NSBH Award Winners
Neuroscience and Behavior Senior Awards for Academic Excellence
Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award
Seniors nominated for this award must be exemplary undergraduate researchers with at least 3 semesters (or 2 semesters and 1 summer) spent in a Notre Dame faculty laboratory. The student must have made a significant intellectual contribution to their lab, typically evidenced by a co-authored publication and/or national or regional conference presentation.
Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award
Seniors nominated for this award must have consistently demonstrated excellence in teaching, either through undergraduate teaching assistantships, community education, mentorship, or other direct teaching experience. The student will have demonstrated commitment to teaching excellence through multiple semesters (minimum of 2) of superior teaching performance, as demonstrated by the quality of teaching reviews, and faculty or community mentor recommendations.
Outstanding Undergraduate Leadership and Service Awards
Seniors nominated for this award must be exemplary student leaders in the Neuroscience and Behavior major and/or the University at large. The student will have made outstanding contributions, through their leadership and service, to advance the interests of other students in the major and/or make a significant impact on the larger Notre Dame or South Bend communities.
Universal Scholar Award
Seniors nominated for this award demonstrate remarkable capability across multiple domains (research, teaching, leadership, service), while simultaneously demonstrating the character traits and behaviors that align with the teachings of Catholic Social Tradition: The Common good, Life and Dignity of Human Persons, Correlation of rights and Responsibilities, Preferential Option for the Poor, Care for Creation, and Solidarity.
2025-2026 Award Winners:
Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award - John Michael Oliver and Benjamin J. Frostino
Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award - Jairo Soto Leon and Brody Rolston
Outstanding Undergraduate Leadership & Service Award - Mary Rose Jordan and Julia Margaret Rea
Universale Scholar Award - Nicholas Santino Bifone
2024-2025 Award Winners:
Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award - Mackenzie Kelleher & Grace Waddell
Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award - Nicholas Ledesma-Jones & Jerome Christian Hernandez Santiago
Outstanding Undergraduate Leadership & Service Award - Brooke Borton & Spencer Leatherberry
Universale Scholar Award - Caroline Jean McCaffrey & Julia Savino
2023-2024 Award Winners:
Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award - Sandy Nam & Nadia Nosek
Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award - Madeline Chiang & Brandon Roberts
Outstanding Undergraduate Leadership and Service Awards - Brooke Friedman & Tiana Sullivan
Universal Scholar Award - Alan Avalos & Annika Barron
2024 Salutatorian - Shaker Erbini
The Notre Dame valedictorian and salutatorian selection process begins by identifying the top four students among those with the highest grade point averages in each college or school. Those students are then invited to complete an application that includes letters of recommendation from faculty members and a draft of their commencement speech. A selection committee, coordinated by the Office of Undergraduate Education in the Office of the Provost, interviews finalists and chooses a valedictorian and salutatorian who are approved by the University President.