Scholarship & Award Winners

Each year, thanks to an enduring bequest from former Professor and A&S Dean Richard Barber, the Philosophy faculty bestows the department’s highest awards on two graduating seniors. The Richard Barber Award goes to the “most outstanding student of Philosophy,” as reflected principally in their academic achievement. This year’s Barber Award winner is Carolann Cockerill, also a Maloney Scholar, who now goes on to the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine – one of the top veterinary schools in the country. The Richard Campbell Smith Award goes to the “top student of the department,” as reflected principally in their across-the-board contributions including membership in the Philosophy Club and Phi Sigma Tau, attendance at department events, and so on. This year the department recognized Ryan Apperson with this honor. In addition to completing an honors thesis, Ryan was president of the Phi Sigma Tau honors society, worked at a law firm, interned at the US Department of State, and won a prestigious Boren Scholarship to study Turkish in Baku, Azerbaijan!

This year, in collaboration with the Department of Comparative Humanities, Philosophy introduced a new award in honor of our dear departed colleague Dr. Ozzie Wiggins. Because Ozzie did so much to build both programs, the Osborne P. Wiggins, Jr., Book Prize is given to one graduating student in the Health Care Ethics MA program and one graduating student in the Humanities PhD program. The book is chosen with both Ozzie and the winning student in mind; this year, on the MA in Health Care Ethics side, Andrew Givens was selected as the winner. Andrew received a copy of Phenomenology of Illness, by Havi Carel. Into the book we placed a book plate specially designed by Humanities PhD student Erica Lewis. The Humanities winner was Dr. Eduard Ghita, who completed his PhD on 18^th century aesthetics, working with Dr. John Gibson.

Finally, the Thomas S. Maloney Scholarships this year were awarded to continuing students Ellie Bruner, Haven Gabrielle Romero, and Sierra Sheard. Maloney Scholars are Kentucky-resident Philosophy majors with demonstrated financial need; the purpose of the scholarship is to help them stay in school and on track to graduation. (Two members of our Class of ’23 were former Maloney scholars.) Unlike the Barber and Smith awards, the Maloney Scholarship is not endowed, which means that its continued existence depends on annual giving. If you would like to support the next crop of Maloney Scholars, please click here or contact the department for information.