The graduation banquet for the CBE Class of 2026 and graduate students was held on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. Families, faculty, and staff gathered to celebrate perseverance, growth, and the promise of new beginnings for our recent graduates.

At the banquet, the following prize winners were announced:

• The Ricketts Prize in Chemical Engineering, which is awarded to seniors of outstanding academic ability who show promise for outstanding professional success in Chemical Engineering: 

  •  Aaron S. Hamilton and Ethan Jabel Cruz

     

• The Lewis’ Coonley Prize is awarded to seniors honoring achievement betokening success in the practice of Chemical Engineering Process Design:

  •  Rachel Borra, Anthony Ferrara, Bowen Hu, and Charles Spath

     

• The W.C. Brinegar Chemical Engineering Prize is awarded to rising seniors demonstrating outstanding creativity and innovation in Chemical Engineering:

  • Collin Charles Kolbe

     

• The Usha Singh Best Dissertation and Research Award is conferred upon exceptional doctoral students who have demonstrated excellent research skills in topics that will be of benefit to society, have positive impacts on our environment, and make fundamental contributions to chemical and biological engineering theory and practice.

  • Yuncan Zhu

                

• The Robert E. Schulz Teaching Award recognizes the faculty member who best embodies innovation in education and excellence in classroom instruction, assessment and continual improvement.
  • Prof. Ronald Hedden

The Usha Singh Best Dissertation and Research award is supported by the generous gift from Dr. Akshay Kundan,  PhD `16, who currently works for Albemarle Corporation as a program leader for Research and Technology.

 In the 2025 summer – 2026 spring, CBE endowed 51 B.S., 5 M.E, 4 M.S., and 8 Ph.D. degrees.

Congratulations everyone!