President's Award to Distinguished Doctoral Students

Five awards of $1,000 each will be granted to outstanding graduates in May, during commencement week, at an annual awards ceremony and reception for recipients and their families. Recipients are expected to participate in a Graduate School colloquium scheduled prior to the reception. 

Students who have completed all degree requirements or anticipate the completion of all degree requirements, including the successful defense of their dissertation,  in time to attend the May  doctoral hooding ceremony are eligible.  Eligible attendees for the May 2022 doctoral hooding ceremony include:

• August 2021 graduates*
• December 2021 graduates
• May 2022  graduates
• August 2022 graduates

*For this year,  as a result of Covid, August 2021 graduates can be considered for nomination.

Nominations must be endorsed by the student's Graduate Program Director (GPD).

The awards committee will consider the following when reviewing nominations; all three are not required:

1. The outstanding merit of the candidate's dissertation and its research base.
2. The candidate's exceptional contributions in ability or service to the university, which must be of such a nature as to warrant special citation.
3. How, in completing doctoral study, the candidate overcame a personal or social handicap of an unusual nature, warranting special recognition. For example, this could include  a difficult family situation or financial hardship, a learning disability, or similar adversity that the student overcame.   

Submit a Nomination

The Google Form link above includes entry fields/document upload sections for the following:

• A letter of nomination.
• GPD Endorsement checkbox 
• 2-3 faculty letters of support.
• Dissertation Title 
• Actual/proposed defense date
• A dissertation abstract, or similar summary of the project. This should be geared toward a general audience and should nt exceed two (2) pages. 
• The student's C.V.

 

Past Recipients