Awards and Honors
National Awards
Clare Boothe Luce Scholarship
The Clare Boothe Luce Program stands alone as the single most significant source of private support for women in science, engineering and mathematics. Clare Boothe Luce, the widow of Henry R. Luce, was a playwright, journalist, U.S. Ambassador to Italy, and the first woman elected to Congress from Connecticut. She appreciated, however, that many women face obstacles in their chosen professions. In her magnificent bequest establishing this program, she sought “to encourage women to enter, study, graduate, and teach” in the sciences (including mathematics) and engineering.
- Jean Tsai, 2007-2009
- Jana Watson, 2000-2002
NSF Pre-doctoral Fellowship
The longest running education program offered by the National Science Foundation is the Graduate Research Fellowship, which provides funds and national recognition to university students working toward careers in science or engineering.
- Hilary North, 2009
- Doug Blackiston, Honorable Mention, 2004
- Colleen Walls, Honorable Mention, 2004
- David Chaves, Honorable Mention, 2002
- Christopher Drummond, 2001
- Brooke Sargent, 2001
NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant
The National Science Foundation funds graduate work towards the Ph.D. degree through its Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant.
- Deborah O'Donnell, 2008 for her project "Effects of vector population structure on immune function and pathogen susceptibility"
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards are awarded for doctoral-level training to promising applicants with the potential to become productive, independent investigators.
- Chris Williams received this award from the NIH for 3 years of support to study "The Analysis of Sense and Antisense Transcripts During the Giardia lamblia Lifecycle"
Society Recognition
Research societies often recognize achievement by students during National and International meetings.
- Divya Uma was awarded the Murray F. Buell award for the outstanding oral paper presented at the 2009 Ecological Society of America's annual meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
- Jennifer Urbanski won the President's Prize for the best student presentation at the 2007 annual meeting of the Entomological Society of America in San Diego, California.
- The Best Poster Award was given to Heather Mallory at the 2006 Entomological Society of America annual meeting for her poster "Learning across development in the praying mantis".
- Giny Fouda received the Young Investigator Award at the 4th annual Pan-African Malaria Meeting in November of 2005.
Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society
The Edward Alexander Bouchet Graduate Honor Society recognizes outstanding scholarly achievement and promotes diversity and excellence in doctoral education and the professoriate. The Bouchet Society seeks to develop a network of preeminent scholars who exemplify academic and personal excellence, foster environments of support, and serve as examples of scholarship, leadership, character, service, and advocacy for students who have been traditionally underrepresented in the academy.
- Crystal Rogers was selected as a charter member of the Georgetown University chapter in March 2008.
Foundation Awards
Research foundations and societies provide funds to support outstanding research by graduate students in many disciplines.
- A 2008 Exploreration and Field Research Grant was awarded to Maggie Stanton from the Washington Chapter of the Explorers Club; this will enable her to conduct research on dolphins in Sharks Bay, Australia.
- The Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research Award was given to Divya Uma for her project titled "A web of intrigue: factors influencing prey preferences of spider-hunting wasps ".
- The Center for Brain-Basis of Cognition awarded Heather Mallory a research award (April 2007).
- The Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research Award was given to Smilja Teodorovic for her project titled "Investigation of sterile transcripts in Giardia lamblia".
- American Society of Mammalogists presented its Grant-in-aid of Research Award (2003) to Quincy Gibson.
- Rebecca Mitsch and Quincy Gibson both received awards from the Graduate School in April 2003 for Innovative Research.
- Cetacean Behavior and Conservation Award given to Brooke Sargeant from the Animal Behavior Society (September 2002)
- The Research Award given to Quincy Gibson from the Animal Behavior Society (September 2002).
- The Sigma Xi Research Award was given to Jana Watson (September 2002). Sigma Xi is the Scientific Research Society bridging all scientific disciplines.
- Research Award given to Jennifer Pettis from the Office of Naval Research as one Co-Principal Investigator (2002).
- National Geographic Society Research Grant Award given to Jana Watson with Dr. Janet Mann as Principal Investigator, 2002.
University Awards
Harold N. Glassman Dissertation Award.
The Harold N. Glassman Dissertation Awards are intended to honor truly distinguished dissertations in the sciences, social sciences and humanities - one award is available in each of the three broad disciplinary areas. The awards will be given for truly distinguished scholarship only and should be seen as significant honors. The tangible prize consists of a certificate and a cash award. More significant, though, is the respect given the dissertation by the dissertator's mentor, committee and the senior faculty who reviewed the dissertation.
- 2007 - Christopher Drummond, for his dissertation entitled "Phylogenetic relationship, mating systems and population structure in Lupinus (Leguminosae)"
- 2006 - Jana Watson-Capps, for her dissertation entitled "Female mating behavior in the context of sexual coercion and female ranging behavior of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.) in Shark Bay, Western Australia"
- 2005 - Amorsolo (J.R.) Suguitan, for his dissertation entitled "Identification of factors that increase the risk of pre-term delivery in women infected with Plasmodium falciparum"
ARCS Fellowship
The Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Foundation Fellowship Award is given for outstanding achievement and dedication to the study of science.
- Eric Patterson, ARCS Fellowship, 2009-2010
- Amanda Munson, ARCS Fellowship, 2002-2003
- Maryam Farzad, ARCS Fellowship, 1999-2000
- Kris Bough, ARCS Fellowship, 1998-1999
- Michael Hickey, ARCS Fellowship, 1997-1998
University Fellows
- Maggie Stanton, 2006-2010
- Colleen Walls, 2003-2008
- Quincy Gibson, 2001-2005
- Christopher Drummond, 2000-2004
- Jana Watson, 2000-2004
Healy Fellow
- Christopher Williams, 2006
Georgetown University Student Research Day Award
The purpose of Student Research Days is to showcase the scientific research efforts of students and postdoctoral fellows at Georgetown University. Undergraduate students compete with masters students from the GU Medical School in the
Bachelors/Masters Division.
- 2004 - Laura Gehl, honorable mention (Neale laboratory)
- 2003 - Miriam Farzad, first place (Elmendorf laboratory)
Department Awards
Outstanding Graduate Student Award
- Heather Mallory and Jennifer Urbanski, 2009
- Divya Bellur Uma, 2008
- Crystal Darlene Rogers, 2007
- Doug Blackiston, 2006
- Brooke Sargeant, 2005
- Dan Kjar, 2004
- Amorsolo (J.R.) Suguitan, 2003
- Maryam Farzad, 2002
