UW Names 2024 Graduate Award Recipients

The University of Wyoming’s School of Graduate Education and Graduate Council have selected the 2024 winners of graduate student and mentor awards for outstanding teaching and research.

The Distinguished Graduate Faculty Mentor Award recognizes outstanding faculty commitment to graduate student mentoring with 10 or more years of academic career experience at UW. The John P. Ellbogen Outstanding Graduate Assistant Teaching Awards go to graduate teaching assistants to honor their excellence in teaching. The Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award recognizes a graduate student for an exemplary master’s thesis. The Outstanding Dissertation Award is granted to a graduate student for an exemplary doctoral dissertation. Each award carries a stipend.

The Early-Career Graduate Faculty Mentor Award and the Mid-Career Graduate Faculty Mentor Award are presented to faculty members for their commitment to mentoring graduate students. The Early-Career Graduate Faculty Mentor Award is presented to a faculty member with less than six years of academic career at the university. The Mid-Career Graduate Faculty Mentor Award is given to a faculty member with six to 10 years of academic career experience at UW.

A new award given this year is the UW School of Graduate Education Dean’s Distinguished Service Award. The award recognizes exceptional service to graduate students by a UW administrator or staff member.

The 2024 award winners are:

Distinguished Graduate Faculty Mentor Award

Conxita Domenech, professor, Department of Modern and Classical Languages.

John P. Ellbogen Outstanding Graduate Assistant Teaching Awards

Christopher Cannon, Raleigh, N.C., Department of Psychology.

Aimee Gray, Pinedale, Division of Kinesiology and Health.

Jonathan Lautenbach, Grand Rapids, Mich., Program in Ecology and Evolution/Life Sciences.

Lena Newlin, Laramie, Creative Writing Program.

Cesar “Gerardo” Freyre Pinto, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management.

Outstanding Master’s Thesis

ChooiKim Lau, Laramie, Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management, “Investigating the lifecycle and the techno-economic analysis of coal-derived carbon building materials for low rise buildings.”

Outstanding Dissertation

Tayler LaSharr, Glendale, Ariz., Program in Ecology and Evolution, “Making a living in a harsh world: nutrition, environment, and life-history influence the fitness of a long-lived herbivore.”

Early-Career Graduate Faculty Mentor Award

Corrine Knapp, associate professor, Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources.

Mid-Career Graduate Faculty Mentor Awards

Randa Jabbour, associate professor, Department of Plant Sciences.

Evan Johnson, associate professor, Division of Kinesiology and Health.

Dean’s Distinguished Service to Graduate Education Award

Zebadiah Hall, vice president, Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.