Distinguished Alumni
In 2014, the Magnet Foundation began to honor distinguished alumni of the Magnet Program on an annual basis by presenting an award at the annual Magnet Research Convention. These Distinguished Alumni Awards have been given to:
2014: Lorrie Cranor, Class of 1989. She spoke to students about her research on passwords, which she later presented as a TEDx talk, entitled: "What's wrong with your pa$$w0rd?"
2015: Craig Rice, Class of 1990. He spoke to students about the importance of education and his decision to enter public service. He tweeted a photo of the plaque recognizing the award.
2016: Zeki Mokhtarzada, Class of 1996, and Haroon Mokhtarzada, Class of 1997. They spoke to students about how they started their business, webs.com, which they sold in 2011 to Vistaprint in a multi-million dollar acquisition.
2017: MatĂas Duarte, Class of 1992. He spoke to students about his experiences designing operating systems for Palm and Google.
2018: Joshua Weitz, Class of 1993. He spoke to students about his interdisciplinary research in quantitative biosciences.
2019: Ani Manichaikul, Class of 1999. She spoke to students about her genomics research in ethnically diverse data sets.
2020: Robert Pless, Class of 1990. He spoke to students about his computer vision research using large public image archives.
2021: no award given due to COVID-19 Pandemic
2022: Jennifer Helgeson, Class of 2002. She spoke with students about her research on climate resiliency.
2023: Michael Sidorov, Class of 2003. He spoke with students about his research on neurodevelopmental disorders.
Many Magnet alumni have distinguished themselves in their fields:
Math, Science, Computer Science, and Engineering:
Sarah Jane Alger '94, University of Wisconsin Biology
Alex Berg '92, Univ. of North Carolina Computer Science
Dan Bergstralh '93, Univ. of Missouri Biology
Yevgeny Brudno '00, Univ. of North Carolina Biomedical Engineering
Tim Buschman '97, Princeton Neuroscience
Cynthia Chang '01, University of Washington Biology
Erica Hartmann '05, Northwestern Environmental Engineering
David Hu '97, Georgia Tech Mechanical Engineering and Biology
Minjoo Larry Lee '94, Univ. of Illinois Electrical and Computer Engineering
Jacob Lurie '96, Princeton University Mathematics
Jonathan Needleman '99, LeMoyne College Mathematics
Iyad Obeid '93, Temple University Electrical and Computer Engineering
Robert Pless '90, George Washington University Computer Science
Jessica Salvatore '98, Sweet Briar College Psychology
Rebecca Segal '90, Virginia Commonwealth University Mathematics
Jessica Shang '04, University of Rochester Mechanical Engineering
Noah Simon '04, University of Washington Biostatistics
Amanda Simson '98, Cooper Union Chemical Engineering
Andrew Snowden '00, University of Michigan Mathematics
Patricio Vela '94, Georgia Tech Electrical and Computer Engineering
David "Jake" Wildstrom '98, University of Louisville Mathematics
Arts, Humanities, and Social Science:
Charlotte Artese '91, Agnes Scott College English
Rumee Ahmed '97, University of British Columbia Islamic Law
Luke Bergmann '98, University of British Columbia Geography
Alenda Chang '94, Univ. of Calif. Santa Barbara Film and Media Studies
Naomi Cleghorn '89 Univ. of Texas-Arlington Sociology & Anthropology
Rosamond King '92, Brooklyn College English
Carl Lostritto '02, Univ. of Tenn. Architecture
Shira Robinson '90, George Washington University International Affairs
Business, Law, and Medicine:
Jonah Berger '98, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Charissa Chang '91, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Wendy Chang '99, University of Maryland School of Medicine
Joshua Fischman '90, University of Virginia School of Law
Beth Hoffman '94, Cal State Los Angeles Public Health
Samie Jaffrey '89, Weill Cornell Pharmacology
Hormuzd Katki '92, NIH National Cancer Institute Biostatistics
Wendy Madigosky '91, University of Colorado Family Medicine
Gautam Mukunda '97, Harvard Business School
Rachelle Salomon '95, NIH National Cancer Institute Biological Resources Branch
Entrepreneurs and Innovators:
Kang-Xing Jin '02, Facebook
Patrick Lee '92, Rotten Tomatoes (appstori.com)
Sam Wen '04, Square (medium.com)
Politics, Public Service, and Activism:
Aaron Hughes '93, fmr. U.S. Dep. Asst. Sec. of Defense for Cyber Policy
Aaron Klein '94, Brookings Institution, fmr. U.S. Dep. Asst. Sec. of Treasury for Economic Policy
Craig Rice '90, fmr. MD Delegate and Mont. Co. Council
Elizabeth Todd-Breland '00, Chicago Board of Education
Media and Entertainment:
Erik Agard '11, Crossword Champion (crosswordtournament.com) (NY Times)
Wei-Hwa Huang '93, World Puzzle Champion (wpc.puzzles.com)
Joshua Oppenheimer '92, documentary filmmaker (imdb.com)
Alumni have won distinguished awards and scholarships:
Breakthrough Prize:
2014 Mathematics: Jacob Lurie '96 (breakthroughprize.org) (harvard.edu)
MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Fellowships:
2009: Maneesh Agrawala '90 (macfound.org) (silverchips.mbhs.edu)
2014: Joshua Oppenheimer '92 (macfound.org) (LA Times)
2014: Jacob Lurie '96 (macfound.org) (harvard.edu)
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellows:
2017: Joshua Weitz '93 (aaas.org) (gatech.edu)
2020: Lorrie Cranor '89 (aaas.org) (cmu.edu)
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE):
2016: Jonathan Simon '00 (whitehouse.gov) (chicago.edu)
National Academy of Sciences Awards:
2023 Troland Award: Tim Buschman '97 (nasonline.org) (princeton.edu)Â
Sloan Research Fellowships: (sloan.org)
2007: Maneesh Agrawala '90
2009: Samit Dasgupta '95 (ucsc.edu)
2013: Jason Ernst '98 (ucla.edu)
2015: Andrew Snowden '00 (umich.edu)
2016: Bingni Wen Brunton '02 (washington.edu)
2023: Robyn Sanderson '99 (penn.edu)
Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists:
2013: Samie Jaffrey '89 (blavatnikawards.org) (cornell.edu)
Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships:
2005: Gautam Mukunda '97 (pdsoros.org) (harvard.edu)
2008: William Hwang '02 (pdsoros.org)
2011: Melis Anahtar '04 (pdsoros.org)
2015: Julie Zhu '08 (pdsoros.org) (yale.edu)
2019: Samir Paul '06 (pdsoros.org) (harvard.edu)
2020: Sherman Leung '12 (pdsoros.org) (stanford.edu)
Rhodes Scholarships:
2006: William Hwang '02 (pdf/americanrhodes.org) (washingtonpost.com) (silverchips.mbhs.edu)
2006: Rahul Satija '02 (pdf/americanrhodes.org) (washingtonpost.com) (silverchips.mbhs.edu)
2008: Melis Anahtar '04 (pdf/americanrhodes.org) (silverchips.mbhs.edu)
2015: Fang Cao '11 (pdf/rhodesscholar.org) (umd.edu)
Marshall Scholarships:
1997: Joshua Oppenheimer '92 (marshallscholarship.org) (thecrimson.com)
2004: Jia Xu '00 (marshallscholarship.org) (gatech.edu)
2008: Dan Bergstralh '93 (Marshall Sherfield Fellowship) (marshallscholarship.org)
2010: Jeremy Goodman '06 (marshallscholarship.org) (brown.edu)
2011: Dylan Rebois '07 (marshallscholarship.org) (umd.edu)
Churchill Scholarships:
2011: Ethan Schaler '07 (churchillscholarship.org) (umd.edu)
2018: Jared Duker Lichtman '14 (churchillscholarship.org) (dartmouth.edu)
Gates Cambridge Scholarships:
2008: Jessica Shang '04 (gatescambridge.org) (harvard.edu)
2013: Jordy Goldstein '06 (gatescambridge.org) (duke.edu)
2018: Neil Davey '14 (gatescambridge.org)
Hertz Foundation Fellowships:
2006: Rahul Satija '02 (hertzfoundation.org) (washingtonpost.com)
2012: Brian Lawrence '07 (hertzfoundation.org) (caltech.edu)
Putnam Fellows: (maa.org)
1991: Joshua Fischman '90
1993: Wei-Hwa Huang '93
2007, 2008, 2010, 2011: Brian Lawrence '07 (maa.org) (caltech.edu)