CEE recognizes Class of 2026 graduates and award recipients

By Julia Davis
July 10, 2026

The department recognized more than 300 degree recipients and announced student, faculty, staff and alumni awards during its June 6 graduation celebration.

A graduate smiles while standing with classmates during the CEE Graduation Celebration.

Graduates pose for photos during the celebration.

Tin Vo (BSCE ’26) addresses the Class of 2026 as the civil engineering student speaker.

Graduates watch the ceremony from the student seating area.

Minda Chen (BSENVE ’26) speaks on behalf of the environmental engineering graduating class.

CEE faculty applaud during the ceremony.

Daniel Acosta Reyes (Ph.D. ’26) shares remarks as the doctoral student speaker.

Graduates applaud during the ceremony.

Owen Chatters (BSCE ’26) is recognized as runner-up for the Hawkins Prize.

Minda Chen receives the Hawkins Prize from Department Chair Bart Nijssen.

Professor John Stanton delivers the keynote address.

Doctoral graduates are recognized on stage.

The Class of 2026 closes out the ceremony with a cap toss.

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The Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering celebrated the Class of 2026 on June 6, recognizing more than 300 degree recipients across the department’s undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs.

Department Chair Bart Nijssen opened the ceremony by congratulating graduates and thanking the family, friends, faculty and staff who helped them reach graduation day. He also noted that the first civil engineering degrees at the University of Washington were awarded 125 years ago.

Student speakers included Tin Vo (BSCE ’26), Minda Chen (BSENVE ’26) and Daniel Acosta Reyes (Ph.D. ’26).

The department presented the Hawkins Prize, which recognizes outstanding graduating seniors selected for scholarship, leadership and communication abilities, to Minda Chen. Owen Chatters (BSCE ’26) was named runner-up.

The 2026 Distinguished Alumnus Award was presented to Tom Draeger (BSCE ’68), retired senior vice president of Bechtel Group and president of Bechtel Construction Operations.

Additional award recipients included:

CEE Community Award: Pedro Arduino, Henry Roy Berg Endowed Professor
CEE Outstanding Teacher Award: Julian Yamaura, Tom and Marilyn Draeger / Beavers Charitable Trust Term Faculty Fellow
CEE Outstanding Mentor Award: Jeff Ban, William M. and Marilyn M. Conner Endowed Professor
CEE Outstanding TA in Civil Engineering Award: Mason Millard
CEE Outstanding TA in Environmental Engineering Award: Wenning Liu
CEE Outstanding Staff Award: Jon Emard
CEE Chair’s Award: Chelsea McFarland and Lauren Bachman

John Stanton, professor in CEE, delivered the keynote address. Stanton, who joined the department in 1978 and is retiring this summer, reflected on changes in engineering education and practice during his nearly five decades at the UW.

The ceremony concluded with the recognition of graduates and the traditional cap toss.

2026 graduation celebration

A recording of the June 6 departmental graduation is available at the link below.

Watch the recording