Every year, the Glynn Program recognizes a small number of graduating seniors for their exemplary scholarship and service. The Glynn Award for Academic Excellence and Exemplary Leadership is given annually to seniors who exhibit both outstanding academic performance, and a high level of initiative and leadership, either in campus activities, programs for the common good, or in their scholarly field of study. This year the Glynn Award is shared by Patrick Aimone, a political science major from Long Beach, California; and Andrew Burke, an honors math major from Stewartsville, New Jersey.
A political science major with a passion for political theory, constitutional law, and policy, Patrick Aimone is graduating with three minors: in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, the Hesburgh Program in Public Service, and Constitutional Studies. Patrick is particularly interested in the intersections of constitutional law and liberal political theory in contemporary American politics. As a Tocqueville Fellow, he joined a select group of undergraduates in conversations exploring the intersections of religion, political theory, and public life. As a research assistant to Prof. Eileen Hunt, Patrick conducted research on the correspondence between John Rawls and Susan Okin and had a paper accepted for presentation at the Western Political Science Association 2020 conference. His senior thesis, At the Border of Church and State: A Defense of Religious Accommodation of the Sanctuary Movement, written under the supervision of Prof. Phillip Muñoz, explores the tensions between the goods of federal policy and religious liberty when it comes to sheltering vulnerable communities. Outside the classroom, Patrick has spent summers working in Nogales, Mexico, at a binational organization providing aid to Central American migrants. Patrick founded the Student Policy Network, an organization that connects students with policy research and advocacy opportunities through partnerships with external organizations, and co-founded BridgeND, the largest nonpartisan political club at Notre Dame. An early inductee into Phi Beta Kappa, Patrick was also recognized with the Bartholomew Thesis Award in Political Theory, the Brinkley Service award in Political Science, and was a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship. Patrick will be continuing his studies at Harvard Law School.
Andrew Burke majored in honors mathematics with a computing concentration. He is the recipient of the Math Department’s Aumann Prize, Robert Balles award, and GE Math Prize, in addition to being named the 2022 College of Science Dean’s Award winner. As an undergraduate, Andrew has taken and excelled in 14 graduate-level math courses. He used Glynn funding to help him spend two summers doing math research at the University of Chicago. Here at Notre Dame, Andrew teamed up with a 4th year graduate student to take on an unsolved problem in algebraic geometry, the proof of the geometric Manin’s conjecture on Fano threefolds, which is leading to two published papers. In his spare time, Andrew had led topical reading groups for math majors and math circles for local elementary school children, mentored in the Boys and Girls Clubs, and worked as an offensive analyst for the Fighting Irish football team. Andrew was recognized last year with the Goldwater Scholarship, and next year will be studying math at Cambridge University on a Churchill fellowship, after which he will begin his PhD studies at Harvard.
The Glynn Program’s award for exemplary service is given in honor of Michael Anderson (’06) to two students who have lived out Michael’s creed “to improve and enrich the lives of others so that they could do the same.” This year’s Michael Anderson awards go to Alix Basden, an International Economics major from Lafayette, LA, and Analie Fernandes, a Political Science and Pre-Health major from Lafayette, CA.
Alix Basden, who is also doing a minor in the Hesburgh Program in Public Service, is recognized for her dedication to building strong communities that work to serve those on the margins – internationally, in her own state of Louisiana, and here at Notre Dame. As a Kellogg International Scholar, she studied how opportunities for social connectivity in Africa can build community; and she examined how French society rebuilt itself after the Revolution, as a model for peace-building activities in modern societies. She spent two summers doing internships with Louisiana Medicaid working as a research and legislative tracker and another summer with the Catholic Mobilizing Network working on issues surrounding the death penalty. Here at Notre Dame, Alix led the university’s FUEL program, mentoring underclassmen into campus-wide leaders; led a Center for Social Concerns seminar on the L’Arche community, connecting individuals with and without intellectual disabilities; and served as Chief of Staff for Student Government. Her thesis studied the impact on public health of “right to information” laws in Africa, where such laws are either lacking or poorly enforced.
Analie Fernandes, who is also doing a minor in Poverty Studies, is recognized for her efforts to bring healthcare to those most in need, and, like Alix, her efforts have reached from campus to the local community to the wider world. On campus, she spent two years working with the McDonald Center for Student Wellbeing on education initiatives that focused on mind-body connection, especially during the pandemic. Locally, Analie spent a summer interning and then volunteering for Imani Unidad, a charitable organization focusing on prevention, education, and advocacy in the Black and Latinx communities of South Bend. There she collaborated with Imani's staff to create, develop, and implement a weekly women's trauma processing group called Epiphany, which became the subject of her senior thesis. She took these experiences and worked as the State Captain for Right to Health Action, Indiana, where she organized community and team-building efforts to prompt state and federal legislators to create policies that would secure the right to health care for all. On a global scale, Analie has worked with Prof. Vania Smith-Oka studying the effects of patient-clinician communication in indigenous women’s health in rural Mexico and obstetric violence in Kenya; and spent four years as the Advocacy Director and Co-President of GlobeMed@ND, a student-led organization in which she partnered with the Population Education Development Association (PEDA) in Laos, working on ways to deliver high quality healthcare to that country. In addition, she has volunteered with the NICU and Pediatrics units in Memorial Hospital in South Bend and served as President of Aquatic Relief for Kids, which provides therapeutic swim-play sessions for pediatric patients and their siblings.