Senior Awards Celebrate Excellence of Class of 2026

Lillian Elizabeth Bedard ’26 was honored with four awards during Babson College’s Senior Awards ceremony Friday, the day before Commencement. A total of 27 graduating undergraduate seniors received honors for their academic and social contributions to campus during the ceremony.

Lillian Elizabeth Bedard ’26

Bedard was one of three graduates to earn the Carroll W. Ford Scholarship as class co-valedictorians, along with Zoe Grace Hu ’26 and Jewelya Rose Mudrinich ’26.

Bedard also was named Student-Athlete of the Class as the student-athlete with the highest grade-point average in the class. Bedard starred for the women’s lacrosse team and was selected to the All-NEWMAC First Team after leading the Beavers in scoring this season. Bedard also received the Economics Achievement Award and a Student Contribution Award.

Watch all the individual award presentations at babson.edu/seniorawards.

Hu earned three awards. In addition to the Ford Scholarship, she received the Clinton A. Petersen Accounting Award and a Student Contribution Award. Ava Margaux Said ’26 earned two awards—the Michael J. Conlon ’96 Senior Spirit Award and the George Macy Wheeler Award. And, Jake Spignese ’26 earned two awards—the Arts and Humanities Award and a Student Contribution Award.

Emily Alexandra Truszkowski ’26 received the prestigious Roger W. Babson Award.

Ahmed Ahmed, an assistant professor in the Finance Division, was chosen by the Class of 2026 as the Undergraduate Faculty of the Year for the second year in a row. Earlier this academic year, he had been named to Poets & Quants’ list of 50 Best Undergraduate Business Professors.

Here are all of the 2026 Senior Undergraduate Awards recipients:

Student Contribution Awards

These awards are presented to seniors for their meaningful contributions to student life and the Babson community.

Saba Sanya Ali ’26
Divya Anand ’26
Anika Balaraju ’26
Lillian Elizabeth Bedard ’26
Kenneth Escobar ’26
Zoe Grace Hu ’26
Jake Spignese ’26
Jacob Aaron Stark ’26
Helen McDonald Way ’26

Creative Arts Awards

Presented to a senior who has demonstrated significant contributions to the arts on campus.

Chloe Linda Clifford ’26

Global Student Leadership Award

Presented to a senior who has fostered a climate of understanding and respect between student groups on campus in a true example of a global student leader.

Cadence Eliza Cristobal ’26

Arts and Humanities Award

Presented to a senior who has excelled in arts and humanities courses. The student must have completed four courses to be eligible.

Jake Spignese ’26

Bertrand R. Canfield Marketing Award

Presented to an outstanding senior marketing student. The student must have completed a minimum of four courses to be eligible.

Rillian Eisenbeiser ’26

Carolyn Hotchkiss and Richard P. Mandel Law Award

Presented to the senior who has completed three or more law electives and has demonstrated academic excellence in law.

Nikita Mankad ’26

Clinton A. Petersen Accounting Award

Presented to a senior with six or more accounting courses who has the highest degree of knowledge in all phases of accounting.

Zoe Grace Hu ’26

Earl K. Bowen Quantitative Methods Award

Presented to a senior having the highest cumulative average in their QTM courses.

Amelia Brooke Smith ’26

Economics Achievement Award

Presented to a senior who has taken four or more economics courses and has outstanding scholarship, initiative, and resourcefulness in the field of economics.

Lillian Elizabeth Bedard ’26

Environmental Sustainability Award

Presented to a senior who has excelled in courses within the Environmental Sustainability concentration.

Chiraag Kankariya ’26

History and Society Award

Presented to a senior who has excelled in History and Society courses. The student must have completed four courses to be eligible.

Delgracia Marie Sainvil ’26

Information Systems Award

Presented to a senior having the highest cumulative average in four or more of their MIS courses.

Deepali Joshi ’26

Marketing Scholars Award

Presented to an outstanding senior marketing student. This award recognizes exceptional performance and achievement in the marketing discipline.

Abbygayle Daniella Liem ’26

Newton Natural Sciences & Technology Award

Presented to a senior who has the highest cumulative average in science electives.

Julia Pike ’26

Outstanding Student in Entrepreneurial Studies Award

Presented to a senior based on overall achievements in academic, entrepreneurial, and extracurricular pursuits that best exemplify a creative and enterprising spirit and high personal standards of integrity.

Tamanna Kothari ’26

Rudolph A. Johnson Management Award

Presented to a graduating senior who will have taken at least seven courses in management and attains the highest cumulative average in at least six courses in that discipline.

Sixtine Brenninkmeijer ’26

Technology, Operations Management Award

Presented to a senior who has one of the top cumulative averages in their TOM courses (three or more). This award is based on the number of TOM courses taken, the TOM GPA, and overall TOM faculty evaluations.

Sofia Caffer ’26

Babson College Finance Award

Presented to a senior who will have taken at least four or more finance courses and has completed the most distinguished academic record in the field of finance.

Evan Michael O’Brien ’26

Wallace P. Mors Finance Award

Presented to a senior for outstanding performance in finance and division activities.

Liana Maria Portela Belliard ’26

Student-Athlete of the Class

Presented to the senior student-athlete with the highest GPA in the graduating class.

Lillian Elizabeth Bedard ’26

Michael J. Conlon ’96 Senior Spirit Award

Presented to a graduating senior who best demonstrates some of the qualities that Michael embodied: leadership, integrity, loyalty, academic excellence, and, most importantly, a willingness to find the time to care for and support others.

Ava Margaux Said ’26

George Macy Wheeler Award

Presented to a graduating senior who best exemplifies the qualities of naturalness, friendliness, sincerity, persistence, and loyalty.

Ava Margaux Said ’26

Carroll W. Ford Scholarship (Valedictorian)

Presented to the graduating senior(s) who has the highest GPA in the class.

Lillian Elizabeth Bedard ’26
Zoe Grace Hu ’26
Jewelya Rose Mudrinich ’26

Roger W. Babson Award

This award is presented to the graduating senior (3.5 GPA and above) who has excelled in scholarship, cocurricular activities, and leadership. This is the College’s most prestigious award for a senior.