Graduate School honors presented at banquet

Recipients of the Graduate School Excellence in Teaching Awards stand after the award presentation May 7 in Purdue Memorial Union. From left: Elijah Roth, Alissa Cress, Thomas Godwin, Jessica Welch and Dean Linda Mason. Not pictured: Matthew Pharris. (Graduate School photo/Teresa DeMien) Download image

A variety of honors for outstanding teaching, mentoring and research were presented Tuesday (May 7) at the Graduate School Awards Banquet. Linda Mason, dean of the school, presided at the event, which took place at Purdue Memorial Union’s North Ballroom. The awards and recognitions, in order of presentation:

Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Distinguished Master's Thesis Awards nominees
Nominations are invited yearly in two areas. For 2019: social sciences; mathematics, physical sciences and engineering.
* Megan LaFollette, Department of Comparative Pathobiology (MS 2016); current doctoral student in Department of Animal Sciences. MS major professors: Brianna Gaskill and Marguerite O’Haire.
* Amanda Loveless, School of Nuclear Engineering (MS 2017); current doctoral student in nuclear engineering. MS major professor: Alan Garner.

Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Excellence in Teaching Awards nominee
Nominations were invited for one master's student and one doctoral student.
* Prashanth Bangalore Venkatesh, PhD candidate in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics Major professor: Sally Bane.

Council of Graduate Schools/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Awards
Nominations are invited yearly in two areas. For 2019: mathematics, physical sciences and engineering; social sciences.
* Joonyoung Park, Department of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy (PhD 2018). Major professor: Yoon Yeo.
* Luis Peña-Lévano, Department of Agricultural Economics (PhD 2017). Major professors: Wallace Tyner and Farzad Taheripour.

Two faculty members received the Provost's Awards for Outstanding Graduate Mentor at the Graduate School awards May 7. From left: Dean Linda Mason; awardee Lynne Taylor, Pharmacy; awardee Jean Chmielewski, Chemistry; Provost Jay Akridge. (Graduate School photo/Teresa DeMien) Download image

Schmidt Science Fellows Award 2018 nominees
Five nominations were invited in the natural sciences, engineering, mathematics, or computer science for this program, which operates in partnership with the Rhodes Trust. Fellowships provide a postdoctoral research year at a leading lab in the given field and attendance at four global meetings.
* Sikai Chen, Lyles School of Civil Engineering. Major professor: Samuel Labi.
* Khalil Rahman Jahed, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture. Major professor: Peter Hirst.
* Gabriella Mendes Candido de Oliveira, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Major professor: Osvaldo Campanella.
* Tariq Usman Saeed, Lyles School of Civil Engineering. Major professor: Samuel Labi.
* Parul Verma; Davidson School of Chemical Engineering. Major professor: Doraiswami Ramkrishna.

National Humanities Without Walls Predoctoral Fellow
Recipients participate in a three-week workshop, this summer in Chicago, on humanities’ positive influence on the public good. Fellows also receive an honorarium.
* Sebastian Williams, Department of English, doctoral student. Major professor: Maren Linett.

Most Outstanding Interdisciplinary Project Award
* Julianna Ge, School of Engineering Education, doctoral student.

Graduate School Excellence in Teaching Awards
* Alissa Cress, Department of Educational Studies. Major professor: Marcia Gentry.
* Thomas Godwin, Department of Management. Major professors: Mark Bagnoli and Susan Watts.
* Matthew Pharris, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. Major professor: Tamara Kinzer-Ursem.
* Elijah Roth. Department of Chemistry. Major professors: George Bodner and Roy Tasker.
* Jessica Welch, Brian Lamb School of Communication. Major professors: Melanie Morgan and Sorin Matei.

Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Mentor
* Veeraraghava Raju Hasti, School of Mechanical Engineering.

Graduate School Mentoring Award for Postdoctoral Trainees
* Aridany Suarez-Trujillo, College of Agriculture.

Say It In 6 contest winners
This competition, whose name is trademarked by Smith Magazine, calls for telling a story about graduate school experience in six words with one visual aid. Purdue’s 2019 winners.
First place — Tridib Saha, School of Electrical Engineering.
Second place — Tanisha Watkins, Department of Consumer Science.
People’s Choice award (tie) — Jeffery Nielsen, Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology; Hanoosha Nagireddy, School of Industrial Engineering.

Three Minute Thesis contest winners
3MT, developed at and trademarked by The University of Queensland, Australia, calls for a cogent summary of a graduate student’s research in three minutes. Purdue’s competition on April 16 drew more than 500 people.
First place — Megan LaFollette, College of Agriculture. “Tickling Rats for Superior Science.”
Second place — Punyashloka Debashis, College of Engineering. “Swarm Intelligence in Tiny Magnets.”
People's Choice — Mingding Wang, College of Science. “I Have a Bone to Pick with Fractures.”

Provost's Awards for Outstanding Graduate Mentor
This award goes to faculty members for mentoring of graduate students. The presentation of these two awards was made by Jay Akridge,  provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity.
* Jean Chmielewski, the Alice Watson Kramer Distinguished Professor of Chemistry.
* Lynne Taylor, Retter Professor of Pharmacy.