Undergrad Awards
The department considers research achievement as well as course performance in selecting senior Psychology Majors to receive the following awards of distinction in scholarship. Recipients are selected by vote of the full departmental faculty. Information about each award and previous recipients can be found under each heading below.
Named Awards
The Aaron Hartman Medal in Psychology was established in 1930 by bequest of Rosa Cahn Hartman in memory of her husband. It is awarded to seniors for excellence in psychology. Prior to the establishment of Newcomb-Tulane College in 2005, it was awarded to a senior from the men's undergraduate college (Tulane College).
Past recipients: Stephen Garofano (2000), Loong Kwok and Adam Price (2001), Christopher May (2002), Scott Francioni and Jeffrey Getbehead (2003), Salvador Iloreta (2004), Robert Eil (2005), Charles Calderwood (2006), Leslie Frankel (2007), Jeremy Eberle (2008), Jamie Colica (2009), Andrew Bingman (2010), Max Jay-Dixon and Andrew Kim (2011), Lauren Eierman, Sara Kaplan, and Madeline Schwartz (2012), Sofia Jeanne Roggeveen (2013), Ashley Galsky and Melanie Hotz (2014), Marcy Cohen and Julia Birt (2015), James Fitzpatrick and Meagan Magaldi (2016), Gabriel Rodiguez and Lily Zmachinski (2017), Lauren deBlanc (2018), and Alexandra Bookis (2019), Madeline Billeaud and Lauren Fleming (2020), Margo Nickerson (2021), Elizabeth Grose and Evelyn Lee (2022), Lily Donald (2023), Julianne Berte and Emily Capofreddi (2024).
A partial list of recipients since the 1970s can be found here.
The Anne M. McPherson Memorial Student Award was established in 2010 by the Arlene and Gary McPherson family to honor the memory of their daughter Anne, who majored in Psychology at Tulane. The award supports superior research of juniors and seniors who conduct research with regular members of the Psychology faculty, typically by funding attendance at professional conventions.
Past Recipients: Samantha Orsagh-Yentis and Sydney Smith (2011, inaugural award), Yelena Johnson and Ayesha Sujan (2012), Erin Albert (2013), Marcy Cohen and Stephanie Aaron, Brittany Devries (2014), Camille Hardin, James Fitzpatrick and Laura Perry (2015), Rafaella Jakubovic, Anneke Olson, and Elizabeth Jesma (2016), Leah Walsh (2017), Lauren deBlanc (2018), Emma Balkind and Riley Loria (Spring 2019), Jae Eun (Janie) Park and Skylar Schaumberg (Fall 2019), Conner Angelle (Spring 2020), Doris Cai (Fall 2020). Joie Meyer (Fall 2021), Ramal Rauf (Spring 2022), Taylor Alcorn (Spring 2023), Emily Capofreddi, Jackson Mitchell, and Caroline Nunez (2024).
The Arnold Gerall Prize in Neuroscience is presented to seniors for excellence in psychology and neuroscience. Professor Gerall earned the Ph.D. in 1951 from the University of Iowa, and joined the Tulane faculty in 1961. His primary research focus in physiological psychology spanned over half a century, and was seminal particularly in the areas of sexual differentiation and reproduction. Professor Gerall was the 2008 recipient of the Daniel S. Lehrman Lifetime Achievement Award in Behavioral Neuroendocrinology. He passed away on December 11, 2013. A 2014 memorial article about Arnie's life and work may be found in Hormones and Behavior, 66, 401-408.
Concurrent with a Festschrift in 1991 to celebrate his contributions to the field of physiological psychology, Professor Gerall’s friends, colleagues, and former students established a research prize in his name. The recipient is selected after careful consideration of curricular and research activities, and requires a vote of the full faculty of the Department of Psychology. Each student receives a plaque engraved with his or her name, the date, and the name of the prize; since 2005, the plaque also carried the shield of Tulane University.
Past recipients: Grahame Gould and Abby Spencer (1998), Jessica Wiegand (2000), Elizabeth Rarick (2001), Christopher May (2002), Lacey Sahuque (2003), Clayton Smith (2004), Ellen Hosemann (2005), Carrie Pauker and Vishnu Cuddupah (2006), Stephen Bright (2007), Jennifer O'Malley and Kate Frankola (2008), Kelsey Ward and Lee Kahn (2009), Lisa Keskitalo (2010), and Jillian Lauer (2011), Sara Hunt, Michael Mainguy, Michael Seay (2012), Pamela Svorinic (2014), Nicole Moody and Louis Arens (2015), Nina Baumgartner and Carly Rosen (2016), Clara Howell (2017), and Matthew Coleman (2018), Kaitlyn Tholen (2019), Julia Nauman (2020), Noah Gold and Jacob Frentzen (2021), Anh Duong (2022), Alex Walker (2023), and Talia Lurie (2024).
The Barbara E. Moely Award for Psychology in the Public Interest is awarded to the graduate with exceptional public service to the community. The award is named for Professor Emerita Barbara Moely, who began service learning at Tulane and remained active with the Office of Service Learning and Center for Public Service after her retirement. Nominations for the award are accepted in March.
Past Recipients: Kelly Holmes (2008, inaugural award), Susan Bursch (2009), Kerry Quinn and Christopher Dalia (2011), Taylor Adney and Lindsey Shroff (2012), Rebekah Cianci (2013), Ilana Elias (2014), Max Seidman and Johanna Kester (2015), Anna Hamilton (2016), Ashlee Beggin and Chardee Bryant (2017), and Victoria Parrilla and Ashton Friend (2018), Ryan Herrschaft (2020), Julia Bergman and Samantha Goland (2021), Izzy Ramras (2023), J'Lyn Wilson (2024).
Nomination Information
The Barbara E. Moely Award for Psychology in the Public Interest is awarded to the graduate with exceptional public service to the community. The award is named for Professor Emerita Barbara Moely, who began service learning at Tulane and remained active with the Office of Service Learning and Center for Public Service after her retirement.
This Award requires a nomination packet, submitted by March 15th, that includes information directly from the graduate.
1. One page essay from the student describing distinguished service, community outreach and/or application of psychology in the field. Note: This service should extend beyond the minimum to meet the public service requirement
2. A statement of support from a faculty member from Tulane Psychology.
3. Unofficial college transcript (i.e., degree audit)
Faculty Award for Applied Psychological Research honors students for applied psychological research that addresses a critical problem in society at large.
Past Recipients: Emma Balkind and Sarah Guillaume (2020, inaugural award), Emily Berlin and Anusha Rahman (2021), Bailey Mirmelli (2022), Cassandra Bizzaro (2024).
Faculty Award for Research in Psychological Science honors students for contributions to research in the basic science of psychology.
Past Recipients: Riley Loria and Leah Vaidya (2020, inaugural award), Maya Friedman and Janie Qiu (2021), Joie Meyer (2022), Anna Wood (2023), J'Lyn Wilson (2024).
The Faculty Memorial Award honors the memory of our departed Psychology faculty colleagues.
Past Recipients: Caroline Dickens (2016, inaugural award), Jaelyn Edwards and Hannah Swerbenski (2017), Monica Holler and Taylor Kimball (2018), Claudia Wittich and Maya Cohen (2019), Emma Bossier, Maya Childs, and Lauren Perlmutter (2020), Juliet Alise and Doris Cai (2022), Fiona McDermut and Kaitlyn Krushefski (2023), Leslie Frankel and Hannah Weinberger (2024).
The Rosa Cahn Hartman Prize in Psychology is presented to seniors for excellence in psychology. Prior to the establishment of Newcomb-Tulane College in 2005, it was awarded to a senior from the women's undergraduate college (Newcomb College).
Past recipients: Shannon Fuller and Megan McFarland (2000), Lisa DeLise and Jenene Roberto (2001), Erica Tannenbaum(2002), Brooke Barbera (2003), Tara Mathews (2004), Lindsay Bell and Ashley Newton (2005), Sarah Vetter (2006), Jessica Siegel (2007), Nichole Kanopoulous (2008), Thomas Eskew and Jayda Batchelder (2009), Kelly Caravella (2010), Stephanie Molina and Cassandra Lenz (2011), Sophia Olton-Webster, Ashlei Peterson and Emma Ross (2012), Nicolette Guillou (2013), Claire Burns and Mackenzie Shade (2014), Maryann Thompson and Melanie Moulder (2015), Laura Sutherland and Sara Margolies (2016), Sidonia Compton and Annika White (2017), Brooke Bailey (2018) and Ellyn Frohberg and Samantha Perry (2019), Riana Gaudet and Jae Eun Park (2020), Anna Wilson (2021), Annabelle Reese and Brooke Rovner (2022), Cecelia Stumpf (2023), Aaron Sterling and Emilia Wilke (2024).
A partial list of recipients since the 1970s can be found here.
The Senior Scholar award is given annually to the most outstanding graduating Psychology major in the Honors Program.
Past recipients: Leah Newkirk and Meredith Cohn (2000), Rebecca Batista and Justin Springer (2001), Katherine Shepard and Stacy Turner (2002), Ashley Babendure and Elizabeth Weeks (2003), Nicole Kaban (2004), Sara Debus and Sarah Covert (2005), Rebecca Ostrich (2006), Nicole Thieler (2007), Jenna Rosen and Lauren Ruth (2008), Gino Mortillaro (2009), William Benson and Lauren Peterson (2010), Erin Hedemann and Caroline Tipler (2011), Dhruv Gupta and Yingjia Wan (2012), Carolyn Kaufman (2013), Erin Albert (2014), Stephanie Aaron and Nicole Lentini (2015), Anneke Olson and Laura Perry (2016), M. Annelise Blanchard (2017), Abrania Marreo and Victoria Parker (2018), and Hannah Stoller (2019), Gregory Chauvin and James Rogers (2020), Emily Nestel, Katy Patton, and Destiny Stafford (2021), Ramal Rauf (2022), Arielle Morris (2023), Talia Lurie (2024).
