Art & Design
Faculty, Staff, & Student Awards 2023
Andrew Jang • The Gazing Shapes, Digital Art
Art Education Awards
Outstanding Senior
This award is given to a graduating senior for their outstanding achievements.
Daniela Morelos Chabeli Duran • Melanated Women, Digital IllustrationTeaching Excellence Award by a Graduate Student
This award is given to a graduate student who exhibits teaching effectiveness, impact on students, subject mastery and scholarship, and contributions to the teaching mission of the program. The recipient of this award was selected by the faculty of Art Education.
Kaleb OstraffArt History Awards
Outstanding Senior
This award is given to a graduating senior for their outstanding achievements.
Gabi Kaminski
Keela Fleming
Teaching Excellence Award by a Graduate Student
This award is given to a graduate student who exhibits teaching effectiveness, impact on students, subject mastery and scholarship, and contributions to the teaching mission of the program. The recipient of this award is selected by the Graduate Faculty Committee.
Savannah Wills
Kathleen Genis Memorial Scholarship Fund
This scholarship is awarded by application each year to an Art History major with demonstrated financial need. The award was established by Kathleen Genis’s daughter, Jeanne, in memory of her mother and her appreciation of art history. The scholarship is supported by her extended family.
Not awarded 2023
Mengchen Huang Memorial Endowment Fund
The Huang Scholarship is awarded to undergraduate and graduate students studying premodern Chinese studies, including literature, history, and religious studies, all with art history as a priority. This award was established to honor Mengchen Huang’s memory as a person who was dedicated to and meticulous in her work, as well as a passionate student, researcher, teacher, friend, and colleague at the University of Illinois.
Not awarded 2023
Graphic Design Awards
Outstanding Senior
This award is given to a graduating senior for their outstanding achievements.
Tess Lantz
Teaching Excellence Award by a Graduate Student
This award is given to a graduate student who exhibits teaching effectiveness, impact on students, subject mastery and scholarship, and contributions to the teaching mission of the program. The recipient of this award is selected by the Graduate Faculty Committee.
Holly Strickland
A. Doyle Moore International Travel Fund in Graphic Design
This scholarship, which is awarded by application, supports and supplements the cost of overseas study and travel of students in Graphic Design. Professor Moore retired from the School of Art & Design in 1991 after teaching graphic design for 33 years as well as teaching classes at Japan House on the theory of Japanese aesthetics.
Annie Wang
Julian Akinsanya
Kate Oates
Tess Lantz • Ploom Packaging, DigitalAnthony J. Petullo Fellowship
The Antony J. Petullo fellowship awards at least two fellowships in Art & Design for students in the visual arts or design.
Joshua PridemoreZhi Luo
Yiqi Xiao
Industrial Design Awards
Outstanding Senior
This award is given to a graduating senior for their outstanding achievements.
Annika SornsonTeaching Excellence Award by a Graduate Student
This award is given to a graduate student who exhibits teaching effectiveness, impact on students, subject mastery and scholarship, and contributions to the teaching mission of the program. The recipient of this award is selected by the Graduate Faculty Committee.
Joon ParkMargaret T. Bullock Scholarship in Industrial Design
Established in 2020, the Margaret T. Bullock Scholarship in Industrial Design will be awarded to the graduating industrial design student with the highest cumulative grade point average in the senior class.
This award was established and endowed by retired Professor William Bullock in memory of his mother, Margaret T. Bullock. Mrs. Bullock taught kindergarten and primary school for more than 50 years in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She was born in 1908 in Berkley, California, and attended Hollywood High School and the University of California at Berkley. She was married to Henderson Carlisle Bullock, a Georgia Tech Electrical Engineering graduate.
Professor Bullock describes his mother as his first teacher and credits her for inspiring his love of learning and the joy that comes from helping others learn. He describes her as kind to all, a wonderful mother and devoted wife, who was an inspirational teacher and role model.
Professor Bullock also credits her for calling his attention to industrial design as something “he might enjoy,” when a listing in a college course catalog caught her attention. His mom was right. He has enjoyed it.
William Bullock spent over 50 years in teaching and administration at major research universities including the University of Kansas, Auburn University, Georgia Tech, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. A UIUC professor of Industrial Design for more than 20 years, he chaired the program during a period when its enrollment and faculty doubled. He retired in June 2020.
With joy in his heart, he established this scholarship in tribute to his mother and to honor her memory.
Anya ChenJerome Caruso Significant Design Scholarship
This scholarship honors an outstanding junior or senior from the Industrial Design program who demonstrates the most ability to produce significant designs to benefit society through improvement of life and sustainability. Jerome Caruso, an award-winning designer, received his BFA in Industrial Design at Illinois in 1959 and has maintained a lifelong passion for design. He has defined his long career by providing significant projects for major clients as a solo designer. Herman Miller, Sub-Zero, and Motorola are among his clients. With more than 95 design and utility patents, Jerome is endlessly fascinated by invention and the inventive use of materials.
James G. Hansen Scholarship
This merit-based scholarship is awarded each academic year to a sophomore in Industrial Design. Mr. Hansen received both his BFA and MFA in Industrial Design at the University of Illinois.
Sabrina Jordan Shuoning Shi Annika Sornson • Expressive MIDI Keyboard, 3D RenderingDr. Bryce G. Rutter Scholarship
Awarded to a junior or senior pursuing a degree in the Industrial Design program, this honor recognizes student excellence in the design of ergonomic products that possess strong aesthetic appeal to consumers. Industrial Design faculty members determine the awardee.
Dr. Bryce Rutter received his PhD and MFA in design ergonomics and kinesiology between 1984 and 1987 from the University of Illinois and is now a leading expert in the research, ergonomics, and design of medical products and a worldwide specialist in hand-intensive products and packaging. He has more than 120 international design excellence awards and has been granted 117 patents.
Noa Villalobos
Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) Undergraduate Merit Award
The Undergraduate Student Merit Award or SMA program at IDSA provides industrial design students with opportunities to showcase their talent and achievements at their schools, to their local professional communities, and at the district and national levels. The SMA program also allows schools with ID programs to gain acclaim and visibility among similar institutions. Further, it provides an ample platform for design managers and other talent acquisition professionals to see the industrial design geniuses of the future up close and in person.
Annika Sornson
Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) Graduate Merit Award
The Undergraduate Student Merit Award or SMA program at IDSA provides industrial design students with opportunities to showcase their talent and achievements at their schools, to their local professional communities, and at the district and national levels. The SMA program also allows schools with ID programs to gain acclaim and visibility among similar institutions. Further, it provides an ample platform for design managers and other talent acquisition professionals to see the industrial design geniuses of the future up close and in person.
Joon Park
James Avery Scholarship
The James Avery Scholarship awards multiple scholarships to Art & Design undergraduate students. Industrial Design majors are eligible to receive funds annually over the four years of their undergraduate education. James Avery, BFA Industrial Design 1946, is a renowned educator and jewelry designer who donated the scholarship funds as a tribute to former Art & Design faculty member James Ross Shipley, a professor fondly remembered as “Coach.” Professor Shipley encouraged artistic innovation and experimentation in his teaching, which is the inspiring principle for these scholarships.
Lucy Brizzolara (2020–2024)
Matias Bonta Clivio (2020–2024)
Sophia Guzman (2020–2024)
James Avery Fellowship
The James Avery Fellowship awards multiple scholarships to Art & Design graduate students. James Avery, BFA Industrial Design 1946, is a renowned educator and jewelry designer who donated the scholarship funds as a tribute to former Art & Design faculty member James Ross Shipley, a professor fondly remembered as “Coach.” Professor Shipley encouraged artistic innovation and experimentation in his teaching, which is the inspiring principle for these fellowships.
Roya Attarian
Yanlu Gao
Studio Art Awards (Fashion, New Media, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture)
Outstanding Senior
This award is given to a graduating senior for their outstanding achievements.
Arthur Hall
Teaching Excellence Award by a Graduate Student
This award is given to a graduate student who exhibits teaching effectiveness, impact on students, subject mastery and scholarship, and contributions to the teaching mission of the program. The recipient of this award is selected by the Graduate Faculty Committee.
Abigail Holcombe
Kendra Ward
Joan Coffey Scholarship in Painting Fund
Joan Coffey (née Purcell) was raised in a large family, where from a young age, the importance of saving for and going to college was emphasized. Joan declared her major at the University of Illinois to be Mathematics, but her passion was always art, and she took it on as a minor. Interspersed with various math classes, she could be seen riding her bike across campus to her art classes, with her portfolio of art precariously clutched under one arm.
Joan completed her degree and embarked on a career in actuary work. However, throughout her life she kept up with her interest in art by taking classes. While living in Chicago after graduation, Joan took classes at the Art Institute and the American Academy of Art. Later, after moving to Southern California, she continued to study art, taking extensive classes in both oils and watercolors. Painting was her passion. While living in Southern California, she finally made a switch from having a business career to following her passion of being a fulltime artist.
The purpose of this scholarship is twofold. First, her sister Nancy, also an alumna of the University of Illinois, has chosen to commemorate Joan as an enthusiastic and dedicated artist, recognizing that education in art is truly a lifelong developmental and experiential process that doesn’t end with the university. Joan very much valued the education that she received as a student in the University of Illinois School of Art & Design. Second, this scholarship is to provide recognition and encouragement to talented students who, through their studies at the university, are developing their artistic skills in painting. It is the family’s hope that the scholarship helps the students in some way with the achievement of their artistic goals.
Lucy QuinnConrad Fenwick Scholarship in Painting
The Fenwick Scholarship is given to a continuing student in the Painting Program.
Heather KimFlorence M. House Scholarship
This scholarship was established in 2003 in honor of Mrs. Florence House Ruess (BALAS 1927) and is awarded each year to a student or students majoring in painting or sculpture.
William Hohe
Emily Orstrom
Gordon Hartshorne Scholarship
With a lifelong interest in art, nature, and design, Gordon Hartshorne explored woodcut printing for nearly 30 years. He served in the U.S. Navy, received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and spent a summer at the Ox-Bow School of Art.
In the early 1950’s, Rand McNally and Company brought him on as an art director for book, map, and atlas design. After 36 years at Rand McNally, Gordon retired to dedicate himself to his art. He became an expert in the Japanese tradition of woodcut printing—hand pressing rice paper over ink-covered hand carved wood plates—that resulted in vibrant, textured, graphic images. He passed away in 2004 at the age of 77 and left behind a legacy of his art for the world to appreciate. He made woodcut prints and paintings inspired by the earth’s beauty and memorable landscapes. The simplicity of nature, depth, and earth hues were fused together to produce his original works of art.
His family has established this scholarship to honor his memory and support the art of printmaking at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Bridget Rubins
Helen E. Platt Blake Scholarship
This honor is presented each year to a junior or senior in Painting. Helen E. Platt Blake graduated with a BS in Painting from the University of Illinois in 1936. She completed her MFA in 1960.
Logan Ingold
Jo Urban
Anya Chen • Ullr, CAD Rendering
Noa Villalobos • Zhong Sen Bag, Product Design
Rosibel Gomez Garcia • Say Her Name, Digital
Valentina Grant • Center of the Universe, Digital Art
Peggy Purkhosrow Scholarship in Studio Art
Peggy Purkhosrow received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Metals from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Fine Arts in Metalsmithing from Cranbrook Academy in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. She was a studio artist-designer who created sculpture, drawings, and wearable objects. She was living and working in Colorado when she passed away in 2022. In speaking about her own work, Peggy would share that she produced jewelry featuring hand-formed wire, hand-cut sheet metal, vintage, antique, and contemporary beads. She created one of a kind, unique designs, and a continued approach to her work—the incorporation of chance, with each bead forming its placement, freely determining the overall design in unexpected ways.
Her mother Nayer Purkhosrow has established this scholarship to honor Peggy’s life and work.
Valentina GrantJames Michael Smith Endowed Scholarship in Painting
James (Jim to some) knew from the age of five that he would be an artist. An artist he was—there were no limits to his creative endeavors. He attended the University of Kansas graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Art followed by a Master of fine art from the University of Illinois.
James began his career as a university professor teaching fine art as a graduate student, followed by a series of other prestigious institutions until he departed teaching to focus full-time on creating and selling his artwork. He still receives letters of appreciation from former students.
Painting was his passion. He had an amazing studio, and his dedication to his art, research, and creativity was limitless. His wife Mary C. Smith established this scholarship to provide support for equally creative and dedicated young artists in the School of Art & Design at the University of Illinois.
Emma DeValk
Kayla McEvoy
Arthur Hall • Still from “Working Progress,” DigitalArt & Design School Awards
Rita F. Bass Scholarship
Rita F. Bass returned to the University of Illinois and completed her BFA in Sculpture in May of 2021 after more than 50 years from the expected date of completion. She was so grateful and appreciative of the experience and the opportunity that she established the Rita F. Bass Scholarship to encourage and support others whose path to a degree was delayed or disrupted. This scholarship is renewable for students who remain in good standing and are working toward completing a degree in studio art.
Brad Heiman (2022–2026)
Professor Glenn R. Bradshaw Scholarship
The Bradshaw Scholarship is awarded to a junior each academic year who demonstrates exceptional ability in their chosen field of study. Professor Bradshaw taught at the University of Illinois from 1952 through 1986. He continued to make art until he passed away at age 90, and his family chose to honor his memory by establishing this scholarship.
Katie Beyer
Sydney Alexis Brown
YooYoo Chehab
Romina Lara Greco
Clyde P. Davis Scholarship
The Clyde P. Davis Scholarship provides four years of full-ride financial support to incoming freshmen from the greater Chicago area who have been accepted into the School of Art & Design. Mr. Davis received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Advertising Design from the university as a student between 1956 and 1960. While taking classes, he also worked to support his wife and young family, leaving Illinois to seek opportunity in New York City. After years of hard work and initiative, he founded and headed up the award-winning firm Cline, Davis & Mann, Inc., until his retirement in 2002. He chose to give back to his alma mater by establishing this scholarship so that other young, talented students from his home city could attend Illinois without the financial struggle that he experienced, and in hopes of attracting the brightest and most talented students possible to the School of Art & Design at Illinois.
Annika Sornson (2019–2023)
Maxine Tam (2021–2025)
Brittnee Pasillas (2023–2027)
Hugh And Allie D. Hughston Enochs Memorial Award
This honor is presented each year to a graduating senior in the School of Art & Design and is based on demonstrated ability in the field of art. Faculty in their program nominate students, and the School’s Executive Committee determines the recipient. Mr. Enochs was a 1929 graduate of the University of Illinois and established this scholarship in memory of his wife
Allie D. Hughston-Enochs in 1987.
Christine Piolet
Gunho Joh Rosie Martinez Mukta Prashant PhatakMary C. Mclellan Art Fellowship
The McLellan Fellowship was established in 1939 to support fellowships throughout the School of Art & Design.
Joseph ObanubiJulianne Heuel Oberlin Art Education Scholarship
Julianne Heuel Oberlin was a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign BFA student from 2010–2014. While in the program, she majored in Art Education and minored in Art History. Capable in many mediums, but with special talents in drawing and photography, Julianne had a passion for music, art, and literature that she was proud to showcase through her own work. Post-graduation, Julianne had many personal and professional accomplishments. She taught art for two years at Roberto Clemente High School in Chicago and then taught two years of middle school art within Bensenville School District #2 and during the last year of her life, she became a Media Archivist which allowed her to use both her photography skills and knowledge of archival practices to preserve institutional history. Art gave Julianne purpose and was the greatest outlet in her life. It was the root of all her interests and ideas. To be able to share her art, as well as the art that she admired, with other people was to connect with them on the deepest levels. She left this life, all too soon, on April 17, 2020. Her years at UIUC were formidable and allowed her to pursue her passions, discover new ideas and interests, and build connection within the university and Champaign-Urbana communities. Her sister Jessica Koehring along with a multitude of family and friends established and funded this scholarship in Julianne’s name to honor her accomplishments in life and to support art education majors in the School of Art & Design. Scholarship preference will be given to incoming freshman.
To be awarded May 2023
Stephanie Ognar Memorial Scholarship for the School of Art & Design
The Ognar Memorial Scholarship is awarded to students enrolled in the School of Art & Design and provides a sustained four-year scholarship. Scholarships will be awarded to an incoming freshman in the fall of 2018 and again in the fall of 2022. Stephanie was an artist and information professional who received a BFA in Art Education in 1996, an MFA in Art and Design in 1999, and an MS in Library and Information Science in 2002 from the University of Illinois. Her family established this scholarship to honor her memory and to highlight her love of art and being an artist.
Reese Bechtloff (2022–2026)
John and Antoinette Rojc Scholarship
The John and Antoinette Rojc Scholarship provides four-year financial support to incoming freshmen in the School of Art & Design. The first scholarship was awarded in the fall of 2017. The scholarship was established to honor Mr. and Mrs. Rojc’s dedication to the education of their five children, who all graduated from the University of Illinois between 1976 and 1984, and the proud realization of their American dream. John and Antoinette Rojc immigrated to
Chicago from Central Europe: John from Slovenia in 1930 and Antoinette from the Moravian region of the Czech Republic in 1938. Mr. Rojc became a designer at Motorola during the earliest stages of the cell phone. His career spanned 35 years, during which he was recognized with multiple patents. Mrs. Rojc raised their five children in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, with devotion to the importance of education. She was honored as a finalist for the University of Illinois Mom of the Year award in 1981. The Rojc’s perseverance was rewarded upon the graduation of each of their five children from the University of Illinois: Karl, BFA ’76, FAA; Kenneth, BA ’77, LAS; Kathleen, BFA ’78, FAA; Karen, BS ’82, COM; and Keith, BFA ’84, FAA. The Rojc Scholarship was established in 2016 in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Rojc by Kathleen Rojc Twardock and David Twardock, BS ’79, COE, and Kenneth Rojc.
Kristina Beligratis (2019–2023)
Sophie Le (2021–2025)
James R. and Dorothy E. Shipley Award
This honor is presented each year to one or more graduating seniors in the School of Art & Design and is awarded based on excellence. Faculty in their program nominate students, and the School’s Executive Committee determines the recipients. James Shipley served as Director of Art & Design from 1956 to 1978. In his memory, his wife and children established the James R. Shipley Scholarship, and the title was later amended by his children to also honor the memory of their mother.
Annika Sornson
Arthur Hall
Simone McConnell
Skoog Dunagan Family Student Support Fund
Melissa Skoog, Art History alumna (BFA 1995) and founder of Skoog Productions in Chicago, has a profound appreciation of the support she received from her family during her time at the University of Illinois and as she went out into the world armed with her creative talent and big dreams.
Realizing the power of that kind of support, she and her husband Chris Dunagan created this fund to support undergraduate experiential learning that expands beyond the classroom and adds value to students’ classwork, research, and aspirations. Grants will be awarded each academic year based on student applications reviewed by a faculty committee.
Katherine Oates
William Stumpf Student Research Fund
Bill Stumpf, who earned his BFA in Industrial Design at the University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign, is arguably one of the most accomplished design graduates in the history of the School of Art & Design. He worked at Herman Miller, Inc., from 1970 until his death in 2006. Bill was described as a “key figure in the company’s transformation into a research-based, problem-solving innovator.” He was awarded the nation’s highest design honor, the 2006 National Design Award for product design, presented posthumously by the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. Bill’s products have collectively generated more revenue for Herman Miller than any other designer's work in the company’s storied history of design. His distinguished legacy should stand as a source of inspiration to the students of
his alma mater. The School of Art & Design is grateful to alumna Gretchen Gscheidle (BFA ID 1991) and a colleague of Bill’s at Herman Miller, for being the lead donor that made it possible to establish this endowment and support the research of ID students in the School of Art & Design and A&D students of any discipline working collaboratively on projects based in the Siebel Center for Design.
Shuoning Shi
Richard Tuttle and Lois Marie Orr Scholarship
Established in 1999 in honor of Lois Marie Orr, the Orr Scholarship is awarded to undergraduate students in varying amounts with a preference given to incoming freshmen. Not awarded in 2022–2023
Alexis Wernsing Innovation Scholarship
The Alexis Wernsing Innovation Scholarship, established by her parents, Big Ed and Patty Wernsing of Litchfield, IL, and supported by many friends and family members, recognizes deserving students at the University of Illinois who have channeled their experience of living with a disability, or observing those who do, into positive change by creating new products, environments, or protocols that enhance the quality of life. The annual scholarship is intended to inspire others and keep Alexis Wernsing’s “can do, never quit” attitude alive and to help the physically disabled tackle their day-to-day challenges.
Alexis passed in 2015 at age 40, but her indomitable spirit lives on through this scholarship held by the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The scholarship shall be given in recognition of innovative design work that benefits persons living with a disability. Students at every level and from any discipline are to be considered. A graduate or undergraduate recipient will be identified as the Alexis Wernsing Innovation Scholar based on the recognition of innovative design work that benefits persons living with a disability.
As one who helped pave the way for the physically challenged, Alexis will be remembered for facing life’s challenges with dignity and grace. And while her work helping others with disabilities lives on through the innovative device that she helped invent, it is her quiet voice that still resonates deep in the hearts and minds of all those she touched.
Ben Hardin
BFA Catalog Designers
The designers are responsible for the coordination and design of the 2019 BFA Exhibition Catalog.
Bailey King
Tess Lantz
Chloe Billingsley • Fioritura Vino Wine, Digital
School of Art & Design Specialized Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching
The Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching recognizes a faculty member who has demonstrated consistent excellent performance in teaching, has made a demonstrable positive impact on students in the classroom and through advising and mentoring, has used innovative approaches in teaching, and has made significant contributions to the development of the curriculum.
Chiara Vincenzi Sarah Wiseman • VAGUE, DigitalSchool of Art & Design Faculty Excellence Award
This award is presented each year to a faculty member for their contributions and accomplishments in either research, teaching, or service.
Nekita Thomas
College Awards
Art & Design James Scholars
Since the 1950s, the University of Illinois has encouraged outstanding undergraduate students by offering participation in the Edmund James Scholar Program. Each college has a James Scholar undergraduate honors program. The programs are named for the fourth president of the University of Illinois, Edmund J. James. He believed scholarship and research are fundamental to human progress, and in the years of his presidency (1904–1920), he brought world-class scholars and researchers to campus, developed many new graduate programs, and fostered a sense of community among faculty and students. His achievements helped to transform the University of Illinois into a campus of international importance.
Denise Carmona
Anya Chen
Emma DeValk
Ilan Elenbogen-Siegel
Arthur Hall
Hajra Lat
Rachel Lyons
Lauren Maro
Brian Romero
Bridget Rubins
Annika Sornson
Noa Villalobos
Priya Goel
Campus Awards
Bronze Tablet
This honor is bestowed upon undergraduates who have demonstrated sustained academic achievement and are ranked in the top three percent of their graduating class.
Arthur Hall
Annika Sornson
Eunjin Lee
Chancellor’s Honors
Arthur Hall
Bridget Rubins
Chancellor's Staff Excellence Award
Audra Weinstein
Program design by Natalie Fiol
