Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award

The Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award (EGSMA) is given on an annual basis, to a member of the UB Graduate Faculty.

The nomination period is closed.

Thank you for your nominations. Check back in fall 2024 for the next nomination cycle.

Eligibility Criteria

Excellence may be demonstrated by advising and mentoring that encourages the best possible performance from students; assisting unlikely or superficially unpromising students through to successful degree completion and subsequent career placement; supporting students in publishing their research and scholarships; and exemplary efforts and success with student placements. These criteria are not meant to be exhaustive, but instead to suggest activities that might be demonstrated in a  nomination package.

To be eligible, nominees should be members of the UB Graduate Faculty and have held faculty appointment at UB for at least five years.

The award winner will be chosen by a selection committee comprised of faculty appointed by the vice provost for academic affairs. The recipient of this award will be nominated by the Graduate School for the “Geoffrey Marshall Mentoring Award,” administered by the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools. 

Nomination Package Requirements

A nomination package must be submitted as a single, integrated PDF that includes the following documents:

  • A cover sheet with the nominee's name and department.
  • A substantial letter of nomination from the department chair or academic dean that clearly describes the basis for the nomination.
  • Two letters of support from other faculty who can speak first-hand to the mentoring performance of the nominee, and at least five descriptive letters of support from former graduate students who have direct knowledge of the nominee's mentoring quality and impact.
  • The nominee's CV.

Supporting letters and evaluative statements should not be mere testimonials; they should provide specific examples of the nominee’s mentoring and its impact or outcomes. A personal statement from the nominee is neither needed nor encouraged.

Winners

Year
Winners
2023-24 Timothy Cook, professor, Department of Chemistry.
Amanda Nickerson, professor, Department of Counseling, School & Educational Psychology.
2022-23 Mary McVee, professor, Department of Learning and Instruction.
Chunming Qiao, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

Read more about our 2022-23 award winners.
2021-22 Shambhu Upadhyaya, professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
Jason Briner, professor, Department of Geology.

Read more about our 2021-22 award winners.
2020-21 Myung Mi Kim, professor, Department of English.
Laina Bay-Cheng, professor, School of Social Work.
Jinhui Xu, professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

Read more about our 2020-21 award winners.
2019-20 William Solomon, professor, Department of English.
Jun Zhuang, professor, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

Read more about our 2019-20 award winners.
2018-19 Stelios Andreadis, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.
Steven Diver, professor, Department of Chemistry.

Read more about our 2018-19 award winners.
2017-18 Paul Gollnick, professor, Department of Biological Sciences.
Sargur Srihari
, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

Read more about our 2017-18 award winners.
2016-17 Jennifer Read, professor, Department of Psychology.
Venu Govindaraju
, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

Read more about our 2016-17 award winners.
2015-16 Margarita Dubocovich, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology.
Mark O’Brian
, professor, Department of Biochemistry.

Read more about our 2015-16 award winners.
2014-15 Rajan Batta, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.
Anthony Campagnari
, professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology.
Yvonne Scherer, associate professor, School of Nursing.
2013-14 Sharmistha Bagchi-Sen, professor, Department of Geography.
Sharon Evans, professor, Department of Immunology, Roswell Park Graduate Division.
2012-13 Diana S. Aga, professor, Department of Chemistry.
Suzanne S. Dickerson
, associate professor, School of Nursing.
Thomas H. Feeley
, professor, Department of Communication.
2011-12 Paschalis Alexandridis, UB Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.
Luis Colón
, professor, Department of Chemistry.