Tobías García Vega and Isabella Senno receive CLAS Dean's Achievement Award

Given to outstanding undergraduate students who are eligible for services from the UI Center for Diversity and Enrichment
Monday, May 4, 2020

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has named undergraduates Tobías García Vega and Isabella Senno as recipients of the 2020 Dean’s Achievement Award. The award is given to outstanding undergraduate students who are eligible for services from the Center for Diversity and Enrichment.

Tobias Garcia VegaTobías García Vega, of Ames, IA, graduates in spring 2020 with a BA with Honors in Philosophy and a Spanish minor. His honors thesis is titled Saving Rawlsian Selfhood. He was an editor of Labyrinth and a member of Minorities and Philosophy. He earned the national distinctions of Phi Beta Kappa and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Award. He is also a Rhodes Dunlap Scholar, a UI Advantage Iowa Scholar, and has repeatedly appeared on the President’s and Dean’s Lists. Tobías volunteered and translated at the Center for Worker Justice in Iowa City. After graduation, he plans to pursue a PhD in Philosophy.

 

Isabella SennoIsabella Senno, from Evanston, IL, will graduate in spring 2020 with a BS degree in Anthropology, a BA degree in Psychology, and a minor in Spanish. The recipient of a 2020-2021 Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Award to Spain, Senno is a University Honors student and Phi Beta Kappa member, also earning Honors in the Major in Anthropology. Her many merit scholarships include National Scholars, Advantage Iowa, and Rhodes Dunlap. She currently works at the Women’s Resource and Action Center and serves as the president of the UI Anthropology Club and Student Advocates for Planned Parenthood. After graduation, Senno will continue working to support womxn and Latinx communities, and eventually pursue a graduate degree.

About the Dean's Achievement Award

The dean in each of the UI’s 11 colleges is asked to select a recipient for their college's Dean's Achievement Award. Each college sets its own selection criteria. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences looks for students who have made significant contributions to the university or surrounding communities through their vision and action. In addition, the students nominated demonstrate responsibility, inspiration and diligence, and good judgment. The selection committee is interested in the student’s academic accomplishments within and beyond the major; special honors, scholarships; activities and volunteering both on and off campus.

The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers about 70 majors across the humanities; fine, performing and literary arts; natural and mathematical sciences; social and behavioral sciences; and communication disciplines. About 15,000 undergraduate and nearly 2,000 graduate students study each year in the college’s 37 departments, led by faculty at the forefront of teaching and research in their disciplines. The college teaches all Iowa undergraduates through the college's general education program, CLAS CORE. About 80 percent of all Iowa undergraduates begin their academic journey in CLAS. The college confers about 60 percent of the university's bachelor's degrees each academic year.