Graduate students, faculty honored for contributions to OSU graduate education
Monday, April 17, 2017
Oklahoma State University graduate students, staff and faculty were recognized with awards presented by the Graduate College and the Graduate and Professional Student Government Association (GPSGA) April 14 during the college’s annual spring awards ceremony.
Graduate Research Excellence awards recognize outstanding accomplishments reflected in master’s theses or doctoral dissertations. Recipients received a letter of commendation from OSU President Burns Hargis and a commemorative plaque from Associate Vice President for Research Dr. Ron Van Den Bussche. Winners:
- Dr. Adam Cobb, Natural Resource Ecology and Management
- Gabriella Bragoli, International Agriculture
- Jason Higgins, English
- Muthu Subramanian Mohan, Materials Science and Engineering
- Dr. Caitlin Barnes, Environmental Science
- Dr. Jin Im, Hospitality Administration
- Kristine Chua, Psychology
Four master’s and doctoral students were named Honorary Commencement Marshals for academic performance and discipline-appropriate scholarly contributions that capture the essence of OSU’s land-grant mission. Recipients received $1,000 awards and are recognized at commencement where they wear special gown adornments. The students were recognized with certificates from Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate College Dr. Sheryl Tucker, who will lead the graduates in the processionals/recessionals and awarding of the diploma covers. Commencement marshals for 2017:
- Aaron Moses, M.A., Art History
- Raghav Nargotra, M.S., Management Information Systems
- Meron Wondimagegnhu, Ph.D., Nutritional Sciences
- Lynne Beaty, Ph.D., Zoology
The Summer Dissertation Fellowships support summer research for outstanding OSU post-candidacy, doctoral students from any disciplinary or interdisciplinary program. The summer fellowships include a $6,000 stipend and a tuition waiver for up to three credit hours. This year’s Summer Dissertation Fellowship winners were recognized with certificates from Tucker:
- Juliana Artier, Microbiology
- Joel Billings, Fire and Emergency Management
- Nabin Poudel, Veterinary Biomedical Sciences
- Mahmoud Tabari, English
- Aluth Premaratne, Chemistry
- Christopher Goodchild, Integrative Biology
- Michelle Miller, Leisure Studies
- Liang Xue, Geology
- Ashley Helle, Clinical Psychology
- Pushpinder Litt, Food Science
- Arezoo Zare, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
- Darci Klein, Educational Psychology
The Graduate College Ambassadors are a group of honored volunteer graduate students, who are passionate about OSU, excited about their graduate education experience, and eager to share their insights with future graduate students. Ambassadors are selected from a pool of students nominated by their graduate program and disciplinary college. The program is directed by Jacquie Pickering, coordinator of student professional development. The 2017 Ambassadors recognized were:
College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources
Kelsy Robinson, Animal Science
Brooke Seibert (Lead Ambassador), Agricultural Communications
Jose Uscanga, Agricultural Education
Kendra Wills, Animal Science
College of Arts & Sciences
Kendall Scarlett, Integrative Biology
Danielle Perryman, Integrative Biology
College of Education
Roman Peterson, Educational Leadership Studies
Theresa Riles, Educational Leadership Studies
College of Engineering, Architecture, and Technology
Prashanth Gari, Electrical Engineering
Sam Koteeswaran, Chemical Engineering
Kiran Muniraju, Electrical Engineering
College of Human Sciences
Li Ding, Hospitality Administration
Babajide Ojo, Human Sciences
Graduate College
Tahmidur Tushar, Interdisciplinary Science
Spears School of Business
Raghav Nargotra, Management Information Systems
Center for Veterinary Health Sciences
Jennifer Rudd, Veterinary Biomedical Science
The Graduate College and GPSGA recognized the Outstanding Graduate Coordinator for their service to faculty who lead and manage graduate programs with $500 cash awards. The recipient was Dr. Mohammad Abdel Salam in the Geology Program.
The Phoenix Awards are the highest recognition bestowed by GPSGA and recognize exemplary achievement in leadership and scholarship, community and university service, and professional involvement, especially as it relates to the OSU graduate student body. The student award winner receives a $350 and the faculty awardee receives $500 monetary awards from the GPSGA and the Graduate College. The student and faculty Phoenix winners were given plaques by Solmaz Bastani, GPSGA vice president and Luci Wilson, GPSGA social chair:
Ph.D. Phoenix Award Winner:
Chrissie Segars, Crop Science
M.S. Phoenix Award Winner:
Cheryl Kutcher, Creative Writing
Outstanding Faculty Award:
Dr. Gail Wilson, Natural Resource Ecology and Management
GPSGA also recognized Chris Goodchild, Integrative Biology, as the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant with a $350 award and certificate.