As The University of Texas at Dallas wrapped up the academic year this spring, a number of faculty, staff and students were honored for their contributions to academic excellence, student education and community involvement.

“It’s only through the commitment of dedicated faculty and staff, as well as curious and motivated students, that UT Dallas has become one of the top universities in the country,” said Dr. Inga Musselman, provost, vice president for academic affairs and the Cecil H. Green Distinguished Chair of Academic Leadership. “The individuals honored this year represent an entire campus of high achievers.”

2022 Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring
Dr. Jason Slinker, associate professor of physics
School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

2022 Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Graduate Research Mentoring
Dr. Milind Dawande, professor of operations management and Mike Redeker Distinguished Professor in Management
Naveen Jindal School of Management

2022 Advisor of the Year
Catherine Boynton
School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences

2022 Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award
Sara Brennan BS’22, finance and economics
Naveen Jindal School of Management

Best Dissertation Awards

Abdal Malik H. Rezeski PhD’21
School of Arts and Humanities
Tractatus Exilium: The Subject of Exile and the Problem of Being: An Examination of the Work of Edmond Jabès and E.M. Cioran
Research mentor: Dr. Sean Cotter

Stephen Mallory PhD’21
School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication
Playful History: Games, Liberation Pedagogy and Historical Thinking
Research mentor: Monica Evans MA’04, PhD’07

Robert Morrison PhD’21
School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences
Vagus Nerve Stimulation Intensity Regulates Targeted Plasticity
Research mentor: Dr. Michael Kilgard

Xiaohe Yu PhD’21
School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences
Cloud Detection and PM2.5 Estimation Using Machine Learning
Research mentors: Dr. Yongwan Chun and Dr. David Lary

Nastaran Nikooienejad PhD’21
Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science
Control System Design for High-Speed Atomic Force Microscopy
Research mentor: Dr. Reza Moheimani

Mehdi Hosseinabadi Farahani PhD’21
Naveen Jindal School of Management
Essays in Operations Management
Research mentors: Dr. Milind Dawande and Dr. Ganesh Janakiraman

Zhong Wang PhD’21
School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Multifunctional Carbon Nanotube Yarns for Artificial Muscles and Energy Harvesters
Research mentor: Dr. Ray Baughman

David Daniel Thesis Awards

Badrinath Jagannath PhD’21
Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science
Investigation of Sweat Biomarkers for Real-Time Reporting of Infection and Inflammation Using Wearable Sweat Sensor
Research mentor: Dr. Shalini Prasad

Junpeng Hou PhD’21
School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Exotic Phases and Quantum Dynamics in Spin-Orbit Coupled Bose-Einstein Condensates
Research mentor: Dr. Chuanwei Zhang