UC Berkeley’s Anjika Pai Named 2022 University Medal Winner, the Highest Honor for a Graduating Senior

Indian American Anjika Pai of UC Berkeley has been named the 2022 University Medal winner, the highest honor for a graduating senior. An environmental sciences major and music minor with a 4.0 GPA, Pai, 21, is originally from Jamison, Pennsylvania, according to a campus press release. The prize comes with $2,500.

While at UC Berkeley, Pai has numerous achievements to her credit. She co-founded the award-winning website STEM Redefined, with the support of a Clinton Global Initiative University program for social impact startups. She is also a recipient of a Cal Alumni Association Leadership scholarship. Additionally, she was a policy research intern for the California-China Climate Institute. She also taught a DeCal class highlighting female composers, and engaged staff at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority in a racial equity plan. She plays the piano and viola and speaks proficient Spanish and Konkani. 

In the fall, she is headed to Northeastern University in Boston to study environmental law on a full-tuition graduate scholarship. Pai told The Daily Californian she wants to bring the sustainable infrastructure of Berkeley to wherever she ends up on the East Coast. “When I came here, my family was convinced that I would be staying in California for the rest of my life,” Pai told The Daily Californian. “It’s not because I don’t love being here; it’s because I want the East Coast to have a little of California in it.”

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On May 14, Pai will address her peers at a campus-wide commencement ceremony at California Memorial Stadium. “I was chosen based on my extracurriculars and passions,” Pai said. “I’m the type of person who doesn’t like to leave things alone when they reach their full potential. That quality is something they appreciated in me.”