Purdue University Fort Wayne Honors Program

05/27/2026

05/21/2026

53 Honors Program certificate graduates, one big moment! Posing proudly on the 2026 commencement stage.

Congratulations to the Class of 2026!

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05/14/2026

What a wonderful evening celebrating our Purdue University Fort Wayne Honors Program graduates at Commencement! 🎓✨

Last night, more than 50 students were awarded the Honors Certificate, recognizing their hard work, curiosity, commitment, and successful completion of the Honors Program requirements. We are incredibly proud of each of these students and the dedication they have shown throughout their time at PFW.

While official photos are coming soon, here are a few moments captured from the evening. Congratulations, Honors graduates — we are so proud of you and excited for all that comes next! 🖤💛
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05/13/2026

Prepping for graduation tonight and feeling so proud of our PFW Honors students! 🎓

This evening, 52 students will receive the Honors medal in recognition of successfully completing the Honors Program requirements. Even more meaningful, they will also have this accomplishment noted on their official transcript—a lasting reflection of their hard work, curiosity, and commitment to going above and beyond.

Congratulations to our Honors graduates! We are excited to celebrate you and cheer you on as you walk across the stage tonight.
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05/07/2026

✨ Honors Student Highlight: Rayyan Hassan ✨

Meet Rayyan Hassan, a freshman Biology major with a Psychology minor from Fort Wayne and a member of the PFW Honors Program.

Rayyan joined Honors to challenge herself, think more deeply, and prepare for her future goal of attending medical school. Through Honors, she has connected with faculty, taken on meaningful academic challenges, and continued building her confidence, discipline, and leadership skills.

Her favorite H-Option so far has been BIOL 117: Principles of Ecology & Evolution, where she has enjoyed exploring how organisms, genetics, and environments connect over time.

Outside of the classroom, Rayyan is active in Med-Life Club and Pre-Med Club, volunteers at Lutheran Life Village, and works with children at her local mosque. Looking ahead, Rayyan dreams of becoming a gynecologist and eventually opening a hospital in Sudan to improve women’s healthcare.

Her advice for incoming Honors students?

“Pace yourself, stay organized, and speak up when you need support. Honors will push you, but confidence and consistency are what carry you through.”

We are proud to highlight Rayyan and the dedication she brings to the Honors Program and the PFW community! 🖤💛

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05/06/2026

At LA Hacks at UCLA 2026, one of the largest collegiate hackathons in the United States, a team comprising Purdue Fort Wayne Honors students Ish*ta Gupta and Sudarshan Krishnan, alongside graduate student Om Singhal, competed among 1,000+ students and over 300 teams. The event featured strong representation from leading universities nationwide, including Ivy League institutions and Purdue University’s West Lafayette campus.

Within a 36-hour development window, the team built StudyO, an AI-powered learning platform designed to address a key challenge in modern education: enabling students to effectively synthesize and retain information from fragmented sources.
The platform transforms scattered study materials into structured, engaging learning experiences through:
• A serverless video engine that converts raw content into narrated, captioned explainer videos in under 60 seconds
• A Chrome extension (in development) for aggregating and filtering content across platforms such as Canvas, Brightspace, YouTube, and academic repositories
• Collaborative study infrastructure for shared and synchronized learning environments
• A voice-based AI tutor grounded in user-provided materials for interactive, adaptive learning
• An Apple app that records lectures and allows users to upload them as a source for later use—enabling chat-based Q&A, quiz generation, mind maps, and video summaries.

The project was awarded 1st Place in the Education Track under the Cloudinary sponsor, a distinction given to only one team, recognizing both technical ex*****on and real-world impact.
Following the competition, industry mentors and judges encouraged further development of the project. The team is currently exploring next steps, including participation in Purdue University’s startup incubator and accelerator programs.

Project links:
Website: https://www.studystudio.us
Devpost: https://devpost.com/software/studyo-mju34e
Demo: https://youtu.be/jQ3Fq21-e_k

05/04/2026

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04/23/2026

Congratulations to ALL students accepted into Purdue Fort Wayne's 2026 Exemplar class and Top 50! We want to give a special shout-out to the Honors students who have been selected for this recognition!

Honors students who have earned a spot in the 2026 Exemplar class:

Jack Bailey
Francesca Carlo

The following Honors students are now proud members of the 2026 Top 50 class:

Lara Alfadhli
Abhisar Anand
Aria Baker
Ella Branneman
Celah Dunn
Jenna Ellsworth
Breehonie Felger
Paige Gordon
Jaythen Haywood
Prisha Joshi
Brittany Kaufman
Rashida Lan
Wendy Maxwell
Katelynn McPhee
Jack Mills
Ye Yint Phone Myint
Harrison Niswander
Hannah Paul
Tanisha Raskar
Arshpreet Singh Sandhu
Dorian Soto
Elizabeth Strong
Miranda Thomas

Please join us in celebrating these outstanding students for their academic excellence, leadership, and commitment to their communities!

Top 50 Sub navigation Recipients Dinner and Awards Ceremony Selection Process Planning Committee recipientstop 50, Top 10, and Exemplars Take a look at the 2026 class of Top 50, Top 10, and Exemplar students. We are proud to announce the tenth class of Top 50, the inaugural Top 10, and our 2026 Exe...

04/17/2026

Last Friday, the second annual IPFW/PFW Honors Alumni Reception brought together alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of the Honors Program for an evening of connection and celebration. The event was a wonderful success and a testament to the strength and spirit of the Honors community.

A highlight of the evening was the presentation of the inaugural Art Friedel Honors Experiential Learning Award. Generously established by Arthur (“Art”) W. Friedel, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, this award supports honors students pursuing high-impact, hands-on learning opportunities beyond the classroom.

This year’s first-ever recipients truly embody the purpose of the award:

🌿 Bethany Cisz was recognized for her work on the Native Plant Species Restoration initiative. Her vision for enhancing campus biodiversity while extending meaningful impact to the broader Allen County community stood out to the selection committee. Her integration of ecological restoration, community education, and research reflects the very spirit of experiential learning.

🌍 Breehonie Felger earned the award for her proposal to pursue intensive Croatian language and cultural study at the University of Split. Her academic focus on identity formation and socio-political change in the Western Balkans, paired with her strong scholarship and leadership, exemplifies the depth and purpose of experiential learning.

The evening also honored two extraordinary emeritus professors whose dedication continues to shape the PFW community:

🏅 Dr. Art Friedel received the Visionary Founder of Honors Experiential Learning Award in recognition of his lasting impact and commitment to student opportunity.

🏅 Dr. Georgia Wralstad Ulmschneider was presented with the Visionary Leader and Legacy Builder Award. A former Honors Program Director and founder of the pre-law program at PFW, she remains deeply devoted to student success and continues to inspire with her vision, leadership, and unwavering commitment to the campus community.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this memorable evening celebrating excellence, innovation, and the enduring impact of the Honors Program.

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