Recognizing SUA's 2024 Scholarship Award Recipients

September 25, 2024

• Undergraduate Academics
• Campus News

The recipients of Soka University of America's top academic honors-the Ikeda Scholarship, the John D. Montgomery Scholarship, the Soka Merit Award, and the Academic Excellence Award-met with President Ed Feasel, Dean of Students Hyon Moon, and Dean of Faculty Robert Hamersley and took a commemorative photo on September 19 in Founders Hall.

The Ikeda Scholarship, SUA's most prestigious academic award, covers full tuition, room, and board. The scholarship is presented annually to a second-year, third-year, and fourth-year student.

The John D. Montgomery Scholarship is a $20,000 award given annually to a student for academic excellence and contributing to the university. The award honors the late Dr. Montgomery, a member of the Board of Trustees who helped guide SUA from its inception until his death in 2008. Montgomery also served as director of the Pacific Basin Research Center at SUA and director of the Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University.

Ikeda Scholarship

• Chi Phan '27
• Mareva Dijoux '26
• Sakiko Ochiai '25

John D. Montgomery Scholarship

• Emily Yuko Hashimoto '27

Soka Merit Awards

This year's Soka Merit Award covers $5,000 in tuition and was presented to three students in the Classes of 2025, 2026, and 2027.

• Class of 2027
  Sushmita Khadka
  Shota Maeda
  Masahiro Mimoto
• Class of 2026
  Abdul Alim Fatawu
  Lev Nakamura
  Hiroshi Nonaka
• Class of 2025
  Philips Ametsikor
  Yuichi Sakemi
  Yudai Sato

Academic Excellence Awards

Academic Excellence Awards were presented in four categories. Faculty members nominated students for the awards, which were granted to undergraduate students who excel in the following areas.

• Excellence in Academics: Hiroshi Nonaka '26
• Excellence in Creative Arts: Anzu Sakai '26
• Excellence in Mentoring: Sarah Johnson '25
• Excellence in Research: Saron Tadesse '25

Honorary Scholarships

Each year, the Office of Development awards scholarships named in honor of members of the community. The Evelyn Hodes Wilson Memorial Scholarship honors a pioneer in chemistry, industry, and education. Her niece, Nancy Hodes, is a SUA professor emerita of Chinese language and literature.

• Evelyn Hodes Wilson Memorial Scholarship
  Sofia Vitale '25

The Kevin Hodes and Bob and Jane Hodes Memorial Scholarship was established by SUA Professor Emerita of Chinese Language and Literature Nancy Hodes to honor her son and her parents and their contributions to scientific research, the arts, world peace, and social justice.

• Kevin Hodes and Bob & Jane Hodes Memorial Scholarship
  Arnav Pandey '25

The Brian Daisaku McCloskey Memorial Scholarship honors a young man who turned his life around to become a role model for others and whose motto was to "Dream the impossible! Do the impossible."

• Brian Daisaku McCloskey Memorial Scholarship
  Carlos Hoffmann '27
  Archimedes Owusu '27
  Sarah Truong '27
  Vedant Kohli '26

The Carole Ann Lee Aloha Scholarship is designed to provide funding to undergraduate students who aspire to be a force for positive change.

• Carole Ann Lee Aloha Scholarship
  Ayu Nakazaki '25
  Allison Etrata '25
  Chad Lutu '27

The Gregg Jorgensen Memorial Scholarship is designed to provide funding to undergraduate students who can articulate how they will apply the philosophies of John Dewey and Daisaku Ikeda in their life's work, just as Gregg did during his time as a faculty member at SUA.

• Gregg Jorgensen Memorial Scholarship
  Kazuyo Nishida '25
  Marina Inoue '25
  Khurshid Engineer '26