Mihir Manna
Mihir Manna received a 2026 national Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship Award, one of only 48 national Fellowship recipients. He graduated in May 2026 with a double major in Astronomy-Physics and Physics. Mihir is now pursuing a PhD in Physics at the University of Washington, where he will continue his work in physics education research.
Mihir earned a four-year, full-tuition scholarship to UW-Madison for his exceptional talent in music performance and was a clarinetist in the Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, and Symphony Orchestra. As an undergraduate researcher, he has worked in several different labs; after a summer of MRI research in the Medical Physics department, he moved to Astronomy, taking on projects from high-throughput stellar simulations to galaxy identification and observation. Mihir is also a passionate advocate and teacher and tutored introductory physics students through GUTS for two years. This work inspired him to pursue a senior honors thesis in physics education research.
In 2025, Mihir received a national Phi Kappa Phi Pioneer Award, and in 2026 he was a finalist for the Theodore Herfurth and Teddy Kubly Award for Comprehensive Undergraduate Excellence, one of UW–Madison’s oldest and most prestigious undergraduate honors.