College of Arts and Sciences names 2025 Van Ek Scholars
Seventeen students receive one of the college’s most prestigious honors, recognized for their exemplary academic achievement and meaningful contributions to the campus and broader community
The College of Arts and Sciences has awarded the Jacob Van Ek Scholarship—one of the college’s highest honors—to 17 outstanding undergraduates.
Named in honor of Jacob Van Ek (1896–1999), the award commemorates his remarkable contributions to the university. Van Ek joined CU Boulder in 1925 as a young assistant professor shortly after earning his doctorate from what is now Iowa State University. Within three years, he rose to the rank of full professor and, by 1929, was appointed dean of the College of Liberal Arts—a role he held until 1959.
Students walking across campus.
The following students are this year’s Jakob Van Ek Scholar Award recipients:
- Danya Al Nazal, Neuroscience/Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology
- Amaneet Brar, Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology
- Michaela De Oliveria Olsen, Integrative Physiology
- Rachel Suter, Neuroscience/Art Practices
- Nikolaas Steele, Integrative Physiology
- Ivory Carpenter, Environmental Studies
- Karis Lowe, Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences
- Natalie Sesselmann, Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences/Psychology
- Brooklyn Phillips, Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences
- Kalen Sieja, Political Science/Evolutionary Biology
- Katie Mikell, Evolutionary Biology
- Kalvyn Adams, Astrophysics and Planetary Sciences/Physics
- Adriana Ripley, Psychology/French/Musical Theatre
- Xavier Cisneros, Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology/Sociology
- Marina Levine, Economics/Psychology
- Devayani Ravuri, Physics
- Abby Schaller, Political Science