Sternheim Prize HONOREES
The Class of 1950, led by Fred Golden ’50, contributed more than $20,000 to honor the life of classmate Mort Sternheim. In tribute to Mort, a former physics professor at UMass Amherst who passed away in March 2023, the class established the Sternheim Biology Prize and the Sternheim Physics Prize.
Mort played an integral role maintaining the close-knit bonds of his class for more than 70 years after their graduation. The funds donated in his memory will support two $1,000 annual prizes for the next decade, awarded to juniors who excel in Physics and Biosciences.
Please see below for the biographies of our honorees.
2025 Sternheim Physics Prize
Now in his senior year, Evan Norat ‘26 enjoys exploring STEM through the most challenging classes offered at Bronx Science. He is eager to bolster his knowledge of mechanics and even delve a little bit into both electricity and magnetism in AP Physics C, and to keep learning about the wonders and applications of calculus thanks to Multivariable Calculus and Ordinary Differential Equations. Evan enjoys these courses for their material as well as for the opportunity to meet other students who are passionate about these subjects.
Evan's exploration of STEM is not limited to Bronx Science's classes: he reads chemistry textbooks daily, learning about sub-topics such as the Schrödinger Equation and common reaction mechanisms of organic molecules; tutors chemistry students on a weekly basis; and assists his former teacher in grading exams and lab reports. Evan has also conducted biochemical research at Bronx Science's Stanley Manne Institute over the summer, testing how pH affected the green light fluorescence of green fluorescent protein.
Evan also enjoys studying humanities. He has been a violinist since the age of three. As a long-time member of community writing organization Uptown Stories, Evan has had his workshop pieces spanning from Elements of Fiction to Horror Unleashed published in the organization's numerous anthologies, and he now volunteers as a writing teacher's assistant. He enjoys reading and acting out Shakespeare's many plays and poems and was awarded runner-up of the school's English Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition for his performance of a monologue and sonnet. Evan also believes in the importance of philosophy in our everyday lives. He is a staff member of the website Philosophy Vessel, managing the site's forum and blog, assisting with virtual discussion, and coordinating the website's Latin program Forum Linguae.
Ultimately, Evan seeks to use everything he has learned to become a neurosurgeon.
He wants to be able to help people live their lives to the fullest. Evan hopes that spending time learning one of the most intensive specializations will allow him to make a true difference in the medical field.
2025 Sternheim BIOLOGY Prize
Ella Stryker-Robbins ‘26 is a senior at The Bronx High School of Science. She has spent the past two summers at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center at the Karsenty Lab, under the chair of the Genetics Department. There, she researched the role of bone as an endocrine organ, and the implications of the bone hormone osteocalcin as it relates to cognitive ability, motor ability, and this hormone's potential to prevent aging. Through this project, she gained many skills, including bacteria culturing, suturing, perfusions, data analysis of behavioral experiments, and injections and will be listed as a named author on an upcoming publication in a journal to be determined
this fall. She has taken a range of coursework in life sciences including AP Chemistry and AP Biology, and she is currently enrolled in post AP Genetics.
Ella loves being active member of the Bronx Science community. She has been on the Varsity Volleyball team for three years, allowing her to develop her skills in quick decision making by playing the most strategic position, setter. She is also a three-year veteran of her school's all-girls robotics team, the FeMaidens, where she has learned what it truly means to be a woman in STEM, helping create a prizewinning 100lb robot with her incredible and supportive team. She heavily values collaboration and teamwork and loves to work with her hands, whether through mouse surgeries or drilling metal sheets. Ella is also a member of the National Honor Society, where she tutors students in math, and is the treasurer of French Club, where she manages the budget and provides delicious fresh-baked treats to all the members.