GSA Awards
The GSA annually confers four awards in recognition of exemplary service to graduate students at Rice University. The deadline for submissions is April 1 of each year. The awards committee is chaired by the Internal Vice President (who takes office that same April 1) and includes four other graduate students chosen at a GSA meeting, as well as the GSA faculty advisor and a member of the Rice Office of Student Activities as ex officio members . Nominations should be submitted to the GSA at MS-527 or to the current Internal VP.
The GSA awards are meant to encourage and recognize outstanding service to graduate student life and education at Rice. The award criteria were intentionally kept vague in order to permit recognition of the broadest possible range of service to the Rice graduate community.
You can read the 2005 GSA awards announcement.
Faculty Teaching/Mentoring Award
Recipients are selected based on demonstrated commitment to graduate education on teaching graduate students at Rice. The award consists of $1,500, funded through the Office of the President, and a plaque. Up to two awards may be conferred each year.
Recent recipients include:
- 1994: John Boles (History) and Paul Cloutier (Space Physics and Astronomy)
- 1995: Ellsworth Milburn (Music)
- 1996: John Anderson (Geology and Geophysics)
- 1997: Douglas Schuler (Jones School)
- 1998: Katherine Ensor (Statistics) and Robin Sickles (Economics)
- 1999:James Faubion (Anthropology) and Diana Lobel (Religious Studies)
- 2000: Willy Zwanaepoel (Computer Science) and Robert Patten (English)
- 2001: Peter Caldwell (History) and Walter Chapman (Chemical Engineering)
- 2002: Yildiz Bayazitoglu (Mechanical) and John Biln (Architecture)
- 2003: Dr. Kyriacos Athanasiou (Professor of Bioengineering) and Dr. Michelle Hebl (Radoslav Tsanoff Assistant Professor of Psychology)
- 2004: Dr. John B. Boles (William Pettus Hobby Professor of History) and Dr. Rebekah Drezek (Stanley C. Moore Assistant Professor of Bioengineering)
- 2005: Chris Kelty and Hannah Landecker (Anthropology) and Steven Crowell (Philosophy)
- 2006: Dr Jordan Konisky (BioChem) and Dr Brett Ashley Leeds (Political Science)
- 2007: Dr Thomas Haskell (History) and Dr Robert Raphael (Bioengineering)
Faculty/Staff Service Award
Recipients are selected in recognition of efforts beyond the call of duty to improve the quality of life for graduate students at Rice. The award consists of a plaque. Up to two awards may be conferred each year.
Recent recipients include:
- 1994: Robert Patten (Studies in English Literature and English)
- 1995: Jane Dunham (International Services) and Diana Welch (Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering)
- 1996: Evelyn Nolen (Journal of Southern History)
- 1998: Sarah Nelson Crawford (Student Activities) and Linda Rassinier (Geology and Geophysics)
- 1999: Julie Kudelka (Bioengineering) and Iva Jean Jorgensen (Computer Science)
- 2000: Adria Baker (Office of International Students/Scholars) and Mona Hicks (Office of Student Activities)
- 2001: Cheryl Mattherly (Director of Career Services) and Bruce Johnson (Chemical Engineering)
- 2002: Tracy Michelle Voltz
- 2003: Theresa L. Chatman (Project Manager of Alliances for Graduate Education (AGEP) and Sandra Flechsig (Staff Assistant in Earth Science)
- 2004: Dr. Tianhong Dai (Postdoctoral Research Associate in Bioengineering)
- 2005: Somarine Sam Diep (OISS), Dolores Schwartz (Biochemistry and Cell Biology), Iva Jean Jorgensen (Computer Science)
- 2006: Professor Doug Schuler (Jones School of Management) and Maria E Maldonado (FE&P Custodial Services)
- 2007: Martha Alexander (ECE - LANP) and Kevin Kirby (VP for Administration)
Robert Lowry Patten Award
The Robert Lowry Patten awards, funded by an endowment, are intended to honor graduate students who might not otherwise have been honored for their service and achievements on behalf of graduate students. The award consists of $250 and a plaque. Up to four awards may be conferred each year.
- 1998 recipients: Mark A. Nichols (Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science), Heidi Elizabeth Zeimer (Psychology), Kristin Heather Griffith (Psychology), and David J. Mendelow (Jones School).
- 1999 recipients: Kristin Peterson (Anthropology), Shannon Leonard (English), Scott Berger (Mathematics) and Michelle Shearer (Geology and Geophysics).
- 2000 recipients: Aimee Placas (Anthropology), Desrey Fox (Linguistics), Arnaud Chevallier, and Prasanna Gandhi (Mechanical Engineering and Material Science).
- 2001 recipients: Jae Chung (Anthropology), Jennifer Steele (Physics and Astronomy), Alejandro Chaoul (Religious Studies) and David Streutker (Physics and Astronomy)
- 2002 recipients: Auleen Ghosh (Chemical), Xinyu (Frank) Zhao (Chemical) and Zheng Huang (Mathematics)
- 2003 recipients: Michelle Calabretta (Ph.D. candidate in Biochemistry and Cell Biology), Elizabeth Fenton (Ph.D. candidate in English), Busheng Li (Ph.D. candidate in Chemical Engineering) and David Messmer (Ph.D. candidate in English)
- 2004 recipients: Fefei Lou (Ph.D. candidate in Electrical and Computer Engineering), Eden King (Ph.D. candidate in Psychology), and Miles Scotcher (Ph.D. candidate in Biochemistry and Cell Biology)
- 2005 recipients: Xiaoyang Bai (Biochemistry and Cell Biology), Vinod Kumar (Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science), Eden King (Psychology), Summer Nijjer (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology).
- 2006 recipients: Sushant Madhukul Dutta (MEMS), Aramis Martinez (Physics), Kadim Tasdemir (ECE) and Ahmad Khoshnevis (ECE)
- 2007 recipients: Jennifer Greeson (Bioengineering), Mark Little (Earth Science), Louise Organ (Bioengineering) and Hao Yang (Physics & Astronomy)
GSA Student Service Award
Recipients are selected based on contribution of time, effort, and devoted service to the cause of improving graduate student life and education at Rice. The award consists of $250, funded by the GSA, and a plaque. Up to two awards may be conferred each year.
Recent recipients include:
- 1991: RobErt Schmunk (Space Physics)
- 1992: Dusty Capistran (Philosophy)
- 1993: Sue Minkoff (Computational and Applied Mathematics)
- 1994: Joseph Elias (Electrical Engineering)
- 1995: Rob Butera (Electrical Engineering) and Laurie Feinswog (Computational and Applied Mathematics)
- 1996: Maeve McCarthy (Computational and Applied Mathematics)
- 1997: Chris Stokes (History)
- 1998: Joy Roth (Geology and Geophysics) and Russell Hale (Jones School)
- 1999: Erin Williams (Biochemistry and Cell Biology) and Heidi Ziemer (Psychology)
- 2000: Julia Smith-Wellner (Geology) and Andrea Frolic (Religion)
- 2001: Ilse Guzman-Jiminez (Chemistry) and Hillary Young (Linguistics)
- 2002: Zhongping Jian (Electrical) and James Yager(Biochemistry)
- 2003: Musie Ghebremichael (Ph.D. candidate in Statistics) and Miles Scotcher (Ph.D. candidate in Biochemistry and Cell Biology)
- 2004: Robert Cardnell (Ph.D. candidate in Biochemistry and Cell Biology) and Balaji Sitharaman (Ph.D. candidate in Chemistry)
- 2005: Joanna Papakonstantinou (Computational and Applied Mathematics) and Marcos Huerta (Physics and Astronomy)
- 2006: Cristina Hofmann (CHEM) and Angela Noel Hvitved (BioChem)
- 2007: Jordan Miller (Bioengineering) and Hui Zhan (Physics & Astronomy)
"Friend of Rice Graduate Students" Award
Recipients are selected in recognition of individuals who have significantly enhanced the lives of graduate students at Rice University in some way. This award is a token of appreciation to honor people within and beyond the Rice community who may not otherwise be recognized for their service to graduate students. Candidates for the award may or may not be members of the Rice community, but they should not be eligible for the other four awards. The award shall consist of a plaque.
Recent recipients include:
- 2000: Mary Lou Margrave
- 2001: Purvez Captain
- 2002: John Schroeter
- 2003: Darlene Weist
- 2004: Jonel Curl and Mary Lou Margrave
- 2005: Abeer Mustafa and Sarah Kennedy (Graduate Student Apartments)
- 2007: Austin Chapter of Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic
Sallyport Award
It is presented by the Association of Rice Alumni to recognize a deserving graduate degree candidate who has made contributions to the Rice community above his or her individual department and who may not otherwise be recognized. The winner will receive a silver bowl (with his/her name and year engraved on it) and a stole to wear at graduation. The winner's name will also appear on a plaque in the Rice Memorial Center. The Student-Alumni Liaison Committee decides the recipient of this award. Therefore, please send a faculty letter of recommendation and a resume electronically to lblinn@rice.edu or hard copies to MS-520 to nominate a graduate student for this award. Students can also be nominated using an online form at
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~stact/awards.html
The deadline for the Sallyport Award nominations was March 25, 2005.