Distinguished Awards, Rare Honors

September 2025

BYU students from disciplines across campus are regularly recognized for their world-class accomplishments. While it is impossible to recognize every award-winning student, these few highlights represent the considerable work and creative endeavors of BYU students over the past academic year.

Dallin Bundy | College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Dallin Bundy is a 2025 Truman Scholar. He is the third BYU political science student in three consecutive years to receive this award and the fifth consecutive BYU student to be named a Truman Scholar. The Truman Scholarship awards $30,000 to juniors who are dedicated to a career in public service and plan to attend graduate school; Bundy hopes to attend BYU Law School.

“I am so glad I came to BYU because we approach education with the gospel in mind. The gospel of Jesus Christ has strengthened me in so many ways,” Bundy says.

Zach Valentine | College of Life Sciences

Zach Valentine is the first-ever BYU student to become a Schwarzman Scholar. Each year, the program funds a master’s of global affairs at Tsinghua University in Beijing for about 140 students worldwide.

As a volunteer with the International Rescue Committee, Valentine has a passion for providing medical care to vulnerable populations, and he hopes this master’s degree will help him further his service efforts. Valentine graduated from BYU this past April and is preparing to start the one-year program in Beijing this fall.

Katelyn Cranney | College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences | College of Computational, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences | Kennedy Center for International Studies

Katelyn Cranney is BYU’s first-ever Knight-Hennessy Scholar. The Knight-Hennessy Scholarship offers funding for up to three years of graduate studies at Stanford University. She graduated from BYU in 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in economics and mathematics and a minor in international development.

Cranney is now a PhD economics student at Stanford. Her research in behavioral, labor, and development economics aims to close gender gaps in global labor markets—currently she is looking into how AI adoption technology may help narrow these gaps.

More Top BYU Students

• Levi Hancock and Joshua Ebbert received the Barry M. Goldwater scholarship for STEM undergraduates.
• Miaja Coombs from the Department of Geological Sciences was awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
• BYU Marriott students Canyon Esplin, Chris Gibbons, Hyrum Draper, Lincoln Gardner, and Marlee Lotaki won the national Deloitte FanTAXtic case study competition.
• Oliver Zaugg, Gregory Hutchins, Tatiana Pryor, and Dallin McLean won the CLARION National Case Competition.

Read more about these and other student awards.

Read about recent BYU rankings.