Florida State University recognized talented and high-achieving graduate students at its annual Celebration of Graduate Student Excellence held April 13 at the FSU Alumni Center.
The event, sponsored by the Congress of Graduate Students and the Office of Research, celebrated graduate students’ accomplishments in service, teaching, research, creativity and leadership, and acknowledged graduate faculty for excellence in mentoring.
This year, the Graduate School presented two new awards: the John F. Liseno PIE Graduate Award to support research and teaching, and the Excellence in Visual Arts Award to support accomplishments in visual arts.
President John Thrasher opened the celebration by inspiring students to build upon their accomplishments. Dean Nancy Marcus of the Graduate School served as the master of ceremonies and introduced the plenary speaker, Arthur Raney, the James E. Kirk Professor of Communication in the College of Communication and Information. His speech, “All I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Graduate School,” provided a humorous and engaging talk on graduate life.
In addition to the 2016 award winners, more than 70 graduate students who received competitive external funding during the 2015-16 academic year were recognized. The full program and recipient list may be downloaded here.
2016 Celebration of Graduate Student Excellence Award Winners
Recognition of PIE Teaching Associates
Lawrence Bodkin (School of Communication); Kate Carnevale (Chemistry & Biochemistry); Briana Carroll (Psychology/Neuroscience); Nathan Crock (Scientific Computing); Elyssa Fenton (Modern Languages & Linguistics); Allison Gibbes (School of Theatre); Kate Hill (Biological Science); Carmen Maria Marcous (Philosophy); Sarah Wilcoxon (Dance); Ashley Artese (Nutrition, Food, and Exercise Sciences); Sarah Gilbert (Musicology); Stephanie Bradley (Sociology); Brandon Brice (Economics); Blair Thomas (Public Administration & Policy)
Recognition of PFF/PFP Fellows
Abdullah Ahmed Alghamdi (Educational Psychology & Learning Systems); Anas Hamed Almuhammadi (School of Teacher Education); Meshari Alshammari (School of Teacher Education); Mehnaz Gul (School of Communication); Jessica Martinez (Biological Science); Nicole Reid (Educational Psychology & Learning Systems); Wasan Tawfeeq (School of Teacher Education); Sara Tours (School of Teacher Education); Amanda Yeargin (Asian Studies)
Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards
Annette Barcelona (Dance); Deeptiman Chatterjee (Biological Science); Cassidy Lentsch (Biological Science); Jongwook Lee (School of Information); Lacey Ritter (Sociology); Emiliya Usmanova (Modern Languages & Linguistics)
John. F. Liseno Graduate Award
Stephanie Bradley (Sociology)
Excellence in Visual Arts Awards
Nathaniel Hendrickson (Department of Art); Christina Klein (Department of Art)
Leadership Awards
Aaron Ellis (School of Theatre); Lataisia Jones (Biomedical Sciences)
Research and Creativity Awards
Justin Cole (Mathematics); Bradley Hostetler (Art History); Charn McAllister (Management); Eric Parise (Psychology/Neuroscience); Mercedes Spencer (Psychology); Thomas Whitley (Religion)
Recognition of Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Winners
Aniket Ingrole (Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering); Frank Annie (Geography); Austin Schwartz (Molecular Biophysics)
Graduate Faculty Mentor Awards
Nicholas Cogan (Mathematics); David Gilbert (Biological Science); Michael Leeser (Modern Languages & Linguistics); Daniel Mears (Criminology); Lenore McWey (Family & Child Services)