Editor's Note (April 22, 2016): This story was updated to add additonal information.

The Virginia Tech Graduate School honored master’s and doctoral degree students from across the university at an awards dinner. Students received awards for top dissertations and theses and for service, teaching and research. Additionally, Vice President and Dean for Graduate Education Karen P. DePauw recognized the 2016 Edward A. Bouchet Honor Society inductees and the graduate students of the year.

Doctoral and master’s degree students were nominated for the awards by the university’s eight colleges. This year the selection committee chose two winners in several categories.

In addition to receiving their awards at the dinner, part of the annual Graduate Education Week events, they will be recognized during the Graduate Commencement Ceremony May 12.

Students of the year and service awards

  • 2016 Graduate Students of the Year: Richard Rodrigues of Kohlhapur, India, in the Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology interdisciplinary program, and Mary Tackett of Winchester, Virginia, in the School of Education’s Curriculum and Instruction program
  • Graduate Service Excellence Award: Siddhartha Roy of Palanpur, India, in the College of Engineering’s Civil and Environmental Engineering program

Thesis and dissertation awards

  • Outstanding Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Dissertation Award: Caitlin M. Cossaboom of Salisbury, Maryland, in the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Biomedical Science and Pathobiology
  • Outstanding Social Sciences, Business, Education, and Humanities (SSBEH) Dissertation Awards: Amy Paige Kaminski of Arlington, Virginia, in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences’ Department of Science and Technology in Society, and Yehyun An of Suwon, South Korea, in the School of Public and International Affairs’ Planning, Governance and Globalization program
  • William Preston Master’s Thesis Award, STEM: Alexandra Gerling of Fairport, New York, in the College of Science’s Department of Biological Sciences
  • William Preston Master’s Thesis Award, SSBEH: Thomas R. Seabrook of Hopewell, New Jersey, in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences’ history department

Teaching awards

  • Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) Instructor of Record Excellence Awards: Jordan Laney of McDowell County, North Carolina, in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences’ Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought (ASPECT) program, and Dana Riger of New Hyde Park, New York, in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences’ Human Development program
  • GTA Assistant Award: Brandon Bear of York, Pennsylvania, in the College of Science’s physics program

Outstanding doctoral degree students

  • College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: Tanya Halliday of Stow, Massachusetts, in the Human Nutrition, Food, and Exercise program
  • College of Architecture and Urban Studies: Oluwateniola “Teni” Ladipo of Bristow, Virginia, in the Building Construction program
  • College of Engineering: Tim Yue Wu of Xinyu, China, in the Aerospace and Ocean Engineering program
  • College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences: Sascha Engel of Frankfurt, Germany, in the ASPECT program
  • College of Natural Resources and Environment: Lindsey Rich of Evergreen, Colorado, in the Fish and Wildlife Conservation program
  • College of Science: Jonathan Waldron of Manassas, Virginia, in the Psychology Department
  • Pamplin College of Business: Rebecca Rabino of Newton, Massachusetts, in the Marketing program
  • Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine: Lauren Sheehan of Ringwood, New Jersey, in the BMSP program.
  • Interdisciplinary doctoral student: Andrew Brantley Hall of Christiansburg, Virginia, in the Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology Interdisciplinary Graduate Education Program

Outstanding master’s degree students

  • College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: Carly Macdougall of Marshall, Virginia, in the Human Nutrition, Food, and Exercise program
  • College of Architecture and Urban Studies: Michael Young of Arlington, Virginia, in the Government and International Affairs program
  • College of Engineering: Meredith Scaggs of Ashburn, Virginia, in the Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering
  • College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences: Faith Skiles of Pilot, Virginia, in the History Department
  • College of Natural Resources and Environment: Brian Parkhurst of Blacksburg, Virginia, in the Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation program
  • College of Science: Christopher Griffin of Blacksburg, Virginia, in the Department of Geosciences
  • Pamplin College of Business: Garrett Scott DeWitt, of Arlington, Virginia, in the executive MBA program.
  • Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine: Nicholas Parkinson of Oxford, England, in the Large Animal Clinical Sciences Department

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