The Office of Graduate Studies presented eight awards for outstanding graduate education at its annual Graduate Studies Awards Luncheon on April 12.

Award winners are:

Michael Chao – 2016 Lowe R. & Mavis M. Folsom Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award

Chao completed his doctoral degree in animal science under professor Chris Calkins. His dissertation is titled “Impact of Wet Distillers Grains Plus Solubles and Antioxidants on a Basic Mechanism of Beef Tenderization.” Chao is from San Marino, California.

Sarah Fawn Montgomery – 2016 Lowe R. & Mavis M. Folsom Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award

Montgomery completed her doctoral degree in English under professor Joy Castro. Her dissertation is titled “We’re All Mad Here: An American Pharma-memoir.” Montgomery is from San Miguel, California.

Chase Aunspach – 2016 Lowe R. & Mavis M. Folsom Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award

Aunspach completed his master’s degree in communication studies under professor Carly Woods. His thesis is titled “From the Gay Bar to the Search Bar: Promiscuity, Identity, and Queer Mobility on Grindr.” Aunspach is from Granger, Iowa.

Lei Li – 2016 Outstanding Graduate Research Assistant Award

Li of Yiyang City, Hunan Province, China is pursuing a doctoral degree in chemistry and is a research assistant under the supervision of professor Xiao Cheng Zeng.

Dane Bowder – 2016 Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award

Bowder of Lincoln, Nebraska is a doctoral student in biological sciences and is a teaching assistant under the supervision of professor Shi-Hua Xiang.

Maureen Honey, Debra Hope, and Emily Kazyak – 2016 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Education

Honey is from Lansing, Michigan and is a professor of English. Her specializations include 20th Century American and Women’s Literature, Women in World War II, Harlem Renaissance and Popular Culture. She has supervised 23 doctoral programs and six masters theses, while serving as reader on 37 doctoral and eight masters thesis committees. Honey has authored several books, essays and articles, has taken part in educational documentaries, served as a professional consultant and has been interviewed nationally.

Hope is from Halfway, Oregon and is a professor of Psychology. She has had 25 students complete their doctoral degrees under her since she came to UNL in 1990. All of them have gone on to productive careers, including many to academic positions. Of her 100 plus publications since coming to UNL, all but a handful have a graduate student co-author, many of them with the student as first author. Hope is internationally recognized as a leading scholar in clinical psychology, with major contributions in the areas of social anxiety and diversity.

Kazyak is from Dayton, Ohio and is an assistant professor in sociology. She is currently serving as a member on nine students’ dissertation committees and has been a committee member on four completed dissertations and three completed masters. She has co-authored with five graduate students on peer-reviewed journal articles. Her mentoring goals include providing research assistantship and internship experiences and helps students develop connections with scholars and teachers with whom they might eventually become colleagues.