UTEP Names Newest Hawkins Scholars
EL PASO, Texas (Jan. 5, 2026) – The University of Texas at El Paso has named juniors Ryan Boatright and Vianey Martinez as the latest recipients of the Hawkins Scholarship, one of the University’s most prestigious undergraduate awards. The two students were selected in December following a competitive, multi-stage process.
The Hawkins Scholarship awards up to $10,000 to two juniors of outstanding intellect and character who demonstrate a strong commitment to service and leadership. The scholarship may be used for tuition, fees, room and board, books and other educational expenses, including preparation for graduate study.
“The Hawkins Scholarship supports exceptional student leaders who are preparing for post-graduate study,” UTEP President Heather Wilson said. "Ryan and Vianey are rising stars, and this award will help prepare them for a life of service."
Martinez, a computer science (CS) major who graduated from Franklin High School, is deeply involved in campus life, serving as a mentor with the Google Developer Student Club, vice president of harm reduction of the local chapter of her sorority – Zeta Tau Alpha, and member outreach coordinator for Girls Who Code – a role that has been especially meaningful to her.
“During freshman orientation, I learned about Girls Who Code and immediately connected with its mission. I applied hoping to get involved and was thankful to be selected as an officer before my first semester at UTEP,” Martinez said. “I met an incredible group of women in computer science who became my support system at the university. They taught me that leadership is rooted in service, mentorship and paying it forward.”
Martinez is currently conducting research on campus, integrating and leveraging Generative AI in CS classrooms under Daniel Mejia, Ph.D., assistant professor of computer science, and the Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions. This past summer, she completed an internship with Microsoft and will be returning to the tech giant as a software engineer intern in summer 2026. She aspires to become a software engineer and plans to use the Hawkins Scholarship to pursue a master's degree in Artificial Intelligence at UTEP.
Boatright, a political science major from Austin, initially came to UTEP through UT Austin's Coordinated Admission Program, intending to stay only one year before transferring. Instead, he fell in love with El Paso and UTEP and decided to stay. His internships with Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, State Senator César Blanco and other local officials have solidified his goal of attending law school and becoming an attorney.
“I've had a lifelong passion for public policy and law,” Boatright said. “I became passionate about it because my father was diagnosed with Stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer, due to his use of a retail product that any one of us could go and buy at any store. That happened when I was a teenager and, thankfully, he beat cancer and has been in remission since. But that experience fundamentally changed my perspective on what I wanted to do with my life.”
The Hawkins Scholarship will support Boatright’s participation in the Archer Fellowship, a highly competitive semester-long public service program in Washington, D.C.
The Hawkins Scholarship selection process is designed to prepare students for nationally competitive awards such as the Truman, Goldwater and Fulbright scholarships. This year's selection committee included Kathrin Berg, executive vice president of the El Paso Community Foundation; Leila Melendez, CEO of Workforce Solutions Borderplex; and Moises Padilla, director of the Carnegie Mellon University Rales Fellows Program.
The scholarship is named in honor of First Lt. William Deane Hawkins, an El Paso native, UTEP student and Medal of Honor recipient who was killed in action during World War II after leading his Marines against enemy forces in the Central Pacific.
For more information about the Hawkins Scholarship, visit the program’s homepage.
Last Updated on January 05, 2026 at 12:00 AM | Originally published January 05, 2026
By MC Staff UTEP Marketing and Communications
