The University Fellowship is the highest award that the College of Graduate Studies provides to doctoral students who display exceptional achievements and academic promise in their fields of study.
The newest recipients of University Fellowships were recognized by Dr. Mark Templin, chair of the Graduate Council Executive Committee, far left, and Dr. Patricia Komuniecki, vice provost for graduate affairs and dean of the College of Graduate Studies, far right, along with the students' advisers.
Although the awards have been given for more than 20 years, a recognition event was held for the first time for the new group of fellows at the December Graduate Council meeting. Dr. Patricia Komuniecki, vice provost for graduate affairs and dean of the College of Graduate Studies, and Dr. Mark Templin, associate professor of curriculum and instruction and chair of the Graduate Council Executive Committee, presented the students with recognition certificates.
“We are very excited to start this tradition of publicly recognizing the University Fellowship recipients,” Komuniecki said. “This also is a chance for the students to be introduced to the Graduate Council and to meet other University Fellows. The doctoral advisers were also present to be recognized for the important mentoring role that they play.”
The five newest recipients are Maria Hurtado Alvarado in psychology, Qingnian Goh in exercise science, Robert Layne in cell/molecular biology, Kelly Marbaugh in biomedical engineering, and Vafa Saboorideiliami in manufacturing and technology management.
They join five continuing fellows: Christa Graham in chemistry, Marco Nardone in physics and astronomy, Megan Powell in mathematics, Mohamed Tesfaye in civil engineering, and Adam Keith in chemistry.
The University Fellowship Program was expanded in 2010 from a group of six students to 10 at a given time to allow more students the opportunity to be recognized and to highlight this program as a recruiting tool for UT.
“Last year, we had 34 applicants competing for the five available fellowships. All of the applicants displayed excellent credentials, so the Committee on Scholarships and Fellowships had a difficult task in selecting the finalists,” Komuniecki said. “The competition for new fellowship applicants for academic year 2011-12 is now open, and we hope to welcome several new fellows to the graduate community this fall.”
Applicants interested in applying for the University Fellowship Program may click here.
