U of A Honors College Selects 2020 Class of Honors College Fellows

Peter Aaron

The Honors College is housed in the new wing of Gearhart Hall, located in the heart of campus.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas Honors College has selected 88 exceptional high school students, 72 of them from Arkansas, to receive prestigious Honors College Fellowships.

The $72,000 fellowships largely cover tuition, fees, books, room and board and other academic expenses over four years, providing these students the freedom to pursue original research, study abroad, service learning and other academic interests. The fellowship funds can also be combined with other scholarships and grants, such as the more than $1 million in study abroad and research grants that the Honors College awards to students each year.

“We had almost 1,000 fellowship applications this year, which made for an incredibly competitive pool,” said Noah Pittman, assistant dean of the Honors College. “Each of our new fellows is incredibly bright and accomplished, and we look forward to helping them achieve their goals at the University of Arkansas and beyond.”

The new fellows boast an average grade point average of 4.24 and an average composite ACT score of 34.23, making them one of the most competitive groups of Honors College Fellows to date. More than 15 percent of the new fellows are the first in their families to attend college.

The members of this distinguished class plan to study a diverse range of subjects, from chemistry and biomedical engineering to animal science, international business and architecture.

Some have already won national recognition. Two of the fellows, Jack Norris and Amanda Thomsen, were named Presidential Scholars for the state of Arkansas. Additionally, 43 members of the new class of fellows were named National Merit Finalists.

The fellowship application process is rigorous. Students must score a least a 32 on the ACT and have a minimum 3.8 grade point average to apply, and Honors College administrators and faculty review each student application for evidence of intellectual curiosity, leadership potential and community involvement. The selection process also involved a timed writing test and campus interview for finalists.

Including the 2020 recipients, a total of 1,436 students have benefited from the Honors College Fellowship program. Recent fellows include Truman Scholars, Goldwater Scholars, a Schwarzman Scholar and an Olympic pole vaulter. Many alumni are pursuing higher degrees at top schools such as Harvard Law School, Johns Hopkins, Cambridge University, the California Institute of Technology and Tufts University School of Medicine.

The Honors College Fellowships were made possible by a portion of the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation’s $300 million gift to the university in 2002.

Honors College Fellows, Class of 2024

• Aisha Al-Rizzo, Lisa Academy, Little Rock
• Namrata Anand, Fayetteville Senior High School, Fayetteville
• Benton Anderson, Northside High School, Fort Smith
• Ethan Anderson, White Hall High School, White Hall
• Mahdir Anower, Southside High School, Fort Smith
• Rachel Baltz, Pocahontas High School, Pocahontas
• Isabella Boyd, Mount Saint Mary Academy, Little Rock
• Margaret Bozarth, Bolingbrook High School, Bolingbrook, Illinois
• Taylor Brinkmann, Rogers Heritage High School, Rogers
• Gabrielle Bulliard, Magnolia High School, Magnolia
• Jackson Burnett, Shawnee Mission Northwest High, Shawnee, Kansas
• Mitchell Bylak, Haas Hall Academy, Fayetteville
• Torre Darby, Jonesboro High School, Jonesboro
• James DeJarnatt, Providence Classical Christian Academy, Siloam Springs
• Dominic Dharwadker, Haas Hall Academy, Fayetteville
• Olivia Elshoff, Bentonville High School, Rogers
• Natalie Friede, The New School, Fayetteville
• Colton Gattis, Greenwood High School, Fort Smith
• Maggie Green, Greenbrier High School, Greenbrier
• Casey Hanauer, Collierville High School, Collierville, Tennessee
• Katelyn Helberg, Battle Ground Academy, Franklin, Tennessee
• Zoe Hinkle Huntsville High School, Hindsville
• Shelby Ho, Valley View High School, Jonesboro
• Henry Holtkamp, Green Forest High School, Green Forest
• Shi Yin Hong, Fayetteville High School, Fayetteville
• Hailey Hoog, Jenks High School, Jenks, Oklahoma
• Jacquelynn Horsey, Pulaski Academy, Roland
• William Hutchinson, Greenwood High School, Greenwood
• Katie Jansson, Farmington High School, Farmington
• Braeden Johnson, Van Buren High School, Van Buren
• Madeline Johnson, Cabot High School, Cabot
• Kyle Karnuth, Lindbergh High School, Saint Louis, Missouri
• Laith Kewan, Bentonville West High School, Bentonville
• Grace Killian, Fayetteville High School, Fayetteville
• Samuel Kolar, Norman North High School, Norman, Oklahoma
• Carissa Li, Little Rock Central High School, Little Rock
• Grace Li, Fayetteville High School, Fayetteville
• Garrett Locknar, Northside High School, Fort Smith
• Clayvin Lunsford, Pottsville High School, Waldron
• Matthew Magre, Fayetteville High School, Fayetteville
• Emily Marthey, Jonesboro High School, Jonesboro
• Grace Martin, Fayetteville High School, Fayetteville
• Nathan Martin, West Fork High School, West Fork
• Lauren Mathews, Trinity Academy, Wichita, Kansas
• Kendall Miller, Haas Hall Academy, Fayetteville
• Devan Mishra, eStem High Public Charter School, Maumelle
• Mackenzie Mollner, Fayetteville High School, Fayetteville
• Ahmed Moustafa, Bentonville West High School, Bentonville
• Ashwin Narayan, Haas Hall Academy, Rogers
• Vivek Narayan, Haas Hall Academy, Rogers
• Aaron James Navarro, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, Hot Springs
• Nathania Nischal, Little Rock Central High School, Little Rock
• Jack Norris, Rogers High School, Rogers
• Anna Palmer, Mount Saint Mary Academy, Little Rock
• Samson Parker, Booker T. Washington High School, Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Anthony Pham, Southside High School, Fort Smith
• Adam Pieratt, Magnolia High School, Magnolia
• Stephen Pierson, Fayetteville High School, Fayetteville
• Aryan Prabhudesai, Haas Hall Academy, Springdale
• Nicholas Ratycz, Catholic High School for Boys, Little Rock
• Anna Roach, Fayetteville High School, Fayetteville
• Austin Rodriguez, Haas Hall Academy - Bentonville, Rogers
• Nicole Rogers, Lakeridge High School, Lake Oswego, Oregon
• Amber Sale, Haas Hall Academy, Fayetteville
• William Sanders, C.E. Byrd High School, Shreveport, Louisiana
• Victoria Savage, Jenks High School, Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Breeanna Scott, Haas Hall Academy, Tontitown
• Eric Seglem, Jonesboro High School, Jonesboro
• Madison Settlage, Southside High School, Fort Smith
• Taylor Seupaul, Little Rock Central High School, Little Rock
• Akshat Shah, Little Rock Central High School, Little Rock
• Isabelle Sharp, Hutchison School, Memphis, Tennessee
• Harshdeep Singh, Bentonville High School, Bentonville
• John Sooter, Bentonville High School, Bentonville
• Caroline Spence, JJ Pearce High School, Richardson, Texas
• Anthony Sterba, Catholic High School for Boys, Little Rock
• Rachel Sweningson, Bryant High School, Bryant
• Ethan Talley, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, Conway
• Russ Tharp, Bentonville High School, Springdale
• Amanda Thomsen, Fayetteville High School, Fayetteville
• Jayden Thurmon, Crossett High School, Crossett
• Benjamin Walworth, Branson High School, Branson, Missouri
• Ryleigh Werner, Liberty Christain School, Flower Mound, Texas
• Brianna Westfall, Greenbrier High School, Greenbrier
• Ryan Williams, Conway High School West, Conway
• Zachary Wilmoth, Cabot High School, Cabot
• William Wood, Little Rock Christian Academy, Little Rock
• Kevin Zhao, Magnolia High School, Magnolia

About the Honors College: The University of Arkansas Honors College was established in 2002 and brings together high-achieving undergraduate students and the university’s top professors to share transformative learning experiences. Each year the Honors College awards up to 90 freshman fellowships that provide $72,000 over four years, and more than $1 million in undergraduate research and study abroad grants. The Honors College is nationally recognized for the high caliber of students it admits and graduates. Honors students enjoy small, in-depth classes, and programs are offered in all disciplines, tailored to students’ academic interests, with interdisciplinary collaborations encouraged. Fifty percent of Honors College graduates have studied abroad and 100 percent of them have engaged in mentored research.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among fewer than 2.7 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.