On April 16, 2019, the 13th annual Graduate Mentoring Awards Ceremony honored five faculty members with the Carol D. Soc Distinguished Graduate Student Mentoring Award (opens in a new tab) and the Graduate Assembly Faculty Mentor Award (opens in a new tab). About 100 students, faculty, and staff attended the annual event at Anna Head Alumnae Hall.
Aaron Hall, Chair of the Faculty Mentoring Awards selection committee of the Graduate Assembly, and Fiona Doyle, Dean of the Graduate Division, presented the awards to the recipients — chosen from 53 faculty nominees — who exemplify the values and best practices of effective mentoring on campus.
Carol D. Soc Distinguished Graduate Student Mentoring Awards
The Carol D. Soc Mentoring Award is funded by a generous bequest from the estate of Carol Soc, a long-time employee of the Graduate Division. The award aims to recognize and foster the qualities of excellence in mentorship that are central to the Berkeley community. This year’s winners, nominated and selected by faculty peers, are:
Masayoshi Tomizuka (opens in a new tab), Cheryl and John Neerhout Jr. Professor of Mechanical Engineering, was honored as a late-career faculty winner. Noted for the “‘gentle touch’ of mentorship and friendship.”
Caitlin Rosenthal (opens in a new tab), Professor of History, was honored as an early-career faculty winner. One nominator stated that there is an “enthusiasm and generosity that characterizes her spirit.”
Graduate Assembly Faculty Mentor Awards
Now in its 15th year, the Faculty Mentor Award, sponsored by the Graduate Assembly, honors faculty who have shown an outstanding commitment to mentoring, advising and supporting graduate students to succeed academically, professionally, and personally. Nominated by current and former graduate students and faculty colleagues, this year’s winners are:
Marion Fourcade, (opens in a new tab) Professor of Sociology. One of the nominators stated: “Marion challenged me to not tear down, but integrate the work of others, even those with whom I disagree. “Find what is true,” she said, “in what they have written and use it to build something of your own.” Her words marked a watershed, a moment of liberation, a release from the heavy burdens of academic entrenchment and intellectual polarization.”
Andrew F. Jones (opens in a new tab), Professor of East Asian Languages and Louis B. Agassiz Chair in Chinese. A grad student nominator noted – “Andrew taught me how to be a scholar and a mentor, but more importantly, he taught me how to be a person. One day I saw him making photocopies for his class. Astonished, I asked him whether he had no GSI to help him do such trivial matters. He answered, “GSIs have more important things to do.“”
Osagie Obasogie (opens in a new tab), Haas Distinguished Chair and Professor of Bioethics. A grad student nominator stated – “Professor Obasogie’s mentorship does not compartmentalize my intellectual well-being from my personal welfare. He makes visible aspects of my graduate experience that would otherwise feel invisible and isolating. Having met with his other advisees, I know that I am not unique in this.”
Congratulations to all!
The Distinguished Graduate Student Mentoring Awards are sponsored by the Graduate Division, and The Faculty Mentor Awards are sponsored by the Graduate Assembly.