Pichaya “Peach” Kositsawat, political science and comparative literature major, and Sanaa Khan, political science major, have been named recipients of two of UCI’s top undergraduate scholarships.

Kositsawat, a junior going into her senior year at UCI, is the 2012 Dan and Jean Aldrich award winner. The award is named in honor of UCI’s founding chancellor and recognizes the outstanding junior on campus on the basis of merit, academic excellence, leadership, contribution to the campus and community service. The honor carries a $2,500 prize.

Khan, a freshman going into her sophomore year, is the recipient of the 2012 Nicholas Aeberhard Memorial Award, an honor which recognizes the top freshman at UCI on the basis of personal integrity, student leadership, academics and involvement in campus and civic activities and carries a $5,000 prize.

Kositsawat received a dual nomination from the School of Humanities and the School of Social Sciences. She has consecutively made the Dean’s Honor List since her enrollment as a freshman. She is a member of the Olive Tree Initiative, has traveled to Panama with the Global Law Brigades to provide neglected communities with legal aid and education, and is a founding member and editor of the Exhibit Magazine which is UCI's first humanities magazine showcasing student narratives. Kositsawat received a UROP fellowship grant for her research project, “The University in Crisis: Locating an Educational Philosophy.” Her service as a former Humanities Out There (H.O.T) tutor, campuswide honors program peer mentor, JumpStart member and participation in Alternative Spring Break program demonstrated to the award committee her commitment to serve the campus and the community.

Kositsawat also received a 2012 Strauss Scholarship and was this year’s Schonfeld Scholarship recipient. Learn more about her accomplishments here.

After graduating, she would like to obtain a Ph.D. in political theory and a J.D. in international law.

Khan was nominated for the Aeberhard Award by the School of Social Sciences. She is a member of the campuswide honors program and made the Dean’s Honor List for fall and winter quarter. She was an intern at the Disability Rights California which is a non-profit organization that provides advocacy services for people with disabilities. Currently, she is a representative for Arroyo Vista Student Council and a volunteer at Organizing for America which strives to increase voter awareness. Her honors include National Merit Commended scholar, AP scholar with honors and Laureat National, an honor given to the top ten high school French language speakers in the United States.

Khan would like to enter the U.S Foreign Service and work in the U.S Department of State upon completing her graduate degree.

-UCI Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships