Top UA Graduate Students Honored

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama Graduate School has announced the recipients of the 2004 Outstanding Graduate Student Awards.

The award categories are: Outstanding Dissertation, Outstanding Thesis, Outstanding Teaching by a Master’s Student, Outstanding Teaching by a Doctoral Student, Outstanding Research by a Master’s Student, and Outstanding Research by a Doctoral Student.

Three separate committees reviewed the nominations from the divisions for the awards. Committees of faculty emeriti selected the thesis and dissertation winners. The Graduate Council’s Committee on Teaching and Research Awards evaluated the nominations for the four awards for excellence in teaching and excellence in research.

The committees have selected the following students as recipients of the 2004 UA Graduate School awards:

• Justin Benefield, finance, received the Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Doctoral Student. Benefield was the only graduate student in the department to teach two different courses in a semester. He taught Introductory Corporate Finance, a required course for all business majors. His evaluation scores were among the highest in the department. Benefield also subsequently taught Investments, Real Estate Appraisal and Real Estate Finance and Investments, all while taking his own courses and maintaining certification by the Alabama Real Estate Commission.
• Julius Nathan Henderson, chemistry, received the Outstanding Thesis Award for “Creating and Characterization of an In Vitro System for the Study of Photosystem I Disassembly and Degradation.” His adviser, Dr. Kevin Redding, assistant professor of chemistry, described Henderson as “highly motivated, self-directed and well grounded in chemistry and biology.” He also added that Henderson made a courageous decision in choosing the most important and most difficult project available.
• Jacqueline Trimble, English, received the Outstanding Dissertation Award for “Confounded Identities: Race, Gender, Culture in Adrienne Kennedy in One Act.” Dr. Elizabeth Meese, professor of English, considered Trimble’s work to be “original, engaging, and ultimately publishable.” The dissertation represents the beginnings of what promises to be the first book-length, single-author study of Adrienne Kennedy, a distinguished 20th century African-American playwright.
• Zhiya Zhao, physics, received the Award for Outstanding Research by a Master’s Student. His research demonstrates the origin of biquadratic coupling in magnetic multilayers which has important implications for future design of spintronic devices such as magnetic sensors, reading heads for hard disc drivers and magnetic memory. He will also present a paper at the Ninth Joint Magnetism and Magnetic Materials international conference.
• Jane Sandor, English and creative writing, received the Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Master’s Student. She has served as teacher of record for required composition classes and for electives in creative writing. Her students find her “inspiring, encouraging and exacting,” according to Sandy Huss, associate professor of English. Sandor was responsible in all aspects of her class, ranging from design to execution to grading.
• Nancy Ryba, psychology, received the Award for Outstanding Research by a Doctoral Student. Her work focused on the relationship between cognitive abilities, psychiatric symptomatology and competence-related abilities. Ryba has presented eight different papers at national and international conferences, and her publication rate far outweighs that which is common in her field. She has been actively involved in departmental committees and in the APA.