Graduate students and faculty honored with 2015 Phoenix awards

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Winners of the 2015 Phoenix awards presented April 15 were (left to right) Dr. Jason DeFreitas, Faculty Phoenix, Juan Ma, Doctorate Phoenix, and Nathalia Graf Grachet, Master’s Phoenix. The student awards are the highest honors presented to OSU graduate students. The Phoenix award is sponsored by the Graduate and Professional Students Government Association.

Oklahoma State University graduate students Nathalia Graf Grachet and Juan Ma were presented with Phoenix awards April 15, the highest OSU honors awarded to graduate students. Dr. Jason DeFreitas was also recognized with the Faculty Phoenix award at the annual spring Graduate College awards ceremony sponsored by the college and the Graduate Professional Student Government Association (GPSGA).

As organizer of the Phoenix awards, the GPSGA seeks exemplary graduate students who embody the values of scholarship, leadership and professional involvement and university and community service. Graf Grachet, a student in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, was awarded with the Master’s Phoenix award, while Ma, representing the School of Industrial Engineering and Management, won the Doctoral Phoenix. The Faculty Phoenix recipient, DeFreitas, is an assistant professor of health and human performance. Students considered for the Phoenix are nominated by faculty members, while students nominate professors for the Faculty Phoenix.

Students and staff were also presented with 2015 Outstanding Graduate Program Staff, Coordinator and Teaching Assistant awards, sponsored by both the Graduate College and the GPSGA. Ann Yankunas was presented with the Outstanding Graduate Support Staff award; Manjunath Kamath, industrial engineering and management, was named the Outstanding Graduate Coordinator; and Manushree Bharadwaj, veterinary medicine, won the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant award.

The Graduate College also recognized students with Summer Dissertation Fellowship Awards, Graduate Research Excellence Awards and recognized students as Honorary Commencement Marshals.

The annual spring Graduate College awards ceremony is held each spring during Graduate Education Week. Awards were presented by Dr. Sheryl Tucker, dean of the Graduate College and associate provost for graduate education, and GPSGA President Shaun McCoshum.