Top Virginia Tech graduate students honored with awards
The Virginia Tech Graduate School recognized students who won top honors as doctoral and master’s degree students at an awards dinner this week. The dissertation advisors of the outstanding dissertations awards also were recognized.
Top doctoral and master’s degree students were also nominated for the awards by the university’s eight colleges. In addition to receiving their awards at the Thursday night dinner, part of Graduate Education Week, they will be recognized during the graduate commencement ceremony on May 15.
“It is a very exciting time for all of us at the Graduate School and for the evaluation committees, said Muhammad R. Hajj, associate dean, professor of engineering science and mechanics and director of the I/UCRC Center for Energy Harvesting Materials and Systems.
Award winners
- 2015 Graduate Student of the Year: Sheldon Masters, of Mandeville, Jamaica, doctoral student in civil engineering.
- Graduate Service Excellence award: Anna M. Brown, of Roanoke,Virginia, doctoral student in the biochemistry in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
- Outstanding Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) dissertation award: Hamzeh M. Al Qublan, of Lynchburg, Virginia, doctoral student in the biomedical sciences and pathology program of the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine.
- Top STEM dissertation advisor award: Nammalwar Sriranganathan, biomedical science professor
- Social sciences, business, education and humanities (SSBEH) dissertation award: Cynthia Ann Lintz, of Austin, Texas, a doctoral student in planning governance and globalization in the College of Architecture and Urban Sciences.
- SSBEH outstanding advisor award: Sonia Hirt, urban affairs and planning associate professor.
- Outstanding interdisciplinary doctoral student: Sophia Orbach, of Huntington Woods, Michigan, a chemical engineering student in the College of Engineering.
- William Preston Master’s thesis awards: Winston Becker, of Advance, North Carolina, from the biomedical engineering and mechanics program in the STEM category; Raven Weaver, of Bethany, West Virginia, in the human development program in the SSBEH category.
- Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) Instructor of Record excellence award: Jonathan Waldron, of Manassas, Virginia, in the psychology program in the College of Science.
- GTA Assistant excellence award: Jason Smith, of Lovetteville, Virginia, in the College of Life Sciences’ Animal and Poultry Science program.
Outstanding doctoral degree students
- College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: Sarah Phoebe Williams, of Charlottesville, Virginia, biochemistry
- College of Architecture and Urban Studies: Kenneth Sands II, of Nassau, Bahamas, environmental design and planning/building construction
- Pamplin College of Business: Hye Lin Kim, of Seoul, South Korea,hotel and tourism management
- College of Engineering: Balaji Subramaniam, of Chennai, India, computer science
- College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences: Jennifer Henderson, of Sunset, Utah, Science and Technology in Society (STS)
- College of Natural Resources and Environment: Wei Zhang, of Weifang, China, in sustainable biomaterials
- College of Science: Kyle Ashley, of Madrid, New York, geosciences
- Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine: Thomas Brickler, of Riverswood, Illinois, biomedical sciences and pathology
Outstanding master’s degree students
- College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: Sarah McCoski, of Amsterdam, New York, animal and poultry sciences
- College of Architecture and Urban Studies: Christopher Taylor, of Aldie, Virginia, architecture
- Pamplin College of Business: John-Paul Gravelines, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, business administration
- College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences: Thomas Seabrook, of Hopewell, New Jersey, history
- College of Natural Resources and Environment: Ashley Athey, of Danville, Virginia, geography
- College of Science: Alexandra Gerling, of Fairport, New York, biology
- Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine: Sarah Holland, Madeira, Ohio, large animal clinical science
