2026 Stamps Commencement Awards
Students, friends, and family gathered with the Stamps community on Friday, May 1, 2026 for the annual Commencement Celebration honoring the accomplishments of undergraduate and graduate students at the Stamps School of Art & Design.
Renowned artist, educator, and alumnus Cosmo Whyte (MFA‘15) delivered the commencement address, encouraging the class of 2026 to “define success on your own terms.”
“I can say with certainty that many of the opportunities that have shaped me came from following paths that didn’t make sense in the moment. Progress, in this sense, isn’t a straight line but something closer to a meandering river, with branching tributaries that double back, diverge, and reconnect,” he noted. “Think of your practice over time. What you invest in it now — your attention, your discipline, your patience — will shape what becomes possible over the next decade.”
“Think of your practice over time. What you invest in it now — your attention, your discipline, your patience — will shape what becomes possible over the next decade.”
At the ceremony, students were recognized for their academic and creative achievements. Congratulations to the graduate and undergraduate honorees!
MFA Visiting Critics Awards
The Visiting Critics Thesis Exhibition Award and the Visiting Critics Vision Award award recognize outstanding creative work, as evidenced in the thesis exhibition and is selected annually by an expert and independent panel of Visiting Artists and Critics.
- Visiting Critics Thesis Exhibition Award: Zoë Dong and Sujay Saple
- Visiting Critics Vision Award: Michaela Nichelle Martin
- Visiting Critics First-Year Exhibition Award: Bert Cook
- Visiting Critics First-Year Vision Award: Julianna Sanromán Rojas
Summa Cum Laude Honors
Students earn the summa cum laude distinction when their academic performance and cumulative grade point average places them in the top three percent of the graduating class.
- Laila Burke-Graves
- David Gapseok Byun
- Leanna Mokihana Paik
- Jaime Leigh Salmonson
- Tennessee Tian
Phi Beta Kappa
Phi Beta Kappa is America’s most prestigious honor society. Through a highly selective, merit-based invitation process, Phi Beta Kappa honors the best and brightest liberal arts and sciences undergraduates from 293 top schools across the nation.
- Mira Jane Hughes
Atharva Kharkar Memorial Award
An honorary member of the Stamps Class of 2021 (Stamps BA and Ross BBA), Atharva Kharkar was a beloved member of the Stamps School community. Shortly after receiving a leukemia diagnosis in June of 2019, Atharva passed away on July 6, 2019, before starting his junior year at Stamps. To ensure Atharva’s memory and spirit is kept alive at Stamps, his parents Prafulla and Shivani Kharkar created the“Start of Your Journey” Atharva Kharkar Memorial Award.
This award recognizes a student who is passionate in their creative voice and area of focus, inspirational to those in their community, committed and determined to have a positive impact, and is a talented storyteller. These were characteristics that Atharva was known and loved for — and traits needed to“start your journey,” an inspirational statement that Atharva used often.
- Hana Ichikawa
The Gorman Award
This award is given to a graduating senior who has excelled in scholarship, service, leadership, and creative work not only during their senior year but throughout their undergraduate study at Stamps.
- Laila Burke-Graves
2026 Big Idea Award
In memory of alumna Penny W. Stamps and with generous support from the Stamps Family, friends, and other community supporters, the Big Idea Award provides $25,000 to a Stamps senior or team to help launch a major, ambitious project after graduation — a project that calls on the student or team to commit their moral and intellectual capital to their Big Idea.
- 2026: Yueshan Jiang (BFA’26) for The Typography of the Everyday: A Research-Based Taxonomy of Vernacular Hanzi