Stony Brook University’s Class of 2026 Boasts 38 Undergrads Selected for Valedictorian Awards

Stony Brook University's Class of 2026 included 38 outstanding undergraduate students who were selected for the Ward Melville and H. Lee Dennison Valedictorian Awards.

The recipients were recognized for their extracurricular activities and leadership positions alongside exceptional academic results.

The Ward Melville Valedictorian Award is for students who enrolled at Stony Brook as freshmen. The H. Lee Dennison Valedictorian Award is for students who enrolled as transfers and earned at least 60 credits of graded coursework at SBU.

"Congratulations to Stony Brook's 38 valedictorians," said Carl W. Lejuez, executive vice president and provost. "This honor is a testament to our students' dedication to their studies, and our entire university community's dedication to supporting all of our students, whether they come in as freshmen or later as transfer students, to succeed at Stony Brook and beyond."

The Class of 2026 valedictorians are:

Ward Melville Valedictorian Award

Sheila Argueta - History
Akshita Arora - Psychology
Maelle Aubry - Biology
Thomas Beggs - Biology
Norah Birdsall - English
William Birney - Business Management
Sophia Goodkin - Psychology
Alex Grodzki - Psychology
Benjamin Harrell - Mathematics
Joshua Isakharov - Biology
Alexander Joukov - Computer Science
Manahil Kashif - Biochemistry
Jasjeet Kaur - Biology
Sean Krivitsky - Biology
Susan Li - Business Management
Maura Luby - English
Mia Murata - Psychology
Ka Long Ngai - Computer Science
Charis Polycarpou - Creative Writing
Zirui Shao - Biochemistry
Emma Shen - Health Science
Johanna Stefanakis - Biochemistry
Benjamin Trosman - Applied Mathematics
Ryan Vaziri - Biochemistry
Anuva Wardah - Sociology
Sarah Wickes - English
Sirou Zhang - Chemistry
Vivian Zhu - Biology

H. Lee Dennison Valedictorian Award

Christopher Forstmann - Biology
Sanjana Iyer - Biology
Dan Jian - Biochemistry
Anthony Manion IV - Political Science
Jake Ott - Psychology
Michelle Shi - Biology
Sinead Singleton - Nursing
Xinyi Xiang - Applied Mathematics
Trinnity Ye - Nursing
Makayla Zito - Psychology