The President’s Leadership Awards were created in 1985 with an endowment from past Texas Exes president Frank Denius. These awards recognize undergraduate students who have demonstrated outstanding leadership within the student community at The University of Texas. One sophomore, two juniors and three seniors receive the award annually.
2020 Recipients
Brooke Reaves
Majors: Plan II; Business Honors
UT junior Brooke Reaves knows how to get things done. In her time on campus, the Victoria, Texas, native has successfully created four organizations at UT. She founded Nurses for Texas, which helps high school students in low-income districts earn associate’s degrees; BreadwinnHER, a professional development organization for women; and Design for America, an organization that uses design principles to find ways to improve the physical spaces on campus. She is also founder and editor-in-chief of The Texas Orator, a multi-partisan, peer-reviewed political publication that is part of the Associated Collegiate Press.
Activities: KIPP Austin Collegiate & Arts and Letters mentor; member of the Jefferson Scholars; member of Plan II Director’s Student Advisory Council
Josefina Salazar Morales
Major: Aerospace engineering
Originally from Costa Rica, senior Josefina Salazar Morales has a deep passion for the unknown. With her degree, she aims to become a leader in the space industry and develop innovative spacecraft to make impactful scientific discoveries. During her time at UT, she has proven to be a leader, having served as an aerospace engineering peer advisor and president for the Women in Aerospace for Leadership and Development.
Activities: Flight Hardware lead for Texas Spacecraft Laboratory; peer assistance leader for the Women in Engineering Program; External Affairs Committee member for the Leadership, Undergraduate Networking and Recruitment Council
Mamadou Balde
Major: Chemical Engineering
From creating Master Motivators, a motivational speaking student organization, to the Women’s Relief Initiative which provides feminine hygiene products to impoverished women in Africa, UT senior Mamadou Balde is always looking to better someone else’s life. The Guinea native’s dream is to earn a degree from Dell Medical School so that he may ultimately serve others as a physician.
Activities: Cofounder of Women’s Relief Initiative; founder and CEO of Mamba Inspire Brand; member of the National Society of Black Engineers
Oscar Lopez
Major: Business Honors
Sophomore Oscar Lopez is driven by a desire to better his community. Hailing from Laredo, Texas, Lopez aspires to be a leader of change and realize ideas that benefit the area that raised him. He held an internship with the Google Public Policy Fellowship in Washington, D.C. where he practiced local outreach efforts, executed SEC filings for the company, and performed legal research to learn more about the boundaries of AI and how it could help his community.
Activities: Deputy advocacy director and Longhorn legislative aid mentor for UT Student Government; voting member of the Student Services Budget Committee; External Affairs Committee member of the Honors Business Association
Shilpa Rajagopal
Majors: Biology Honors; Marketing
Shilpa Rajagopal is always seeking out new challenges. In her short time on campus, the UT junior from Irvine, California, has served as the president of the Health Advocacy Student Coalition, focusing on educating students about health policies ranging from maternal health to opioid abuse. In her role as the Community Partnership Initiative Team Lead for the Texas Association for Charitable Clinic, she helped with the creation of an opioid resources toolkit for patients.
Activities: Diversity and Inclusion Committee member of UT Natural Sciences Council; Wright Lab, School of Nursing undergraduate research assistant; HealthyHorns peer educator; Benefit Show Charity chair and competition team member of the UT Nritya Sangam Indian Classical Dance Troupe; active member of Texas Orange Jackets
Tyson Smiter
Major: Mechanical engineering
In his four years on campus, senior Tyson Smiter has made a lasting impact on the Longhorn community. Smiter, who is from Southlake, Texas, has held four officer positions with the National Society of Black Engineers, including being the only person ever elected to two terms as president. He has helped increase diversity, equality, and inclusion as a member of the Cockrell School of Engineering Advising Committee.
Activities: President of the University of Texas National Society of Black Engineers; student representative of the Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Advisory Board; Mechanical Engineering Department representative; tutor for the Equal Opportunity in Engineering Program
Past Recipients
2019
William Acheampong, Siji Deleawe, Javier Granados II, Colton Becker, Kelsey Mumford, Mehraz Rhaman
2018
Emily Yang, Caroline "Gabby" Crank, Jacqueline C. Gibson, Karan Kathuria, Matthew "Micky" Wolf, Valarie Cardenas
2017
Seth Krasne, Sofia Aranha, Mayra Sharma, Garrett Maples, Jade Jackson, Amber Magee
2016
Jon Burstain, Robbey Orth, Bethany Rolan, Rachel Huynh, Imani Boyette, and Kevin Helgren
2015
Lauren Caton, Ignacio Cruz, Amy Enrione, Madison Gove, Neal Makkar, and Coleman Tharpe
2014
Charlie Adkins, Elyssa Klann, Holland Finley, Jeffrey Li, Michael "Ugeo" Williams, and Tara Sharma
2013
Armiya Humphrey, Robert Belanger, Steven Macapagal, Rosaura Estrada, Julie Fogarty, James Salazar
2012
Michael Daehne, Jordan Metoyer, Ana Laura Rivera, Rebekah Sosland, Bhargav Srinivasan, Rebekah Thayer
2011
Shelby Carvalho, David Forinash, Derin Kiykioglu, Audrey Najera, Jimmy Talarico, Eugene Wood
2010
Erica Brody, Erik Eyberg, Charles "Bud" Franck, John Kidenda, Cecilia Lopez, Berenice Medellin
2009
Jacob Marcus Bintliff, Natalie Butler, Liam O’Rourke, Abraham Pena, Keshav Rajagopalan, Rebecca Reid
2008
William P. Bacon, Katie Brehm, Nathan Vidal Bunch, Stephen Lang Myers, Nicole Elizabeth Trinh, Mechiel Johannes Vander Walt
2007
Sarina Hickey, C. Melvin Ike, Ryan Miller, Keshav Rajagopalan, Monica Richards, Danille Rugoff, James Tolleson
2006
Matthew Garrett Ashbaugh, James Mahoney Burnham, Manasi A. Deshpande, Zachary Charles Hall, Andrew R. Lara, Sheena Paul, Kan Yan
2005
Salome Balderramme, Tara Buentello, Jesus Castillon, Ellen Chen, Lauren Gilstrap, Matthew Hardigree, Vivek Sakhrani
2004
Jesus Castillon, Monica Villasenor Culver, Kevin Curry, Steven Hardt, Rusty Ince, Jake Ward, Wendy Wheless
2003
Andrew Brummett, Derek Deas, Katie King, Sly Majid, Omar Ochoa, Clint Tuttle
2002
Dimi Aldridge, Erin Dominguez, Andrew Friedberg, Jon Mureen, Sonia Nezamzadeh, Tim Taliaferro, Phu Tran
2001
Zaina Nabil Al-Mohtaseb, Colleen Davies, Andrea Greene, Chris Harlan, Nils Marchand, Jake Olcott, Daron Roberts
2000
Parisa Fatehi, Milam Newby, Sebastian Paige, Carlos Luis Rodriguez, Mollie Sultenfuss, Randy Thompson
1999
Kiesha Curtis, James Hwang, Atisha Patel, David Sanchez, Demetris Williams, Krissah Williams
1998
Christina Allen, Nina Bhatia, Troy Daniel, Lisa Henken, Annie Holand, Daron Roberts, Marlen Whitley
1997
Dee Campanella, Emily Johnson, Tyson Brice King, Candice Marchland, Kat Murray, Ryan Phelps, Anthony Rosette
1996
Carl Harvey Jr., Sam Jacobs, Jake Margo, Yvette Mirabal, Jennifer Monday, Ronnye Vargas
1995
Alex Eastman, David Henderson, Mirshish Massey, Brian Siegal, Ronnye Vargas, Julie Zelman
1994
Joshua Aruh, Deana Dittmar, Katherine Dunphy, Lisa Epifani, Chad Young
1993
Heili Allee, Glenn Brown, Kip Dixon, Howard Nirken, Sean Petrie, Stephen Shang
1992
Stacie Baker, David Gomez, Sean Mast, Howard Nirken, Laura Schaulat, Meredith Spiekerman
1991
Julie Ballard, Sarah Louise Biddle, Jennifer Bradley, Jackie Lain, Marty Meekins, Jennie Molz
1990
Meredith Byers, Jackie Lain, Marty Meekins, Teri Pinney, Anneke Schroen, Charla Serbent, Cliff Vrielink
1989
Jennifer Bradley, Debbie Knupp, Mark Murdock, David Antonio Perez, J. C. Rozendaal, Paul Schweizer, Christine Warden
1988
Dina Castranova, James Delk, Deanna Dewberry, Bill Dorland, Mike Hulbert, Randi Shade
1987
Steve Barrett, Julie Beckham, Archie Holmes, Blair Schlossberg, Mark Strain, Michael Whellan
1986
Dean Carter, Dorina Trevino Clarke, Patricia Jeffrey, Marc H. Muchnick, John Scott