Students receive awards at 2026 department graduation reception

This year's department graduation reception was not to be missed! Graduates and their families joined department students, faculty, and administrative staff for a celebratory lunch in the Faculty House Skyroom, where Professor Emerita Harriet Zuckerman received a special mention for her honorary degree from Columbia, and PhD, MA, and undergraduate students received department awards. 

Thanks to all who attended, and congratulations to the graduates and award winners!

PhD Student Awards

Jon Ben-Menachem received the Merton Award in Sociology for Contributions to Sociological Research Or Public Policy, and for Work as a Public Intellectual and Publicly-Minded Sociologist.

Jon is one of our graduate students with the strongest publication records, and his work consistently engages with important public policy questions.  There is perhaps nobody in our department who does more on that score than he does, writing--with impact--in public fora on crime and policing. Jon has recently published research in APSR, PNaS, and has forthcoming research in SMR.

Robin Hart received the Merton Award in Sociology for Outstanding Teaching and Service.

They have consistently received top marks as a teaching asistant. Robin has also served as a graduate student representative, a coordinator of the Quant Workshop as well as the Experimental Design Workshop, and works as a leader of the disability affinity group on campus.

Anna Thieser received the Merton Award In Sociology for Outstanding Scholarship as Determined By Papers Presented at Conferences And/Or Published Papers.

Her paper--co-authred with Gil Eyal-- is called "'Our Vision is a World in which AI Evaluates AI': AI Safety as a Space between Fields," and is forthcoming in Routledge Companion to the Professions and Professionalism. Anna already presented the paper in several venues, and it has also been accepted to the ASA annual meeting (SKAT regular session), and the weitzenbaum conference in Berlin. 

MA Student Awards

Wendy Qian and Yongcheng Lu received the Spivak Awards in Sociology in recognition of their scholarship and academic achievement.

Undergraduate Student Awards

Ewa Maria Siemiatkowska received the Squires Prize in Sociology in recognition of her academic achievement and deep engagement with the sociology and campus community.

Glenn Paul received the Lilian L. Hacker Award in Sociology in recognition of his academic achievement and deep engagement with the sociology and campus community.