Campus & Commencement Awards
Each spring, Bryn Mawr College celebrates the achievements of its graduating students through a rich tradition of academic prizes, departmental awards, and special honors presented at Commencement and the Senior Awards ceremony. These awards — many of them named for distinguished alumnae, faculty, and benefactors — recognize excellence in scholarship, creative writing, research, language study, and disciplinary achievement across the full breadth of the liberal arts. They reflect the depth of Bryn Mawr's academic community and the remarkable accomplishments of the students who call it home. Browse the award categories below, and explore the annual recipients in the news feed at the bottom of this page.
College-Wide Academic Prizes
Bryn Mawr's college-wide academic prizes recognize exceptional scholarly work that transcends any single discipline.
From the Senior Essay Prize honoring outstanding undergraduate research to the Hester Ann Corner Prize for thesis writing in a foreign language, these awards celebrate the intellectual ambition and rigor that define a Bryn Mawr education.
Awards in this category include:
- Bryn Mawr Senior Essay Prize
- Hester Ann Corner Prize for Best Thesis Written in a Foreign Language
- The Elliston P. Morris 1848 Prize
- The Gertrude Slaughter Fellowship
- The European Traveling Fellowship
Departmental Awards
Across Bryn Mawr's departments and programs, faculty recognize graduating students whose work has demonstrated exceptional achievement, service, and promise in their chosen fields. These departmental prizes — many endowed by alumnae and friends of the College — honor the best of what students accomplish within their disciplines.
A sampling of awards in this category:
| Department / Program | Award |
|---|---|
| Africana Studies | Africana Studies Award |
| Anthropology | Frederica de Laguna Award |
| Biology | Distinguished Service in Biology Award |
| Chemistry | Scholastic Achievement Award (Philadelphia Section, ACS); Undergraduate Award in Organic Chemistry (ACS) |
| Classical & Near Eastern Archaeology | Anna Lerah Keys Memorial Prize |
| Classical Literature | Katherine Stains Prize Fund in Classical Literature |
| Comparative Literature | Barbara Riley Levin Prize; Laurie Ann Levin Prize |
| East Asian Languages & Cultures | The Hu Shih Prize |
| Economics | Jeanne Quistgaard Memorial Prize in Excellence in Economics |
| French | Pauline Jones Prize in French; Hester Ann Corner Prize in Literature (French) |
| Geology | Emma Osborn Thompson Prize in Geology |
| German | Berle Memorial Prize in German Literature; Hester Ann Corner Prize in Literature (German) |
| Growth & Structure of Cities | Bolton Senior Award |
| History | Elizabeth Duane Gillespie Fund for Scholarships in American History; Helen Taft Manning Essay Prize in History |
| Italian | Elinor Nahm Prize in Italian Language and Literature |
| Latin American, Iberian & Latina/o Studies | Gridley McKim-Smith Award |
| Linguistics | Tri-Co Linguistics Department Best Thesis Award |
| Mathematics | Anna Pell Wheeler Prize; Charlotte Angas Scott Prize; Mary Louise Cookson Prize |
| Music | Gail Ann Schweiter Prize |
| Physics & Astronomy | Faculty-Student Collaborative Research Prize in Astronomy and Physics |
| Russian | Elinor Nahm Prize in Russian Language and Linguistics; Elinor Nahm Prize in Russian Literature and Culture |
| Sociology | Subramanian-Linden Award for Academic Excellence; Subramanian-Linden Award for Community Service |
| Spanish | Hester Ann Corner Prize in Literature (Spanish) |
| Theater | Jane Wilkinson Arts Prize; Kaye Prize in Theater Arts for Direction and Production; Kaye Prize in Theater Arts for Acting |
Literary & Creative Arts Prizes
Bryn Mawr has a long tradition of honoring student achievement in creative writing and the literary arts. These prizes celebrate poets, fiction writers, and book lovers whose creative work and intellectual curiosity enrich campus life.
Awards in this category include:
- Academy of American Poets Prize
- Anne Kirschbaum Winkelman Literary Prize
- Bain-Swiggett Poetry Prize
- Seymour Adelman Book Collector's Prize
- Seymour Adelman Poetry Award
Award Winners by Year
