The Honors Magazine is an annual publication of the Morehead Honors College. Please enjoy our latest issue below.
2026 Magazine Stories:
- Orbiting debris: netting a clean (outer) space — Benjamin Pumphrey presented NASA staff with a bold pitch in summer 2023: use a shoebox-sized satellite with a deployable net to capture space debris.
- From medicine to sports, UGA highlights its 40 Under 40 — Eight Honors alumni were selected for UGA’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2025.
- Social work lunch & learn field trip — Honors students visited the School of Social Work housed in the historic mill site on the North Oconee River in April, where they learned about the school’s mission over free burritos during a lunch and learn.
- Developing leaders & training ambassadors — In March, the University of Georgia’s inaugural cohort of the Fanning Student Ambassador Leadership Certificate program graduated during a ceremony on the Athens campus.
- Cloud forest lessons — Sophia Nguyen, a third-year Honors student majoring in international affairs and art history, takes a closer look at a tiny oval ambersnail crawling on a tree branch.
- Learning under the stadium lights — Tristan Lowery, an Athens local who grew up around UGA sports, never imagined that he would be a part of something so iconic.
- Fulfilling the dream: mentorship and opportunity — Jhaycee Barnes is not one to shy away from opportunity.
- Gold dome learning: day at the capitol — The Arch Policy Institute hosted its annual API Day at the Capitol in mid March.
- Classroom to stage: pageants & learning — For Jackson Swann, pageants are more than just competitions: they’re a platform for service.
- Honors banquet outstanding recipients — Each year, the Morehead Honors College celebrates a select group of outstanding seniors during the Honors Banquet.
- Curiosity taking root — Andrea Silletti combines her passion for research with her love of working with undergraduate students.
- Sustainability & ecological stewardship: First-year Honors students ‘connect abroad’ to learn in Finland — James Warnock, associate dean for the Morehead Honors College, traveled to Finland with first-year Honors students through UGA’s Connect Abroad program.
- Maryann Gallagher: Fostering ‘enormously rewarding’ undergraduate research at UGA — When Maryann Gallagher stepped onto the stage at the Classic Center to give the keynote talk for the 2026 CURO Symposium, it was the second time she had done so for an event hosted by the Morehead Honors College.
- A mountain of backpacks: Student-run nonprofit gathers volunteers and supplies for its annual Homeless Heroes Day — Each year, Homeless Heroes Day brings together volunteers from corporations across Atlanta to deepen their understanding of homelessness while packing and distributing backpacks filled with essential items.
- Insects, economies & country relations — From spending the summer sailing on the choppy Pacific waters around the Galapagos in search of remote lava tunnels to exploring Ecuador’s cloud forest jungles at the Maquipucuna Reserve for unusual insects, Oliver Safir was not just an Honors student taking a summer course: he was an outdoor field researcher.
- Five years a college — It was a fairly routine item on the agenda for the University System of Georgia Board of Regents meeting in May of 2021, the naming of a college. But for the University of Georgia, the UGA Foundation trustees who led the effort, and the namesake of that college, it was anything but normal.
- History of Moore Hall — Moore Hall, known as Moore College until 2021, is the only building on the University of Georgia campus that dates to the late 19th century, with construction finalized in 1876.
- Digital connections: six Honors students share their stories on social media as Digital Dawgs for the University of Georgia — Between the flashes of phone cameras and video shoots with friends, Digital Dawgs—the University of Georgia’s group of student social media ambassadors—view promoting UGA’s campus and student life as more than just an extracurricular or a resume builder.
- From curiosity to discovery — Each summer, a small group of undergraduates gain their research footing at the University of Georgia through the CURO Summer Research Fellowship.
- Honors student named a 2026 Marshall Scholar — University of Georgia senior Finn Walsh will build on her studies in infectious disease next fall as UGA’s newest Marshall Scholar.
- UGA senior selected as Gaither Junior Fellow — Justin Cohen is UGA’s first Gaither Junior Fellow since 2016.
- Sudhan Chitgopkar named 2026 Knight-Hennessy scholar — Sudhan Chitgopkar, a University of Georgia alumnus from Cumming, will work to merge his knowledge of computer science with studies in law as a 2026 Knight-Hennessy Scholar, a fully-endowed, multidisciplinary leadership development program for graduate students at Stanford University.
- Two UGA undergraduates named 2026 Goldwater Scholars — Since 1995, 72 UGA students have earned this prestigious scholarship.
- UGA’s Melanie Frick named a 2026 Udall Scholar — Melanie Frick plans to center her career on sustainable land management and conservation in connection to solar energy generation.
- UGA leads nation with 18 Boren Scholars in 2026 — A record-breaking 18 undergraduates at the University of Georgia were named Boren Scholars this spring, landing UGA at No. 1 among top-performing institutions for Boren Awards.
- Keaton Coletti named UGA’s first Truman Fellow — Keaton Coletti, a Ph.D. candidate in mechanical engineering at the University of Georgia, was named a Truman Postdoctoral Fellow at Sandia National Laboratories.
- UGA is a 2026 top producer of Fulbright U.S. students — Eleven University of Georgia students received Fulbright offers for the 2025-2026 academic year, placing UGA among the top producing institutions for Fulbright U.S. students in 2026.
- Crane Leadership Scholars — For 2025-2026, 12 Honors students were recognized for their exemplary leadership efforts as recipients of the William Moore Crane Leadership Scholarship.
- Curiosity and faith meet science in Madeleine’s multidisciplinary journey — When Madeleine Coleman arrived at the University of Georgia, she had an ambitious goal: to study Buddhist research in Tibet.
- From Athens to New Haven — Honors alumnus Anthony Potts (BA ’21) is studying at Yale Law School, helping the American Bar Association rewrite its model procurement code, and working as an editor at the Yale Law Journal. His journey to New Haven, Connecticut, started in Athens as a CURO Honors Scholar, UGA’s top undergraduate research scholarship.
- Guiding the next generation: Sara Sohani took a hands-on approach as she helped lead a mini-medical school camp — Sara Sohani (BSFCS ’23, BS ’23) sits on a padded exam room seat, legs dangling over the floor. One by one, high school students move to stand in front of her, raising their index fingers up to her eye level. Their eyes meet first—the gaze of a medical student to a high schooler—and then she extends her finger to meet theirs.
- Health & data: Ganeshan sisters share a similar path to different fields — Like many siblings, Smitha and Shreya Ganeshan have plenty in common. Each sister studied at the University of Georgia as a Foundation Fellow, led tours through UGA’s Visitors Center, and took a keen interest in technology.
- Stillwagon family provides student support through the Honors Parent Society — Making the transition from a tiny high school in Southeast Georgia to a bustling SEC university is no easy feat for any college freshman.
- Q&A with Joel Wooten — Honors alumnus Joel Wooten shares his love for the University of Georgia by paying back “what had been so generously given.”
- From one Fellow to the next — Maggie Crowder Lawrence, Fellows Class of 1985, celebrates her time in Honors by establishing a lecture series to “challenge and broaden the perspectives” of the university community.
- Promoting & serving: The Honors College Advisory Board — The Morehead Honors College Advisory Board is a group of alumni and friends who serve as advisors to the dean and help advance the college through cultivating prospective donor relationships and strengthening existing ties between Honors and businesses and communities.
- Wall of love — Georgia Grace Hayes, an Honors student majoring in finance and international business, traveled to Paris as a part of the UGA à Paris program in summer 2025.
