

  • Aanchal Chopra (MUP ’25)

Award for Excellence in Urban Design

The Award for Excellence in Urban Design is given to students who have demonstrated exceptional design ability throughout their course of study in the Urban Design program.

  • Natchanon Bhunto (MAUD ’25)

American Planning Association Outstanding Student Award

The American Planning Association Outstanding Student Award recognizes outstanding attainment in the study of planning by students graduating from accredited planning programs. The recipient of the award is chosen by a jury of planning faculty at each school.

  • Aaron Zachary Smithson (MArch I/MUP ’25)

Ferdinand Colloredo-Mansfeld Prize for Superior Achievement in Real Estate Studies

The Ferdinand Colloredo-Mansfeld Prize for Superior Achievement in Real Estate Studies is awarded annually to a graduating student from any degree program, who has exhibited superior academic achievement and leadership in real estate studies.

  • Danny Kradjian (MRE ’24)

Druker Traveling Fellowship

Established in 1986, the Druker Traveling Fellowship is open to all students at the GSD who demonstrate excellence in the design of urban environments. It offers students the opportunity to travel in the United States or abroad to pursue study that advances understanding of urban design.

  • Naomi Nishit Mehta (MAUD ’25)

Design Studies Awards

Dimitris Pikionis Award

The Dimitris Pikionis Award recognizes a student for outstanding academic performance in the Master in Design Studies degree program.

  • Tsz Man Nicholas Chung (MDes ’25, Narratives Domain)

Design Studies Domain Awards

  • Angelina Yihan Zhang (MDes ’25, Ecologies Domain)
  • Justin Andrew Booz (MDes ’25, Mediums Domain)
  • Yifei Zhang (MDes ’25, Narratives Domain)
  • Schola Chioma Eburuoh (MDes ’25, Publics Domain)

Design Engineering Awards

Overall Academic Performance Award

The Overall Academic Performance Award recognizes a graduating MDE student for outstanding academic performance in the Master in Design Engineering degree program.

  • Malcolm Arthur Grba (MDE ’25)

Leadership and Community Prize

The Leadership and Community Prize recognizes one or more graduating students who have displayed outstanding leadership and community building within the Design Engineering cohort and who have represented MDE values to the larger world.

  • Darren Kan-Fui Chin (MDE ’25)
  • Fatima Alkali Mamu (MDE ’25)

Outstanding Design Engineering Project

  • Kevin Hu (MDE ’25)