Thomas Jefferson Prize in Natural Philosophy

2026 - Kate Carline '26

Kate Carline, you are an extraordinary undergraduate: a double major in biology and public policy and a 1693 scholar, accomplished in synthetic biology, computational biology, bioinformatics, molecular genetics, multiomics data analysis and science policy. Faculty mentors count you among the strongest students they have encountered.

Your cross-disciplinary work reflects unusual breadth, maturity and intellectual independence. You have published in peer-reviewed journals, including first-author articles in Microbiology Resource Announcements and Applied and Environmental Microbiology. You earned first place at Rice University’s Gulf Coast Undergraduate Research Symposium and were selected as one of only 50 early-career participants at the 2025 Spirit of Asilomar summit.

As a member of William & Mary’s iGEM team, you engineered systems to enable synthetic biological constructs to function in real soil environments. The team placed among the best in the world. You then led efforts to submit the scholarship for publication.

You think critically about the societal dimensions of biotechnology. You analyzed the reg-ulation and application of engineered microbes in agriculture, worked on optimizing the U.S. bioeconomy, interned with the U.S. Department of Defense on biowarfare issues and were a leader in the Geopolitics of Technology Initiative.

Kate Carline, your scholarship and leadership have already made substantive contributions to your field. We are pleased to award you the 2026 Thomas Jefferson Student Award.

2025 - Yigit K. Simsek '25

Thomas Jefferson, among the most illustrious of William & Mary's graduates, all his life honored William Small, his professor in natural sciences, for his inspiring teaching and insightful encouragement of creative questioning.

Yigit Simsek, in the spirit of that relationship, your faculty proudly recognize you. As a Beckman Scholar, you excel in the classroom across all disciplines. Your exemplary work in pursuing honors in biology, while double majoring in biology and mathematics, demonstrates your commitment to excellence. Your efforts in academics, scholarship and mentoring pay homage to the relationship that Thomas Jefferson had with professor William Small, who was his tutor in science and mathematics.

Yigit Simsek, your curiosity and excellence embody William & Mary's values. Your strong commitment to learning and scientific exploration shines through in your extensive work. William & Mary is proud to present you with the 2025 Thomas Jefferson Prize in Natural Philosophy.

2024 - Robby Gourdie '24

Robert K. Gourdie, Class of 2024, your faculty proudly recognize you. A 1693 Scholar, one of William & Mary’s highest honors for admitted students, you have demonstrated outstanding academic promise to engage and enrich our world. Professor Young in chemistry called you a ‘once in a lifetime student.’ He further applauded your curiosity, your ability to generate independent research ideas and your enthusiasm for science.

From your first semester at William & Mary, you have eagerly pursued your interest in biochemical research. A quick learner, you were already balancing several projects ranging from synthetic chemistry to molecular biology by the end of your first summer of research. Your research has led to the discovery of a new biochemical reaction, you have made several novel amino acids and you developed complex assays to test your hypotheses. Publication in a prestigious Chemical Biology journal confirms your work’s importance. Another manuscript is being submitted to the most prestigious journal in your discipline.

Professor McNamara, also in chemistry, praised your leadership in the department and on campus. You are enthusiastic about mentoring and committed to increasing retention of younger students in STEM fields. You served as a highly successful tutor in the Tribe Tutor Zone and co-founded the mentorship program in chemistry. Your efforts in academics, scholarship and mentoring pay homage to the relationship that Thomas Jefferson had with Professor William Small, who was his tutor in science and mathematics.

Robert Gourdie, your curiosity and excellence embody William & Mary’s values. You inspire your professors. They look forward to your bright future, confident in your ability to achieve your goals. In the spirit of Thomas Jefferson and William Small, they enthusiastically honor your passion, your intellect and your kindness toward others. William & Mary is proud to present you with the 2024 Thomas Jefferson Prize in Natural Philosophy.

2023 - Yuxin Qin '23

Thomas Jefferson, among the most illustrious of William & Mary’s graduates, all his life honored William Small, his professor in natural science for his inspiring teaching and insightful encouragement of creative questioning.

Yuxin Qin, Class of 2023, in the spirit of that relationship, faculty members have declared you among the most inspiring and dedicated students they have had the honor to teach. A senior from Shanghai, China, majoring in Mathematics and Studio Art, you are pursuing a career as an actuary. As an undergraduate, you have already passed the actuarial exams in probability and financial mathematics. Your academic accomplishments are dazzling: you have completed several graduate classes and are currently writing an honors thesis, all while maintaining a perfect 4.00 GPA in both your undergraduate and graduate classes.

In addition to your own academic coursework, you have supported learning as a teaching assistant and grader. You have served as a teaching assistant for the Linear Algebra Boot Camp for two summers, and you have been a grader for Advanced Linear Algebra.

During your junior year, you participated in an independent study course in survival analysis. The work resulted in a paper, The Probability Mass Function of the Kaplan-Meier Product-Limit Estimator, which is being published this year in The American Statistician, a highly ranked statistical journal. While having work immediately accepted into the journal is impressive on its own, your accomplishments have also been recognized by INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and Management Science—a professional society). One of eight finalists for the INFORMS Undergraduate Operations Research Prize, you traveled to Indianapolis in mid-October to present your work. Faculty working with you on your presentation were struck by your outstanding communication skills, organizational talents and refreshing sense of humor. Ms. Qin, an exceptional student, you have demonstrated remarkable skills as a researcher at a very young age. Mature and responsible, you possess excellent written and verbal communication skills and approach challenges with curiosity. In addition to your scholarship, you are an accomplished artist and have a black belt in karate. Your professors look forward to your very bright future in the mathematical field.

Yuxin Qin, your professors affirm that, in the spirit of Thomas Jefferson and William Small, you reflect the excellence celebrated by this award, and we are proud to present you with the 2023 Thomas Jefferson Prize in Natural Philosophy.

2022 - Mikayla Huffman '22

As a sophomore, Mikayla Huffman began working with a planetary geologist studying impact craters on Europa. By analyzing crater radii and depths, she found a layer of low viscosity fluid which will have substantial ramifications for the Europa Clipper mission and detection of biosignatures in subsurface oceans. Her most impressive work has been done with Dr. Kelsi Singer, the project manager for the New Horizons spacecraft that flew by Pluto.

She mapped over 12,000 secondary craters on the moon and Mercury — such craters are caused by ejecta from larger primary craters — suggested looking for tertiary craters and found 66 such craters, with many more expected. This is the first detection of tertiary craters on an extraterrestrial body and this will test models of dynamic fragmentation. She was also selected as a Makerspace Student Engineer and trained other students in 3D printers and other Makerspace tools and facilities.