Awards & Scholarships
The Italian Cultural Society of Washington D.C.
Congratulations to the Awards recipients 2022:
• Maria Wilmeth Award winner:
Andrea Trivino – Woodbridge Senior High School
Emma Oleas Davis – Woodbridge Senior High School
Jan Molazade – Duke Ellington School of the Arts
• Patricia Segnan Award winner:
Brianna Cooney – American University
• ICS Young Scientist Award winner:
Marta Zampino – NIH
• Elena and Antonio De Luca Award winner:
Molly Williams – University of Maryland
• Luciana Montanari Mendola Award winner:
Xiaobo Liu – Catholic University of America
Dylan Schenker – Montgomery Blair High School (freshman in the STEM magnet program)
Other award categories acknowledge excellence in Latin/ Greek, piano performance, painting and art and Science.
Awards are made possible through donations and fundraising events. If a donor wishes, ICS can create and name a new award, perhaps as a memorial or to honor a cause. To make a donation, please contact our office, 301-215-7885. The Italian Cultural Society of Washington, D.C. is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. All donations to ICS are 100% tax deductible.
The Awards will be presented at the prestigious ICS Gala Dinner Awards at the Embassy of Italy in May. Attendance at the Awards Gala is a requirement of receiving an award, with the exception of the Cesarina Horings and the Maura Maffia Awards. The winners of the Luciana Montanari-Mendola Award may be asked to perform at the Awards Gala.
Our Amazing Donors
Bruce Esposito, Stefania Amodeo, Nina Luzzatto Gardner and Francesco Olivieri, Francesca Krieg, Luigi De Luca, Silvana De Luca, Romeo Segnan, Ron Cappelletti, Arrigo e Ingrid Mongini, Jeff Nico, Paolo and Claudia Vidoli, Stefania Amodeo, Monica Devey, Ida Arcorace, Melissa Maxman, Nicholas and Brenda Monaco, anonymous.
Award Details
Students – Apply Now
The Maria Guarrera Wilmeth Award
The Maria Guarrera Wilmeth Award honors two (or more, occasionally) outstanding students from a Washington metropolitan area high school in which the study of Italian language is part of the curriculum. The award provides $500 to each student or group of students, if they apply in a group of two or three.
The Maura Guida Maffia Award
The Maura Guida Maffia Award honors a student who is interested in taking an ICS course and needs some encouragement or financial support. Students can apply for this scholarship to take an annual ILP class ($900) for free. The scholarship can be used to enroll in any suitable course of the ICS Italian Language Program.
ICS Awards for students under the age of 31
- The Elena and Antonio De Luca Award honors one university student who has excelled in the study of Latin and/or Greek with a $1,000 award. (Donor: Luigi De Luca)
- The Luciana Montanari-Mendola Awards provides one $1,000 award for a university or conservatory student showing promise in piano performance, and one $500 award for a high-school age pianist showing promise in piano performance. Examples of recordings must accompany your application and must include one piece for solo piano by Frederick Chopin. (Donor: Silvana De Luca)
- The Anna Menapace Award provides one $500 award to a high-school student who excels in the art of painting. (Donor: Silvana De Luca)
- The Patricia Segnan Award provides one $1000 award to a university student who has excelled in the creation of Art or the study of Art and Art History. (Donor: Romeo Segnan)
The Young Scientist Award
The Italian Cultural Society recognizes the accomplishments of Italian scientists working in the Washington area. A $1,500 award is to given to an Italian national working in the Washington area as a doctoral student or as a post-doctoral student or an equivalent (e.g., in connection with NIH, NIST or with NASA or a university) in the physical, biological or medical sciences, mathematics, or engineering. (Main Donor: Ron Cappelletti)
Committee members for this Award are Prof. Ron Cappelletti, Prof. Luigi De Luca, Prof. Giuseppe Cataldo, Giulio Busulini.
The Cesarina Horing Awards
In addition to the Awards given during the Gala, the ICS provides the Cesarina Horing Awards, to honor students at six universities in the Washington, D.C. area that offer a major or minor in Italian:
Major at * Georgetown University * University of Maryland * Catholic University and Minor at *George Washington University * American University * George Mason University (Minor). Each university receives funds to give to one or more students selected by the Department of Italian. (No applicants for these awards).
Awards are named in honor of the former Italian Language Program Director, Cesarina Horing, and are funded by donations. The Awards for 2022 were fully funded by Fincantieri Marine Group.
About Fincantieri Marine Group:
Fincantieri is one of the world’s largest, most diverse and innovative shipbuilders who employs 19,000 shipbuilding professionals in 18 shipyards on four continents. Fincantieri has a rich history dating back more than 234 years and has built more than 7,000 ships. Fincantieri operates in the United States through its subsidiary Fincantieri Marine Group (FMG). This company serves commercial and government customers, including the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard, and maintains three shipyards (Fincantieri Marinette Marine, Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding and Fincantieri ACE Marine) located in Wisconsin on the Great Lakes.
Previous Recipients
2022 ICS Awardees
Cesarina Horing Awards to the universities of the DC areas:
Catherine Dell’Olio, Briana Sparacino and William DiGiovanni, Georgetown University
Lauren Herman and Jack Landau, University of Maryland
Marissa Mazzella, Catholic University of America
Elliott Howes and Anthony D’Iorio, American University
Julia Paola and Quintin Mastrangelo, George Washington University
Timothy Schranck and Matthew McConnell, George Mason University.
Awardees attending the Gala:
Maria Guarrera Wilmeth awards, for excellence in the study of Italian in High School:
Andrea Trivino, Woodbridge Senior High School
Emma Oleas Davis, Woodbridge Senior High School
Jan Molazade, Duke Ellington School of the Arts
The ICS Young Scientist Award:
Marta Zampino, NIH
Luciana Montanari-Mendola Award:
Dylan Schenker, Montgomery Blair High School
Xiaobo Liu, Catholic University of America
Patricia Segnan Award:
Brianna Cooney, American University
Elena and Antonio De Luca Award:
Molly Williams, University of Maryland
2021 ICS Awardees
Cesarina Horing Awards to the universities of the DC areas:
Danielle Guida, Georgetown University
Marcella Finelli and Kamryn Hoag, University of Maryland
Sarah Beretich and Andrew Falzone, Catholic University of America
Katelyn Haas and Luciana Di Donna, American University
Francesca Morgano, Will Krag and Andrew Vipatasilpin, George Washington University
Brandy Virginia James and Maeve Flanagan Shumate, George Mason University.
Awardees attending the Gala:
Maria Guarrera Wilmeth awards, for excellence in the study of Italian in High School:
Victoria Mitnik, Walt Whitman High School
Sabrina Sabahi, Duke Ellington School of the Arts
Katherine DeForest, Woodbridge Senior High School
Marina Bottomley, Walter Johnson High School
The ICS Young Scientist Award:
Dr. Gioia Rau, Research Scientist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics
Luciana Montanari-Mendola Awards:
Noah Lovold, The Catholic University of America
2020 ICS Awardees
Cesarina Horing Awards to the universities of the DC areas:
Harry Rose and Arthur E. Babcock, Georgetown University
Rachel Contini and Margaret McPherson, University of Maryland
Bridget M.Bagileo and Caterina E. Greco, Catholic University of America
Sofia George, Eve Hauser and Grace Hitchens, American University
Amy Doring and Mary DePond, George Washington University
Amanda C Freda, Noah Andrews and Nicolas Akpata, George Mason University.
Awardees attending the Gala:
Maria Guarrera Wilmeth awards, for excellence in the study of Italian in High School:
Johanna Engman, Duke Ellington School of the Arts
Luciana Montanari-Mendola Awards:
Kyeongmi Lim, Doctoral Candidate at The Catholic University of America
2019 ICS Awardees
Cesarina Horing Awards to the universities of the DC areas:
Morgan Callwood and Alexandra Toutounji, Georgetown University
Tatiana Andreevna Malykh and Miguel H. Vetencourt, University of Maryland
Samantha Calias and Kathryn Janae Carter E, Catholic University of America
Elisabetta Gabriele and Anna Hutto, American University
Zoe Fischer, Santiago Trujillo,Sabrina Kelly and Gianluca Nigro, George Washington University
Ryan Bartee, Claire Cronin and Nicholas Fisch, George Mason University.
Awardees attending the Gala:
Maria Guarrera Wilmeth awards, for excellence in the study of Italian in High School:
Vannya Josselyn Huarca, Eleanor Roosevelt High School
Ivanna Ramazzini Gutierrez, Duke Ellington School of the Arts
Jennifer Coffman and Andrea Jimenez, Woodbridge High School
Luciana Montanari-Mendola Awards:
Garrett Harmon, The Catholic University of America
Cao Linh Pham, Langley High School
The Elena and Antonio De Luca Young Classicist Award:
Lauren Baker, University of Maryland
The ICS Young Scientist Award:
Dr. Giuseppe Cataldo, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
2018 ICS Awardees
Cesarina Horing Awards to the universities of the DC areas:
George Avetian and Leah Benz, Georgetown University
Garrett Thomas Yocklin and Sofiya Gennadievna Schug, University of Maryland
Anthony Digiacinto and David Soltis, Catholic University of America
Elisabetta Gabriele and Frank Piscani, American University
Natalie Wulderk and Adam Cetorelli, George Washington University
Wossen Bekalu, Angela Lister and Kendall Serena, George Mason University.
Awardees attending the Gala:
Maria Guarrera Wilmeth awards, for excellence in the study of Italian in High School:
Stephanie Annis, D. Hylton High School
Ingrid Ortiz-Ramos, Alice Salomon and John Le, Wheaton High School
Luciana Montanari-Mendola Awards:
Dominick Cristofori D’Alessandro, The Catholic University of America
Anton Nelson, Washington Conservatory of Music
Solomon Joshua Duane, Norfolk Academy
The Elena and Antonio De Luca Young Classicist Award:
Katherine Bradshaw, University of Maryland
The Elena and Antonio De Luca Young Scientist Award:
Dr. Alberto Ceccon, Laboratory of Chemical Physics, NIDDK, NIH
The ICS Young Scientist Award:
Dr. Alessio Andreoni, Laboratory of Advanced Microscopy and Biophotonics, NHLBI, NIH
2017 ICS Awardees
Cesarina Horing Awards to the universities of the DC areas:
Dario De Palma, Georgetown University
Bora Mica and Giuliana Sciuto, University of Maryland
Tanner Jackson and Nina Uritskaya, Catholic University of America
Gabriella Liles and Alejandra Alferezi, American University
Rachel Grasso and Carly Whitmeri, George Washington University
Gia Primerano and Salvatore Pitin, George Mason University.
Awardees attending the Gala:
Maria Guarrera Wilmeth awards, for excellence in the study of Italian in High School:
Emma Trowbridge, Duke Ellington School of the Arts
Luciana Montanari-Mendola Awards:
Danila Tomaselli, The Catholic University of America
Emma Trowbridge, Duke Ellington School of the Arts
The Elena and Antonio De Luca Young Scientist Award:
Dr. Massimo Fantini, Senior Scientist at Precision Biologics, NCI, NTH
The ICS Young Scientist Award:
Dr. Eleonora Troja, Nasa
2016 ICS Awardees
Cesarina Horing Awards to the universities of the DC areas:
Allison Irene Cannella and Danielle Ienn, Georgetown University
Edelweiss S. Calcagno, University of Maryland
Rhiannon Richards, Catholic University of America
Jennifer Horning and Danielle Brignola, American University
Jessica Mandell and Christine Carpenter, George Washington University
Jamie Criser and Matthew Odom, George Mason University.
Awardees attending the Gala:
Maria Guarrera Wilmeth awards, for excellence in the study of Italian in High School:
Yuxi Liu, Duke Ellington School of the Arts
Javier Antonio Ortiz, Springbrook High School
Luciana Montanari-Mendola Awards:
Daniel Kuehler, Catholic University of America
Alexander Tsereteli, Levine School of Music
The Elena and Antonio De Luca Young Classicist Award:
Elliott Rebello, University of Maryland
Patrizia Segnan Award for Art and Art History:
Edelweiss Calcagno, University of Maryland
The ICS Young Scientist Award:
Dr. Elisa Fabbri, National Institutes of Health
2015 ICS Awardees
Awardees attending the Gala:
Maria Guarrera Wilmeth awards, for excellence in the study of Italian in High School:
Yasna Khademian, Duke Ellington School of the Arts
Valencia Baldwin, Springbrook High School
Luciana Montanari-Mendola Awards:
Jiashu Song, The Catholic University of America
Gabriella Rose Devlin Capizzi, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School
The Elena and Antonio De Luca Young Classicist Award:
Emily C. Mohr, University of Maryland
Patricia Segnan Award for Art and Art History:
Catherine Vassaux, American University
2014 ICS Awardees
Cesarina Horing Awards to the universities of the DC areas:
Stephanie Jasson and Kevin Regan, Georgetown University
Katrina Szabo and Sankara Kasanje, University of Maryland
Alyssa Badolato and Bianca Sacco-Calderone, Catholic University of America
Elise Kearney and Louis Giorgi, George Washington University
Awardees attending the Gala:
Luciana Montanari-Mendola Awards:
Brian Billion, The Catholic University of America
Antonia Stabile, Georgetown University
Juncheng Shen, Winston Churchill High School
The Elena and Antonio De Luca Young Classicist Award:
Katrina Szabo, University of Maryland
The ICS Young Scientist Award:
Alessio Petrozziello, Penn State University
