Grad School Extends Honors

The Graduate School recognized the graduate students and postdoctoral scholars who participated in the Preparing Future Leaders (PFL) programs.

PFL programs provide a foundation for the lifelong professional development of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. Since 2007, PFL has delivered 505 events to more than 10,000 participants. The PFL Celebration of Graduate Student Success honored participants who completed  the Certificate of Accomplishment in Teaching program, the Mentoring and Teaching Practicum, the Preparing the Professoriate program, the Graduate Leadership Development Series, the Certificate in Career Development and the PFL Season Pass. More than 100 colleagues, friends, family, faculty and staff members attended the ice cream social and poster session last month to celebrate NC State’s commitment to excellence in professional development.

Provost Warwick Arden congratulated the students and postdocs at the event.

Graduate students and postdocs support the mission and vision of NC State through their dedication to teaching, research, mentoring and leadership.  Their impact goes far beyond NC State as they become future leaders, Arden said.

“The graduate students and postdocs we recognize today contribute to NC State’s legacy and future of problem-solving that transforms lives and provides leadership for social, economic and technological development across North Carolina and around the world,” he said.

Dr. Tarek Aziz, a PFL alumnus and now teaching assistant professor in civil, construction and environmental engineering,  gave the keynote address.

“It would be an understatement to say PFL has had an impact on my career,” he said.

He encouraged participants to stay on the path of excellence, to always seek useful criticism and to continually challenge themselves.

Arden was joined by Drs. Barbi Honeycutt, Melissa Bostrom and Beth Overman in awarding 131 certificates to students.  The recipients of each award are listed below:

PFL Season Pass, Fall 2011-Spring 2012

Bushra Anjum, Computer Science

Sarah Cash, Genetics

**Zachary Daniel, Economics

Sarah Fritts, Forestry and Environmental Resources

Aycan Koksal, Economics

Michele Meisner, Statistics

Alexandra B. Ormond, Fiber and Polymer Science

**Barry Wayne Peddycord III, Computer Science

Efraín E. Rivera Serrano, Plant Biology

Brian Trench, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

**Kaytee Smith, Forestry and Environmental Resources

(**Fall 2011 Recipient)

Pilot Certificate in Career Development, 2010-11

Olgha Davis, Educational Research & Policy Analysis

Katherine Jones, Business Administration

Graduate Leadership Development Series, Spring 2012

Bushra Anjum, Computer Science

Linett Dennis , 4H Youth Development & Family & Consumer Science

Kristen Drake , Civil Engineering

Kathleen Foote, Physics

William J. Gabler, Textile Engineering, Chemistry, & Science

Chirag R. Gajjar, Textile & Apparel Technology & Management

Nashett Chaunté Garrett, Leadership, Policy, & Adult & Higher Education

Dawn Henderson, Psychology

Favio Intriago , Civil Engineering

Christopher Kennedy , Nuclear Engineering

Mandy Liesch , Soil Science

Jihye Lim, Textile & Apparel Technology & Management

Haritha Malladi, Civil, Construction, & Environmental Engineering

Rohan A. Manavi, Operations Research

Srivalli Gayatri Mantha, Integrated Manufacturing Systems Engineering

Mohamad Midani, Textile & Apparel Technology & Management

Alexandra B. Ormond, Fiber & Polymer Science

Lauren E. Popham, Psychology

Sameer Sudhakar Tendulkar , Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Nagarajan Thoppey Muthuraman, Textile Engineering, Chemistry, & Science

Yongxin Wang, Textile Engineering, Chemistry, & Science

Audrey K. Watanabe, Industrial Design

Certificate of Accomplishment in Teaching Graduates, Fall 2011- Spring 2012

Fatih Altunok†, Economics

Bushra Anjum, Computer Science

Ingrid Arocho, Civil Engineering

Ashley Banerjee, Industrial & Systems Engineering

Titus Barik, Computer Science

David Bednar††, Entomology

Bjorn Berg, Industrial & Systems Engineering

Christine L. Brown††, Biology

Kathleen Burchhardt, Plant Pathology

Lindsey Carpenter, Foreign Languages & Literatures

Candice Chambers, Sociology and Anthropology

Mary E. Christie, Biology

Natalie Kathleen Cooke, Food, Bioprocessing, & Nutrition Sciences

Gregory Dempsey , Mathematics

Rosa Fattahi, English

Matthew Fendt, Computer Science

Laura B. Fitzwater, Sociology & Anthropology

Meredith Fotta Civil, Construction, & Environmental Engineering

Aaron Freeman Fox, Crop Science

Margaret Frey, Marine, Earth, & Atmospheric Sciences

Laura Giovanelli, English

Gregory S. Gojanovich, Clinical Sciences

Sierra Hana Golden, English

James Grady, Design

Brandon M. Graver, Civil, Construction, & Environmental Engineering

Tiffany Grovenstein, Psychology

Lena M. Guisewite, Entomology

Elizabeth Hassell††, Biology

Luyan He††, Plant Biology

John T. Hird Jr., Mathematics

Chia-Lin Ho, Psychology

Rachael Marie Huston, Graphic Design

Yari Ben Johnson, Forestry & Environmental Resources

Marc Philip Kaї, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Ashley R. Kelly‡, Communication, Rhetoric, & Digital Media

Sarah A. King, Applied Mathematics

Rebecca Knowe, Graphic Design

Aycan Koksal, Economics

Jenna Kutzner-Mulligan, Animal Science

James Lavin, Industrial & Systems Engineering

Laura Alyse Leininger, English

Sarah London, Communication

Dillon Lunn, Civil, Construction & Environmental Engineering

Kestrel McCorkle, Plant Pathology

Mary Elizabeth Miller, Industrial Design

Terry Naranjo, Landscape Architecture

Katarina Pantic, Communication

Nicole Panza, Mathematics

Amina Patton, Design

Joshua Raabe††, Biology

Elizabeth Riley, Horticultural Science

Shari L. Rodriguez, Forestry & Environmental Resources

Kelsey Ryan, Food, Bioprocessing, & Nutrition Sciences

Dnyanada Satam , Textile & Apparel Technology & Management

Denise Shell, Foreign Languages & Literatures

Mingzhu Shi††, Plant Biology

Diane E. Silcox††, Entomology

Lindsay Smith, English

Clint Stevenson, Food, Bioprocessing, & Nutrition Sciences

Molly Hartzog Storment, English

John E. Strange, Public & International Affairs

Sarah Ravenel Suda, Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences

Jeremy Tejada, Industrial Engineering

Melissa Turner, Fisheries & Wildlife Sciences

Bryce Paul Tyner, Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences

Jay Vaglio, Design

Emine Yaylali, Operations Research

(†CoAT in Economics,     ††CoAT in Life Sciences ,    ‡CoAT in Professional Writing)

Mentoring and Teaching Practicum – Graduates and Mentors, Spring 2012

Fatih Altunok, Economics; Mentor: Dr. Greg Lilly, Elon University

Jesse Paul Crane-Seeber, International Studies;  Mentor: Dr. Wayne Lee, UNC-Chapel Hill

Jennifer Hurley-Sanders, Fisheries, Wildlife, & Conservation Biology; Mentor: Dr. Larry Grimes, Meredith College,

Aycan Koksal, Economics; Mentor:  Dr. Thomas Nechyba, Duke University

Yun Long, Chemical & Biomolecular  Engineering; Mentor: Dr. Michael Dickey, NC State University

John E. Strange, Public & International Affairs; Mentor: Dr. Betty Morgan, Elon University

Melissa Tolley, Mathematics; Mentors: Dr. Ramesh Mathur, Shaw University, Dr. Jennifer Hontz, Meredith College

Preparing the Professoriate Fellows and Mentors, 2011-2012

Ingrid Arocho, Civil, Construction, & Environmental Engineering; Mentors: Dr. Joseph Hummer, Dr. John Stone

Bjorn Berg, Industrial and Systems Engineering; Mentor: Dr. Brian Denton

Kathryn Brenneman, Mathematics; Mentor: Dr. Robert Martin

Alicain S. Carlson, Horticultural Science; Mentor: Dr. John Dole

Gregory Dempsey, Mathematics ; Mentor: Dr. Ernest Stitzinger

Brandon M. Graver, Civil, Construction, & Environmental Engineering; Mentor: Dr. H. Christopher Frey

Joshua Michael Hykes, Nuclear Engineering; Mentor: Dr. Steven Shannon

Zackary Kenz, Applied Mathematics; Mentor: Dr. H. Thomas Banks

Casey E. Letkewicz, Marine, Earth, & Atmospheric Sciences; Mentors: Dr. Gary Lackmann, Dr. Matthew Parker

You Li, Food, Bioprocessing & Nutrition Sciences; Mentor: Dr. Lee-Ann Jaykus

Emma Norbrothen, Mathematics; Mentor: Dr. Ernie Stitzinger

Shari L. Rodriguez,  Forestry & Environmental Resources; Mentors: Ms. Suzanne Balik, Dr. James Lester

Jennifer Sabourin, Computer Science; Mentors: Ms. Suzanne Balik, Dr. James Lester

**Douglas Stefanski, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering; Mentor: Dr. Jack Edwards

Jeremy Tejada, Industrial & Systems Engineering; Mentor: Dr. James Wilson

Melissa Tolley, Mathematics; Mentor: Dr. Irina Kogan

Stephanie Vereen, Civil, Construction, & Environmental Engineering; Mentor: Dr. William Rasdorf

Anthony Wilson, Textile Technology Management; Mentor: Dr. Cynthia Istook

Alice Wines, Plant Biology; Mentors: Dr. Chad Jordan, Dr. Dominique Robertson

April Wynn,  Genetics; Mentor: Dr. Stephanie Curtis

Emine Yaylali, Operations Research & Industrial & Systems Engineering; Mentor: Dr. Julie Ivy

(** 2010-2011 Fellow)

For more information about the Graduate School’s Preparing Future Leaders initiative: go.ncsu.edu/pfl