On May 22, we celebrated our graduate and undergraduate award winners from the Class of 2025 during a special ceremony at the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre!
Each of these students excelled in Political Science during their degrees and these awards recognize and celebrate their achievements.
Graduate Awards
W.J. Stankiewicz Memorial Prize
First Place: Julia Greening
A $2,100 prize has been endowed by Professor Marketa Goetz-Stankiewicz in memory of her husband, the political philosopher Dr. W.J. Stankiewicz, to recognize outstanding work in the area of political theory by a graduate student in the Department of Political Science. Although it is preferred that only one prize be awarded annually, the award may be split between two recipients at the discretion of the Department Head in years when two candidates of equal achievement are nominated. The award is made on the recommendation of the Department.
Frederic H. Soward Memorial Fellowship
Second Place: Kim Beaulieu
A $3,900 fellowship has been endowed through contributions from colleagues, family, friends and students to honour the memory of Frederic H. Soward who served as Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and as Head of the History Department during his 42 years with UBC. A gifted teacher, he was also a distinguished authority on Canada's role in international affairs. The award to a full-time graduate student studying international relations, with the recommendation alternating each year between the Department of History and the Department of Political Science, in consultation with the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
Undergraduate Prizes
Arnold Webster Memorial Scholarship
Winner: Tina Yong
Tina graduates with an Honours degree in Political Science. She receives this award based on her exceptional performance throughout her time at UBC, including a remarkable average of 92% in her courses this past year.
Tina will be pursuing graduate studies in the fall to continue her research on the legal status of AI-generated content and its formal designation as constitutionally protected speech.
A $500 scholarship has been endowed by Mrs. Daisy Webster in memory of her husband, Arnold A. Webster, B.A. '22, M.A. '28 who as a teacher and principal in the Vancouver Secondary School system also served on the UBC Senate and as a commissioner on the Vancouver Parks Board. He served as Leader of the Official Opposition in the B.C. Legislature and as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons. The scholarship is made on the recommendation of the Department of Political Science to an outstanding student in that department.
Walter D. Young Prize
Winner: Claire Hofmeister
Claire, an Honours student, receives this award as one of our best students in Canadian politics. She earned a very high average grade in her upper-level Canadian politics courses. Claire’s honours thesis also focused on Canadian politics, with the title “Rolling towards Radicalization: Right-Wing Populist Identification on Social Media During the 2022 Canadian Truckers’ Convoy.”
This fall, Claire will begin her Master’s in Political Science here at UBC.
As a memorial to Professor Walter D. Young, a distinguished teacher, scholar, alumnus, and participant in the university community, his friends and colleagues have endowed a prize of $250 to be awarded to the best student in Canadian politics. The award is made on the recommendation of the Department of Political Science.
Stewart L. Chambers Memorial Prize
Winner: Noah Marsden
Noah, who graduates with a Major in Political Science, receives this award for the best essay on Canadian government and politics.
He prepared this paper in the Data and Models Capstone course with Prof. Jeong. The paper is titled “Algorithmic Enforcement: Critically Assessing Vancouver’s Predictive Policing Program.” The paper examines the effects of the Vancouver Police Department’s new predictive policing program. Using a difference-in-differences method, the student demonstrates that this program significantly reduced property crimes. The analysis compares property crime rates in nearby but not adjacent cities, as well as property crimes (targeted by the program) versus other types of crimes in Vancouver neighbourhoods. In the words of Professor Jeong, “This is an outstanding piece of research for an undergraduate student.”
Starting in September 2025, Noah will begin a dual Master of Public Policy and Master of Global Affairs with Sciences Po and the University of Toronto.
A $450 prize has been endowed in memory of Stewart L. Chambers, LL.B., M.C., a member of the university’s first graduating class in Law, whose life-long avocation was Canadian politics. The prize is made on the recommendation of the Department of Political Science, to the undergraduate student submitting the best essay in a course on Canadian government and politics. The award may be withheld if no suitable essay is submitted.
Kevin Wells Prize
Winner: Maryam Begzada
Maryam graduates with a Major in Political Science. The Kevin Wells prize recognizes her outstanding work in Canadian politics courses and extensive community service and engagement, the latter of which includes as a Central Poll Supervisor in the recent federal election, as well as work with UBC’s Office of Indigenous Education supporting dialogue on reconciliation through their Elders Speaker Series and ReconciliACTION. Finally, as a young woman originally from Afghanistan, she has contributed to policy work in Canada advocating for Afghan academics fleeing persecution.
As for next steps, Maryam is keeping her options open, with an eye to policy research, law school, and entrepreneurship.
A $400 prize has been endowed by friends to honour the memory of Kevin Wells, a UBC student in political science who died prematurely in 1981. The prize is awarded on the recommendation of the Department of Political Science to a student studying Canadian politics who best combines academic achievement and community service.
Claire Goddard Memorial Prize
Winner: Alicia Barker-Åström
Alicia, a graduating HONs PSIR student, receives the Claire Goggard prize for the best work submitted on the politics of the Australasian region.
The title of Alicia’s thesis is “Power and De Facto Leadership in Regional Organizations: An Exploration of Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.” In the thesis, Alicia argues that a strong combination of material power, network power, and social power is possessed by states in periods where they wield more de facto leadership, and and the converse is also true: weak power is associated less de facto leadership. There is one exception: states can possess an overall combination of less power and still show strong de facto leadership if it is existential to their survival. These claims are supported throughout the thesis by evidence from two case studies: Indonesia in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Saudi Arabia in the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Next for Alicia is continuing working with Invest in Canada, a GoC agency, on analysis and business intelligence regarding foreign direct investments, but will eventually move back to home country of Sweden to work in their public service.
A $200 prize has been endowed in memory of Claire Goddard. The award is made on the recommendation of the Department of Political Science, for the best in class essay, submitted in any course in Political Science, on the subject of Australasian affairs.
Robert Lorne Stanfield Prize in Political Science
Winner: Milan Wiertz
Milan graduates with an Honours in Political Science and International Relations with exceptionally and consistently high academic performance in his course work. After graduating, he will be taking a gap year to work on European technology policy, preferably in a public service, civil society or research role. Following the gap year, he intends to return to university to complete a master’s in public policy, with the long-term ambition to work as a public servant for the European Union.
A prize of the value of $200 is awarded on the recommendation of the Department of Political Science to a student with an outstanding record in this field of study. This award has been endowed by individual donors on the occasion of Mr. Stanfield's first official visit to British Columbia as Leader of the Opposition.
Prem Goel Prize in Political Science
Winner: Maiya Dexe
Maiya graduates with a Major in Political Science and a Minor in Law and Society. Currently, she is the Program Coordinator for the Vancouver Queer Film Festival at Out On Screen.
Maiya intends to continue finding personal and professional fulfillment in contributing to local community events, programming, and organizing.
A $500 prize has been made available annually through a gift from the Goel Family in memory of the victims of the Jewish Holocaust for an outstanding graduating undergraduate or graduate student in the Department of Political Science. The Prize is made on the recommendation of the Department of Political Science.
Professor Jean Laponce Memorial Prize in Political Science
Winner: Luna Kanagawa-Chiu
Luna graduates with an Honours in Political Science and International Relations, and receives the Professor Jean Laponce Memorial Prize for the best undergraduate honours thesis.
Luna’s thesis, titled “Rhetoric of Responsibility,” is a discourse analysis of how Japan’s wartime sexual slavery during WWII is discussed in the contemporary Japanese sphere. Using a multi-pronged methodology involving qualitative methods and a large-language model trained for discourse analysis, the research found a strong relationship between the discourse and various socially-prevalent myths about sexual violence and victimhood. Its outcomes and approach are an important start to critically deconstruct harmful rhetorics and their origins.
Luna will be attending McGill Law School to simultaneously obtain a Doctor of Law (JD) and Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL), after which she hopes to enter the medical law or family law fields.
A $1,350 prize has been made available through an endowment established by friends and family in memory of Professor Jean Laponce to an undergraduate honours student in the Department of Political Science who presents the best thesis. Professor Emeritus Jean Laponce joined UBC in 1956 as the university's first full-time political scientist. He directed the UBC political science honours program and left an indelible mark not only on the university, but also on the broader political science community. UBC awarded Professor Laponce with an honorary degree (LL.D. honoris causa) in recognition of his long service.
Brett Donnelly Memorial Scholarships in Political Science
Winner: Jackson Wessels
Jackson is planning to pursue a career in law, currently preparing to take the LSAT this summer, with the goal of beginning law school in the 2026–2027 academic year.
Winner: Yasmine Flayeh
After graduation, Yasmine hopes to gain some more practical experience building off prior co-op work with the BC government and eventually complete a Masters in either public policy or urban planning.
Winner: Lea An
Lea will be backpacking around Asia for most of the summer. She will return to UBC in September to begin her studies at Allard School of Law.
Winner: Lara Albahadel
Lara plans to attend law school in the future, and her goal is to study at Allard Hall here at UBC, to pursue her passions for human rights law.
Scholarships totalling $2,000 have been made available annually through gifts from family and friends in memory of Brett Donnelly (1989–2023) for outstanding domestic Bachelor of Arts students majoring in Political Science. Brett (B.A. 2013, M.P.P.) was born in Vancouver and raised in Kelowna. After completing his B.A. in Political Science at UBC’s Vancouver campus, Brett earned a Master of Public Policy from the University of Toronto and a Certificate in Data Science from the University of Waterloo. He demonstrated his dedication to public policy, data science and international affairs through various roles as a policy analyst, manager and advisor within the Canadian government; at the time of his death, Brett was a Policy Advisor in the Privy Council Office. Brett, a kind person known for his quick wit and love of dogs, was also an accomplished runner and cyclist who conquered marathons and held a deep appreciation for music and for language learning. Although he was enthusiastic about travelling and exploring new destinations, Vancouver always held a special place in his heart. This award was established to celebrate Brett’s life, honouring his commitment to political science and supporting students who exemplify his enthusiasm for the field.
Department of Political Science Scholarships
Winner: Oscar McGrath
Oscar has earned an Honours degree in Political Science.
Winner: Sydney Mardon
Sydney has earned an Honours in Political Science and International Relations degree and will be off to London, England to work as a consultant with Maplecroft’s Sustainable Procurement and Human Rights team. In this role, she will be advising government agencies and businesses about how best to respect and protect human rights and the environment along their entire supply chains. She aspires to attend law school and become an international human rights lawyer.
Winner: Axelle Dequatre
Axelle graduates with a Major in Political Science.
Each winner of the Departmental Scholarships is awarded a prize of $450. They receive these awards based on their exceptional performance in our Department’s courses. They all complete their degrees with extremely high grades.
Political Science Gold Medal, Department of Political Science Scholarship & Carolyn Atwell Memorial Prize
Winner: Guillaume Placidet
Guillaume graduates with the highest overall average of our degree recipients this year. He also wins the essay prize for his paper, “When Rebels Control the Classroom: A Study of FARC and EZLN Rebel Education,” submitted to his POLI 464 course with Prof. Sally Sharif.
Up next for Guillaume is a dual Master’s degree in Corporate and Public Management at HEC Paris and Sciences Po Paris.
A medal is awarded to the most outstanding student in the graduating class in the Political Science B.A. Program and is made on the recommendation of the Department of Political Science.
A $200 prize has been endowed by friends to honour the memory of Carolyn Atwell, a UBC student in Honours in Political Science who died in 1990. The prize is awarded on the recommendation of Department of Political Science to a student submitting the best essay on some aspect of third world development in a political science course.
