Naman Agrawal, an Indian doctoral candidate at Cornell University, has received the prestigious Cornelia Ye Award for his exceptional dedication and excellence in teaching.
Naman Agrawal, a doctoral candidate from India at Cornell University, has been honored with the 2025-26 Cornelia Ye Award. This award recognizes outstanding international graduate teaching assistants who have demonstrated exceptional dedication and excellence in their teaching responsibilities.
Agrawal shares this recognition with Margaret E. Foster, who received the Christine Ye Award, which honors a domestic teaching assistant. The announcement was made by the Center for Teaching Innovation at the Ithaca, New York-based research university.
The Ye Awards were established through generous contributions from Cornell alumni and faculty, Dr. Xi Yang and Dr. Mao Ye. Dr. Ye is a professor of finance, while Dr. Yang serves as a lecturer in finance at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. The awards are named in honor of their daughters.
As a doctoral candidate in neurobiology and behavior, Agrawal conducts research in the Computational Physiology Lab under the guidance of Professor Christiane Linster. His work focuses on interareal neural communication through computational analysis, particularly in the areas related to olfaction and memory.
“The Cornelia Ye Award means a lot to me, especially as a first-generation international graduate student,” Agrawal expressed. “There are very few organizations that recognize the efforts of non-citizens in teaching and pedagogy, and this award has provided me with significant validation for the work I have been doing in my classes.”
Agrawal’s academic journey has taken him across the globe. Before joining Cornell in 2021, he earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research in Kolkata, India, and his Master of Science degree from the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior in Bonn, Germany.
“The world out there is intricately beautiful, from simple atoms to complex human behavior,” Agrawal remarked. His goal as an educator is to ignite “enduring curiosity” in his students. “I believe that educators should instill in students a sense of awe and wonder about this beautiful world we co-inhabit. If my students go about their daily lives with a twinkle in their eyes and curiosity in their minds, finding joy and beauty in the natural world, I would consider my job well done.”
Receiving the Cornelia Ye Award holds special significance for Agrawal, as part of the selection process involved recommendation letters from his students. “At the end of the day, educators and students are inseparable,” he stated. “Thus, I think of this award as appreciation from my students, and I dedicate this award to them.”
According to The American Bazaar, Agrawal’s achievements highlight the impact of international students in academia and the importance of recognizing their contributions to the educational landscape.