DAAD winner is Tibbe van den Nieuwenhuijzen, Dean’s Prizes to Luis Mejia and Sanggeet Mithra Manirajah.
For the fifth year, the Hertie School presented the DAAD Prize on behalf of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Dean’s Prizes to students, honouring their outstanding academic achievement and engagement. The 2019 DAAD Prize went to Master of International Affairs student Tibbe van den Nieuwenhuijzen and the Dean’s Prizes were awarded to PhD student Luis Mejia and Master of Public Policy student Sanggeet Mithra Manirajah.
The DAAD Prize is awarded by universities in Germany to honour an international degree-seeking student who has excelled academically and shown remarkable social or intercultural engagement. The prize money of 1000 euros is financed by the German Foreign Office.
Christine Reh, Dean of Graduate Programmes and Professor of European Politics presented the awards.
Tibbe van den Nieuwenhuijzen was cited for his “creative and focused work” in bridging the ties between the current Hertie School community and its alumni “on a topic of great relevance – sustainability,” Reh said. Tibbe designed and facilitated the spring alumni workshop on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Luis Mejia was distinguished for his work as master’s thesis tutor. Reh said he showed exceptional dedication and commitment to academic excellence in supporting second-year students in researching and writing their theses. “He accomplished this with a big heart,” said Reh.
As part of the school’s diversity and inclusion intiative, Sanggeet Mithra Manirajah was honoured for her work conveying student input into the design of the community climate survey surrounding diversity and inclusion. “She accomplished this with great diplomacy,” said Reh.