May 20, 2026

Several students and a staff member from the Dornsife School of Public Health were recognized during Drexel University's award season at the recent Student Life Impact Awards and the Graduate Student Excellence Awards. Congratulations to all students who had their hard work and dedication celebrated!

Student Life Impact Awards

Chizoba Okorie, a second-year MPH student, was honored with the Graduate Student Leader of the Year Award at the Drexel Student Life Impact Awards on May 6. This award is presented to a graduate student who has exhibited outstanding leadership and vision and has exemplified dedicated involvement and commitment to making a difference in the lives of Drexel students.

Graduate Student Excellence Awards

On May 19, the Office of Graduate Studies awarded Mark Hernandez, PhD student, and Victoria Rodríguez Villareal, MPH student, each with the Drexel Common Good Award.

In partnership with the Lindy Center for Civic Engagement, the Drexel Common Good Award is presented to graduate and professional students (master's and/or doctoral level) who demonstrate academic excellence and who are committed to improving the world around them by making contributions to local, national or global communities through either scholarship, civic engagement, and community building, including remotely/online.

The Graduate Student Association (GSA) awarded Dornsife’s Maternal and Child Health Student Organization (MCHSO) with the Outstanding Civic and Community Engagement Award. This award honors a student organization for its exceptional commitment to service, advocacy and social responsibility. It recognizes organizations that build meaningful bridges between Drexel and the broader community to address societal needs.

Kayode Oluwasegun, President of GSA, presented the award to Vice President of MCHSO, Bengucan Gunen, MSPH, PhD candidate. MCHSO is a Drexel student-run group for anyone with broad interests in maternal and child health. MCHSO collaborates closely with Dornsife's Maternal and Child Health Center of Excellence 

Additionally, Dornsife received multiple Graduate Student Excellence Award nominations:

• Alexandra Eastus, PhD student (Outstanding Dissertation Award and Research Excellence Award)
• Fariha Haque, MPH student (Research Excellence Award)
• Caroline Kravitz, PhD student (Common Good Award)
• Jihyeon Kwon, PhD student (Outstanding Dissertation Award)
• Chizoba Okorie, MPH student (Research Excellence Award and Teck-Kah Lim Award)
• Nicole Rafalko, PhD student (Research Excellence Award)
• Koichi Sakakibara, PhD student (Research Excellence Award)
• Tai Simpson, PhD student (Outstanding Mentorship Award)

The event also recognized staff dedication. Jessica Tortu, Academic Advisor at Dornsife, won one of two Outstanding Academic Advisor Awards for the University.

Congratulations to Dornsife folks on these well-earned distinctions!

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Additionally, this academic year, Dornsife celebrated student achievements in March at the annual Dornsife Awards. Check out Dornsife Award recipients.