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.
2019 Recipients
William Acheampong
Majors: Business Honors Program, History
William Acheampong is all about the challenge. From his first days on campus, Acheampong set out to push himself to the limits. In his two years at UT, he became a research assistant for the McCombs Behavioral Research Lab, an opportunity not often granted to freshmen; was accepted to the Brumley Next Generation Scholars program in the LBJ School of Public Affairs; and founded UT’s Doctors without Borders chapter. He plans to join the foreign service and work abroad for a humanitarian aid group or other nonprofit organization.
Activities: Busines Honors Program Peer Advisor, Founder/President of Doctors Without Borders UT Austin Chapter, Tejas Club Service Coordinator, Texas Blazers, Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law Undergraduate Fellow, McCombs Behavioral Research Laboratory Undergraduate Research Assistant
Siji Deleawe
Majors: Business Honors Program, Plan II Honors
Always full of passion and drive, Siji Deleawe has stood out as a top student at UT for the last three years. As a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion, Deleawe has served on the Business Honors Program Steering Committee, through which she created the Black Affinity Group meant for underrepresented students. With plans to attend law school following her time at UT, Deleawe is a member of the Texas Spirits, the Orange Jackets, and founded a nonprofit called the KIKI Project that promotes literacy in her birth country, Nigeria.
Activities: Founder of KIKI Project, Haven Student Fellowship President, Business Honors Program Steering Committee Secretary, Texas Spirits, Orange Jackets, Student Services Budgeting Committee
Javier Granados II
Majors: BSA Biology, Certificate in Ethics and Leadership in Healthcare/ Pre-Pharmacy Track
Javier Granados is a mentor at heart. Since his arrival at UT, Granados dedicated himself to giving back, growing as a leader, and serving others. He pioneered a new alumni/senior mentorship program for the Terry Scholars Student Association and acts as an upperclassman mentor in his pre-health honor society, Alpha Epsilon Delta. He plans to pursue a career in pharmacy so that he may one day participate in clinical research and the development of new drugs.
Activities: Terry Scholars Students Association President, Longhorn Pre-Pharmacy Association, Alpha Epsilon Delta
Colton Becker
Major: Honors in Advanced Nutritional Sciences
As Student Body President, Colton Becker is always looking out for the betterment of student life on campus. He helped lead an initiative to bring a MindBody Lab to the Nursing Building; worked with SafeHorns to advocate for a lighting study in West Campus; and led a Green Fee Grant Fund proposal, collaborating with HealthyHorns and the graduate Student Assembly to obtain funding for hydration stations around campus. Following graduation in May 2019, he plans to apply to law school.
Activities: Student Government President, Texas Unions Board of Directors Vice Chair, Bray Lab - Undergraduate Research
Kelsey Mumford
Majors: Nursing Honors, Biology
Kelsey Mumford is committed to public health. Since arriving at UT, she founded the National Health Advocacy Student Coalition, which focuses on health advocacy and creating student legislative research and has grown to involve more than 2,500 students. At the 2017 American Association of Colleges of Nursing Student Policy Summit, she became the first undergraduate nursing student to win the Grassroots Student Ambassador Prize for her proposal to create an advocacy campaign surrounding a bill in the Texas legislature calling for opt-out organ donation policy. She has been a part of the National Student Nurses Association, the Dell Medical School Health Leadership Apprentice Program, and Student Government.
Activities: Health Advocacy Student Coalition, National Student Nurses Association, University of Texas Spirit Squad, Dell Medical School Health Leadership Apprentice Program, Student Government
Mehraz Rhaman
Majors: Marketing, Plan II Honors
Mehraz Rhaman is driven by her desire to help people in ways that they may not be able to help themselves. She sees her position as Student Body Vice President as a way to speak out and be an advocate for students. She has worked with refugees through the Interfaith Action of Central Texas. She also serves as an ambassador between the Counseling and Mental Health Center and the student body and as a KIPP mentor.
Activities: Student Body Vice President, Texas Orange Jackets, Plan II Student Association, Texas Sweethearts, Bengali Student Association
Past Recipients
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