Graduate student excellence celebrated at awards luncheon

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State President Eric Barron presented 11 awards to more than 30 graduate students in recognition of outstanding achievement during the annual Graduate Student Awards Luncheon, held April 25 at the Nittany Lion Inn.

The following students received awards. Articles about this year’s award recipients are linked below, by award category.

Academic Computing Fellowship: Divyanshi Srivastava, doctoral student in bioinformatics and genomics

Intercollege Graduate Student Outreach Achievement Award: Chad Nihranz, doctoral student in ecology

Ardeth and Norman Frisbey International Student Award: Fariha Salman, doctoral student in learning design and technology

Graduate Student Service Award: Johnathan Smilges, doctoral student in English with a dual title in women’s studies

Harold F. Martin Graduate Assistant Outstanding Teaching Award: Scott Conrad, doctoral student in mathematics; Sara Freed, doctoral student in human development and family studies; Morgane Haesen, doctoral student in French; Kathryn Holmes, doctoral student in American studies; Behnoud Kermani, doctoral student in civil engineering; Bradley Klem, master’s student in art; Kristopher Klotz, doctoral student in philosophy; Jared LaGroue, doctoral student in mass communications; Kirsten Lloyd, doctoral student in horticulture; and Natali Ozber, doctoral student in plant biology

Professional Master’s Excellence Award: Madeleine Carot, master’s student in international affairs, pursuing a joint degree in law from Penn State Law; Zena Kirby, master’s student in art education; Elizabeth Krajan, master’s student in public health; and Mohammad Sarhan, master’s student in international affairs

Graduate Student Excellence in Mentoring Award: Taryn Mockus, doctoral student in neuroscience

Graduate Student International Research Award: Alexander Fyfe, doctoral student in comparative literature with a dual title in African studies

Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award: John Banghoff, master’s student in meteorology; Min Liew, master’s student in civil engineering; and Elena Vazquez, master’s student in architecture

Penn State Alumni Association Scholarship for Penn State Alumni in the Graduate School: Kristin Lambert, doctoral student in biomedical sciences, pursuing a joint degree in medicine from the Penn State College of Medicine; and Christina Webb, doctoral student in psychology

Penn State Alumni Association Dissertation Award and Distinguished Doctoral Scholar Medal: Billie Alba, doctoral student in kinesiology; Caitlin Black, doctoral student in American studies; Birgitt Boschitsch, doctoral student in mechanical engineering; Adwitia Dey, doctoral student in integrative and biomedical physiology; Elyzabeth Engle, doctoral student in rural sociology with a dual title in human dimensions of natural resources and the environment; Julie Fenton, doctoral student in chemistry; Lucas Hackl, doctoral student in physics; Mitchell Hunter, doctoral student in agronomy; Michelle Martin Romero, doctoral student in biobehavioral health; James Maxson, doctoral student in communication arts and sciences; Keith Mickolajczyk, doctoral student in bioengineering; Felix Rodriguez, doctoral student in art education; Indira Turney, doctoral student in psychology; and Jun Xu, doctoral student in information sciences and technology