Senior Prizes
Each spring semester, members of the senior class are selected by Kirkland's deans and tutors to receive house awards at the senior dinner. Kirkland has been awarding house prizes for close to 90 years, and has prizes for intramurals, excellence in science and the humanities, and for house spirit, among other things. Listed below are the recipients of each award since its inception as well as a brief description of the award itself.
KDS Lifetime Achievement Award
This Kirkland House award is presented to the Senior who has demonstrated the greatest commitment and contribution within their class to Kirkland’s Drama Society.
Kirkland House Boat Cup
This Kirkland House award is presented to the Senior who demonstrates undying perseverance, a penchant for 6:00 A.M. practices on the river, and the ability to handle an oar. In short, the Senior who helps the House Crew row, and row, and row, and row. The prize is a silver Jefferson cup.
The William Gerety Cup
This Kirkland House award is presented in memory of William Gerety, an outstanding former Kirkland House Resident, who contributed a great deal of time and effort to the intramural sports program. The recipient personifies the ideal of a well-rounded Harvard student who keeps up in his or her studies and who has contributed the most in his or her class to intramural sports. The prize is a silver Paul Revere bowl.
1998 Derek Herbert, Cedar Riener, & Deborah Sternlight
1999 Ryan Heslop & Justin Lerer
2001 Paul Daubenmire & Elisha Yaghmai
2003 James Richadson Ross Whittle
2004 Kathryn Barletta & Jeffrey Fogel
2005 Richard Kennard Mansfield & Helis Zulijani
2006 Simon Chang & Tom Spellman
2007 Kevin Papay & Julia Pederson
2008 Margaret Macdonald
2009 Rob Sneckenberg
2010 Danny Kim
2011 Ken Toyoda
2012 Liinus Hietaniemi
2013 Tyrell Dixon
2014 Ian Myjer
2015 Chris Holthouse
2016 Edie Johnson & Rachel Tandias
2017 Stefan Rajkovic
2018 Darlington Nwaudo
2019 Joseph Zuckerman
David McCord Prize
This Harvard Prize is awarded to the senior in each House who demonstrates unusual talent in writing, drama, music, painting, drawing, or sculpture. The winner receives credit at the Coop towards the purchase of an appropriate art book or art-related supplies and a book plate.
1999 Keisha Minyard
2001 Alyssa Soby
2004 Gordon Reid Carolin
2005 Toni Marie Marchioni
2006 Liam Martin
2007 Mary Birnbaum & Ezra Cohen
2008 Marielle Woods
2009 Kathleen Breeden
2010 Loren Amor
2011 Mark Isaacson
2012 Anne Polyakov
2013 Richard Sims
2014 Heather Mauldin
2015 Libby Coleman
2016 Billy Orman
2017 Juna Gjata
2018 Benjamin Grimm
2019 Jose Coronado
George Caspar Homans Prize
This Kirkland House award is given in memory of the first House Committee Chairman of House Committee. The George Caspar Homans Prize is for excellence in the social sciences. A book in the winner's field of interest is awarded annually by the Senior Common Room of Kirkland House to a graduating senior.
1999 Muriel Jean-Jacques
2001 Matthew Vogel
2004 Kristin Eichensehr
2005 Matthew William Mahan
2006 Allison Rone
2007 C.R. Sincock
2008 John Cella & Taylor Owings
2009 Scott Kominers
2010 Trevor Bakker
2011 Oded Oren
2012 Susan Wang
2013 Madeline Magnuson
2014 Eric Chung
2015 Arleen Aguasvivas
2016 Andrea Ortiz
2017 Itzel Vasquez-Rodriguez
2018 Christopher Egi & Blessing Jee
2019 Justin Curtis
Kirkland House Arts Award
The Kirkland House Arts Award is presented to the Senior in Kirkland House who has contributed in a significant way to the arts in the House. The prize is a silver plate.
The Jonathan Hart Prize
This prize is awarded to a student of Kirkland House who has excelled in the field of history, literature, or philosophy. The winner receives a book selected by Prof. Hart and a monetary award.
Arthur Smithies Award
This Kirkland House award is given in memory of Arthur Smithies, House Master of Kirkland House from 1965-1974. This monetary prize is awarded to the student or students who have contributed the most to Kirkland House music and/or arts. The prize is a monetary award.
2001 Mark Little
2004 Berenika Zakrzewski
2005 Francesca Anderegg
2006 Caroline Whiting
2007 Doug Balliett
2008 Steve Lin
2009 Grant Damon & Patrick McKiernan
2010 Walter Klyce
2011 Krystal Cantos & Wendy Wang
2012 Marissa Glynias
2013 The Members of "FIGJAM": Alex Bruce, Daniel Burack, Aaron Deutsch, Brendan Maione-Downing, Alex Morelli, John Tsai, & Nick Waldo
2014 Adriana Pohl
2015 Ricardo Robledo, Brian Mendel, Petey Menz, & Ian Nightingale
2016 Henry Burnam
2017 Christine Xu
2018 Audrey Chen
2019 Chris Haley
The Kirkland Science Award
This prize is awarded to a graduating senior in Kirkland House who has excelled in the field of chemistry, physics, engineering, computer science, or other physical or mathematical science. The winner receives a book on a topic in the student’s field.
The Donald and Cathleen Pfister Prize
Established through contributions from Kirkland House alumni and associates to honor the outgoing Masters, the prize is awarded to a graduating senior in Kirkland House who has demonstrated excellent achievement in the natural sciences. The prize consists of a book on a topic in the student's field and a monetary award.
2001 Michele Levin
2004 Colette Joan Shen
2005 Elizabeth Simmons Thrall
2006 Nate Labenz
2007 Vijay Yanamadala
2008 Allen Chen
2009 Hannah Frank
2010 Amrita Goyal
2011 Alex Lupsasca
2012 Aryeh Gold-Parker
2013 Juhi Kuchroo
2014 Alexandra Haber
2015 Alexander Jaffe
2016 Liz Karan & Tristan Wang
2017 Jack Stevenson
2018 Waverly He
2019 Mai-Linh Ton
Kirkland House Service Award
The Kirkland House Service Award is presented to a Senior in the House in recognition of their service to Kirkland House. The prize is a silver plate.
1998 Elizabeth Hanify & Jason Peters
1999 Audrey Hong
2001 Matt Getman, Scott Gunn, & Jeremiah Lane
2004 Sara Clark
2005 Adam Kalamchi
2006 Sarah Kennifer
2007 Julia Morton
2008 Anna McCallie
2009 Frances Tompkins
2010 Billy Stallings & Cassie Snow
2011 Brad Paraszczak
2012 Abby Koff, Juan Munoz, & Teddy Tiab
2013 Cynthia Wu
2014 Rainjade Chung
2015 Raja Ghawi
2016 Chesley Ekelem & Meghamsh Kanuparthy
2017 Nick O'Brien
2018 Chris Dolliff
2019 Alvaro Quintero
2020 Julia Jean Dokko & Kevin R. English
2021 Sarah Gill
2022 Edward Athaide
2023 Hannah Martinez
2024 Aurora Maris Roche Avallone & Olivia Jocelyn Jensen Eckstein
2025 Nena King & Giselle Chiprez Ramirez
Char Kim Award
At her untimely passing in 2016, Charlotte Hyun-Mi Kim '90 was remembered as the beating heart of Kirkland House. Charlotte's irrepressible energy, fearless initiative and sincere love for her many friends built community and created a web of long-lasting, treasured relationships. The Charlotte Hyun-Mi Kim '90 Award is given to the Kirkland House graduating senior who best epitomizes Charlotte's exuberant spirit and passion for fostering community at Kirkland House. The honoree receives a financial gift sponsored by Charlotte's classmates, family and friends.
2017 Colin Criss & Yanlin "Kit" Wu
2018 Daryn Forgeron & Sara Surani
2019 Kristen Hong & Sarah Judd
2020 Nicole Mariah Daurio & Erin Michelle Olivieri
2021 Katherine Huanming Lou
2022 Jacqueline Tubbs & Andrea Zhang
2023 Olayeni Oladipo & Michelle Stegawksi
2024 Maya Isolde Pena-Lobel
2025 Folukemi Olufidipe
The Spirit of Kirkland House Award
This Kirkland House award is for the Senior in Kirkland who best exemplifies the spirit of the House. The prize is a silver Paul Revere bowl.
2020 Irla Belli
2021 Matthew Robbins Thomas
2022 Rafael Trevino
2023 Adam Aleksic
2024 Ina Bhoopalam
2025 Awa Debou Jasseh & Andrew John Lobo
Faculty Deans' Award
Awarded by the Faculty Deans to the Senior whose contributions to House life, personal strengths, and intellectual achievements distinguish them among Kirkland House graduates. The prize is a silver plate.
2002 Joseph Michael Adelman & Mary Katherine Gardner
2003 Komal Bhasin
2004 Sloan Jordan Eddleston & Leslie Alexandra Hill
2005 Lauren Elizabeth Sancken
2006 Navin Lingam Kimar & Anica Chi-Ying Law
2007 Michael Chow & Gregor Brodsky
2008 Bradford Diephuis & Megan Powell
2009 Danielle Alexander
2010 Amy Michelle Beeson & Zachary Ryan Abel
2011 Kelly Bodwin
2012 Allen Padua
2013 Evan Greif
2014 Roland Yang
2015 Isaac Dayno
2016 Kate Buellesbach
2017 Francesca Childs
2018 Jacob Scherba
2019 Annie Mills
2020 Madison Caroline Schmitt
2021 Yoseph Boku
2022 Maranda Ngue
2023 Ivor Zimmerman
2024 Meadow Hall
2025 Cerena Wu