UCSB Computer Science Celebrates Excellence at 2026 Awards Ceremony
The Department of Computer Science gathered on June 11 in Henley Hall to celebrate a year of exceptional achievements by faculty, staff, students, alumni, and graduates during the 2026 Computer Science Award Ceremony. The annual event recognized accomplishments spanning research, teaching, mentorship, service, entrepreneurship, and academic excellence across every level of the department.
Department Chair Divy Agrawal opened the ceremony by reflecting on a year marked by major faculty awards, student achievements, national recognitions, and continued growth across the department. Among the faculty accomplishments highlighted were NSF awards, Google faculty awards, distinguished teaching honors, and university-wide mentoring recognition.
The department also honored distinguished alumna Hongjun Zhu with the 2026 Computer Science Distinguished PhD Alumnus Award. Since earning her PhD from UCSB in 2002, Zhu has co-founded technology companies, contributed to Google products including Google Maps, championed STEM education for young women, and served as a trustee of the UCSB Foundation.
Graduate student achievements were one of the focuses of the ceremony. Students were recognized for earning prestigious fellowships, best paper awards, teaching honors, mentoring awards, and dissertation distinctions.
The undergraduate awards portion of the ceremony showcased the breadth of impact UCSB students are making through research, mentorship, leadership, and community engagement. The ceremony also celebrated students earning national honors.
The department further highlighted the success of UCSB's International Collegiate Programming Contest team, which advanced to the ICPC World Finals after finishing among the top teams in North America.
Innovation and entrepreneurship were also on display.
The ceremony concluded by celebrating graduating master's and doctoral students and recognizing outstanding capstone projects that demonstrated the department's commitment to combining technical excellence with real-world impact. Together, the award recipients reflected the many ways UCSB Computer Science students, faculty, staff, and alumni continue to advance research, education, mentorship, and innovation.
For the full list of awards and recipient, view the 2026 CS Awards Announcement.