With the 2019 University Commencement quickly approaching, Columbia College has announced this year’s valedictorian and salutatorian.

Congratulations to Sofia Nina-Bernardes Martins CC’19 and Jessica Bai CC’19 for being named valedictorian and salutatorian of the class of 2019. Martins will graduate with a degree in comparative literature and society and a special concentration in linguistics, while Bai will graduate with a degree in economics-mathematics. The two students have been awarded the university’s highest academic honor for their tireless work and dedication to their studies.

Martins is a Junior Phi Beta Kappa inductee and a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow who has been described by her professors as “an exceptional person, whose commitment to the life of the mind and to the exploration of issues of injustice arising from forced migration is genuinely impressive.” She will continue her studies at Oxford University next year through the Doctorow Scholarship.

Bai is also a Junior Phi Beta Kappa inductee and recipient of the Department of Economics’ Parker Prize for Summer Research in 2017. Her professors admire her work ethic and character, describing her as “easily the best undergrad I have had in my career — she has the combination of keen intelligence, enormous energy, and an extremely positive attitude.” She also plans on continuing her education in graduate school.

More information about Martins and Bai can be found here.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons