Wong receives Isserman prize

Senior Stephanie Wong has been awarded this year’s Rabbi Ferdinand M. Isserman Prize.

The Isserman prize recognizes a WUSTL student who has made a significant contribution in leadership and service to ecumenical or interfaith activities, both on campus and in the wider community.

Wong

Wong, of Newport Beach, Calif., is majoring in religious studies and English literature, both in Arts & Sciences.

Her community service activities on campus include organizing and assisting with retreats and services for the Catholic Student Center. She also was involved with Pluralism Week on campus to promote inter-religious awareness and dialogue within the WUSTL community.

This past spring, one of Wong’s academic works, an essay written on the principle of natural Torah in classical Jewish Midrash literature, was selected for publication in the Journal of Theta Alpha Kappa, the national honors society for theology and religious studies.

In the St. Louis community, Wong has volunteered as a tutor at St. Ambrose Elementary School and youth group leader at St. Joseph Parish.

In her home state of California, Wong has volunteered at food pantries to collect and distribute food for families in need. Wong worked as a Bayshore Christian Ministries as an intern this past summer, teaching summer school, translating Spanish and leading interfaith discussion groups.

Wong will attend graduate school this fall at Yale University Divinity School.

The Isserman prize honors the late Rabbi Ferdinand M. Isserman and his wife, Ruth Isserman. Ferdinand Isserman, a distinguished rabbi and author, was actively involved in social and interfaith issues locally, nationally and internationally.

Wong received the $500 award April 20 in Hurst Lounge.

For more information or to nominate a student for next year’s award, e-mail Steven Ehrlich at ehrlich@wustl.edu.