Meet the 2026 President’s Leadership Award Winners

More than 40 years ago, the President’s Leadership Award began with an endowment from Frank Denius, LLB ’49, Life Member, Distinguished Alumnus, and former president of the Texas Exes. The award commends student leaders for their service to the campus community. The recipients include three seniors, two juniors, and a sophomore, whose work leaves a legacy of change-making to future Longhorns.

Portraits by Matt Wright-Steel

Jenna Steele, Life Member

Majors: Canfield Business Honors, Management Information Systems

Hometown: Lafayette, California

Texas Women in Investing, Honors Business Association, Sustainability Investment Group, Canfield Business Honors Peer Advisor

Jenna Steele has never shied from taking her own path, whether she’s starting her own organization or studying abroad in Copenhagen. Steele started the student organization Texas Women in Investing with her friends as a first-year student to help people learn about financial literacy, and she later recruited other girls to help the organization grow from 20 members to 50 regular meeting attendees. “I just hope that I leave a positive impact on UT,” Steele says, “and that the stuff I’ve done lives beyond me.” In the fall, she will be studying at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, where she can continue taking classes toward her McCombs degrees. Steele says she thinks everything else will fall into place—so long as she continues staying true to herself.  

Carson Domey, BA ’26, Life Member

Major: Government

Hometown: Bellingham, Massachusetts

Texas Trailblazers, Coalition for Student Wellbeing, University Flying Club, Austin Exchange, College Student Commissioner for the City of Austin

Most people don’t know where their passion is by the time they finish college. But most people aren’t Carson Domey, whose interest in health care policy began when, at 12 years old, Domey sat alone and testified in front of a legislative committee about his experience growing up with a rare form of Crohn’s disease. Domey’s personal story got him involved with health policy, but the later loss of one of his best friends to suicide began his mental health advocacy, Comey says. Less than two years ago, he helped found the Coalition for Student Wellbeing, a national organization focused on improving mental health in higher education. “It’s one of the biggest gifts,” Domey says. “There are some hard days. There are some good days. But to get to have the opportunity and the platform to try to effectuate the change that we’re making is just such a privilege.” He will continue working with the coalition as he begins his master’s in public affairs at the LBJ School of Public Affairs this fall.

Abigail Mimbela 

Majors: Canfield Business Honors, Finance

Hometown: El Paso, Texas

Forty Acres Scholars Program, The Daily Texan, Undergraduate Law Journal for Minority Women, Texas Undergraduate Consulting Group

When Abigail Mimbela opens the “Documents” folder on her laptop, the first words she sees are “MY DREAM” in capital letters. She says it’s a reminder of her time in the Archer Fellowship, interning in Washington, D.C., with a congressperson from her hometown. Which is to say, her dream. This was one of the experiences that Mimbela had during her time at UT that opened her eyes to the fact that she wants to work in the federal government. Her successes—from restructuring her department at The Daily Texan to nailing her dream internship—came after semesters of early setbacks. Though rejection was heartbreaking at the time, Mimbela is grateful for it now. “When you’re working toward something that you believe in so much, that feels so true in your heart—these smaller setbacks, although painful, don’t feel as restrictive,” Mimbela says.

Zara Khan, Life Member

Majors: Marketing, Government  

Hometown: Houston, Texas  

Undergraduate Business Council, Texas Trailblazers, McCombs General Assembly, Senate of College Councils, McCombs Social Media Ambassador  

Zara Khan first became interested in politics as a young performer in Houston, where she would sing the national anthem at political events hosted by the South Asian community and witness congressmembers speak to their constituents. But when it came to college, she applied to “the best school there is”: the McCombs School of Business. She later added a government double major and a minor in Business and Public Policy—but whether it be a political campaign, a person, or a business, Khan has learned that it all comes back to branding. She’s taking her personal brand of being a passionate student with her to Washington, D.C., where she will be interning for U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson this summer. “I live every single day at UT like I’m representing the University on my back,” Khan says. “I feel like I’ve truly become someone who represents and is a student of every single community that I come from and that I live in.”

Ella Folh, Life Member

Major: Nursing Honors  

Hometown: Sugarland, Texas  

Forty Acres Scholars Program, Stamps Scholars Program, Texas Trailblazers, Nursing School Undergraduate Researcher, Ella’s Custom Banners  

Being a leader, according to Ella Folh, means being able to recognize where differences need to be made and having the courage and passion to execute them. She says every occupation needs leaders, regardless of the industry. As part of the inaugural cohort of the Texas Trailblazers, which brings together 40 student leaders from across the Forty Acres, Folh got to see this adage in practice. Those who practice leadership also do it to make an impact on their communities, Folh says. Folh is the co-captain of a traditions and culture project with the University, which will incorporate the meaning of different UT traditions into first-year orientation. “The most important thing that we can have is community and having something that unites all of us,” Folh says. “I feel like every single student—no matter their involvements, no matter what corner of campus, no matter what hometown they came from—they should each have something that unifies them as a Texas Longhorn.”

Sophia Liu, BS ’26, Life Member

Major: Psychology  

Hometown: Sugarland, Texas  

Longhorn EMS, Psi Chi, Hospice Austin’s Christopher House, Umlauf Lab at Dell Medical School as American Cancer Society Intern, Henneghan Lab in the School of Nursing  

For Sophia Liu, 12-hour shifts pass in a heartbeat when she’s working as an EMT. She earned her license and began working event medicine through Longhorn EMS once she saw that they were able to do hands-on patient care, while most other student orgs are pre-professional. This is one of the many ways Liu has worked in medicine, from her hours volunteering at Hospice Austin’s Christopher House or research with the American Cancer Society. Now, Liu plans to attend medical school after two gap years, in which she will get more experience working in an oncology clinic—oh, and continue her Russian studies in Kazakhstan. Liu was first drawn to psychiatry because she wanted to get to the core of what makes us human. “There’s so much heart and intimacy in taking care of another person with your hands, or just talking to them,” Liu says. “It was just so magical.”