MEET OUR BROWN SCHOLARS
Brown Scholars are National Merit Award winners and president Endowed Scholars principally majoring in STEM disciplines. In addition to academic excellence, candidates for Brown scholarships must demonstrate leadership positions in their schools, participation in school-sponsored activities and community service engagement.
Brown Scholars have held the following positions: President of the Senior Class, Corps Commander, President of the Student Body, President of the Memorial Student Center, President of the Student Engineering Council, President of the University Honors Program, President of the College of Engineering Craig and Galen Brown Honors Program, President of the Big Event, President of the Mays Business Honors Program, Senior Yell Leader, and numerous other organizations.
APPROXIMATELY 90% OF BROWN SCHOLARS PURSUE MAJORS IN THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND THE REMAINING 10% PURSUE MAJORS IN THE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE, AG LIFE AND VETERINARY MEDICINE AND BUSINESS.
OUR BROWN SCHOLARS
Brown Scholars have received the following awards or held the below offices:
- Goldwater, Truman and Rhodes Scholars
- Gathright Scholars
- Phi Kappa Phi Pioneer Award Winner
- Gathright Dean’s Excellence Awards Winners
- Student Body Government President and Officers
- Corps Commander and Officers
- MSC President and Officers
- Senior Class President and Officers
- Student Engineering Council President and Officers
- Outstanding Senior Engineer Award
- Outstanding A&M Student
- Outstanding Senior of Graduating Class Award
- Academic All-American recognition
- University Scholars
- Goldwater, Truman and Rhodes Scholars
- Phi Kappa Phi Pioneer Award Winner
- Gathright Dean’s Excellence Awards Winners
- Student Body Government President and Officers
- Corps Commander and Officers
- MSC President and Officers
- Senior Class President and Officers
- Student Engineering Council President and Officers
- Outstanding Senior Engineer Award
- Outstanding A&M Student
- Outstanding Senior of Graduating Class Award
- Academic All-American recognition
- University Scholars
Brown Scholar Recipients of the Senior Outstanding Engineer Award
What are Brown Scholar Alums up to
Anna Theodore
L3 Harris Electrical Engineer
Anna Theodore, a Texas A&M Electrical Engineering graduate Class of 2024, is currently working at L3Harris Technologies as a Leader in the RELDP (Rotational Engineering Leadership Development Program). She is also currently a part-time master’s student at Stevens Institute of Technology, earning her degree in Systems Engineering.
Through the RELDP program, Anna rotates once each year to different sites of the company. Being identified as high talent early in her career, Anna has had the opportunity to work at four different locations of L3Harris. She has been able to work different roles in Systems Integration & Test, Systems, Software, and RF Electrical. Her work locations have spanned the country, with her most recent move being from New York City to Los Angeles. Anna is grateful for the experience of growing both professionally and personally. Starting over in new environments each year sharpens her ability to learn quickly and establish relationships wherever she goes.
She has learned that the most effective way to implement change and improve engineering processes is to foster understanding across her community, among her coworkers. Even with constantly evolving variables, Anna holds this saying from her late grandmother close, “There is no such thing as strangers, just friends we haven’t met yet!
Carson Benner
M2 EnMed Student
Carson Benner, a distinguished Brown Scholar, earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University in 2024. Throughout his academic journey, Carson consistently demonstrated excellence, earning recognition as a Gathright Scholar Finalist and receiving the esteemed Outstanding Senior Engineering Award. He demonstrated his leadership capabilities by serving as the Co-President of the Brown Foundation Freshman Leadership Organization, while his commitment to service was reflected in his role as an Engineering Community of Scholars Fellow.
Carson‘s academic contributions were further underscored by his team’s success in winning the Capstone Engineering Project Showcase (out of 300 engineering design capstone teams) for the development of an innovative autonomous and remote-controlled surgical light.
In addition to his academic achievements, Carson was admitted to the E2EnMed Early Assurance Program, underscoring his dedication to advancing within the medical field. He further honed his research skills as a summer intern at the Houston Methodist Summer Undergraduate Research Internship, where he conducted pioneering research at the Houston Methodist Research Institute’s Taraballi Lab, focusing on bone and cartilage regeneration following orthopedic trauma.
At Texas A&M, Carson played a pivotal role in the Biomechanical Environments Laboratory, where he contributed to the development of predictive models for hip joint center locations and limb inertial properties. He also played an integral role in designing mechanical testing protocols for evaluating novel orthopedic screw designs.
Currently in his second year at the EnMed Program, Carson is driven by a passion for orthopedic surgery. His goal is to restore dignity and independence to older patients through mobility-enhancing innovations that improve their quality of life.
Danny Volpi
PhD Candidate
Brown Scholar alum Danny Volpi, a PhD student at the University of Notre Dame specializing in Robotics and Controls, has been awarded a highly competitive 2025 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship. This esteemed fellowship—offered to a select group of top-tier graduate students nationwide—will support Danny’s continued research in humanoid robot loco-manipulation for medical applications. His work focuses on integrating robotic locomotion and manipulation to address the limitations of today’s service robots in complex environments.
The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) typically receives over 13,000 applications annually, awarding just 1,500 fellowships in 2025. The award provides three years of tuition support and a generous annual stipend. It is granted directly to the individual, irrespective of institution or specific project location.
Danny’s path to this achievement is as impressive as the award itself. As an undergraduate at Texas A&M University, he researched applications for robot manipulation in telemedicine at the INVENT Lab and independently studied robot locomotion by developing an open-source bipedal robot. Danny credits the Brown Foundation with allowing him to get involved with research as a freshman and for letting him explore the state of the art of medical robots at Houston Methodist’s MITIE Lab, both of which laid the foundation for his NSF GRFP proposal. His intellectual curiosity, drive, and commitment to advancing robotics for medical use are truly commendable—and his selection for this NSF fellowship reflects both his extraordinary promise and hard-earned success.
