During an April 22 ceremony and reception in the Women's Building Formal Lounge, members of the Arts & Sciences community gathered to recognize graduate student excellence in teaching and research.
During her introduction, Sophia Hayes, vice dean of graduate education and professor of chemistry, said the awards highlight the impact Arts & Sciences graduate students make through their research, teaching, and scholarship. The Office of Graduate Studies recognized the finalists and semifinalists of two internal awards programs. The ceremony also celebrated the recipients of several external awards. Feng Sheng Hu, the Richard G. Engelsmann Dean of Arts & Sciences, attended the ceremony to congratulate students and present award certificates.
After the awards presentation, Billy Acree, associate vice dean of graduate education and professor of Spanish, led the group in a celebratory toast and encouraged students to celebrate the smaller triumphs that take place on the way to achieving a larger goal.
Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence
This award is given to Arts & Sciences graduate students who make exceptional contributions to teaching and instruction. Departments and programs across Arts & Sciences nominate students for the award, which includes a certificate, program recognition, and a cash prize. Each awardee has used innovative pedagogy in the classroom or developed new learning tools.
- Caitlin Petty, Department of Art History & Archaeology
- Sara Flores, Department of English
- Christian Schuetz, Department of Germanic Language & Literatures
- Karuna Thomas, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences
- Stella Papadokonstantaki, Department of Economics
- Ljupcho Petrov, Department of Mathematics
- Emily Wright, Department of Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences
Dean's Award for Graduate Research Excellence
Departments and programs across Arts & Sciences can nominate up to two graduate students for this award recognizing outstanding achievements in research or creative practice. The award includes a certificate, program recognition, and a cash prize.
Winner
- Jia Gwee, Department of Biology
Finalists
- Taylor Damann, Department of Political Science
- Xiaojin Jin Ma, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences
- Nicole Rodriguez Cavero, Department of Physics
- Rodrigo Viqueira, Hispanic Studies Program
Semifinalists
- Chukwuebuka Ibeh, Department of English
- Ann Marie Jakubowski, Department of English
- Dain Lee, Department of Economics
- Guanghui He, Department of Physics
- Aryeh Miller, Department of Biology
- Shruti Santosh, Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology Program
External Awards
Deanna Barch, vice dean of research and the Gregory B. Couch Professor of Psychiatry, recognized graduate students who won external research fellowships or awards. These students represented graduate departments and programs across Arts & Sciences and covered a range of topics in research and scholarship.
- Colin Merrick, Department of Chemistry — National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program
- Joseph Fritsche, Department of Chemistry — National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program
- Emily Wright, Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences — National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program
- Alexander Nguyen, Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences — National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program
- Margaret Redic, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences — National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program
- Cinhia Romo Alba, Department of Sociology — National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program
- Lauren M Wiseman-Jones, Department of Anthropology — The Leakey Foundation Research Grant
- Alexandra J Sacco, Department of Anthropology — The Leakey Foundation Research Grant
- Nicole Rodriguez Cavero, Department of Physics — John Templeton Foundation
- Garrett B King, Department of Physics — Department of Energy
- Sarah Emily Paul, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences — National Institutes of Health/DHHS/NIH
- Jaisal T Merchant, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences — National Institutes of Health/DHHS/NIH
- Kimim Lacey, Department of History — Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Award
- Briget Kelly, Department of History — Smith Fellowship from the Institute for Humane Studies
- Chexi Luo, Department of History — Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation doctoral fellowship
