Best Honors Thesis
Awarded annually to a Duke Sanford student.
2026 Winner
Kate Seneshen's thesis concerns HPV and HPV-Related Cancer Prevention in Peru. Her faculty advisor called the work "novel" and said it "required impressive initiative and an entrepreneurial spirit to carry out." Kate's project resulted in policy recommendations that were shared with Peru’s Ministry of Health, who expressed interest in collaborating to implement the findings from her work.
2025 Winner
Anushri Saxena received this distinction for her thesis, “Crisis Pregnancy Centers Post-Roe v Wade: Correlates of State Variation in Anti-Abortion Fake Clinics.” Her research was praised as a "novel and sophisticated exploration" of such high caliber that it promises to "make an immediate contribution to our scholarly understanding of the field and be immediately useful to policymakers."
2024 Winner
Christina Wang won the 2024 Best Honors Thesis award. Her Honors Thesis, titled "What Do Americans Think Democracy Means?” includes research that reflects her dedication to understanding democratic principles and amplifying the voices of the American people. Under the mentorship of Professor Nicholas Carnes, she emulated his balance between impactful research and personal well-being.
2023 - Mary Monti
2022 - Arya Patel
2021 - Sophia Katz
2020 - Tyler Kopp
2019 - Madison Ann Mastrangelo
2018 - Blaine Elias
2017 - Jessica Elisabeth Kalili Van Meir
2016 - Christie Marie Lawrence
2015 - Xinshu Sui
2014 - Caroline Michelle Jacobs
Joel Fleishman Distinguished Scholar Award
Recognizes the graduating major with the highest academic achievement in Public Policy Studies.
2025 Scholars
Davis Beischer, Miles Cooperman, Kathryn Kotler, Thomas Newberry, Alice Qin, and Rebecca Rosenzweig. The presentation was accompanied by a musical tribute to the late Joel Fleishman, Sanford's founding director, featuring an excerpt from Mozart’s String Quartet No. 4, one of his favorite pieces.
2023 - Nicholas Camposano
2022 - Rebecca DiLuzio
2021 - Hannah Miao
2020 - Hayden Lynn Manseau
2019 - Kushal Tushar Kadakia
2018 - Maura Elisabeth Smyles
2017 - Parker Colburn Gilbert and Jessica Elisabeth Kalili Van Meir
2016 - Matthew Allen Peterson
2015 - Reed Adam McGinley-Stempel
2014 - Michelle Christine Burrows, Li-Kuang Chen, Marissa Weil Medine, and Hong Zhu
Terry Sanford Leadership Award
Presented annually to a graduating major recognizing their achievement in leadership. Students are nominated by faculty and staff and voted on by the faculty committee.
2026
Abigail Bergan
A counter-Terrorism and Public Policy Fellow, Abigail led an initiative to support civil-military relations with active-duty military and law enforcement professionals at Duke.
2026
Anastasia Crowley
Anastasia identified an issue with financial exclusion and impediments to learning business skills among women in rural Uganda, and created a plan to address the issue.
2025
Chloe Decker
Chloe was Chair and Student Voting Director of Duke Votes, Duke’s largest nonpartisan political club, for the national 2024 General Election. Under her leadership, Duke Votes registered more than 3,000 students to vote and recorded the highest-ever turnout at Duke’s on-campus early voting site at the Karsh Alumni Center.
2024 - Grace Endrud and Chloe Nguyen
2023 - Alex Hoffman and Quinn Smith
2022 - Shrey Majmudar and Olivia Reneau
2021 - Lauren Howell
2020 - Kaylee Brilhart
2019 - Shandiin Herrera
2018 - Adam Nicholas Beyer and Jacqueline Aram Monetta
2017 - Osasenaga Kelly Aghayere and Jessica Elisabeth Kalili Van Meir
2016 - Christie Marie Lawrence and John Anthony Sullivan
2015 - David Gregor Robertson and Ishan Yatin Thakore
2014 - Andrew Leon Hanna
Susan E. Tifft Teaching and Mentoring Award
This award is presented to a Sanford faculty member who has made outstanding contributions to the teaching mission of the undergraduate program and has a deep commitment to the intellectual, professional and personal development of undergraduate majors in public policy.
2026 Jennifer Siegel
Professor Siegel is known for her rigorous and deeply engaging teaching, as well as her unwavering commitment to students’ intellectual growth. Numerous students praised Siegel for her extraordinary dedication. One student wrote that “Dr. Siegel exemplifies the very best of what it means to be an educator" saying she is an exceptional professor and "a true role model.”
2025 David Hoffman
Professor David Hoffman was recognized for his inspiring teaching and dedication. One student noted said Hoffman’s “passion and creativity for teaching, as well as his care for his students, is unmatched.” He is known for challenging students with innovative assignments and controversial questions, fostering critical reflection while taking “the time to support students in seemingly limitless ways.”
2024 Lisa Gennetian
Students nominated Lisa Gennetian for the 2024 award, and the praise for her instruction was glowing. Gennetian is an applied economist who studies poverty and policy interventions related to children. Gennetian teaches the core microeconomics course for Sanford undergraduates and many students praised her ability to make economics less daunting by engaging the class with accessible real-world examples, including from her own research.
2023 - Mallory SoRelle
2022 - Suzanne Katzenstein
2021 - Professor Kristin Goss
2020 - Professor Abdullah Antepli
2019 - Professor Deondra Rose
2018 - Professor Nicholas W. Carnes
2017 - Professor Catherine Adcock Admay and Professor Gunther W. Peck
2016 - Professor Kenneth S. Rogerson
2015 - Professor Jay A. Pearson
2014 - Professor Alma G. Blount
Undergraduate Speaker
Each year, the talk by the commencement speaker is often the highlight of the ceremony.
2025 Student Speakers
Grace and Olivia Hayward are the identical twin duo selected as the 2025 Sanford Student Commencement Speakers. These two have navigated their Duke and Sanford journeys side-by-side. From dreaming of Duke together in high school to becoming integral parts of the Sanford community, their story is one of shared ambition, distinct passions, and a deep connection to both Duke and each other.
2024 Student Speaker
From the quiet one to the student speaker, Laya Sathyan isn’t afraid of changing herself or the world around her. Her interests span researching HIV funding dynamics to exploring power dynamics in global health and public policy. Laya's academic endeavors mirrored her unwavering commitment to effecting systemic change. After graduation, Laya plans to utilize her extensive global health and public policy knowledge to continue in health advocacy.
2023 Student Speaker
Gabrielle "Gaby" Battle comes from a family rooted in justice and advocacy for marginalized communities. Raised by her mother and grandmother, and close to her great-grandmothers, she says their intergenerational teachings, "not only made me feel empowered to be Black but also motivated to continue to advocate for our people." Battle's speech focused on the idea of "radical hope", a term popularized in a 2006 book of the same title. Gaby will be attending Harvard Law School.
2022 - Kyle Melatti
2021 - Aly Diaz
2020 - Eric Biehn
2019 - Vanessa Agudelo
2018 - Amy Lynn Kramer
2017 - Steven Richard Brenner
2016 - Isabella Kwai
2015 - Vignesh Sapthagiri Krishnaswamy and Emily Catherine Hadley
2014 - Joy Chang Liu