Elisha M. Wachman, MD, Professor of Pediatrics at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, has received the school’s annual Excellence in Faculty Mentorship – Senior Faculty award. Wachman, a neonatologist at Boston Medical Center, received the award for “exceptional commitment to mentoring faculty, …including peer-to-peer, near-peer mentorship and assisting early-career and mid-career faculty.” She is an internationally recognized clinical and translational researcher with expertise in neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS) and substance use disorders in pregnancy. Her nominator for the award said her mentorship extends “every single person at the Medical Campus she comes into contact with. It’s just in her nature to mentor!”
Clare Cho, Lucy Yang-Schmidt, and Sadie Mulligan are this year’s recipients of Nancy Quint Schön Arts Scholarships, as announced by Spark Newton‘s new Executive Director, Leandra Sharron. The scholarships, awarded annually to Newton students pursuing a degree in the arts in higher education, are funded by Newton sculptor Nancy Quint Schön, whose work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Schön is widely known for the “Make Way for Ducklings” sculpture in the Boston Public Garden.
- Newton South HS senior Clare Cho will attend Harvard University, where she plans to major in Psychology and Vocal Performance. She has performed with Newton South’s A Cappella group since 2023 and was a Regional Semi-Finalist in Musical Theatre at the New England Musical Theatre Competition.
- Newton North HS senior Lucy Yang-Schmidt will attend Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) to study Illustration. She serves as Costume Club Shop Manager at Newton North and received the Seal of Excellence in Theatre.
- Newton North HS senior Sadie Mulligan will attend the University of Southern California to study Theatrical Design. She has served as Shop Foreman for the Newton North Stage Crew since Fall 2025 and has worked on eight school productions.
Cindy Qiao, a Newton North HS senior, will receive Clean Water Action’s John O’Connor Grassroots Leadership Award at the Clean Water Action and Clean Water Fund’s annual event, Build the Future, on June 11. She is being honored for her Zero Waste work creating the Full Fork Initiative, a program that now collects unopened food from seven school cafeterias for distribution to community food programs.
Samuel Zarr was initiated this spring into the University of Wisconsin-Madison chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.
Annmarie Benedict Pagliano and Stephanie Ploof have joined the staff of RIZE Massachusetts Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to ending the opioid overdose crisis. Pagliano is a senior program officer managing grantmaking and programmatic activities, and Ploof is the lead communications specialist.