Honors students recognized with Norrine Bailey Spencer Strong Start Award
Eighty-four students in the Virginia Tech Honors College were recently recognized as Norrine Bailey Spencer Strong Start Honorees. The recognition goes to Honors College students who achieved a 4.0 in their first semester of study at Virginia Tech.
The namesake of the award is the late Norrine Bailey Spencer, former associate provost and director of undergraduate admissions and former associate dean of the Pamplin College of Business, who often expressed to students the importance of getting a strong start in their university education.
“It is fitting that this award be named in memory of Norrine,” Spencer’s husband, Edward Spencer, said. “With an undergraduate mathematics degree and a Ph.D. in educational evaluation and research, she appreciated how important a strong start is in determining cumulative success. Using the mathematical GPA formula, Norrine was very fond of showing students that after the first semester, each succeeding semester has less and less ability to impact one’s overall GPA. It’s the strong start that is so important!”
The following students are recognized as Norrine Bailey Spencer Strong Start Honorees for 2021:
- Mete Aktuglu, general engineering
- Ghaidaa Al Khafaji, biomedical engineering
- Jillian Alexander, environmental economics: management and policy
- Mayd Alsalman, computational and systems neuroscience
- Kylie Arnold, general engineering
- Bryce Bandy, general engineering
- Tamia Barnes, architecture
- Ursilia Beckles, English
- Julia Burns, human nutrition, foods, and exercise
- Tatum Butler, general engineering
- Virginia Chandler, childhood pre-education
- Martha Chen, biochemistry
- Matthew Cheung, general engineering
- Lily Chiang, explore technology
- Isybelle Christley, creative technologies
- Hailey Coates, business, undecided
- Meredith Depuy, general engineering
- Marya Devault, international relations
- Ethan Duerre, medicinal chemistry
- Ryan Fishback, biochemistry
- Erin Folk, architecture
- Susanna Gagliardi, general engineering
- Carter Gannon, general engineering
- Cameron Hadley, environmental policy and planning
- Atharva Haldankar, general engineering
- Mark Hamilton, general engineering
- Jordyn Harris, criminology
- Sydnee Harrison, clinical neuroscience
- Illiana Hins, animal and poultry sciences
- Sarah Huang, general engineering
- Jordan Jones, industrial design
- Akhil Kamalesh, business information technology
- Samantha Kaps, music
- Olivia Kastor, architecture
- Brooke Kesky, interior design
- Zarah King, management
- Iris Layman, agricultural sciences
- Natalie Lucidi, food science and technology
- Claudine Luo, business information technology
- Ashley Manheim, finance
- Kiran Marques, general engineering
- Elizabeth Mathes, biological sciences
- Liam McMillan, biological sciences
- Joseph Mecherikunnel, chemistry
- Cora Meno, general engineering
- Brianna Montgomery, biological sciences
- Jacob Motley, business, undecided
- Jackson Moyer, general engineering
- Sarah Nadasy, liberal arts, undecided
- Berk Oral, architecture
- John Orr, general engineering
- Joseph O'Such, general engineering
- Samantha Ott, biological sciences
- Sara Pacini, biochemistry
- Allison Pennington, biochemistry
- Kaitlyn Phan, general engineering
- Anna Pletch, environmental resources management
- Piyush Pokala, finance
- Aliza Qureshi, architecture
- Aniruthan Ramadoss, general engineering
- Jyotsna Rathinam, international relations
- Logan Rawlings, finance
- Evan Reichard, microbiology
- Lauren Reynolds, general engineering
- Davida Rimm-Kaufman, agricultural sciences
- Anisha Sabbe, finance
- Michael Samson, biological sciences
- Clare Sawyer, biological sciences
- Abigail Schlitzer, international relations
- Rachael Sherbo, general engineering
- Sydney Snearer, business information technology
- John Stern, general engineering
- Zachary Stroud, general engineering
- Thinna Svetanant, biological sciences
- Griffin Tan, business, undecided
- Burak Topo, general engineering
- Izolina Travers, general engineering
- Christine Trieu, smart and sustainable cities
- Lucy Waite, general engineering
- Yijia Wang, statistics
- Rachael Wennermark, English
- Karl Wolf, general engineering
- Wenjing Yu, university studies
- Shirui Zhou, general engineering
