On April 25, 2016, Georgia Tech's Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) Office recognized two exceptional students at the 2016 Up With the White and Gold Ceremony.

Federico Pulvirenti received the Graduate Student Excellence Award for Leadership and Service. This award is designed to honor a graduate student Leadership Fellow who goes beyond the role of a Leadership Coach and has a true passion for developing others. Federico is in his 4th year of a PhD in Chemistry and serves as one of our leadership coaches in the Leading Edge program. Within this role he shows deep-rooted passion and commitment to developing others. While Federico has a unique ability to motivate and mobilize his coachees to make meaningful change, he also does this for himself. He has grown as a coach and a leader over him time with LEAD. He inspires his coachees and everyone else around him to be a better person and does not hesitate to encourage others to think through challenges, see situations more strategically, and transcend their limitations.

Hannah Chen received the Emerging Student Leader Award. This award is designed to honor an undergraduate student who is involved with LEAD and has shown exceptional development and possesses a strong desire to learn and apply their leadership abilities. Hannah is a 3rd year Industrial Engineering student and is highly involved in LEAD as a Grand Challenges, Leading Edge student and an active participant in the LEAD Recruitment Team. In the time that Hannah has been at Georgia Tech, she has actively sought out ways to step out of her comfort zone and reflect deeply about her actions through her leadership experiences. She actively encourages and inspires other undergraduate students to grow their leadership. Hannah helps students balance their lives and empowers them to manage their time effectively through her Grand Challenges project, Adaptatime. She also works hard to inspire, advance and achieve the goals of the Society of Women Engineers.  Hannah does all of this and more with humility and authenticity. She is not afraid to fail and continues to grow from each and every experience.

Thank you, Hannah and Federico, for all of your hard work and dedication to growing student leadership capacity here at Georgia Tech.