Outstanding Student of the Year
Every year, the College of Liberal Arts asks each department to select its outstanding student(s) for that year- students who possess the passion and creativity for new discoveries and scholarship, students who demonstrate independence of thought and action in the pursuit of knowledge, and students who exemplify excellence.
The Department of Political Science has chosen the following as students who embody these qualities and so much more. Thank you for all your hard work and contributions to your department. You make a difference at UAF.
Congratulations to our 2026 Outstanding Students of the Year!
Outstanding Pre-Law Student
"The thing that I'm most excited about next is law school. That's my main career goal
at this point... UAF has certainly done a good job preparing me for that... You hear
about Supreme Court cases, you hear about a lot of different legal developments, but
it's not always clear what they mean, and certainly, those classes have been very
helpful in giving me a little perspective on what is actually happening, and as a
way to set up for law school."
Outstanding Political Science Student
"There is no singular, correct way to attend university. There's nothing wrong with
being a non-traditional student. I've been all sorts of non-traditional students.
I've been a commuter, I took courses completely online, I transferred to universities,
I worked full-time... I've been a half-time student, I took a semester off, and I'm
graduating a year later than I thought I would. There's no one way to do college...
It's your education. It is your journey. Make it your own."
Outstanding Political Science Student
Always Outstanding
2025-2026
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- Alan Nunn
- Olivia Ryan
- Mateo Fernandez-Serra
2024-2025
2023-2024
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- Hahlen Behnken
2022-2023
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- Jaclyn Mitchell
2021-2022
-
- George Thomas
2020-2021
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- James McLean
B
-
- Hahlen Behnken
C
F
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- Mateo Fernandez-Serra
M
-
- James McLean
- Jaclyn Mitchell
N
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- Alan Nunn
O
R
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- Olivia Ryan
T
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- George Thomas