Winner to be announced at Homecoming game Oct. 8
Two engineering students from the Class of 2023 have been named as finalists for the Outstanding Senior award, one of the highest honors an undergraduate student can receive at Vanderbilt. The award recognizes a senior who exemplifies the values of the university community through leadership, service and passion.
Each of the 10 nominees will be recognized, and the top Outstanding Senior will be announced, during halftime of the Commodores’ Homecoming football game on Saturday, Oct. 8, versus the University of Mississippi.
Namrah Ajmal
School of Engineering
Ajmal is a biomedical engineering and mathematics double major with plans to attend medical school after graduation. She is the president of the Muslim Student Association, an adviser for the Pakistani Student Association and public relations chair for the Interfaith Council. She is in her third year as a resident adviser and is head RA for Rothschild College.
Three words Ajmal used to describe her time at Vanderbilt are “formative, fun and irreplaceable.”
Blake Christiansen
School of Engineering
Christiansen is a chemical engineering major. After graduation he will be commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy, where he will work as a nuclear engineer operating the nuclear reactors on aircraft carriers. Christiansen is the battalion executive officer of the Naval ROTC. He has been head resident of Gillette House since 2021 and was a resident adviser in Morgan House during the 2020–21 academic year.
Three words Christiansen used to describe his time at Vanderbilt are “cooperative, intense and gratifying.”
The other nominees are Carson Ferrara, College of Arts and Science; Sophie Kaiser, College of Arts and Science and Peabody College of education and human development; Soleil Kelly, College of Arts and Science; Izzy Kinney, College of Arts and Science; Cassidy Latchford, College of Arts and Science and Peabody College of education and human development; Asya Miles, College of Arts and Science and Peabody College of education and human development; Karan Mirpuri, College of Arts and Science and Peabody College of education and human development; and Ben Powdermaker, Peabody College of education and human development.
Students may be nominated for Outstanding Senior by a campus organization, fellow student or faculty or staff member. After nominees complete an application, a committee of faculty, staff and students narrow the list to around 40 nominees. Those students participate in an interview with a panel of faculty, staff and student judges who further narrow the list to 20.
The top 20 students are voted on by fellow members of the Class of 2023 to determine the 10 finalists for Outstanding Senior.
Contact: Brenda Ellis, 615 343-6314
brenda.ellis@vanderbilt.edu