Congratulations to our winter 2026 winners!
Ashley Rhee was awarded the Historical Medical Research Award for her Honors 231 paper, "The Mothers of Modern Gynecology”. This award recognizes writing with an emphasis on medical research.
Three students received the Nancy Bylan Bratman Excellence in Writing Award, which was established in 2016 by a generous gift from brothers Ben and David Bratman to honor their mother, Nancy Bylan Bratman, to recognize excellence in writing for undergraduate history majors.
Shay Hecker, Freshman/Sophomore Nancy Bylan Bratman Excellence in Writing Award, for her History 366 project "The Mérida Initiative and Mexican Drug Cartels”.
Chloe Huffman, Junior/Senior Nancy Bylan Bratman Excellence in Writing Award, for her History 202 paper, “Facing Both Ways: How Entrepreneurs Approached Municipal Economic Development in Post-1967 Detroit Amid Shifting National Economic Policies”.
Miguel Hugetz (not pictured), Junior/Senior Nancy Bylan Bratman Excellence in Writing Award, for his History 496 paper “Merchant Ships, Enemy Vessels: Spain and the South Sea Company in the Asiento Trade”.
Nancy Ellin Bylan was born June 7, 1929, in Detroit, and grew up in Grand Rapids. After a year at Wellesley College, she transferred happily to the University of Michigan to complete her undergraduate education. She majored in History and remained proudest of her A+ junior-year thesis on the Boer War. She was also active on the Michigan Daily, where she served as a reporter and associate editor, and in the Gilbert & Sullivan Society, for which she was a chorister and treasurer.
After receiving her BA in 1951, Nancy worked for several years as an editor in New York and Chicago, mostly for trade publications. She married Dr. Robert Bratman in 1956, and they moved to California where they raised four sons: David, Michael, Joel, and Benjamin. Always an elegant writer and impeccable editor, she was delighted to oblige when her sons, even as adults, asked her to review their writing. Nancy died on March 15, 2014, at the age of 84.
