Alumni Spotlight: Sam Franks

We’re back with installment two of Kinder Institute undergraduate Elise Milburn’s alumni spotlight series, this time featuring Sam Franks, who was in town in March to receive one of the College of Arts & Science’s 2025 Distinguished Recent Alumni Awards.

The College of Arts and Science recently honored Kinder alumna Sam Franks as one of its 2025 Distinguished Recent Alumni Award recipients. Franks graduated from Mizzou in 2016 with degrees in English and Political Science. As an undergraduate at Kinder, she was a member of the inaugural cohorts of both the Society of Fellows (2014-2015) and Kinder Scholars (2015), and she currently serves on the Institute’s Alumni Council.

Looking back on her experiences at the Kinder Institute, Franks said that “Kinder helped deepen my understanding and appreciation of American history and politics. In doing so, it gave me a foot in the door to enter both my master’s program and law school.” After graduating from MU, Franks headed across the Atlantic on a Fulbright Fellowship, receiving an MSc in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution from Durham University in England, before returning stateside to take a position as a Policy Development and Programming Fellow at the American Constitution Society in D.C., where she first experienced professional life through her Kinder Scholars internship.

“The Kinder Summer Scholars changed my life,” Franks noted. “It introduced me to D.C., where I spent most of my twenties, and was a huge factor in receiving my first job, which likely helped lead to my second.” After finishing her year at the ACS, Franks went on to attend law school at University of Michigan, and then returned to D.C. to take a position as an International Trade Associate with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, where she interned after her 2L year at Michigan. Franks is still with the firm, now working out of its London office.

Among the many distinction that led to her A&S Alumni Award, Franks has served as a Frederick Douglass Legal Fellow at the Human Trafficking Institute and as a Judicial Clerk at the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg, and was one of 14 graduate students and early-career professional practitioners chosen to take part in the 2023 Fellowship at Auschwitz for the Studie of Professional Ethics Program. Franks was nominated for the A&S award by Kinder Associate Professor Carli Conklin. “I have been impressed with Sam since first meeting her over ten years ago,” Conklin said. “I have enjoyed staying connected while watching her flourish in her educational and professional endeavors.”

Despite living and working in D.C., London, and Michigan, Franks still holds a place in her heart for Columbia. When asked about returning to campus to receive this award, Franks remarked that Mizzou is “a place very dear to my heart and I’m so excited to be back.” While visiting, she made time to visit with Kinder Institute students and faculty on the fourth floor of Jesse. We were grateful for the opportunity to catch up with Sam amid her travels and extend our heartiest congratulations on receiving this honor!