Student Awards

Departmental Awards

Biology Book Award

A book award presented to students, selected by the biology faculty, on the basis of outstanding performance in introductory biology.

Biology Service Award

The Biology Service Award is a financial award to a graduating senior who has provided outstanding service to the Department of Biology while at Hope College, determined by the biology faculty.

Cronkite Award 

The Cronkite Prize in Biology is given in honor of Dr. Donald Cronkite, Professor of Biology at Hope College from 1978 to 2009.  Dr. Cronkite is widely recognized for his outstanding research and teaching and for training and inspiring generations of teachers at both the college and K-12 level.  The award consists of a summer research fellowship and a bookstore credit.  The Cronkite Prize is preferentially awarded to a student who plans on a career teaching at the primary, secondary, or college level.

deKruif Writing Award

The Paul deKruif Writing Prizes in biology are meant to increase awareness of writing among biology students and encourage biology students who write well through annual recognition. The prizes were made possible by gifts from Dr. and Mrs. Louis Pepoy and other admirers of Paul deKruif.  Students can apply with the deKruif Writing Prize Application.

Patterson Memorial Prize in Biology

A financial award to a superior student with a major interest in biology, whom the Hope College faculty deems most worthy.

Wolterink Prize in Biology

The award is in honor of Dr. and Mrs. Lester Wolterink in appreciation for their continued support of the Department of Biology. The award consists of a summer research fellowship and a bookstore credit. The Wolterink prize is awarded to an upperclass biology major who has shown the potential for excellence in research.

National Awards

Goldwater Scholarship

Faculty nominate outstanding sophomore or junior students who have plans to attain a graduate degree and pursue a research career in a natural science, mathematics or engineering. Students must have an excellent academic record, and be active in research.  A committee representing the Natural and Applied Sciences review the nominations and invite up to four students to apply. Learn more about the Goldwater Scholarship.

Phi Beta Kappa

PBK, the nation’s oldest and most widely known academic honor society, welcomes at most 10% of the graduating class.  The selection criteria are: exceptional scholarly achievement in the classroom involvement in independent scholarly study or research outside the classroom; broad cultural interests, and high character. Visit the PBK website. 

Sigma Xi

Sigma Xi is the national honor society for research.  Senior students are nominated based on their active participation in scholarly independent research and maintaining a GPA of 3.0.