The outstanding achievements and community spirit of students, faculty and staff were celebrated at the third annual Duke Kunshan University Awards.
The 2023 ceremony hosted by the offices of student affairs and undergraduate studies applauded research excellence, creative thinking, thoughtful leadership, inspiring teaching and the broad spectrum of skills, qualities and accomplishments evident throughout Duke Kunshan.
In her opening remarks to the May 12 event, Chancellor Youmei Feng paid tribute to the talented and hard-working body of students, faculty and staff at DKU, saying “You make Duke Kunshan successful.”
The 22 award winners were picked from hundreds of nominations in recognition of their contributions over the 2022-23 academic year and beyond.
Dean of Undergraduate Studies Dr. Marcia France said the student recipients are a “truly impressive group”.
“And what is even more impressive is that I know, for every single one of these awards, an incredibly difficult decision had to be made and that there were numerous other candidates whose qualifications were equally compelling,” said France, who is also associate vice chancellor for undergraduate studies and the Language and Culture Center.
Dean of Student Affairs Dr. Jill Creighton told the ceremony that the awards were about coming together to celebrate the DKU community and their academic and extra-curricular endeavors.
“We had over 350 nominations ranging over all the categories here today and you all made it really hard for the committees to decide,” she said.
The categories include prizes for high-performers in academic divisions and students who espouse Duke Kunshan’s seven animating principles.
Here is a selection of this year’s winners:
Siyue He from the Class of 2024 was awarded the Rooted Globalism prize for her exceptional ability to understand, appreciate and communicate different aspects of culture and history.
The co-founder of Intersections, an online journal featuring bilingual, cross-cultural interviews and articles, she has conducted and published intercultural interviews on topics as diverse as Ramadan in Morocco, Easter traditions in Ukraine, Chinese vocabulary that is untranslatable to other languages and Spanish rap battles in Latin America.
One of He’s instructors described her as a “kind, helpful and dedicated person” who was known for “sharing thought-provoking insights that promoted in-depth discussion”.
“Going the extra mile for her work, learning and peers is like second nature to her,” the nominator said.
Accepting the award, He said, “DKU has taught me so many things that I could not have learned at other universities. I am really lucky to live and thrive in this community.”
Junkai Man’s flair for taking the initiative and developing innovative solutions for his community earned him the Independence and Creativity Award.
Among his solutions-focused projects is his Gallinula platform, a comprehensive digital hub that integrates various software solutions for everyday student needs.
The platform, for example, provides real-time information on the location and arrival time of shuttle buses to and from campus.
The Class of 2023 alumnus also combined his technological skills with a passion for public health to design and develop a web page to showcase the Global Health Research Center’s latest research.
“In addition to his technical expertise, Junkai is a creative thinker who is always willing to share his innovative ideas,” his recommenders said.
Man told the Duke Kunshan community at the ceremony, “Thank you for providing us with such a creative, inspirational and innovative learning environment. Joining DKU was the best decision I ever made.”
The Diversity and Inclusion Award was handed to Liam Athanas, who has demonstrated a deep commitment to creating inclusive spaces for bringing together students from all over the world.
Through his involvement in organizing a cultural studies event and other activities, he has facilitated the sharing of diverse perspectives and experiences.
The musician from the Class of 2025 has also used his passion for heavy metal music as a platform for connecting people from different backgrounds. And his desire to bond with others has pushed him into learning colloquial Chinese phrases.
His inclusive nature has extended to the academic world, leading him to explore a comparative study of beverages from around the world and examine how they can transcend cultural boundaries.
One of Athanas’ nominees described his contribution to the DKU community as “exceptional”, adding that his “commitment to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion is truly inspiring”.
Graduate physics student Yuruo Zheng took the award for Research and Practice in recognition of the three papers she had published in leading journals and for making important contributions to scientific progress.
She has exceled at Duke Kunshan over two years of intensive training in experimental physics involving optical characterization, a technique for determining the properties of various materials.
One her research mentors praised Zheng’s strong problem-solving and academic abilities and her “meticulous attention to detail that never lost sight of the big picture”.
Another said, “Yuruo is not only an amazing student of physics and materials science, but also a talented musician. She has effectively learned violin while at DKU and is now playing first violin in the DKU symphony.”
Her academic papers have been published in journals including the Applied Physics Express, Materials and IEEE Electron Device Letters.
Student club Medic Mindset scooped three awards at the ceremony: Student Organization, Health & Wellness and Event/Program.
The club’s mission is to spread health awareness and support students looking to pursue medicine and related fields.
It hosted more than 50 events over the year, including health and wellbeing sessions that encourage DKU community members to adopt positive lifestyle habits.
“We recognize Medic Mindset for their role modeling and consistency in educating community members with knowledge of medical conditions, and their dedication to promoting health and wellness in the DKU community,” said Fannings Chen from Student Affairs.
The UG Faculty Teaching Award was given to Assistant Professor of Humanities Dr. Yitzhak Lewis for his exceptional teaching skills and expertise, as well as his dedication to nurturing students’ intellectual curiosity.
Among the wealth of nominations, he was praised for his ability to present complex ideas in an accessible manner and to foster a comfortable environment in which students felt empowered to contribute.
Turning the praise back on those who voted for him, Lewis said, “I would like thank my students for the opportunity to learn from them.”
Residence Life Coordinator Emme-Lancia Faro was named Student Affairs Staff Member of the Year for going above and beyond in supporting students and creating a stronger community.
“I don’t see anyone nearly as involved or supportive of international students this semester,” one of her nominators said.
“Additionally, this nominee knows probably every staff member and faculty in every department and greets them with enthusiasm.”
Faro told students, “You are all my inspiration.”
The full list of award winners:
Undergraduate Studies Awards
Division of Natural and Applied Sciences (Integrated Science): Zijun Xia
Division of Natural and Applied Sciences (Mathematics): Ziqi Li
Division of Arts and Humanities: Kun Peng
Division of Social Sciences: Yifei Tang
Chinese as Second Language: Ji Yun Hyun
English for Academic Purposes: Weijia Han
UG Faculty Teaching: Professor Yitzhak Lewis
Rooted Globalism: Siyue He
Collaborative Problem-Solving: Shunyu Yan
Research and Practice: Yuruo Zheng
Lucid Communication: Weiran Li
Independence and Creativity: Junkai Man
Wise Leadership: Tianyu Wu
A Purposeful Life: Mingyang Zhang
Student Affairs Awards
Community Service: Huiyuan (Bruce) Zhou
Diversity & Inclusion: Liam Athanas
Emerging Student Leader: Abdullah Bin Javed
Event/Program: International Shadowing Program, Medic Mindset
Health & Wellness: Medic Mindset
Staff Member: Emme-Lancia Faro
Student Leader: June Lin
Student Organization: Medic Mindset
