Amidst the pomp and circumstance of end-of-year commencement activities, a number of faculty, staff and students were honored for their contributions to academic excellence, student education and community involvement.
“We are proud to honor just a few of those who help make The University of Texas at Dallas one of the top universities in the country,” said Dr. Inga Musselman, UT Dallas provost, vice president for academic affairs and the Cecil H. Green Distinguished Chair of Academic Leadership. “There is a strong commitment here to academic and community excellence.”
2021 Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring
Dr. Danieli Rodrigues, Associate Professor
Department of Bioengineering
Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science
2021 Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Graduate Research Mentoring
Dr. Mihaela Stefan, Professor and Eugene McDermott Professor
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
2021 Advisor of the Year
Sydney Taylor
School of Arts and Humanities
2021 Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award
Carla Ramazan BA’21, political science
School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences
Best Dissertation Awards
Kent Lewis Boyer PhD’20
School of Arts and Humanities
Subverting Propriety: The Intimate, Habitable Poetics of Frank O’Hara
Research Mentor: Dr. Charles Hatfield
Cenk Köknar PhD’20
School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication
Negotiating the Right Way to Play Video Games
Research Mentors: Dr. Josef Nguyen and Dr. Monica Evans
Maria A. Boylan PhD’20
School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences
Characterization of BOLD Variability Across the Adult Lifespan: Influence of Dopamine and Structural Integrity
Research Mentor: Dr. Kristen Kennedy
Wukki Kim PhD’20
School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences
Four Essays on Defense and Peace Economics
Research Mentor: Dr. Todd Sandler
Peiyuan Kang PhD’20
Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science
Photoinactivation of Proteins by Molecular Hyperthermia
Research Mentor: Dr. Zhenpeng Qin
Jidong Yang PhD’20
School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Seismic Modeling, Imaging and Inversion in Viscoacoustic Media
Research Mentor: Dr. Hejun Zhu
David Daniel Thesis Awards
Gaurav Rajavendra Reddy PhD’20
Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science
Machine Learning-Based Hotspot Detection: Fallacies, Pitfalls and Marching Orders
Research Mentor: Dr. Yiorgos Makris
Michael Andrew Luzuriaga PhD’20
School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
A New Biomaterial for Vaccination: An Aqueous ZIF-8 Crystal Growth to Preserve Antigens and Enhance the Immune Activation
Research Mentor: Dr. Jeremiah Gassensmith