Each year, the Pardee School celebrates its very best in academics, in teaching and in citizenship. A range of School-wide awards are meant to honor the exceptional achievements of the Pardee School community and are typically handed out at the annual School Convocation.
Expand the links below to learn more about the awards and for a list of past winners (since the establishment of the Pardee School).
Gerald and Deanne Gitner Family Prize for Faculty Excellence
The Gerald and Deanne Family Prize for Faculty Excellence was established in 2014 thanks to a generous endowment established by BU Alum Gerald L. Gitner and his wife Deanne. The Gitner Prize is awarded annually by the Dean to a faculty member of the Pardee School for excellence in teaching and mentoring students and for advancing the mission of the school. The Gitner Award is (a) open to all full-time faculty (tenure as well as non-tenure) in the School teaching a full course load in the year the award is given; and (b) can only be given once to a faculty member. Nominations can be made by students and faculty and are considered by a committee set up to advise the Dean. There is a cash award attached to the prize.
Past Winners
- 2024: Ambassador Mark Storella, Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy; Director, African Studies Center
- 2023: Jack Weinstein, Professor of the Practice of International Relations
- 2022: Vesko Garčević, Professor of the Practice of International Relations
- 2021: John D. Woodward, Jr., Professor of the Practice of International Relations
- 2020: Igor Lukes, Professor of International Relations and History
- 2020: William Grimes, Professor of International Relations and of Political Science and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
- 2019: Ambassador Robert Loftis, Professor of the Practice of International Relations
- 2018: Kaija Schilde, Assistant Professor of International Relations
- 2017: Jeremy Menchik, Assistant Professor of International Relations
- 2016: William Keylor, Professor of International Relations and History
- 2015: Noora Lori, Assistant Professor of International Relations
Adil Najam Prize and Fellowship for Advancing the Public Understanding of Global Affairs
The Adil Najam Prize and Fellowship for Advancing the Public Understanding of Global Affairs was established in 2022 thanks to a generous endowment established by the Pardee School Dean’s Advisory Board and its Chair Ruth Moorman (CAS’88, WheelockG’89, ‘09, Par BUA’15) to honor the contributions of the School’s Inaugural Dean, Adil Najam. The Adil Najam Prize is to be awarded annually at the School Convocation to a Pardee School faculty member for excellence as a global public scholar and for advancing the public understanding of any international policy issue of major importance in world affairs. The faculty winner of the Prize will then award the accompanying Fellowship to a Pardee School Masters’ student (or undergraduate senior) to assist in their research in the following year. The Adil Najam Award (a) may be granted to any full-time faculty member in the Pardee School (all ranks and titles); (b) can only be given once to a faculty member; and (c) will carry a cash award, two-thirds of which will be given to the faculty awardee and one-third to the student Fellow selected by the awardee. The faculty awardee will be selected annually by the Pardee School Dean and the principal criteria will be excellence in and advancement of policy-focused, public-interest and public-facing scholarship (as opposed to disciplinary academic research).
Past Winners
- 2024: Rachel Nolan, Assistant Professor of International History
- 2023: Jorge Heine, Research Professor; Interim Director for the Study of the Longer-Range Future
- Fellow: Kevin Clenard (BA IR ’24)
- 2022: Kevin Gallagher, Professor of Global Development Policy and Director of BU’s Global Development Policy Center
- Fellow: Laura Gormley (MPG, Pardee ’23)
Carole A. Chandler Student Citizenship Award
The Chandler Award is given each year to recognize the spirit of citizenship and a commitment to the values and mission of what is now the Pardee School. The Award is open to graduate and undergraduate students who have demonstrated exemplary commitment and leadership to the School’s mission while maintaining academic excellence. The award celebrates the spirit of community and citizenship that was exemplified by Carole A. Chandler, the administrative co-founder and first Executive Assistant of the Center for International Relations. Nominations can be made by faculty and staff at the Pardee School.
Past Winners
- 2024: Trev Turnbow, BA in International Relations, Manpreet Singh, MA in International Affairs
- 2023: Greta Pais Marden Nanon, MA in International Affairs
- 2023: Bridgette Belle Lang, BA in International Relations
- 2022: Anica Catarina Canon Abaquin, BA in International Relations
- 2022: Alhassan Yehia Hashad, MA in International Affairs
- 2021: Ahmad Azari, MA in International Affairs
- 2020: Akash Chopra, BA in International Relations and in Economics
- 2019: Kristin Bruno, MA in International Affairs
- 2019: Andrew Benton Chiao, BA in International Relations
- 2018: Zachary Scott Thomas, BA in International Relations and Latin American Studies
- 2017: Victoria Kelberer, MA in International Affairs
- 2016: Charlott Sandor Johansen, MA in Global Development Policy
- 2015: Alba Balla, MA in International Affairs
- 2015: Sidhanta Mehra, BA in International Relations
Amb. Hermann Frederick Eilts Thesis Awards
The Eilts Awards are given to the best MA paper by a Pardee graduate student and the best BA thesis by a student in the Pardee Honors Program. The Prize recognizes the value of good research and policy analysis at the Pardee School and celebrates the contribution of Ambassador Hermann Frederick Eilts, the founder of International Relations programs at Boston University.
Past Winners (Undergraduate)
- 2024: Gideon Gordon for his thesis, “Partisan Power-sharing and the Outbreak of the 1994-1998 Civil War in Iraqi Kurdistan”
- 2023: Minji Kwak, “Questioning the Future Viability of the Latin American and Caribbean Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone: A Contemporary Assessment of the Treaty of Tlatelolco.” Adviser: Professor Jack Weinstein
- 2022: Joshua Wright. Adviser: Professor Timothy Longman
- 2021: Samantha De Jesus, “The Whole Enchilada: Assessing NAFTA as the Origin of Migrant Securitization on the US-Mexico Border.” Adviser: Professor Noora Lori
- 2020: Stephanie Hince, “Loja Villonaco: Role of Chinese Finance in Ecuadorian Power Sector.” Adviser: Professor Kevin Gallagher
- 2019: Tal Salomon Dickstein “Contemporary Power Transitions: Is China Ready to Challenge the U.S Hegemony?” Adviser: Professor Joseph Fewsmith
- 2018: Noe Karen Hinck, “German Identity Development Since 1945 in the Wake of the 2015 Syrian Refugee Crisis.” Adviser: Professor Thomas Berger
- 2017: Andrea Van Grinsven, “Outsourcing Accountability: The European Union’s External Migrant Management and Detention Regime.” Adviser: Professor Kaija Schilde
- 2016: Krishna Gall, “Daedalus Syndrome: American Intervention in Kosovo.” Adviser: Professor Igor Lukes
- 2015: Fatima Mohie-Eldin, “Egypt’s Salafi Vanguard.”
Past Winners (Graduate)
- 2024: Karl Wright for his MA paper on “Shadows of the Kremlin, on Russia, the Wagner Group, and the Outsourcing of Empire”
- 2023: Georgia Nichols, “Vanuatu Means ‘Our Land Forever’: A Climate-Centered U.S. Strategy for the South Pacific.” Adviser: Professor Timothy Longman
- 2022: Danielle Chinoso Soba, “Policy Recommendations: Protecting Public Funds in Nigeria Through the Reform of its Supreme Audit Institution.” Adviser: Professor Mark Storella
- 2021: Alexander Beatty, “Building Jet Bridges: Aviation Diplomacy as a Framework to Examine the Strategic Relationship Between Governments and Airlines.” Adviser: Professor Erik Goldstein
- 2020: Amelia Dangerfield, “Understanding Incel Violence: Sexual Humiliation as a Risk Factor for Terrorism.” Adviser: Professor Jessica Stern
- 2019: Mohammad Aumar Abaas Chaudhry, “Stable Difference: Conceptions of Inclusive Citizenship and Civic Coexistence for Religiously Pluralistic Societies in the Works of Contemporary Traditional Muslim Scholars.” Adviser: Professor Robert Hefner
- 2018: Florian David Bodamer “Power, Plenty, Prestige, and Interest Groups: Why States Sustain Defense Industrial Bases.” Adviser: Professor Kaija Schilde
- 2017: Paige Pascarelli, “Betwixt & Between:” Analyzing Belgian Representation in ‘Homegrown’ Extremism.” Adviser: Professor Jessica Stern
- 2016: Jocelyn Spottiswoode, “Fresh Out of Water: Transboundary River Management and Governance between Kazakhstan and China.” Adviser: Professor Houchang Chehabi
- 2016: Mariana Echaniz Arciga “Greening Adaptation in Mexico: Leveraging International Financing for Ecosystem-based Adaptation and Sustainable Agriculture.” Adviser: Professor Kevin Gallagher
- 2015: Lee Hekking, “The Polish Solidarity Movement and Tunisia’s Revolution of Dignity and Freedom: A Comparative Study of Cross-Group Cooperation in Revolutionary Movements.”
- 2015: Nyeleti Karina Honwana, “Social Movements in Africa: Mozambique and Civil Disorder.”
Pardee School Academic Excellence Awards
The Sharat Kumar Nambiar Memorial Foundation Prizes for Academic Excellence, presented by Professor Solomon Owusu, are awarded to graduating Pardee School students who have demonstrated the highest levels of academic excellence in courses taken at the Pardee School and Boston University. This prize, formerly known as the Pardee School Prizes for Academic Excellence, commemorates the memory of Sharat Kumar Nambiar, a member of the class of 2020, whose life was tragically cut short in a car accident.
Past Winners (Undergraduate)
- 2024: Emily Rose McLaughlin, BA in International Relations, Security Studies and European Studies
- 2023: Charlotte Greenhill, BA in Latin American Studies
- 2023: Jason Miraka, BA in International Relations and Economics
- 2022: Anna R. Jensen, BA in International Relations
- 2022: Guthrie D. Kuckes, BA in International Relations
- 2022: Sylvia Ivailova Stoyanova, BA in International Relations
- 2021: Samantha Dorning, BA in International Relations and Political Science
- 2021: Nathanial Graham, BA in International Relations
- 2021: Emily Sorkin, BA in International Relations
- 2020: Luis Enrique Moya Canovas, BA in International Relations and Economics
- 2020: Glenn Korman, BA in International Relations
- 2020: Ava Shen, BA in International Relations and French Studies
- 2019: Christopher William Brown, BA in International Relations and European Studies
- 2019: Katie Jane Diclemente, BA in International Relations
- 2019: Ta-Wei Huang, BA in International Relations
- 2018: Maria Clara Soares Bezerra, BA in International Relations
- 2018: Coby Andrew Yank-Jacobs, BA in International Relations
- 2018: Casey Kanani Nakamura, BA in International Relations and Middle East North Africa Studies
- 2017: Mark Vicik, BA in International Relations and Middle East North Africa Studies
- 2017: Evelyn Hitt, BA in International Relations
- 2017: Jessica Depies, BA in International Relations and Economics
- 2016: Susanne Neher, BA in International Relations
- 2016: Amal Hechehouche, BA in International Relations and Economics
- 2016: Kelley Gourley, BA in International Relations and Middle East and North Africa Studies
- 2016: Michelle Abou-Raad, BA in International Relations and Middle East and North Africa Studies
- 2015: Caroline Birsner, BA in International Relations and Environmental Analysis & Policy
- 2015: Brendon Bowdridge, BA in International Relations
- 2015: Lauren Michael, BA in International Relations
- 2015: Paola Peynetti Velazques, BA in Latin American Studies and International Relations (Regional Studies)
Past Winners (Graduate)
- 2024: Victoria Victoria Yvonne Emma Bien-Aime, MA in International Affairs
- 2023: Laura Marie Gormley, MA in Global Policy with Specialization in Developmental Policy
- 2022: Sophia Rose Coleman, MA in Global Policy
- 2021: Amy Hendricks, MA in Latin American Studies
- 2020: Kira Levin, MA in International Affairs; Certificate in African Studies
- 2019: Leanne Renee Violette, MA in Global Policy
- 2018: Avik Jain, MA in Latin American Studies
- 2017: Kevin McLaughlin, MA in International Relations
- 2016: Mariana Echaniz Arciga, MA in International Relations and Environmental Policy
- 2015: Louisa May Klann, MA in International Relations & Religion