Tre Wells Selected for Bouchet Honor Society
Tre Wells, a graduate student at Northwestern University's School of Education and Social Policy, has been selected for the Edward Alexander Bouchet Graduate Honor Society, which recognizes outstanding scholarly achievement and excellence in doctoral education.
Wells, who is pursuing a doctorate in human development and social policy, researches the influence of federal policy on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and how attending one can shape a student’s racial identity. His most recent project examines the ways the federal Pell Grant program impacts local businesses in HBCU college towns.
"Tre has become a true intellectual leader," said his advisor Jonathan Guryan, the Lawyer Taylor Professor of Education and Social Policy. "He's among the most promising graduate students I've come across in my 15 years at Northwestern and a truly wonderful colleague who stimulates and supports everyone he's around."
Wells is the fourth School of Education and Social Policy graduate student to win the award. Previous winners include Karla Thomas (2023), Julissa Muñiz (2019), and Krystal Villanosa (2018).
In addition to his dissertation research, Wells is part of a graduate student-led research team evaluating the City of Evanston’s Guaranteed Income Pilot Program. His role includes assessing how the financial support affects recipients and how key stakeholders envision the program’s transition from a pilot initiative to local policy.
Wells also serves as the graduate student lead for Black Men LEAD, an organization focused on developing mentoring and leadership skills for Black students and staff at Northwestern University and Evanston Township High School. He has organized SESP’s first-year PhD student orientation, co-organized the Connections program, and helped coordinate SESP’s Applied Microeconomics Colloquium (Econ Lab).
Originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, Wells attended Little Rock Central High School, which decades earlier was the epicenter of a national struggle over school desegregation following the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. He majored in math at Morehouse College in Atlanta and earned a master’s in economics from the University of Virginia. He calls his decision to attend a historically Black college “one of the best” he’s ever made.
Before coming to Northwestern, Wells worked with nonprofit youth development programs in New York City. He was named Mentor of the Year by Big Brothers Big Sisters-NYC and volunteered as a coach and tutor.
The Bouchet Honor Society commemorates Edward Alexander Bouchet, who earned a doctorate in physics from Yale in 1876. The society provides its members with a network of exceptional scholars. Wells is the fourth SESP student to win the award.
Wells was one of six new inductees. The others include:
- Tochukwu Dominic Eze, doctoral candidate, Computer Science
- Jojo Galvan-Mora, doctoral candidate, History
- Tiffany M. Mays, doctoral candidate, Life Sciences – Driskill Graduate Program (DGP)
- Eden Melles, doctoral candidate, Political Science
- Anthea Weng, doctoral candidate, Life Sciences – Driskill Graduate Program (DGP)