Santa Clara University

The Michael Shallo Prize

The Shallo Prize was established by the University in 1955 to honor Michael W. Shallo, S.J. Father Shallo was a professor of philosophy and, at the turn of the twentieth century, one of the university's first nationally-recognized scholars. The award is given by the Political Science Faculty to the student or students judged most proficient in political science. The winner is awarded a cash prize at the Political Science Banquet, is recognized at the Honors Convocation, and is acknowledged in writing on the Graduation Program. Recent Shallo Prize winners include  Anne Scudder (2006), Andrew Western (2006), Shannon Cosentino-Roush (2006), Alex Reed (2005), Ellen Ritchie (2004), and Ariel Dillon (2004).

The Bernard Kronick Research and Writing Awards

In 2005, the Political Science Department resurrected the Kronick Research and Writing Awards, named in honor of Bernard ("Barney") Kronick, who taught Comparative Politics for nearly 30 years and served as Chair of the Political Science Department for quite a few of those. An award is given in each subfield of political science for the best paper, selected by the faculty teaching in that field. Winners will have their names engraved on the Kronick plaque on the second floor of the Arts & Sciences Building. Recent award recipients inlcude David Eitelback (2008), Jil Fitzsimmons (2008), Andrew Golkar (2008), Benjamin Snyder (2008), Christina Arrington (2007), Laurel Fedder (2007), Christopher Lee (2007), Roey Rahmil (2007), Molly Scudder (2007).  The 2006 Kronick winners were Christopher Wilderotter (Best Paper in American Politics), John Thyken (Best Paper in Political Philosophy), Jonathan Wahl (Best Paper in Applied Quantitative Methods), Sara Brown (Best paper in International Relations), Jennifer Vollman (Best Paper in Comparative Politics), and Daniel Erwin (Best Paper in Comparative Politics).

The Amos Dana Award for Distinction in Public Service

Amos Dana was a Santa Clara alumnus, a dedicated public servant and leader (serving for 36 years as a probation officer for San Mateo County), and teacher for 20 years of a popular and well-regarded course on Criminal Justice for the Political Science Department. After his death in 2003, his family chose to memorialize his commitment to Santa Clara University and to public service by requesting that donations in Amos’s name be sent to our department. The faculty in turn established an award in Amos Dana’s name, to be given on the basis of: excellent performance and personal growth through hands-on public sector experience, potential for success in a career or studies in the public sector, and/or an outstanding research project related to a public sector project. Recent winners include Ericka Eng (2008), Angela McIsaac (2008), Mark Nakamoto (2008), Rose Hacking (2007), Sheeva Sabati (2006), Amy Chan (2006), Melvin Gaines (2005), Javier Gonzalez (2005), and Mullissa Willett (2004).

Pi Sigma Alpha

Pi Sigma Alpha was founded in 1920 to encourage and recognize superior achievement in the study of government and politics at the undergraduate and graduate level. Members of this honor society are committed to the ideals of scholarship, integrity and citizenship. There are more than 500 chapters of Pi Sigma Alpha, and more than 6,000 students join its ranks each year. Santa Clara’s chapter, Rho Epsilon, was founded in 1988.

Students earn membership in this honor society by attaining the highest standards of scholarship both in their overall academic work and in the discipline of political science. Each spring quarter, the faculty invites all students with junior and senior standing who have earned a 3.3 Grade-Point Average overall, and who possess, respectively, a 3.7 GPA or a 3.5 GPA in at least six courses offered by the department to become members of the honor society.