The staff of the University Honors Program (UHP) extends their most sincere congratulations to the fall graduating class of 2025! University Honors Program and University Scholars Program seniors have worked hard to achieve their goals at NC State, and the UHP wishes them the best of luck in all of their future endeavors.

With an average GPA of 3.79, all 53 of these graduates (49 Honors, 4 Scholars) have demonstrated the commitment to academic excellence, intellectual curiosity, and cultural enrichment expected of students accepted to either of these programs.   

It is UHP tradition to recognize select graduates for two special awards during the Senior Recognition Ceremony each semester. The Richard L. Blanton Outstanding Capstone Award, named for the first permanent director of the University Honors Program, recognizes exceptional Honors capstone projects and encourages the highest levels of undergraduate scholarship and research at NC State. UHP staff congratulate and recognize the following students for their hard work and dedication to research: Justin Kacher, Aubrey O’Quinn and Sahana Ramamurthy. 

The Alex Miller Outstanding Scholar Award recognizes seniors who have exhibited significant commitments to the NC State University Honors Program community. Miller Award winners are students who have had a real impact on the community, leaving it better than they originally found it, much like the founding director of the University Scholars Program, whom the award is named for. UHP staff are grateful to the following students for having represented what it means to become actively engaged and involved in one’s community: Jordan Holcomb, Andrew Hoyek and Sai Vignarthi Vaddi. 

This December’s Blanton and Miller Award recipients represent a small fraction of the exceptional students that complete the University Honors Program and University Scholars Program every semester. During the Senior Recognition Ceremony, students approach the stage to receive their graduation medal and certificate of completion as a short biography of their experience at NC State and in the program is read following the announcement of their name and degree program(s). During the reading of these bios many seniors’ incredible accomplishments and next steps are revealed to the audience of their peers, friends and family, and honored guests. 

Zhangyixin Zheng (psychology) worked in John Begeny’s Educational Research and Partnerships for Academic Success Lab, using bibliometrics to map how social and educational psychology research reaches international audiences. She has presented at the American Psychological Association’s annual conference, and her current projects are progressing smoothly toward publication. 

Kate Healy (animal science) recently joined NC State’s Equine ER Service and looks forward to attending NC State’s College of Veterinary Medicine next fall as an inaugural Equine Scholar. 

Akhil Peruri (computer science) gained industry experience as a Software Engineer Intern at Cisco and HCL Software and attended the Shift Miami 2025 Conference, where he engaged with emerging ideas in artificial intelligence and software engineering. He will now go on to complete a one-year master’s program in computer science through NC State’s Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s program.

Cate McKenna (genetics and Crop and Soil Sciences) completed undergraduate research with three different labs during her undergraduate tenure: the Holland Lab, Rellan-Alvarez Lab, and Alonso-Stepanova Lab. She will now continue her work in the Alonso-Stepanova Lab as a doctoral candidate in Genetics. 

Elizabeth Whetzel (Media Arts, Design, and Technology) won The Arts Village’s Artsies Award in 2022, was featured in the Art2Wear showcase in 2023, received the Partnership Powerhouse Award for her management position in the Student-Made student organization in 2024, and remained on the Dean’s List every semester of her undergraduate tenure.

Special thanks go out to Isaac Paolino (biomedical engineering) for speaking on behalf and in encouragement of his fellow graduates during the Senior Recognition Ceremony for Honors & Scholars Program graduates on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. As a long-running student employee for the UHP, Paolino was selected for student speaker for his quiet confidence and demonstrated experience positively engaging with his peers as an Honors Fellow. Perhaps his most inspiring comment had to do with the skills Paolino believes the UHP helped him and his peers to develop over time, strengths they will be taking with them into their next adventures: 

“We didn’t just complete the requirements,” Paolino said. “We learned how to learn. We learned how to walk into something unfamiliar and get competent quickly. We learned how to ask good questions, how to think across disciplines and how to approach problems from multiple angles. As we move into the next stage of our lives— graduate school, industry, service, exploration or whatever path each of us chooses — those are the skills that will carry us. We don’t need to know everything right now. What matters is that we know how to learn anything we need.”

Per the requirements of the University Scholars Program as they stood at the time of these students’ admittance, the following students have completed 12 hours of approved advanced coursework, three semesters of Forum, and at least three high impact experiences, all the while maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher:

Gabriel P Dean

Cody Elijah Johnston

Sierra Jordan Spillman

Julianna Caroline Welch

Per the requirements of the University Honors Program as they stood at the time of these students’ admittance, the following students have completed six hours of HON Seminars, six additional hours of approved advanced Honors coursework, one semester of Honors Forum and either a senior capstone project OR digital portfolio, all the while maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher:

Jake Andrichuk

Ivelys Garcia Sanabria

Carrie Horrell

Justin Michael Kacher

Elijah James Maze

Sahana Ramamurthy

Sammy Van Geffen

Elizabeth Mae Whetzel

Per the requirements of the University Honors Program as they stood at the time of these students’ admittance, the following students have completed six hours of HON Seminars, six additional hours of approved advanced Honors coursework, two semesters of Honors Forum, at least three high-impact experiences and a senior digital portfolio, all the while maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher:

Gillian Elizabeth Allen

Lauren Grace Baker

Jessica A Bennett

William Gabriel Brisard

Jennie Kylee Buckley

Katy Castle

Ian Elliott Bradman Condon

London Dawn Cribari

Brinkley Elaina Dew

Rohan Bhanu Dodda

Katie Margaret Farrell

Allison Grace Guild

Amani Katharine Harpine

Lai’la Kotono Harris

Leah Haynes

Kate Healy

Jordan Elizabeth Holcomb

Lucy Holt

Andrew Hoyek

Eirini Klemes

Kayla Nicole Lare

Anyah Donna Luna

Cate McKenna

Catherine Mary Merigliano

Maddie Montgomery

Smrithi Muthukrishnan

Aubrey Morgan O’Quinn

Isaac Paolino

Nathan McHenry Passey

Camryn Grace Perkins

Akhil Peruri

Madeline Putman

Sophia Natividad Robinson

Sarah Katherine Rossi

Madison Rose Slotta

Athena Paige Tomlinson

Vignathri Vaddi

Bhargav K Vengala

Chelsea Madison Wilkinson-Roberts

Sofia Worters

Zhangyixin Zheng