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Students
Congratulations to the 2026 Robert C. Brown Award winners
Congratulations to this year's Robert C. Brown Award winners—Aidan Gough and Mishael Abu-Samhan!
Nominated by their respective departments, the winners were selected for their outstanding academic achievement and outstanding performance or leadership at Simon Fraser University.
About the winners
Aidan Gough
A longstanding student leader at SFU, currently serving as the elected undergraduate Board of Governors member, a re-elected Student Senator, Co-President of the Political Science Student Union, Editor-In-Chief for the Gadfly Political Science Journal, and Vice-Chair of the Simon Fraser Student Society. For his work in the community, Aidan has been recognized with the 2025 Gunraj Gill Memorial Award, as well as the Best Councillor and Best Union (PSSU) awards by the SFSS.
Aidan Gough is also pursuing a BA in Political Science, with minors in Legal Studies and Social Data Analytics. His deep commitment to student governance, paired with his academic focus on Canadian politics and law, has made him an active and prominent voice on campus. Beyond his work on campus, Aidan works as a political analyst at the Iran War Observatory. Aidan next intends to pursue an Honours degree and gain public sector experience before law school.
Mishael Abu-Samhan
Mishael Abu-Samhan graduates with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Philosophy and Political Science. During his time at SFU, he completed the NATO Field School and Simulation Program and served the student body as a peer educator, student Senator and mentor, as well as president and co-president of the Philosophy and Political Science Student Unions, respectively. He also played a key role in restarting SFU’s Amnesty International chapter after a period of inactivity. In recognition of his academic achievements and community service, he has been named to the President’s Honour Roll seven times, awarded a FASS Dean’s Undergraduate Fellowship and won the 2024 Laurine Harrison Undergraduate Service Award, among other recognitions. He will attend law school at the University of Toronto this fall.