In 1986, Beta Tau Boulé established the Edward A. Bouchet Outstanding Achievement Award, in honor of Edward Bouchet. Born in 1852 on the colored end of New Haven’s Bradley Street, Bouchet graduated valedictorian in 1870 from Hopkins Grammar School (now Hopkins School). He entered Yale College that same year, at the same time working as a sexton at Temple Street Congregational Church (now Dixwell Avenue United Church of Christ). Bouchet was eventually contacted by Alfred Cope, a member of the board of managers for the Society of Friends Institute for Colored Youth. Cope offered Bouchet a faculty position at the Institute, but recommended that Bouchet first pursue a Ph.D. in physics. Cope provided financial support for Bouchet, who completed his studies, doctoral thesis, and dissertation in two years.
In 1876, Bouchet graduated from Yale with a Ph.D. in physics. He was the first self-identified African-American to graduate from Yale College or to earn a Ph.D. from an American university. He was also the sixth person in the Western Hemisphere to ever earn the Ph.D. in physics.
Still, Bouchet lived at a time of great struggle for Black people; despite his exceptional academic achievements, he was never able to obtain a faculty position with colleges such as Yale or Tuskegee. Bouchet died in 1918 and is buried in New Haven’s Evergreen Cemetery.
Promising Scholars Awardees
|
|
High School |
College (if known) |
|
1987 |
||
|
Tasdhina Misslwron |
Hillhouse |
|
|
Anadri Chisolm |
Hopkins |
|
|
Wayne Grant |
Wilbur Cross |
|
|
Aubrey Okpaku |
Hopkins |
|
|
1991 |
||
|
Tyrone Williams |
Unknown |
Wesleyan |
|
Dirk Johnson |
North Haven |
Morehouse |
|
1993 |
||
|
Keisha Blaise |
Hopkins |
|
|
Tiffany Norcott |
Hillhouse |
|
|
Chris Parks |
Wilbur Cross |
|
|
Natisha Watts |
Cooperative High NH |
|
|
1994 |
||
|
Devon Good |
Hillhouse |
|
|
Alix Guerner |
Wilbur Cross |
|
|
Daniel Tilley |
Hopkins |
|
|
Marion Walters |
NH Sound School |
|
|
1995 |
||
|
Kevin Mills |
Notre Dame WH |
|
|
Dale Bertrand |
Hamden High |
|
|
Ashanti Hinton |
NH Career High |
|
|
Pamela Mouzon |
NH Sound School |
|
|
1996 |
||
|
Brooke Dozier |
Hillhouse |
Vanderbilt |
|
Gregory Bevins |
Hillhouse |
|
|
Nia Wright |
Hamden Hall |
Swarthmore |
|
Renee Baker |
NH Career/Choate Rosemary |
Vanderbilt |
|
1997 |
||
|
Natalie Guerrier |
Hillhouse |
Harvard |
|
Tyuan Lindsey |
NH Career High |
Duke |
|
Krista Hardie |
Kingswood Oxford (Hartford) |
|
|
Alexis Highsmith |
Hamden Hall |
Duke |
|
Marquis Clayton |
Hillhouse |
Yale (?) |
|
Sherie Amos |
Hillhouse |
Quinnipiac |
|
1998 |
||
|
James Anderson |
Hopkins |
|
|
John Anderson |
Hopkins |
|
|
Vernique Griffith |
Hopkins |
|
|
Alicia Lee |
Hamden High |
|
|
Zakiyak Monk |
NH Cooperative High |
|
|
1999 |
||
|
Challa Wright |
Hamden Hall |
|
|
Dana Flowers |
Hillhouse |
|
|
Jennifer Highsmith |
Hamden Hall |
Northwestern/Quinnipiac |
|
Marcus Aden |
NH Career High |
|
|
2000 |
||
|
Mendi Joyce Blue |
Hamden Hall |
|
|
Harold Richard Dozier |
Hillhouse |
|
|
Mathew Joseph McLeggon |
Hamden Hall |
|
|
2001 |
||
|
Carl Phillippe Desir |
Amity Regional High |
|
|
Najiya Ekkus |
NH Career High |
|
|
Ivy Morgan |
NH Career High |
|
|
Makana Ellis |
Hill Regional Career High |
|
|
2003 |
||
|
Geoffrey Michael James |
Hopkins |
Morehouse |
|
Nathaniel Konce |
Hopkins |
Yale |
|
Nneoma Nwachuku |
Hill Regional |
Univ. of Pennsylvania |
|
2006 |
||
|
Magdalene Lawhorn |
North Haven High |
Cornell |
|
Jermaine Thomas |
Hillhouse |
Georgetown |
|
Sam Edanison |
Madison Hand High |
Dartmouth |
|
Avery Washington |
NH Career High |
Tuskegee |
|
2007 |
||
|
Dana Jackson |
Univ. of Connecticut |
|
|
Vanessa Roberts |
Yale |
|
|
Toya Hill |
Stanford |
|
|
Jeffrey Tignor |
Harvard |
|
|
2008 |
||
|
Vincent Dixon |
Wilbur Cross |
Temple |
|
Damilola Odumasu |
Weaver High (Hartford) |
Seton Hall |
|
Jared Stokes |
B. McMahon (Fairfield) |
George Washington Univ. |
|
Derek Ward |
Holy Cross HS (Waterbury) |
Univ. of Connecticut |
|
2009 |
||
|
James Brockington |
NH Career |
Johnson & Wales Univ. |
|
Dashon Catlett |
Hamden Hall |
Northwestern |
|
Alexander Dixon |
Notre Dame WH |
Lasell College |
|
Justin Gilliam |
NH Hyde Leadership |
Pace University |
|
Ugochuku Nawachuku |
Wilbur Cross |
Yale |
|
2010 |
||
|
Austin DeChalus |
Hopkins |
Brown University |
|
Dashon Catlett |
Hamden Hall |
Emory University |
|
Alexandra Kearson |
Hopkins |
Johns Hopkins |
|
Franklin Sylvester |
Hopkins |
Georgetown |
|
2011 |
||
|
Kevin Champagne |
Bunnel High |
Univ. of Connecticut |
|
Austin DeChalus* |
Hopkins |
Brown University |
|
Alaric Gee |
Hamden Hall |
Cornell |
|
2012 |
||
|
David Beam* |
Fairfield Hopkins High |
Stanford University |
|
Quian Callender |
Middletown HS |
Univ. of Connecticut |
|
Austin DeChalus* |
Hopkins |
Brown University |
|
Aloysa Jean |
Hillhouse |
Univ. of Connecticut |
|
2013 |
||
|
David Beam* |
Fairfield Hopkins High |
Stanford |
|
Quin Callender* |
Middletown HS |
Univ. of Connecticut |
|
Austin DeChalus* |
Hopkins |
Brown University |
|
Ariel Estes |
NH Cooperative High |
St. John’s University |
|
Devant’e Oliver-Sealy |
NH Hyde Leadership |
Univ. of New Haven |
|
2014 |
||
|
Quin Callender* |
Middletown HS |
Univ. of Connecticut |
|
Christopher Keaton |
Hartford Windsor HS |
Univ. of Connecticut |
|
Ervin Simmons |
NH Cooperative HS |
Howard University |
|
Ashanti Smith |
Hillhouse |
Hampton University |
|
2015 |
||
|
Janelle Cooper |
Hillhouse |
Tuskegee |
|
Quin Callender* |
Middletown HS |
Univ. of Connecticut |
|
Ashanti Smith* |
Hillhouse |
Hampton University |
|
Evenson J. Andre |
West Hill (Stamford) |
Univ. of Connecticut |
|
Henry J. Gedeon |
West Hill (Stamford) |
Univ. of Hartford |
|
2016 |
||
|
Ashanti Smith* |
Hillhouse |
Hampton University |
|
David Barber |
Hopkins |
Worcester Polytechnic |
|
Cameron DeChalus |
Xavier High |
|
|
Jason Boyd |
New Haven Academy |
Univ. of Connecticut |
|
Omar Caldwell |
Hopkins |
Univ. of California – LA |
|
Zakeya Herring |
Hillhouse |
Univ. of Connecticut |
|
2017 |
||
|
Iris Anderson |
Amistad High |
Stanford |
|
David Barber* |
Hopkins |
Worcester Polytechnic |
|
Cameron DeChalus* |
Xavier High |
Fordham |
|
Zakeya Herring* |
Hillhouse |
Univ. of Connecticut |
|
Joshua Mensah |
Westhill High |
Northwestern |
An asterisk (*) indicates recipients who received the Promising Scholar award in more than one year.
Awardee lists are unavailable for the following years: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 2002, 2004, 2005.