Awards Recognize Projects Examining the Impacts of COVID-19, Climate Change, Military Suicide, and Gender-Based Discrimination

The McCourt School honored some of it’s most outstanding graduating students, and faculty and staff, last night in a virtual awards ceremony recognizing top thesis and capstone projects, and highlighting other contributions to our community.

Academic Awards

Miguel Otero Nule (MPP’21) won the 2021 MPP Thesis Award for his work, “Throwing the Kitchen Sink: Assessing the Impact of the Federal Reserve’s Monetary Policy on US Firms’ Performance during the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

Jeremy Ellsworth, Bohui Han, Aidain Moore, Keisuke Ozeki, and Jojo Qi, 2021 graduates of McCourt’s public policy program, won the 2021 MPP Capstone Award for their project with the State Department’s Bureau of Global Affairs.

Saib Ahmad, Ana Alvarez, Bethany Dickinson, and Julia Eigner, 2021 graduates of McCourt’s international development policy program, shared the 2021 MIDP Capstone Award for their project with Mercy Corps, “ “Estimating the Rise of Climate-Induced Conflict from Temperature Shocks in Ethiopia”

Constanza Alarcon, Lucia Carrillo, Grace Han, Youn Park, 2021 graduates of McCourt’s international development policy program, also won the 2021 MIDP Capstone Award for their project, “Millennium Challenge Corporation: Gender-based Discrimination in International Development”

Jake Conrad (MPM’21) won the 2021 MPM Capstone Award for his project, “Responding to the Army Suicide Epidemic: How to regain the Healthy Soldier Effect.”

Caroline Pestel (MPM’21) also won the 2021 MPM Capstone Award for her work, “What Women Want and America Needs: Policy Alternatives to Address Unmet Fertility.”

The award for the most Outstanding Master of Science in Data Science for Public Policy Student was given to Andy Green (MSDSPP’21), for his passion and dedication for merging data science with public policy.

Community Contribution and Recognition

McCourt School Assistant Professor Ning Leng won the Leslie Whittington Faculty Member of the Year Award. In their nominations, students noted Professor Leng’s dedication to her students and her efforts to help them understand complicated material, her kindness, and her sense of humor– all in her first year as a teacher.

The Community Contribution Award, given to the most deserving member of the McCourt School staff, was given to assistant research professor Margaret O’Bryon, for her efforts to build bridges between McCourt School students and the residents of Wards 7 and 8, through her leadership of McCourt’s Policy Innovation Lab. 

Grace Han (MIDP’21), HyunJin Katrina Choi (MIDP’21), and Keisuke Ozeki (MPP’21) won the award for Teaching Assistants of the Year, in recognition of their contributions to student learning and success as teaching assistants.

The Women in Public Policy Initiative (WPPI), a McCourt student group dedicated to developing exceptional female leaders in public policy and increasing awareness of issues that disproportionately affect women and girls, won the Student Group of the Year Award. WPPI was recognized for their efforts to strengthen McCourt’s virtual community through collaborative programming with partners like GU Politics and the Black Perspectives on Public Policy student group, bridging multiple cohorts of women on Georgetown’s virtual campus.

Layla Oghabian (MPP’21), president of the McCourt Student Association, won the Student Leader of the Year Award. Layla was recognized for her many positive contributions to the McCourt community, including her advocacy for the McCourt student body during the pandemic.

The award recognizing a commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the McCourt School, which recognizes a current McCourt student whose proactive commitment to DEI has lifted up our community and helped our school progress in its aspiration to be the most inclusive public policy school in the world, was awarded to Taylor Washington (MPP’22), Washington, a founding member of the Black Perspectives on Public Policy student group, worked tirelessly to lift up black voices during her time at McCourt.

The McCourt School’s Global Changemaker Award was given to Diego Marroquin Bitar (MPP’21) for his efforts to cultivate and strengthen our global community. As president of the Georgetown University Graduate Association of Mexican Students, Diego was committed to local and global change, and to building community for McCourt’s Latin American students.

Nicholas Stabile (MPP’21) won the McCourt School’s Impatient Changemaker Award, which recognizes a student dedicated to public policy and enacting positive change beyond Georgetown’s campus, for his work with McCourt’s Policy Innovation Lab, and his efforts to support community development in Washington’s 7th and 8th Wards.

Congratulations to all of this year’s winners and nominees!