Founders Day 2026 Student Awardees

UCF will honor 56 exceptional students at Founders’ Day on Wednesday for excellence in scholarship, leadership and service across various disciplines.

Our students are groundbreaking national and global scholarship winners, researchers, athletes, teaching assistants, residence assistants and leaders in campus organizations, including Student Government, LEAD Scholars and the President’s Leadership Council. The honorees include transfer students, those from first-generation and international backgrounds and members of the Burnett Honors College.

Aside from focusing on academics and campus causes, many of the student honorees volunteered at hospitals, schools, parks, food banks, shelters, clinics, youth clubs and with many community service organizations — at times as organizers and coordinators for support drives and campaigns.

“When you look at this group, you see trajectory.” — John Buckwalter, UCF’s provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs

“The students we recognize at our Founders’ Day Student Honors Celebration are extraordinary not just for what they’ve achieved, but for how they’ve shaped their time at UCF. They’ve pursued opportunities, challenged themselves and lifted others along the way,” says John Buckwalter, UCF’s provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs. “When you look at this group, you see trajectory — students whose experiences here are opening doors in meaningful ways and changing the direction of their futures, the trajectories of their families and the communities they inhabit.”

Student award categories highlight new inductees of the Order of Pegasus, UCF’s highest student honor; graduate awards for outstanding master’s thesis and outstanding dissertation; undergraduate awards for honors thesis; and individual college awardees as chosen by the respective college deans. All honorees earned financial awards.

This year’s 37 inductees into the Order of Pegasus mark the 25^th anniversary class of top-achieving Knights. The average GPA of the 2026 class is 3.912.

The campus community is invited to attend the Student Honors Celebration on Wednesday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Student Union’s Pegasus Ballroom. A brief reception will follow.

Here are the students to be recognized.

Order of Pegasus Inductees

Fatima Alziyad, College of Health Professions and Sciences and Burnett Honors College
Andy Ayup, College of Sciences
Megan Bailey, College of Engineering and Computer Science and Burnett Honors College
Stacie Becker ’23, College of Arts and Humanities
Akash Hari Bharath ’25MS, College of Engineering and Computer Science
Swati Bhargava ’25MS, College of Optics and Photonics
Sanjana Bhatt, College of Medicine and Burnett Honors College
Griffon Binkowski ’24, College of Sciences and Burnett Honors College
Ossyris Bury, College of Engineering and Computer Science and Burnett Honors College
Nico Chen, College of Arts and Humanities and Burnett Honors College
Kyle Coutray, College of Medicine, College of Engineering and Computer Science and Burnett Honors College
Allyson Crighton, College of Nursing and Burnett Honors College
Nyauni Crowelle-Feggins, College of Health Professions and Sciences and Burnett Honors College
Cameron Cummins, College of Arts and Humanities and Burnett Honors College
Andrew “Drew” Hansen ’25, College of Medicine and Burnett Honors College
Andrea Hernandez Gomez, College of Sciences
Lindsey Hildebrand, College of Health Professions and Sciences
Ariana Johnson, College of Medicine
Sanjan Kumar ’23, College of Medicine
Kworweinski Lafontant, College of Health Professions and Sciences
Meera Lakshmanan, College of Medicine and Burnett Honors College
Abrianna Lalle, College of Nursing
Ilana Logvinov, College of Nursing
Hannah Lovejoy, College of Business
Taiel Lucile, College of Health Professions and Sciences and Burnett Honors College
Robin Marquez, College of Sciences
Shanel Moya Aguero, College of Community Innovation and Education and Burnett Honors College
Gabrielle “Gabby” Murison, College of Sciences
Varun Nannuri, College of Medicine and Burnett Honors College
Natalie Otero, College of Business and Burnett Honors College
Om Pathak, College of Medicine, College of Arts and Humanities and Burnett Honors College
Pritha Sarkar ’24, College of Engineering and Computer Science
Jacob Vierling, College of Community Innovation and Education
Janapriya Vijayakumar, College of Medicine and Burnett Honors College
Ornella Vintimilla, College of Medicine and Burnett Honors College
Om Vishanagra, College of Medicine, College of Engineering and Computer Science and Burnett Honors College

Undergraduate Student Awards

College Founders’ Award

Liam Pivnichny, Burnett Honors College
Antonella Bisbal Hernandez, College of Arts and Humanities
Jordan Nell, College of Business
Jude Hagan, College of Community Innovation and Education
Ossyris Bury, College of Engineering and Computer Science
Timothy Horanic, College of Health Professions and Sciences
Sun Latt, College of Medicine
Abrianna Lalle, College of Nursing
Jacob Silver, College of Optics and Photonics
Emily Willis, College of Sciences
Fabian Rodriguez Gomez, Rosen College of Hospitality

Outstanding Honors Undergraduate Thesis

Edwin Garcia ’25, College of Arts and Humanities, Outstanding Honors Thesis in Arts, Humanities and Creative Inquiry
Eric Haseman ’25, College of Sciences, Outstanding Honors Undergraduate Thesis in Social Sciences
Shreya S. Pawar ’25, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Outstanding Honors Undergraduate Thesis in Natural Sciences
Andrea C. Molero Perez ’25, College of Medicine, Outstanding Honors Undergraduate Thesis in Health Sciences
Nicholas Rose ’25, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Outstanding Honors Thesis in Engineering and Technology