Recent Departmental Awards
Francis R. Aumann Award for Distinguished Senior Achievement
The Francis R. Aumann Award is presented to the best all-around senior students in political science. This award was established by alumni, friends, and associates of Dr. Aumann, professor emeritus, as a way of rewarding scholastic excellence and promoting the academic goals of the department. The winner receives $500.
2026 Award Recipient:
- Killian Hoyt
Lawrence J.R. Herson Award for Academic Excellence
The Herson Award recognizes those seniors who have demonstrated outstanding academic excellence and are graduating with a perfect 4.0 GPA. The award is named in honor of one of our most distinguished emeritus faculty, Lawrence J.R. Herson, a long-time member of the department who served as Department Chair and went on to become Dean of the College. The winners receive $500.
2026 Award Recipients:
- Kaleigh Bayoumy
- Samuel Becker
- Linjie Dai
- Abigail Eiben
- Killian Hoyt
- Makenna Lottig
- Clarice Newman
- Mary Noftsinger
- Katherine Oestreich
- Dominic Pagano
- John Perez-Strohmeyer
- London Porter
- Tess Scearbo
- Olivia Scholl
- Kathleen Tracy
- Charles Wood
Best Paper Awards
Best paper awards are made possible through endowments from donors including Jacobina Aman and Francis R. Aumann. The winners receive $500.
Best Paper in American Politics
2026 Award Recipient:
- Aditya Desai, “How Personality and Political Traits Shape Satisfaction in AI-Assisted Surveys”
Best Paper in International Relations
2026 Award Recipients:
- Corinna Hilmas, “Bureaucracy Above the Horizon: Structural Constraints on the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) and the Transparency Ceiling”
- Alexander Hoover, “Moving Beyond the Deadlock”
Best Paper in Political Theory
2026 Award Recipient:
- Sloane Warner, “Containing Antagonism: Moral Caps and to Prevent Dehumanization”
Henry R. Spencer Award for Outstanding Senior Honors Thesis in Political Science
Henry R. Spencer was the founding chair of the Department of Political Science in 1909. Henry R. Spencer served 38 years until he stepped down in 1947. The winners receive $500 for their outstanding senior theses.
2026 Award Recipient:
- Natalie Thacker, “Time Series Interbranch Dynamics in Agenda-Setting Behavior”
- Advisors, Dr. Janet Box-Steffensmeier and Dr. Dena Asta