The College of Arts and Sciences names 2025 Summer Undergraduate Research Award (SURA) recipients

By Francis Von Mann

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 10, 2025) - The College of Arts and Sciences is proud to announce the students selected for the 2025 Summer Undergraduate Research Award (SURA) program. This year’s SURA recipients represent a wide array of academic disciplines and will engage in immersive, faculty-mentored research across the University of Kentucky campus.

The SURA awards provide $5,000 to support Arts and Sciences undergraduate students pursuing summer research full-time. 

Throughout the summer, students will work closely with faculty mentors on projects of mutual interest. Their work will culminate in presentations at the UK Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium on August 26, where they will share their findings with the campus community.

The 2025 SURA recipients are:

  • Tyler Baize, working with Dr. Rachel Farr, Department of Psychology
  • Vincent Buchenberger, working with Dr. Shannon Sauer-Zavala, Department of Psychology
  • Henry Dixon, working with Dr. Christopher Crawford, Department of Physics
  • Wesley  Francis, working with Dr. George Wright, Department of History
  • Rea Franks, working with Dr. Rachel Farr, Department of Psychology
  • Benjamin Gorton, working with Dr. Christopher Crawford, Department of Physics
  • Reece Harris, working with Dr. George Wright, Department of History
  • Haiden Hauret, working with Dr. Matthew Kim, Department of Psychology
  • Matthew Mitchem, working with Dr. Ruth Bryan, UK Libraries
  • Ethan Mueller, working with Dr. Ronald Wilhelm, Department of Physics
  • Anmol Nayak, working with Dr. David Rodgers, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry
  • Joshua Purnell, working with Dr. Christopher Crawford, Department of Physics
  • Adreanna Rainey, working with Dr. Mike Bardo Department of Psychology
  • Emily Reid, working with Dr. Mark Prendergast, Department of Psychology
  • Thomas Ruberg, working with Dr. Shannon Sauer-Zavala, Department of Psychology
  • Leah Russell, working with Dr. Rachel Farr, Department of Psychology
  • Margaret Sansoucy, working with Dr. Michael Genovese, Department of English
  • Julie Sharpe, working with Dr. Gregory Jicha, Department of Neurology, Sanders-Brown Center on Aging
  • Andrew Snider, working with Dr. Austin Lillywhite, Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies
  • Shirin Soni, working with Dr. Catherine Linnen, Department of Biology
  • Jaesylin Stephens, working with Dr. David Weisrock, Department of Biology
  • Kailen Teodorescu, working with Dr. Pooja Sidney, Department of Psychology
  • Sophia Wielawski, working with Dr. Erin Koch, Department of Anthropology
  • Jacob Withrow, working with Dr. Rachel Farr, Department of Psychology
  • Addison Witucki, working with Dr. Hiroshi Saito, Department of Surgery
  • Bailee Wagenheim, working with Dr. Meghan Dowell, Department of Information Science