AAAS Elections, Breakthrough Prize, Guggenheim Fellowships, Truman Scholars, and More Awards

Columbia News produces a monthly newsletter (subscribe here!) and article series featuring a roundup of awards and milestones that Columbia faculty, staff, and students have received in recent days. In this edition, you’ll find awards and milestones from April 16 to May 27, 2026.

If you have an accomplishment you'd like to be considered for inclusion, please email [email protected] with your name, title, school, department, and a link to the relevant award or milestone. 

You can take a look at past accomplishments on our Awards & Milestones page. And you can subscribe to receive the newsletter in your inbox. 

INSTITUTIONAL 

Eight Columbia University faculty members were elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, one of the United States’ most prestigious honorary societies. The Columbia faculty members elected this year are Keren Bergman, Charles Batchelor Professor of Electrical Engineering; George Chauncey, De Witt Clinton Professor of American History; Qiang Du, Fu Foundation Professor of Applied Mathematics; Farah Jasmine Griffin, University Professor; Kim F. Hall, Lucyle Hook Professor of English at Barnard College; Tim Roughgarden, Professor of Computer Science; Elizabeth Scott, Harold R. Medina Professor of Law, Emerita; and Michael N. Shadlen, Professor of Neuroscience at the Zuckerman Institute.

Michael Kaplan, Lamont Research Professor in Geochemistry at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory; Ingrid Laubrock, Associate in Music Performance in the Music Department; and John Miller, Art History Professor at Barnard College, have received 2026 Guggenheim Fellowships to pursue​ an independent​ project​​ of their choice. They are among 223 American and Canadian scientists, scholars in the social sciences and humanities, writers, and artists of all kinds selected from nearly 5,000 applicants for a 2026 fellowship.

FACULTY

ARTS & HUMANITIES

Erica Avrami, James Marston Fitch Associate Professor of Historic Preservation at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, has been awarded the 2026-2027 Adele Chatfield-Taylor Rome Prize in Historic Preservation and Conservation. 

Harold Fallon, Dean’s Visiting Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, wins the 2026 EU Mies van der Rohe Award for Charleroi Palais des Expositions.

Hannah Farber, Associate Professor of History, and Ross Perlin, Lecturer in the Department of Slavic Languages, have been awarded 2026-2027 fellowships at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library.

Lori A. Flores, Associate Professor of History and Core Faculty member of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race, was named the winner of the 2026 Nach Waxman Prize for Food and Beverage Scholarship for her book, Awaiting Their Feast: Latinx Food Workers & Activism from World War II to COVID-19. 

Rob King, Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Film and Media Studies at School of the Arts, is the recipient of the 2026 Mark Van Doren Award for Teaching, awarded by Columbia College. Established in 1962 in honor of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, novelist, playwright, critic, editor, and biographer Mark Van Doren, the award recognizes one faculty member annually for their humanity, devotion to truth, and inspiring leadership.

Hilary Leichter (SOA’12), Assistant Professor of Writing at School of the Arts, won a 2026 Whiting Award in Fiction. The awards are given annually to 10 emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama based on early accomplishment and the promise of great work to come.

Rosalind C. Morris, Moore Collegiate Professor of Anthropology, was awarded the 2026 Lionel Trilling Book Award for Unstable Ground: The Lives, Deaths, and Afterlives of Gold in South Africa. The Trilling award, given in honor of Lionel Trilling (CC 1925, GSAS 1938), is awarded annually to a member of the faculty whose book was published in the previous year and upholds a level of excellence commensurate with Trilling’s legacy. 

Sumayya Vally, Dean’s Visiting Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, is an honoree in the Association of Women in the Arts Honors Leaders in Culture 2026.

MEDICINE & SCIENCE

Daniel Belsky, Associate Professor of Epidemiology in the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center, has been named to Business Insider’s 2026 “Rising Stars of Longevity,” which is part of their newsroom’s Rising Stars series.

Simon Brendle, Professor of Mathematics; Andrew Gelman, Higgins Professor of Statistics; and Hashim M. Al-Hashimi, Roy and Diana Vagelos Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, were elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Membership is a widely accepted mark of excellence in science and is considered one of the highest honors that a scientist can receive.

Milan Delor, Associate Professor of Chemistry, was chosen as one of Chemical & Engineering News’ 2026 Talented 12. This annual list recognizes early-career researchers who are rising stars in chemistry, selected for their innovative work and growing impact in the field.

Christine Kim Garcia, Frode-Jensen Professor of Medicine; Krzysztof Kiryluk, Jay Meltzer M.D. Professor of Medicine; and Hiroshi Nakagawa, Professor of Medicine, were elected this year as members of the Association of American Physicians.

J. Colin Hill, Associate Professor of Physics, was awarded a New Horizons in Physics Prize by the Breakthrough Prize Foundation. He was recognized alongside five other researchers for advances in cosmic microwave background and supernovae cosmology. The Breakthrough Prizes, co-founded by Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, Julia and Yuri Milner, and Anne Wojcicki, were created to celebrate the wonders of our scientific age.

Andrei Okounkov, Samuel Eilenberg Professor of Mathematics, and Maureen Raymo, Co-Founding Dean Emerita of Columbia Climate School, were awarded the Nemmers Prize. The award, which is bestowed by Northwestern University, recognizes top scholars for their lasting contributions to new knowledge, outstanding achievements, and the development of significant new modes of analysis.

Michel Sadelain, Herbert and Florence Irving Professor of Medicine, will receive the 13th annual Ross Prize in Molecular Medicine from the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, with Carl H. June from the University of Pennsylvania, at the Ross Prize Symposium on June 11. Sadelain has also been awarded a lifetime achievement award at the 10th annual Stanford Drug Discovery Symposium.

Janet Sparrow, Anthony Donn Professor of Ophthalmic Science in the Department of Ophthalmology, has received the 2026 Paul Kayser International Award in Retina Research.

ENGINEERING

Santiago Correa, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia Engineering, has been named as one of six recipients of the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Prize.

Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, University Professor, has received the 2026 L’Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science International Award. As one of five recipients, one per continent, Vunjak-Novakovic will be awarded for her seminal work in biomedical sciences and engineering.

SOCIAL SCIENCES

Pamela Gill Alabaster, Lecturer in Professional Studies, Sustainability Management, was recently honored in the first cohort of the New York Moves’ Moves Du Monde Award, which recognizes the role individual leaders play in protecting our future by actively promoting sustainability.

Anu Bradford, Henry L. Moses Professor of Law and International Organization, was elected to the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters. Bradford also received the Best Article Prize from the International Law & Social Science Interest Group of the American Society of International Law, for "The Limits and Promise of Global Antitrust," an article she co-wrote for the Harvard International Law Journal.

Carol Ewing Garber, Professor in the Program in Applied Physiology at Teachers College, was recognized with the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program Award for the Fulbright Lectureship in Health and Well Being at the University of Bologna.

E. Mara Green, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, received the Society for Linguistic Anthropology's New Voices Book Prize for her book, Making Sense: Language, Ethics, and Understanding in Deaf Nepal.

Mary Jablonski, Adjunct Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, received the 2026 Sheldon and Caroline Keck Award, which recognizes excellence in the education and training of conservation professionals.

Eunji Kim, Assistant Professor of Political Science, won the 2026 Goldsmith Book Prize in the academic category for her book, The American Mirage: How Reality TV Upholds the Myth of Meritocracy. Kim was also named a 2026 Andrew Carnegie Fellow. The program supports high-caliber scholarship and research in the social sciences and humanities, which address important issues confronting our society. 

Debra A. Livingston, Paul J. Kellner Professor of Law, received the Judith S. Kaye Award, which honors women in the legal profession whose careers reflect an extraordinary commitment to the public good, from the Historical Society of the New York Courts.

POSTDOCS & STUDENTS

Dozens of Columbia students won National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships Program awards. The awards provide exceptional students pursuing research-based degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) with three years of financial support. The fellowship recognizes students from across the United States who have demonstrated outstanding potential for significant achievements in research.

Nineteen students were named 2026 Campbell Award winners: ʻEiwa Colburn (GSAPP’26), Laila Gad (MSPH’26), Laura Galeano Cardozo (SSW’26), Cheng “Gavin” Gong (SEAS’26), Shamika Dhar (SOA'26), Aryas Koorosh Safaie (DEN’26), Robert Mulvey (GS’26), Victoria Newsome (JRN’26), Riya M. Rampalli (GSAS’26), Abeer Saed (BC’26), Sidney Saint-Hilaire (VPS’26), Leilani Ayleen Salas (SPS’26), Maral Mohagheghi Samarin (BUS’26), Marina Saguar Urquiola (CS’26), Jocelyn Violett (NUR’26), Ronald (RJ) Eric Wicks II (TC’26), Celeste Woloshyn (LAW’26), Michael Zheng (CC’26), and Yedidya Anna Zohore (SIPA’26). The Campbell Award is presented to a graduating student at each school who shows exceptional leadership and Columbia spirit as exemplified by the late Bill Campbell (CC’62, TC’64), University Trustee Chair Emeritus and Columbia Alumni Association co-founder.

Apolline Ancel (GS'26), Ileane Barrera (CC'26), Monisha Gunasekera (CC'26), and Greta VanZetten (CC'26) were awarded 2026 New York City Urban Fellowships, which combine work in mayoral offices and city agencies with an intensive seminar series that explores current urban issues impacting public policy.

Serena Bernal (LAW’28) and Elliot Lin (LAW’28) won first place in the 2026 Williams Institute Moot Court Competition, a national moot court competition dedicated to sexual orientation and gender identity law.

Ananya Bhatia (CC'27), Elizabeth Frost (CC’27), and Justin Kiel (GS’27) were named 2026 Truman Scholars. Established by Congress in 1975 as the living memorial to President Harry S. Truman, the Truman Scholarship recognizes students who demonstrate leadership potential, a commitment to a future in public service, and academic excellence.

Sarah Bryden (CC’26) and Jacob Sanning (CC'27) have been named 2026 Projects for Peace Fellows, to design and implement an innovative, community-driven, and scalable project addressing some of today’s most pressing global challenges.

Sarah Bryden (CC'26) was awarded a Doctorow Fellowship; Sagar Castleman (CC'26), Daniella Davia (CC'26), and Lindsay Koo (CC'26) were awarded Kellett Fellowships; and Madison Garrett (CC'26) was awarded a Carman Fellowship, which recognize academic excellence and distinguished intellectual accomplishments during a student's undergraduate career, to pursue post-baccalaureate study at the University of Cambridge or the University of Oxford. 

Sophie Collyer, Doctoral Candidate at Columbia School of Social Work, won a 2026 Horowitz Foundation Award in recognition of her outstanding dissertation research on “Family Tax Policy in the U.S.: Distributional Impacts and Long‑Term Consequences for Children.” This award supports emerging scholars whose work demonstrates strong potential to inform public understanding and policy practice.

Watson Frank (CC’25) was awarded a Mortimer Hays-Brandeis Traveling Fellowship, which supports scholars in the visual and fine arts, including art history, conservation, studio art, and photography, to pursue independent field-related projects outside of the United States.

Julia Alexsandra Galiza Soares (CC’23), Kelsey Smith (BC'19), and Yingke Wang (CC’23) were named 2026 Knight-Hennessy Scholars to pursue graduate study at Stanford University. The program aims to develop a community of future global leaders who will address complex challenges through collaboration and innovation across disciplines.

Samay Garg, PhD Candidate at Columbia Engineering, was named 2026 Cognizant STEM Mentor of the Year by the New York Academy of Sciences, recognizing a commitment to developing the next generation of STEM leaders through his volunteer work with fifth graders in the Bronx.

Arman Husein (CC’22) was named a 2026 Yenching Academy Scholar. The Yenching Academy of Peking University aims to build bridges between China and the rest of the world through an interdisciplinary master's program in China Studies.

Olga Jagiellowicz (GS’27) was selected as a 2026 UN ECOSOC Youth Forum Delegate.

Riya Kalra (MSPH'26) took first place in the NVIDIA AI Summit Hackathon in New York City with her prize-winning RxGuardian app designed to help people stay on track with their medications and avoid dangerous interactions.

Su Kim (JRN'27), Ilina Logani (CC'22), Arya Rao (CC'22), Julian Robles (CC’17), and Deniz Urey (GSAS'29) were selected for the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans, which provides merit-based funding toward postgraduate degree programs for new Americans, who are poised to achieve leadership in their chosen fields. This year, five Columbians have been named 2026 Soros Fellows, out of a total class of 30.

Anna Lind (CC'26) and Elijah Rameker (CC'26) were awarded Henry Evans Traveling Fellowships, which support project-based travel in the year after graduation for new alumni to pursue self-directed experiences outside New York City that allow recipients to engage meaningfully with new places and cultures.

Soham Mehta (GSAS’26) and Carlos Mendonça (CC’24) were selected as 2026 International Gates Cambridge Scholars to pursue postgraduate studies at the University of Cambridge. The program's mission is to build a global network of future leaders committed to improving the lives of others. 

Maya Ogonah, Postdoctoral Research Scientist on the DSI Postdoctoral Fellows Program at the Data Science Institute, was awarded the American Postdoctoral Research Leave Fellowship by the American Association of University Women.

Anaïs Taffin (GS’28), in the Columbia University–Sciences Po Paris Dual Degree Program, was recognized by the Udall Foundation as a 2026-2027 Udall Undergraduate Scholar. The scholarship recognizes university sophomores and juniors committed to careers in environmental fields, Tribal public policy, or Native health care.

At the 2026 Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial Moot Court, Elliot Riesman-Tremonte (LAW’28) and Alexa Shyama (LAW’27) placed first, and Darshan Vijaykumar (LAW’27) and Maxwell Wyatt (LAW’28) placed third. Shyama and Riesman-Tremonte are the first Columbia Law students to win the annual appellate advocacy competition focused on intellectual property.

Bryce-Loren Walker (NUR'26) won two Emmys at the 2026 Children's and Family Emmy Awards as a producer for Sesame Street: Outstanding Preschool, Children’s or Family Viewing Series, and Outstanding Short Form Live Action Program for “Elmo and Andrew Garfield Explain Grief.”

Matthew Werneken (CC-SEAS'25) was named a 2026 Hertz Fellow in applied sciences, engineering, and mathematics. The Hertz Fellowship provides financial and lifelong professional support for the nation’s most promising graduate students in science and technology.

Madeline Wiseman (CC’26) was awarded a 2026 John and Daria Barry Scholarship, an annual academic prize to those who display admirable dedication to the academic vocation and the pursuit of truth. The scholarship provides funding for graduate study at the University of Oxford through the Canterbury Institute.

STAFF

Michelle Margolis, Norman E. Alexander Librarian for Jewish Studies, was named to Library Journal’s 2026 Movers & Shakers list, which recognizes “the people shaping the future of libraries” for her work to share Jewish stories and collections with both Columbia students and the public.