Outstanding Dissertation Award
The Graduate School's Outstanding Dissertation Award recognizes exceptional scholarship, research, and writing by doctoral students. These awards are intended to help raise the profile of our doctoral students.
Awards are given each academic year for Humanities, Sciences, and Social Sciences. The winners receive a $1000 cash prize and are honored at the annual Outstanding Graduate Student Recognition Luncheon.
Criteria
To be eligible for the 2026 award, the dissertation must be defended and submitted to the Graduate School in time for commencement in August 2025, December 2025, or May 2026.
Nominations
Near the spring 2026 deadline for defense date, the Graduate School will issue a call for nominations to doctoral Graduate Program Directors, allowing one nominee per doctoral degree program.
After receiving all of the nominations, the Graduate School will notify each of the selected students that their project has been nominated and is thereby recognized as the outstanding dissertation from their department.
Nomination Materials
Because judges come from multiple disciplines, all writing should, as much as possible, address a general audience and not assume expertise in the specific field.
Please collect the following into a single PDF in the order listed and submit using this online form. Nominations are due to the Graduate School by 5 pm, Thursday, April 2.
- A letter of support (no more than one and one-half pages ) from the dissertation director or a committee member, explaining the project's research and significance in a manner similar to that used for letters of recommendation for faculty jobs. Letters should address the following criteria: significance/impact, originality, soundness of argumentation, and methodology/research/data.
- A letter of nomination (no more than one and one-half pages) from the Graduate Program Director If the GPD and advisor are the same person, the letters can be combined and no more than 3 pages total..
- An abstract of the dissertation (no more than five pages) by the author, including a statement of significance/impact.
- Student’s CV.
Evaluation
A selection committee comprised of Graduate Program Directors will determine the winners from among the department nominees. The dissertations will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
- Significance/Impact
- Originality
- Soundness of Argumentation
- Methodology/Research/Data
2025-2026 Award Winners
Past Award Recipients
Dr. Elizabeth “Liz” Harrelson Magill, Department of Curriculum & Instruction
Dr. Bikram Khanal, Department of Computer Science
Dr. Matthew Reising, Department of Political Science
Dr. Ruiqian Li, Department of Sociology
Dr. Skylar Ray, Department of History
Dr. Alexandrya Tyra, Department of Psychology & Neuroscience
Dr. Shannan Baker, Department of Church Music
Dr. Annmarie Crum, Department of Curriculum & Instruction
Dr. Burke Leonce, Department of Geosciences
Dr. Caroline Paddock, Department of Philosophy
Dr. Jonathan Seward, Department of Health Services Research
Dr. Raegyn Taylor, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Dr. Brandon Rickabaugh, Department of Philosophy
Dr. Lexi Pasi, Department of Mathematics
Dr. Peter Leestma, Department of Information Systems
Rachel Alexander, Department of Political Science
Sam Yruegas, Department of Chemistry
Renae Wilkinson, Department of Sociology
Kenneth Vaughan, Department of Sociology
Michael Rawl, Department of English
Logan Wiest, Department of Geosciences
Alireza Abdolvahabi, Department of Chemistry
Laurie Giddens, Department of Information Systems
Scott Ryan, Department of Religion
Ahmad Borzou, Department of Physics
Brendan Payne, Department of History
Robert A. Thompson, Department of Sociology
Puzant Balozian, Department of Information Systems
Sarah Martindale, Department of Psychology/Neuroscience
Stephen Sims, Department of Political Science
Logan Gage, Department of Philosophy
Brandon Martinez, Department of Sociology
VH Satheeshkumar, Department of Physics
Mary Mathie, Department of Political Science
Douglas Moore, Department of Physics