Dave Young Awarded Dean's Medal

The Department of Psychology proudly nominated two outstanding students—Dave Young and Madison Chiu—for the Dean’s Medal in the Natural Sciences Division of the College of Arts and Sciences. We were proud to put forward both nominees and are especially proud to share that Dave Young was selected as this year’s medal recipient.

Dave Young (Deans Medal Recipient)

Graduating summa cum laude with a B.A. in Psychology and a B.S. in Biology, Dave Young has made the most of his time at UW. One of his first—and favorite—experiences in the department was working in Dr. Ione Fine’s Vision and Cognition Lab, where he explored how the brain processes sign language. That research led him to complete an honors thesis and further develop his skills and interests in science and research.

Since his freshman year, Dave has also interned at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, contributing to prostate cancer research. Over the years, he’s earned several awards for his work, including the Levinson Emerging Scholar Award, Mary Gates Research Scholarship, Guthrie Prize, and the Arc of Washington Fellowship.

Reflecting on his experience, Dave shared:

"Choosing to study psychology was one of the best decisions I’ve made in college. The coursework is incredibly diverse, and the faculty truly challenge you to think critically and engage deeply with the science."

This fall, Dave will begin the next chapter of his journey at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Madison Chu (Dean’s Medal Nominee)

Madison is graduating summa cum laude with a B.A. in Psychology and shared about how her time in the department was rewarding.

“I have my many faculty and graduate student mentors in the Psychology department to thank for the excellent research opportunities I've had at the University of Washington. I feel very lucky to have developed a research interest I'm passionate about, as well as the skills I need to pursue it.”

As part of the Honors Program, Madison completed her thesis in the UW READi Lab with Dr. Wendy Stone, where she worked on developing a framework for making caregiver-report autism screening tools more culturally sensitive.

After graduation, she will be working at UW as a Research Coordinator on projects focused on parenting and socialization, and she’s preparing to apply to Ph.D. programs in Clinical Psychology. Madison is also a recipient of the Mary Gates Research Scholarship and the Ruth H. Hagenstein Scholarship.