On April 16, seventeen incredible Honors students were among the recipients of the 2026 Diamond Award. Since 2005, the Division of Student Affairs has hosted the Diamond Award Ceremony to honor the highest levels of student achievement throughout the university. These students have accomplished extraordinary things, both inside and outside the classroom, and we cannot wait to see what's next!

Congrats to all our winners! Read more about them below.

Pooja Arvind 

Pooja is a Bioengineering student at Temple University and an incoming Biomedical Engineering PhD student at Cornell University, whose research spans bone biomechanics, spectral imaging, and disease modeling. As President of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), she identified a gap between technical coursework and industry access, leading the creation of the BMES Industry Panel and Networking Event—bringing together executives and professionals from leading companies to connect students with real-world career pathways. Through her leadership, she expanded access to mentorship, internships, and industry insight, with her initiative becoming a sustainable model for future student engagement. 

Sarah Bhanushali  

Sarah is a Neuroscience major in Temple University’s Honors Program, whose academic excellence is matched by her deep commitment to service, research, and community health. As President of Honors Community Outreach and a leader across multiple service and clinical organizations, she has organized large-scale initiatives, mentored student leaders, and provided direct support to vulnerable populations—from crisis counseling to harm-reduction work in Philadelphia. Through her global health experiences with FIMRC and her work in local communities, she has developed a passion for addressing systemic barriers to care, using both advocacy and action to create more equitable health outcomes. 

Jack Brownfield 

Jack is an Honors student studying Evolution, Ecology, and Biodiversity whose work spans both ecological research and student mentorship. As a Climate Resiliency Fellow and undergraduate researcher, he has contributed to sustainability initiatives and presented original research on aquatic ecosystems at multiple conferences. As a Peer Instructor in Temple’s Honors Program, he discovered a passion for teaching—building meaningful, one-on-one connections with students and helping them navigate the academic, social, and personal challenges of their transition to college. Jack was also recently named a Goldwater Scholar which is considered the most prestigious undergraduate fellowship recognizing potential future STEM researchers. 

Amelia Carmello 

Amelia is a Sociology student in Temple’s Honors Program who has built her college experience around challenging stigma and expanding access to essential resources. Through her leadership with PERIOD, she transformed engagement by creating approachable, educational content and cross-campus partnerships—growing attendance while leading initiatives like product distribution, advocacy events, and awareness campaigns around menstrual equity. Alongside her work as a Peer Educator and Cherry Pantry volunteer, she has consistently fostered open conversations around food insecurity, sexual health, and other stigmatized needs, helping students feel seen, supported, and empowered to seek resources. 

Angela Cirelli 

Angela is a Public Health student who has built her work around expanding language access and advancing health equity for underserved communities. Inspired by her own family’s experience with language and identity, she has translated that passion into action—providing translation and interpretation services, conducting Spanish-language health screenings, and developing culturally responsive health education initiatives. Through her research, community work, and leadership, she has helped connect individuals to critical resources while advocating for a healthcare system that meets people where they are. 

Natalie Diedericks 

Natalie is an International Business and Marketing student who has redefined what it means to use business as a force for good. As Social Impact Director for Temple’s American Marketing Association, she led “Beth’s Hope,” a large-scale, student-driven campaign to help find a life-saving kidney donor—mobilizing teams, expanding outreach, and turning marketing strategy into real-world impact. Through her leadership, she has shown how business skills can be used not just to promote, but to advocate, connect, and create meaningful change in people’s lives. 

Anaise Dormil 

Anaise is a Nursing student known for her ability to create welcoming, supportive spaces for both students and families navigating new environments. As a Parent and Family Student Coordinator, she transformed orientation into a more open, conversation-driven experience—guiding families through their concerns with empathy, honesty, and care. Across her roles as a Peer Instructor, mentor, and healthcare provider, she consistently builds trust and connection, helping others feel confident, supported, and at home in unfamiliar spaces. 

Alexis Gonsalves 

Alexis is a Biology student who has built her leadership around service, empathy, and showing up for others in moments that matter. As a founding leader of Temple’s Remote Area Medical chapter, she has helped expand access to free healthcare while introducing students to the power of community-based service. Through her work at clinics, she has created meaningful connections with patients—proving that even small acts of care, like taking the time to truly listen, can have a lasting impact. 

Emma Gray 

Emma is a Health Professions student who has built her work around community-centered care and harm reduction in Philadelphia. As an On-Site Volunteer Coordinator with the Everywhere Project, she has led outreach efforts distributing essential resources while training others in overdose response and community health practices. Through her clinical work and advocacy, she has embraced the belief that care is collective—empowering others with the knowledge, tools, and compassion to support one another. 

Diyana Moradi 

Diyana is a junior Biology major in the Temple Honors and Sci+Tech Scholars programs, while conducting active research at Fox Chase Cancer Center on early-stage breast cancer outcomes and triple-negative breast cancer detection. As President of the Iranian Association of Temple University, she has built a community where students can speak openly about their cultural identities and current events affecting their families, organizing cross-cultural programming with MENA and South Asian student organizations and maintaining a peer support fund for members facing financial hardship. 

Harshini Nuti 

Harshini is a graduating Mathematical Economics major in the University Honors Program who was selected as an AEA Summer Research Fellow and took first place in the Boston Consulting Group Philly-Wide Case Competition. As President of Women in Economics, she expanded the organization's reach through alumni panels, faculty discussions, and cross-campus collaborations — including a partnership with Temple's PERIOD chapter connecting economic inequality to health equity — driven by a commitment to making economics feel accessible to students who don't yet see themselves in the field. 

Sun Ohm 

Sun is a graduating Biology major who has co-authored multiple published cancer research studies across Fox Chase Cancer Center, the Fels Cancer Institute, and a biomedical institute in South Korea. She founded Temple's Friends of Médecins Sans Frontières chapter and built it into a hub for global health engagement — organizing three medical relief trips to Uganda, weekly harm reduction volunteering at Prevention Point in Kensington, and a youth art program at the North Central Community Center that she designed from scratch and has sustained for three years. 

Kush Patel 

Kush is a junior Computer Science major who transformed Temple's ACM chapter from a partially active club into a community of 600+ members, and now directs OwlHacks — Temple's annual hackathon — where he led a team of 70 to secure $50,000 in sponsorships and host 375 participants from 15 universities. Across his roles as Resident Assistant, Teaching Assistant, and Research Lead in the Human-Computer Interaction Lab, he believes that the most valuable thing you can do with any position is make the path clearer for the person behind you. Kush was also recently named a Goldwater Scholar which is considered the most prestigious undergraduate fellowship recognizing potential future STEM researchers. 

Mateo Perez Presmanes 

Mateo is a junior Global Studies and Political Science major who serves as both a Peer2Peer Mentor for international students and the Honors Peer Mentor Program Coordinator overseeing 50+ mentors. His leadership is rooted in a commitment to intercultural dialogue — most recently, he created and facilitated "Share Your Global Pride," an international LGBTQIA+ discussion group developed in collaboration with Temple's International Student Affairs office to give international students space to explore how cultural identity and sexual orientation intersect. 

Ananya Ravi 

Ananya is a junior Music Therapy major at Boyer College who balances an active clinical load — including practicum work with aphasia patients, a behavioral health internship at Temple University Hospital, and hospice music companionship — with research appointments at both Temple's Mechanisms of Affect Dysregulation Lab and CHOP's Center for Autism Research, where she has presented original work at multiple conferences. She also founded Temple Taanam, the university's first South Asian a cappella group, creating a space where students could bring their cultural identity and musical lives together for the first time. 

Michelle Tanujaya 

Michelle is a graduating Biology major, NIH MARC Scholar, and first-generation Indonesian-American student who has conducted research at Temple, Brown, and Stanford University, with two publications on anti-thrombotic liposome therapy and presentations at conferences including ABRCMS and Princeton's Molecular Biology Retreat. She has channeled every mentorship opportunity she received into building the same for others — serving simultaneously as a Peer Lab Assistant, Smith Peer Mentor, Honors Peer Mentor, and Research Ambassador while leading FIMRC as President and connecting pre-health students to public health work in Philadelphia. 

Ginger Uhlfelder 

Ginger is a junior Biology major in the Temple Honors Program and 3+4 Accelerated Dental Program who, after experiencing the isolation of that compressed timeline firsthand, founded a peer mentorship program connecting 3+4 dental students across every year of the program — creating the collaborative community she had been searching for as a first-year. She also completed a research internship with Dinah, producing a 17-page manuscript on serving religious survivors of domestic abuse that she presented to Shared Safety Philadelphia and partner advocacy organizations across the city.