Khoury College PhD and master’s students make meaningful contributions every day as students, scholars, teaching assistants, and research assistants. Many are recognized for their talents and potential by leading awards and fellowship programs, as well as by industry partners, for academic excellence, leadership potential, and research ambitions.

We also honor the PhD and MS students who are recognized annually at our Commencement celebration for their direct, meaningful contributions to education, research, and community at Khoury College.

Khoury College recipients of recognition awards, 2024-2025

PhD students

AJC STEM Graduate Fellowship

Administered by Northeastern University and established by donors, the AJC STEM Graduate Fellowship is given to exceptional doctoral students in STEM. The fellowship provides 12 months of funding, including professional development, to be used during the recipient’s PhD education.

• Bethany Turay, PhD in Computer Science

Apple Scholars in AI/ML PhD Fellowship

The Apple Scholars in AIML PhD Fellowship recognizes the contributions of emerging leaders in computer science and engineering at the graduate and postgraduate level. Each scholar receives funding as they pursue their PhD, internship opportunities, and mentorship with an Apple researcher in their field.

• Yiming Xie, PhD in Computer Science

Commencement awards: Excellence in research, service, and teaching

• Nikolaos Tziavelis, PhD in Computer Science (research)
• Jane Adams, PhD in Computer Science (service)
• Cameron Moy, PhD Computer Science (teaching)

Google Fellowship

Google PhD Fellowship students are a select group recognized by Google researchers and their institutions as some of the most promising young academics in the world.

• Evangelos Bitsikas, PhD in Cybersecurity

J.P. Morgan AI PhD Fellowship

In its annual research awards program for both faculty and PhD students, J.P. Morgan recognizes the diversity of ideas and pioneering spirit of the recipients. The awards program demonstrates the company’s ongoing commitment to research in artificial intelligence (AI) and collaboration with the smartest minds in academia.

• Dongyue Li, PhD in Computer Science

NSF NRT PEAR Fellowship

This program provides funding and resources to admitted and enrolled graduate students (PhD or master’s thesis students) to help them understand and address the impact of digital platforms on today’s society.

• Christopher Curtis, PhD in Computer Science

Master’s students

Amazon Robotics Day One Fellowship 

This program empowers Black, Latinx, and Native American students to become industry leaders through scholarship, research, and career opportunities. The program was developed to support emerging leaders in science from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM, awarding scholarships, mentorship, and career opportunities. 

• Zakar Handricken, MS Computer Science (Boston)
• Christopher LeBlanc, MS Artificial Intelligence (Boston)

Commencement awards: Excellence in Research, Service, and Teaching

• Zhiyuan Yang, MSCS Align (Vancouver) (research)
• Cecilia Lopez, MSCS Align (Silicon Valley) (service)
• Chaitanya Gokhale, MS Cybersecurity (Boston) (teaching)

GEM Fellows  

The Graduate Education for Minorities (GEM) consortium offers MS and PhD level students an outstanding opportunity and access to dozens of the top engineering and science firms and universities in the US.

• Yana Rankine, MSCS Align (Boston)
• Aliya Jordan, MSCS Align (Boston)

GEM Industry Fellows

The objective of this program is to promote the benefits of a master’s degree within industry. GEM Fellows are provided practical engineering summer work experiences through an employer sponsor and a portable academic year fellowship which may be used at any university participating in the Graduate Education for Minorities (GEM) consortium where the GEM Fellow is admitted. Please note that university/associate fellows are nominated by the university, not selected by the applicant.

• Kenton Romero, MS Artificial Intelligence (Boston)
• Wilson Neira, MS Artificial Intelligence (Boston)

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

The National Science Foundation (NSF) administers its Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) to recognize and support outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions. It is a five-year fellowship, with a three-year award that includes tuition and a stipend. The reputation of the GRFP follows recipients and often helps them become life-long leaders that contribute significantly to both scientific innovation and teaching.

• Neel Sortur, MS Artificial Intelligence (Boston)

Laurel and Scroll 100 

Established in 2024, this program honors exceptional graduate students.

• Spencer Belsky, MSCS (Boston)
• Daniel Bi, MSCS Align (Seattle)
• Ziyun Chen, MSCS Align (Vancouver)
• Vidya Ganesh, MS Artificial Intelligence (Boston)
• Tom Henehan, MS Data Science Align (Boston)
• Niyati Khandelwalm, MSCS (Seattle)
• Peiying Li, MSCS (Seattle)
• LeAnn Mendoza, MS Data Science Align (Silicon Valley)
• Annie Pates, MSCS Align (Boston)
• Shagun Saboo, MS Data Science (Boston)
• Manikhanta Praphul Samavedam, MS Artificial Intelligence (Boston)

Khoury College past recognition award recipients: PhD students

Khoury College past recognition award recipients: Master’s students