Office of Graduate Studies

Graduation Awards - Most Outstanding Doctoral Graduates

Here are the results of the awards competition:

Best Doctoral Dissertation:

Social Sciences
Kimberly Hoffman (Clinical Psych, CoAS)

Mathematics and Engineering
Stephen Nonnenmann (MSE, CoAS)

Life and Physical Sciences
John Eisenbrey (Biomedical Science and Engineering) Co-winner
Elina Vitol (ECE, CoE) Co-winner

Most Promise to Enhance Drexel's Reputation

Social Sciences
Nicole Sestito (Clinical Psych, CoAS)

Life and Physical Sciences
Kara Spiller (Biomedical Science and Engineering)

Mathematics and Engineering
Stephen Niezgoda (MSE, CoE)

Congratulations to all!

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Most Promise to Enhance Drexel's Reputation

Social Sciences
Nicole Sestito (Clinical Psych, CoAS)

Life and Physical Sciences
Kara Spiller (Biomedical Science and Engineering)

Mathematics and Engineering
Stephen Niezgoda (MSE, CoE)

This is a call for nominations for six annual awards to be presented to doctoral students graduating in the period from Commencement 2009 to Commencement 2010. The awards, with a cash prize of $1000 and a certificate of recognition each, are in the following categories:

Social Sciences (for students in Business, Education, Information Science, Psychology);
Mathematical Sciences and Engineering (for students in Mathematics, all Engineering programs);
Physical and Life Sciences (for students in Bioscience, Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Science and Policy, Biomedical Engineering, Nursing, Public Health)

with two awards in each category. One will be for the best dissertation written while the second will be for the student deemed to have the most promise in enhancing Drexel’s reputation in the future.

The department groupings given are not exhaustive (for reasons of brevity) and should not be considered to be cast in stone. For example, a Biomedical Engineering student or one in Information Science who has written a praiseworthy thesis as part of the requirements of the degree may be nominated in the Mathematical Sciences and Engineering category if the student’s thesis topic is thought to fall in this area. If you have questions regarding the appropriate group placement, please contact the Graduate Studies Office.

Nomination Procedures

Up to two nominations per award offered are allowed per department (or college with no departments) and must be submitted by the department head/chair (or dean, for colleges with no departments) to the Office of Graduate Studies. Nomination materials in a single pdf file should e-mailed to limtk@drexel.edu by the close of day on May 31, 2010 and should include:

For Best Dissertation Award: Two letters of recommendation (with one from the dissertation advisor and the other from a member of the dissertation committee or someone notable in the nominee’s field of research, that evaluate both the quality of the student’s research and its contribution to knowledge in the nominee's field); For the Most Promise Award: the two letters of recommendation should be from individuals familiar with Drexel’s mission and traditions, and should stress the all-around qualities of the nominee and the likelihood of future success;
a supporting letter from the department head/chair explaining why the nominee was chosen;
a short summary (no more than 5-10 pages) of the student’s dissertation or a copy of the external abstract as originally submitted with the dissertation to the Office of Graduate Studies;
A curriculum vita that lists educational and research training, publications *(if any), awards received (if any) and other pertinent information;
A 2-3 page statement in the nominee’s own words indicating how he or she meets the award criteria
Evidence of extracurricular activities and service to the University and community, if any.

Award Selection Procedures

The Office of Graduate Studies will select an award committee that will review nominations and submit names of prize winners to the Associate Vice Provost for Graduate Studies.
If the award committee judges that no nomination is outstanding in any category, no award will be given in that category.
Winners will be informed by June 4, 2010. They will be recognized at Commencement but will receive their awards at a special doctoral ceremony on Friday June 11, 2010. Best Dissertation Winners will
also be invited to give 5-minute “acceptance” speeches at the ceremony.

*In the graduate student’s CV, in the section highlighting papers published, presentations made and conferences attended, the details of the papers/posters should conform to the following, wherever appropriate:
For meeting/conference contributions:

Meeting Type (National/ International/ Regional)	Format of presentation (Poster, Oral); allowed time if oral	Published in Proceedings?	Refereed proceedings?	Invited or accepted	Published elsewhere	Author order (first, last, .. ) and workload (100%, 50%, .. )

For published work:

Peer-reviewed paper/book chapter (by invitation or submission)	Acceptance rate	Impact factor of journal or audience of circulation (International, National, Regional)	Number of citations	Author order (first, last, .. ) and workload (100%, 50%, .. )