Since 1965, The Association of Former Students has joined with Texas A&M University's Office of Graduate and Professional Studies in recognizing outstanding graduate students for their exemplary accomplishments in one of two categories: Research and Teaching.
These awards are presented annually to 15 or more outstanding graduate students. Each individual recipient receives a framed certificate and custom gold watch from The Association.
“Graduate students contribute to our research and teaching missions while advancing scholarship in their fields of study,” said Dr. Karen Butler-Purry, associate provost for graduate and professional studies. “Thanks to The Association of Former Students’ support for these awards, we are able to recognize 15 of our most exemplary graduate students this year.”
Donors to The Association of Former Students provide funding for this program.
Porter S. Garner III ’79, President and CEO of The Association of Former Students, said the alumni association is proud to recognize graduate students’ excellence in research and teaching, as well as their embodiment of Texas A&M’s core values.
"The admirable work of the graduate students being honored with this year’s Distinguished Graduate Student Award bring honor, prestige and recognition to Texas A&M,” he said.
Each distinguished graduate student was commended in a recognition event on April 26. A virtual program will be made available in late May for awardees and their friends or family members who cannot attend in person.
Watch the 2021 Recognition Program
The 2021 recipients, along with their departments and faculty advisors, are:
Research Awards
- Justin Andrews ’18, Chemistry, College of Science
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Sarbajit Banerjee
- Mostafa Karimi ’20, Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Yang Shen
- Pierre Lau ’20, Entomology, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Juliana Rangel
- Jose Juarez ’21, Entomology, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Gabriel Hamer
- Xinyu Li ’21, Animal Science, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Guoyao Wu
- Yao Li ’18, Civil and Environmental Engineer, College of Engineering
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Huilin Gao
- Aniruddha Maity ’21, Soil and Crop Sciences, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Muthukumar Bagavathiannan
- Navaneeth Krishna Rajeeva Pandian ’19, Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Abhishek Jain
- Sung Hwan Park ’21, Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Hae-Kwon Jeong
- Yefan Tian ’19, Physics and Astronomy, College of Science
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Joseph Ross Jr
For Teaching
- Danielle Bevan ’20, Teaching, Learning and Culture, College of Education and Human Development
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Mary Margaret Capraro
- Sakina Dixon ’22, Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Chanda Elbert
- Olivia Gunther ’21, Chemistry, College of Science
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Oleg Ozerov
- Elif Kaya ’17, Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution, College of Engineering
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Kamran Entesari
- Sualeh Khurshid ’16, Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Diego Donzis
- Seul Lee ’19, English, College of Liberal Arts
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Marian Eide
- Sin-Ning Cindy Liu ’20, Psychological and Brain Sciences, College of Liberal Arts
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Mindy Bergman
- Shawanee’ Patrick ’12, Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Pilwon Hur and Dr. Douglas Allaire
- Maria Roque ’19, Health Promotion & Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Ping Ma
- Landon Sadler ’18, English, College of Liberal Arts
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Vanita Reddy
