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The Mary Jean Simpson Award is presented to the senior student who best exemplifies the qualities of character, leadership, and scholarship. It is named in honor of Mary Jean Simpson who exemplified these qualities throughout her professional career, including as ����̽̽’s third Dean of Women (1938–1955) and as Bill Clerk to the United States Senate (1926–1933). This year’s recipient is Anja Samsom (she/her).

Anja is a Computer Science and Information Systems Major in the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences and a graduate of the Patrick Leahy Honors College with a minor in Business. A firm believer that everyone should be given the ability to make change, Samsom has consistently and fervently advocated for women in STEM. She worked to re-establish the dormant student organization Society of Women in Computer Science and then served as its president, earned a coveted fellowship position with the Girls who Code Leadership Academy, represented the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences as a panelist for ����̽̽ Admissions’ events, and as a Vermont NASA Space Grant Consortium Intern. “����̽̽ has uplifted and supported me to engage with people across STEM in an effort to make it more exciting and supportive for everyone,” Samsom says.

Somehow, Samsom has also found time to serve as an Admissions’ AdvoCat tour tier captain, Resident Advisor, co-president of the Tower Honor Society, and ����̽̽tv’s Social Media Manager.

“She’s one of those remarkably smart people who invite others into her sphere, instead of putting up barriers,” shares one of Samsom’s nominators. “She has experienced the breadth of what ����̽̽ offers, while engaging deeply with those opportunities that are of most value to her.”