UC Santa Barbara Announces Winners of Leal, Aldrich Awards, and Other Top Academic Prizes for Outstanding Graduating Seniors

Four graduating seniors have been selected to receive awards for outstanding academic achievement at commencement exercises on June 11 and 12.

Kelsey Waite, a communication major from Scottsdale, Ariz., will receive the Luis Leal Social Sciences Undergraduate Award for outstanding interdisciplinary achievement in the social sciences.

The award was established in honor of the late Don Luis Leal, a distinguished visiting professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies, whose presence and scholarship greatly enriched the Santa Barbara campus.

James Scott, of Santa Rosa, who is graduating with a degree in psychology, will receive the Francis Colville and Terry Dearborn Memorial Award for outstanding academic achievement as an honors student majoring in the sciences.

The awards were established in memory of Francis M. Colville and Terry H. Dearborn, associate professors of physical education at UCSB.

Lauren Capaccio, of Newark, who has completed a degree in English, will receive the William R. Reardon Undergraduate Award for outstanding academic achievement in an arts or humanities discipline.

The award is named in memory of William R. Reardon, a UCSB professor emeritus of dramatic art and former associate dean in the College of Letters and Sciences.

Kaitlyn Hollister, of Valencia, who is graduating with a degree in the biological sciences, will receive the Daniel G. Aldrich, Jr. Outstanding Senior Award in recognition of his outstanding scholarship and contributions to the campus community.

The award was established to honor the late Daniel G. Aldrich, Jr., who served as chancellor and professor of soils and plant nutrition at UC Irvine, and as acting chancellor at UCSB.

These and other student-award winners will be honored on June 10, at 1:30 p.m., at a special ceremony in the campus's Pollock Theater.

The College of Letters and Science is the largest academic unit at UCSB.

Offering nearly 80 majors and interdisciplinary programs, and 38 minors, the college enrolls more than 19,000 undergraduate and graduate students.