Roy Germano, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Government, has won the $10,000 Michael H. Granof Outstanding Graduate Student Award at the Graduate School/University Co-op Awards for Excellence in Graduate Education.
The Excellence in Graduate Education awards recognize and reward outstanding graduate students for distinguished scholarship, research, writing and teaching.
The theme of this year’s awards program was “Celebrating 100 Years of Graduate Education” in recognition of the centennial of the Graduate School, which was founded in 1910.
Germano has done extensive research with the people of Mexico, and his dissertation, “The Political Economy of Remittances,” argues that Mexican migrants’ remittances have been an important and overlooked factor in preventing populist backlash to market-oriented reforms in Mexico. Germano produced, shot and edited the award-winning film “The Other Side of Immigration” based on interviews he conducted in Mexican towns where about half the population has left to work in the United States.
The Outstanding Dissertation Award recognizes exceptional work by doctoral students. Three awards of $4,000 each were presented to: Kurt Dresner, Computer Science; Aaron Michael Shield, Linguistics; and John N. Hopkins, Art History.
The Outstanding Thesis/Report Award recognizes exceptional work by a master’s student. An award of $2,000 was presented to Christine U. Oramasionwu, from the College of Pharmacy.
The George H. Mitchell Award for Excellence in Graduate Research recognizes outstanding research that is substantially in progress. Three awards of $2,000 each were presented to: David Kryscio, Chemical Engineering; Carrie C. Veilleux, Anthropology; and Kirby L. Brown, English.
The William S. Livingston Outstanding Graduate Student Academic Employee Award recognizes an outstanding teaching assistant, assistant instructor and graduate research assistant. Three awards of $2,000 each were presented to Kevin Jordan Bourque, English, for Outstanding Assistant Instructor; Bo Wang, Biomedical Engineering, for Outstanding Graduate Research Assistant; and Seungsoo Kim, Biomedical Engineering, for Outstanding Teaching Assistant.
“At the university, we say, What Starts Here Changes the World, and it is true,” said Victoria Rodríguez, vice provost and dean of graduate studies. “Our graduate students work alongside the finest faculty, they inspire undergraduate students in the classroom and they design research projects and develop new ideas that, in time, go on to change the world. We are proud of the work done by these award-winning graduate students and look forward to hearing more about their accomplishments in the future.”
The Graduate School and the University Co-op hosted the awards presentation on May 19 at The Four Seasons Hotel. The University Co-op provides the funding that makes these awards possible.
