At this year’s CAPS graduation ceremony, Director Allen Carlson awarded the 2018 Sherman Cochran Prize to Niall Chithelen 齐力垚.
First established in 2010 and awarded in honor of Sherman Cochran, Cornell's Hu Shih Professor Emeritus of Chinese History, the prize is presented each year to the top graduating senior whose outstanding performance in the CAPS major exemplifies Professor Cochran’s dedication to the study of China.
Niall is a double major in CAPS and History, and he wrote an honors thesis in the history department. Outside of class, he was an undergraduate editor and then editor-in-chief of the Cornell International Affairs Review, and then a founding editor of Taxis Magazine. With fellow CAPS senior Robin Zhang, Niall restarted the CAPS peer mentorship program. Niall was also a part of various reading groups.
This summer, Niall will be working with The Point magazine, and in the fall he’ll be heading to Shihezi University in Xinjiang Province, China, to teach in the English Department as a Princeton in Asia fellow. After that, he doesn’t know what he’ll be doing, but he might want to get a PhD in history or pursue a career in magazine editing.
In addition to receiving the Sherman Cochran Prize, Niall was chosen by his graduating class to give the CAPS Commencement student address.
Congratulations, Niall!
