The Integrated Program in Biochemistry (IPiB) is pleased to continue its commitment to teaching and mentorship by announcing the 2019 graduate student awards that celebrate these important aspects of the program. The awards were given out at the IPiB Summer Reception on Friday, June 7.
Evan Glasgow, from the lab of Professor Brian Fox, and Nathan Thomas, from the lab of Professor Katherine Henzler-Wildman, received the 2019 Denton Award for Graduate Student Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring. Andrew Voter, from the lab of Professor James Keck, received the 2019 Sigrid Leirmo Memorial Award in Biochemistry.
The Denton Award honors IPiB students who consistently provide quality guidance and scientific training in mentoring undergraduate students in their research efforts and show evidence of quality, commitment, and innovation in teaching.
“I seek teaching and mentoring opportunities because working with young, interested scientists, and seeing them struggle and earn their growth, is its own reward,” Glasgow says. “But receiving recognition for the many hundreds of hours I’ve spent being their mentor is a tremendous honor. Knowing that the IPiB community recognizes and supports my efforts to teach and train these students is a huge encouragement to keep forging these growth and mentoring relationships.”
The award is made possible by the generosity of Arnold E. and Catherine M. Denton. IPiB is the joint graduate program of the Department of Biochemistry and Department of Biomolecular Chemistry.
“This award is truly an honor, and it is humbling to be nominated for it, let alone selected to receive it,” Thomas says. “As a grad student, having the opportunity to teach and mentor other grad students and undergraduates is a great privilege and a daunting responsibility. Receiving this award is greatly encouraging, and it demonstrates the high value this department places on training future scientists.”
The Leirmo Award recognizes graduate or postdoctoral students who exemplify the spirit of Sigrid Leirmo. Leirmo received her Ph.D. from the Department of Biochemistry in 1989. She was widely acknowledged among her fellow students and colleagues as a promising researcher and enthusiastic friend and mentor.
“I am honored and humbled to have been selected for the Sigrid Leirmo award,” says Voter, who recently finished his Ph.D. and is now headed back to medical school to complete his M.D./Ph.D. program. “My thesis work was made possible through the generous help and guidance I’ve received from the Keck Lab and the IPiB community, and I hope I’ll be able to pay it forward.”
IPiB’s Student Faculty Liaison Committee (SFLC) also announced its newest round of officers at the reception.
- Chair: Josephine Werner
- Vice Chair: Dana Dahhan
- Treasurer/Fundraiser: Jennifer Peotter
- Career: Peyton Spreacker, Nathan Murray
- Recruiting: Elizabeth Larson, Alex Duckworth
- Social: Aryel Clark, Matt Blackburn
- Outreach: Josh Mitchell, Katherine Senn, and Lily Miller
- Student Lunch Symposium: Will Kasberg
- Student Invited Speaker: Tina Lynch
- Curriculum Chair: Adam Lewis
- NSOC: Harriet Saunders
- Retreat: Rachel Cueny and Christine Hustmeyer