Student Awards

2023 Student Awards

• The J. Ernest Tanner Award for Excellence in Economics — Eric C. Christenson

The J. Ernest Tanner Award for Excellence in Economics is presented to a single student who is among the top-20 in GPA (economics courses only) and receives the highest number of votes from the faculty.

• The Paul Tulane Rising Star Award — Kyla Denwood

The Paul Tulane Rising Star Award is given to a student who has been admitted by a graduate program (MA or Ph.D) and shows the most promise as a future scholar. 

• The Best Honors Thesis Award — Chase Farha

The Best Honors Thesis Award is given to a student who writes the best honors thesis. The candidates are nominated by the faculty and evaluated by a committee.

• The Best Research Paper Award — Carly C. Presz

The Research Award in Economics is awarded in recognition of a student who writes the best research paper, including honors thesis, independent research paper, and course paper. The candidates is nominated by the faculty and evaluated by a committee.

2022 Student Awards

• The J. Ernest Tanner Award for Excellence in Economics — Batu El

The J. Ernest Tanner Award for Excellence in Economics is given to the student with the highest GPA among all graduating Economics majors. This year’s winner is Batu El with overall GPA of 4.0.

• The Paul Tulane College Award in Economics — Shyam Sunder Kakar

The Paul Tulane College Award in Economics is given to the outstanding male Economics major. Shyam Kakar maintained an outstanding academic record at Tulane University. While majoring in Economics and Environmental Studies, Shyam earned an overall GPA of 4.0.

• The Newcomb College Award in Economics — Rhiannon Amelia Brown

The Newcomb College Award in Economics is given to the outstanding female Economics major. Rhiannon Amelia Brown maintained an outstanding academic record at Tulane University. While double majoring in Economics and Psychology, Rhiannon earned an overall GPA of 3.945.

• The Mathematical Economics Award — Scott McEntee

The Mathematical Economics Award is given to the student with the highest GPA among all graduating Economics majors who also had a significant concentration in mathematics. This year’s recipient Scott McEntee has earned an overall GPA of 3.945 while double majoring in Economics and Mathematics.

• The Research Award in Economics — Mark Xiao

The Research Award in Economics is given to the student who has demonstrated outstanding    research performance. Mark Xiao’s thesis, “An Early Evaluation of Colorado’s Insulin Cost-sharing Cap: Successes and Failures of Price Regulation in Health Insurance”, examines the effect of a recent Colorado state policy reform, which created a co-pay cap on the out-of-pocket spending by privately insured diabetic patients on insulin. He applied for multiple Tulane student research grants in the spring and summer of 2021 and secured several of them to be able to purchase the $11,200 dataset. His overall GPA is 3.950.

• The Senior Honors Scholar Award — Corinna Cline

The Senior Scholar Award is given to the graduating Economics major who has written the best honors thesis. Our winner this year is Corinna Cline who completed her thesis using the SafeGraph data, and executed an interrupted time series analysis that tracks visits to Texas abortion clinics after the abortion restriction law. While double majoring in Public Health and Economics, her overall GPA is 3.946.

2021 Student Awards

• The J. Ernest Tanner Award for Excellence in Economics — Janie Qiu and Grace Slapak

The J. Ernest Tanner Award for Excellence in Economics is given to the student with the highest GPA among all graduating Economics majors. This year we have two recipients who both maintained outstanding academic records at Tulane University: Janie Qiu and Grace Slapak. Janie double majored in Economics and Psychology and minored in Public Health, and Grace double majored in Economics and Social Policy & Practice and minored in Psychology and Philosophy. Both awardees earned an overall GPA of 4.0.

• The Paul Tulane College Award in Economics — Andrew Cannata

The Paul Tulane College Award in Economics is given to the outstanding male Economics major. Andrew Cannata maintained an outstanding academic record at Tulane University. While double majoring in Economics and Homeland Security Studies, Andrew earned an overall GPA of 4.0.

• The Newcomb College Award in Economics — Halley Wolin

The Newcomb College Award in Economics is given to the outstanding female Economics major. Halley Wolin maintained an outstanding academic record at Tulane University. While obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and minoring in Spanish and Political Science, Halley earned an overall GPA of 4.0.

• The Mathematical Economics Award — Rob Enright

The Mathematical Economics Award is given to the student with the highest GPA among all graduating Economics majors who also had a significant concentration in mathematics. This year’s recipient Rob Enright has earned an overall GPA of 3.793 while double majoring in Economics and Mathematics.

• The Research Award in Economics — Kyla Denwood

The Research Award in Economics is given to the student who has demonstrated outstanding research performance. Kyla Denwood has demonstrated outstanding research performance while double majoring in Economics and International Development and earning an overall GPA of 3.719. While managing a team of research assistants for an NSF-grant-funded project, Kyla completed an interdisciplinary honors thesis, which draws from economics, econometrics, and international development, to study youth labor market outcomes in Uganda.

• The Senior Honors Scholar Award — Emma Brick-Hezeau and Grace Slapak

The Senior Scholar Award is given to the graduating Economics major who has written the best honors thesis. We have two recipients this year: Emma Brick-Hezeau who completed her thesis while double majoring in Economics and Linguistics and earning an overall GPA of 3.885 and Grace Slapak who completed her thesis while earning an overall GPA of 4.0.

Emma’s thesis demonstrates how researchers can use sentiment analysis software in the context of audit field experiments, an innovation that expands the scope of data available for analysis. Grace’s thesis outlines an original signaling game to illustrate how simple electoral incentives can lead simultaneously to the over-incarceration of minors and the disproportionate re-election of election-motivated judges.

2020 Student Awards

• The J. Ernest Tanner Award for Excellence in Economics – Ellen Callais and Gregory Chauvin 
  The J. Ernest Tanner Award for Excellence in Economics is given to the student with the highest GPA among all graduating Economics majors. The recipients this year are Ellen Callais and Gregory Chauvin. Both Callais and Chauvin have outstanding records at Tulane University, and have earned overall GPA's of 4.0 in their years at Tulane.
• The Paul Tulane College Award in Economics – Jack Cherny
  The Paul Tulane College Award in Economics is given to the outstanding male Economics major. The recipient this year is Jack Cherny. Cherny has an outstanding record at Tulane University, and has earned an overall GPA of 3.989 in his years at Tulane.
• The Newcomb College Award in Economics – Isabella Smith 
  The Newcomb College Award in Economics is given to the outstanding female Economics major. The recipient this year is Isabella Smith. Smith has an outstanding record at Tulane University, and has earned an overall GPA of 3.99 in her years at Tulane.
• The Mathematical Economics Award – Emilia Nordgren
  The Mathematical Economics Award is given to the student with the highest GPA among all graduating Economics majors who also had a significant concentration in mathematics. The recipient this year is Emilia Nordgren. Emilia has an outstanding record at Tulane University, and has earned an overall GPA of 3.985 in her years at Tulane.
• The Research Award in Economics – Yiqi Liu
  The Research Award in Economics is given to the student who has demonstrated outstanding research performance. The recipient this year is Yiqi Liu. Liu has an outstanding record at Tulane University, and earned an overall GPA of 3.981 in his years at Tulane.
• The Senior Honors Scholar Award in Economics – Alice Qi
  The Senior Honors Scholar Award in Economics is given by the Honors College to a graduating Economics major who has written the best honors thesis of any student in the Department of Economics. The recipient this year is Alice Qi. Qi has an outstanding record at Tulane University, and has earned an overall GPA of 3.984 in her years at Tulane.

2019 Student Awards

• The J. Ernest Tanner Award for Excellence in Economics – Haley P. Kiernan
  The J. Ernest Tanner Award for Excellence in Economics is given to the student with the highest GPA among all graduating Economics majors. The recipient this year is Haley P. Kiernan. She has an outstanding record at Tulane University. She majored in both Economics and Psychology, with a minor in Spanish. Even with this demanding course load, she earned a perfect overall GPA of 4.00 in her years at Tulane.
• The Paul Tulane College Award in Economics – Guy D. Knapp
  The Paul Tulane College Award in Economics is given to the outstanding male Economics major. The recipient this year is Guy D. Knapp. Guy pursued a double major in Economics and in Mathematics, and he earned an overall GPA of 3.93 in this demanding academic program.
• The Newcomb College Award in Economics – Ozge Ilkim Ozbek 
  The Newcomb College Award in Economics is given to the outstanding female Economics major. The recipient this year is Ozge Ilkim Ozbek. Ozge earned an overall GPA of 3.94, while pursuing a double major in Economics and in Linguistics and a minor in Asian Studies.
• The Mathematical Economics Award – Sichen (Jasmine) Bao
  The Mathematical Economics Award is given to the student with the highest GPA among all graduating Economics majors who also had a significant concentration in mathematics. The recipient this year is Sichen (Jasmine) Bao. Jasmine had an overall GPA of 3.99 with a double major in Economics and in Mathematics. She demonstrated outstanding performance in such demanding technical classes as number theory, real analysis, econometrics, and statistics, as well as in graduate classes in stochastic processes, machine learning, and programming languages.
• The Research Award in Economics – Emmarose K. Glaser
  The Research Award in Economics is given to the student who has demonstrated outstanding research performance. The recipient this year is Emmarose K. Glaser. She designed an ambitious research project that examined hiring discrimination against Muslims in the United States, using a “resume experiment” method. This method involves constructing resumes that differ in the name of the applicant but that are otherwise identical. Then these resumes are sent to potential employers to determine if there is a differential response by applicant name only. Emmarose designed this experiment, applied for grant funding to support the research, and has collected and analyzed the data. She hopes that this research will lead eventually lead to an even larger study. As further evidence of her scholastic abilities, Emmarose’s overall GPA is 3.94, with majors in Economics, Mathematics, and Computer Science.
• The Senior Honors Scholar Award in Economics – Aubrey Jiaxin Wang
  The Senior Honors Scholar Award in Economics is given by the Honors College to a graduating Economics major who has written the best honors thesis of any student in the Department of Economics. Aubrey Jiaxin Wang has an outstanding record at Tulane University. He has achieved an overall GPA of 3.71, even while pursuing a demanding double major in Economics and in Mathematics. He has also written an original and creative honors thesis on the relationship between corporate leverage and employee wages. Previous studies found that higher corporate leverage led to higher wages of corporate employees. Using new data on median wages that the Dodd-Frank legislation required corporations to college, Aubrey shows that this result no longer holds: the relationship between leverage and median wages is now actually negative, a result that helps inform current discussions of corporate policy and inequality.

Student awards for May, 2018

L. to R.: Carrie Leibensperger, Catherine Balfe, Griffin Sandler, Jake Ward; not pictured: Paige Brown, Jordan Sticklin

• The J. Ernest Tanner Award for Excellence in Economics – Jake D. Ward
  The J. Ernest Tanner Award for Excellence in Economics is given to the student with the highest GPA among all graduating economics majors. Jake Ward has an outstanding record at Tulane, earning a perfect overall GPA of 4.0.  His original honors thesis reflects his interest in European political economy, entitled "Legitimate Radicals: The United Kingdom Independence party and the Alternative für Deutschland."  He has alwos worked with the Honors Program as a student assistant and has participated in the student group Europena Horizons.  He is most deserving of the Tanner Award.
• The Paul Tulane College Award in Economics (tie) – Griffin P. Sandler and Jordan R. Sticklin
  The Paul Tulane College Award in Economics is given to outstanding male economics majors. This year it is shared by Griffin Sandler, who has an overall GPA of 3.926 with a double major in Economics and Mathematics, and Jordan Sticklin, who had an overall GPA of 3.920 with a double major in Economics and Political Science/International Relations.  They are both most deserving of this award.
• The Newcomb College Award in Economics (tie) – Paige E. Brown and Carrie Leibensperger
  The Newcomb College Award in Economics is given to the outstanding female Economics major. The award is shared this year by Paige Brown, who earned an overall GPA of 3.976 with a double major of Economics and Fine Arts, and Carrie Leibensperger, who in her double major of Economics and Environmental Earth Science also earned an overall GPA of 3.976.  Each is most deserving of the Newcomb College Award in Economics.
• The Mathematical Economics Award (tie) – Carrie Leibensperger and Griffin P. Sandler
  The Mathematical Economics Award is given to the student with the highest GPA among all graduating economics majors who also had a significant concentration in mathematics. This year the award is shared by Carrie Leibensperger, who in her double major of Economics and Environmental Earth Science also earned an overall GPA of 3.976, and Griffin Sandler, who has an overall GPA of 3.926 with a double major in Economics and Mathematics.  They are both most deserving of the Mathematical Economics Award.
• The Research Award in Economics – Catherine Balfe
  The Research Award in Economics is given to the student who produced an exemplary honors thesis. Catherine Balfe's thesis quantifies the extent of discrimination in mortgage lending that is based on sexual orientation.  Catherine designed an experiment to measure this discrimination, and she overcame major obstacles to complete the project.  Catherine, an Economics major, also earned an overall GPA of 3.956.  She is most deserving of this honor.
• The Senior Honors Scholar Award in Economics – Catherine Balfe
  The Senior Scholar Award for Research in Economics is given to a graduating Economics major who has demonstrated outstanding research performance. Catherine Balfe takes this award for 2018 with the exemplary honors thesis that also won her the Research Award in Economics.  She is most deserving of this year's Senior Scholar Award for Research in Economics.

Student awards for 2017

L. to R.: Brooke Satterfield, Rosie Li, Alec Stewart, Maggie Zhang, Copeland Whitney, Natalie George

• The J. Ernest Tanner Award for Excellence in Economics - Ruoxi (Rosie) Li
  The J. Ernest Tanner Award for Excellence in Economics is given to the student with the highest GPA among all graduating Economics majors. Ruoxi (Rosie) Li has an outstanding record at Tulane University, and has earned an overall GPA of 3.98 in her years at Tulane. She also wrote an original honors thesis exploring how the No Child Left Behind Act affected high school graduation rates. She is most deserving of the Tanner Award.
• The Paul Tulane College Award in Economics (tie) - Alec Stewart and Copeland Whitney
  The Paul Tulane College Award in Economics is given to outstanding male Economics majors. This award is shared this year by Alec Stewart and Copeland Whitney. Alec had a GPA of 3.95 and majored in both economics and math. Copeland had a GPA of 3.91 and majored exclusively in economics. Each is most deserving of this award.
• The Newcomb College Award in Economics (tie) - Natalie George and Brooke Satterfield
  The Newcomb College Award in Economics is given to the outstanding female Economics major. The award is shared this year by Natalie George and Brooke Satterfield. Natalie earned a GPA of 3.95 and majored in economics. Brooke earned a GPA of 3.94 and majored in finance and economics. Each is most deserving of the Newcomb College Award in Economics.
• The Mathematical Economics Award - Alec Stewart
  The Mathematical Economics Award is given to the student with the highest GPA among all graduating Economics majors who also had a significant concentration in mathematics. This award goes to Alec Stewart, who had an overall GPA of 3.95 and majored in both economics and mathematics. He is most deserving of the Mathematical Economics Award.
• The Research Award in Economics - Maggie Zhang
  The Research Award in Economics is given to the student who produced an exemplary honors thesis. Maggie Zhang has earned this award. Her thesis investigated the the impact of the Medicaid Expansion Component of the Affordable Care Act on health and economic outcomes, using the natural experiment generated by the expansion of the ACA in only certain states. Maggie has shown great energy and enthusiasm for research. She took the initiative in seeking out data for this study and in developing the necessary econometric skills to be able to undertake the analysis. As further evidence of her scholastic abilities, Maggie's overall GPA is 3.94. She is most deserving of this honor.
• The Senior Honors Scholar Award in Economics - Ruoxi (Rosie) Li
  The Senior Scholar Award for Research in Economics is given to a graduating Economics major who has demonstrated outstanding research performance. Ruoxi (Rosie) Li has earned this award by writing an exceptional honors thesis. Her thesis investigates the extent to which the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 caused school districts to increase their high school graduation rates. She collected school district level data from the United States Department of Education to estimate a series of sophisticated econometric models that attempt to isolate the causal effect of the policy. She is most deserving of this year's Senior Scholar Award for Research in Economics.