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.
2024: Jessica Shang, Class of 2004. She spoke with students about the side quests that have guided her research in fluid mechanics
Many Magnet alumni have distinguished themselves in their fields:
Math, Science, Computer Science, and Engineering:
Sarah Jane Alger '94, Univ. of Wisconsin Biology
Alex Berg '92, Univ. of California, Irvine Computer Science
Dan Bergstralh '93, Univ. of Missouri Biology
Yevgeny Brudno '00, Univ. of North Carolina Biomedical Engineering
Tim Buschman '97, Princeton Neuroscience
Kristina Cammen '03, Univ. of Maine Marine Science
Cynthia Chang '01, Univ. 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 Mathematics
Jonathan Needleman '99, LeMoyne College Mathematics
Iyad Obeid '93, Temple Electrical and Computer Engineering
Jessica Salvatore '98, James Madison Psychology
Rebecca Segal '90, Virginia Commonwealth Mathematics
Jessica Shang '04, Univ. of Rochester Mechanical Engineering
Noah Simon '04, Univ. of Washington Biostatistics
Amanda Simson '98, Cooper Union Chemical Engineering
Andrew Snowden '00, Univ. of Michigan Mathematics
Emily Tsui '04, Notre Dame Chemistry
Patricio Vela '94, Georgia Tech Electrical and Computer Engineering
David "Jake" Wildstrom '98, Univ. of Louisville Mathematics
Arts, Humanities, and Social Science:
Charlotte Artese '91, Agnes Scott College English
Rumee Ahmed '97, Univ. of British Columbia Islamic Law
Luke Bergmann '98, Univ. 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
David Heetderks '93, Univ. of North Texas Music
Tung-Hui Hu '94, Univ. of Michigan English
Rosamond King '92, Brooklyn College English
Carl Lostritto '02, Univ. of Tenn. Architecture
Aleta Quinn '01, Univ. of Idaho Philosophy
Shira Robinson '90, George Washington International Affairs
Anuj Shah '01, Princeton Psychology
Business, Law, and Medicine:
Charissa Chang '91, Mount Sinai Medicine
Wendy Chang '99, Univ. of Maryland Medicine
Joshua Fischman '90, Univ. of Virginia Law
Beth Hoffman '94, Cal State Los Angeles Public Health
Samie Jaffrey '89, Weill Cornell Pharmacology
Jonathan Jun '94, Johns Hopkins Medicine
Hormuzd Katki '92, NIH National Cancer Institute Biostatistics
Wendy Madigosky '91, Univ. of Colorado Family Medicine
Gautam Mukunda '97, Harvard Kennedy 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)
2024: Wilma Bainbridge '05 (uchicago.org)
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 (washingtonpost.com) (silverchips.mbhs.edu) (duke.edu)
2006: Rahul Satija '02 (washingtonpost.com) (silverchips.mbhs.edu) (duke.edu)
2008: Melis Anahtar '04 (pdf/americanrhodes.org) (silverchips.mbhs.edu)
2015: Fang Cao '11 (rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk) (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)
2024: Joshua Park '18 (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)