The third annual Honors Banquet commemorated excellence in academics, leadership and innovation among Graduate School students and faculty. On March 20, the banquet was held to honor and reflect on remarkable achievements in research and creative expression from the more than 50 graduate programs and departments represented in the Graduate School.
“The students and faculty being honored have made remarkable achievements in research and creative expression. As vital members of our robust academic community, they exemplify the spirit of discovery,” said C. André Christie Mizell, vice provost for graduate education and dean of the Graduate School. “Their contributions reach across our campus and extend into our surrounding community, shaping the future through research, mentorship of others and commitment to excellence in scholarship.”
Several awards were presented, including the Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award, the Outstanding Doctoral Student Award, the Excellence in Leadership Award, the Excellence in Innovation Award and the Distinguished Partner Award.
Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award
The Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring award was established in 2022. This annual award honoring outstanding mentorship affirms our mission of helping students reach their full potential as scholars and human beings. Each of our three mentoring award recipients will receive an engraved plaque and $1,500.
Maria Hadjifrangiskou
This award acknowledges Professor Hadjifrangiskou’s commitment to fostering a culture of empowerment, accountability and growth, where students are encouraged to take intellectual ownership, embrace challenges and refine their skills with dedicated support. Hadjifrangiskou has been at Vanderbilt since 2012. She is a professor of pathology, microbiology and immunology and of urology as well as the director of the Microbe-Host Interactions Ph.D. program and the associate director of the Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation. One of her colleagues says, “Dr. Hadjifrangiskou is the epitome of what I would consider to be an excellent scientist; she has truly excelled in scholarship, teaching, and mentoring trainees. She has built a cutting-edge and highly recognized research program, which I feel truly reflects her passion and dedication to science and academia.” Hadjifrangiskou is committed to fostering a culture of empowerment, accountability and growth, where students are encouraged to take intellectual ownership, embrace challenges and refine their skills with dedicated support. Her mentees say the mentorship they had under Hadjifrangiskou is truly unparalleled.
Kelly Holley-Bockelmann
Professor Holley-Bockelmann has been at Vanderbilt since 2007 and is the Stevenson Professor of Physics and Astronomy. She is also an adjunct professor of physics at Fisk University and co-director of the Fisk-Vanderbilt Master’s-to-PhD Bridge Program, the national model for identifying and fostering talented STEM scholars from all backgrounds. What truly sets her apart is her unwavering commitment to mentoring students, particularly those from historically underrepresented backgrounds. One of her former Ph.D. students shares, “Dr. Holley-Bockelmann is not just a mentor—she is a champion for her students. She sees potential where others may not and provides the kind of guidance, advocacy and unwavering support that allows students to thrive.” She has been instrumental in pioneering mentorship models that extend beyond the traditional faculty-student dynamic. Through her leadership, Vanderbilt’s mentoring framework includes multitiered mentoring networks, structured progress tracking and wellness initiatives to support students holistically.
David E. Lewis
Since joining Vanderbilt in 2008, Professor Lewis has exemplified the highest standards of academic mentorship, bridging rigorous scholarship with genuine personal support. With a career spanning more than two decades, his influence extends well beyond the Department of Political Science—where he is the Rebecca Webb Wilson University Distinguished Professor—shaping the next generation of scholars in academia and public service. Lewis’ mentoring philosophy, developed over 25 years, emphasizes four key themes: 1) Nothing to Prove, 2) It’s Not a Sprint, It’s a Marathon, 3) Understanding Student Goals, 4) Speaking the Truth. Known for his honest yet compassionate feedback, he helps students understand what is required to excel while affirming their potential. One former student reflects, “Dave’s mentorship transformed my academic journey by blending high academic standards with genuine care, pushing me to excel while reminding me that I had nothing to prove.” His impact reaches beyond his immediate research group—his former students form a lasting network of colleagues and friends, supporting one another throughout their careers. His guidance has helped establish Vanderbilt as a leading institution for doctoral training in political science, with his students securing positions at top research universities, law schools and public service organizations.
Outstanding Doctoral Student Award
This award recognizes students who demonstrate exceptional scholarly accomplishments. The awardees were nominated by faculty and selected from across the various colleges and schools for their overall academic record and the outstanding quality of their research, scholarship and/or creative expression. The recipients were honored with engraved plaques and $500.
Abigail Fabiano, Biomedical Engineering
Abby is a doctoral student in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Abby’s in-progress thesis focuses on studying mechanotransduction in cancer. This study allows Abby to direct her engineering expertise to address one of the most fatal diseases, aiming to harness mechanical forces in the body to develop and enhance innovative therapeutic approaches to prevent and treat cancer. Abby has filed and obtained an invention disclosure at Vanderbilt’s Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization for the treatments she has developed while completing her thesis . Abby has already published her work as first author in top-tier journals in the field, with another article just accepted for publication. She is also the co-author on two papers completed during her internship with the pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb and has presented 11 posters and three oral presentations at national conferences and regional symposia so far. She is also a co-author on numerous presentations within the lab. Abby has mastered several clinical skills in her time at Vanderbilt, but she has also taken an interest in mentoring several undergraduate students, even finding the time to complete a research project with one of these students.
Kevin McCarty, Biochemistry
Kevin is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Department of Biochemistry. He spent a year researching at Vanderbilt immediately after graduating with a B.A. in chemistry and Spanish language from Kalamazoo College. And it was this experience that led him to apply for graduate school. Kevin received a National Science Foundation Fellowship in his first year as a Ph.D. student, which is outstanding in any discipline but is a particular achievement in the field of biomedical science where the foundation does not often award fellowships. Kevin has already published 13 papers during his time at Vanderbilt and is first author on four of these papers. His original research papers are published in top journals, such as the Journal of Biological Chemistry and Angewandte Chemie International Edition. His work has also been recognized by multiple local and national awards. Aside from published works and awards, Kevin makes a vital contribution to his lab—he was the first to be able to operate a new radioactive flow detector connected to an HPLC system.
Samantha Pegg, Psychology and Human Development
Sam is a doctoral student in the Department of Psychology and Human Development and is on track to graduate this year. Sam’s research productivity is truly exceptional. Sam has published 52 peer-reviewed journal articles and two book chapters, including 12 first-authored publications and multiple others in preparation or under review. In addition, she has contributed to 98 conference presentations. She is frequently invited to serve as an independent peer reviewer for these journals. Sam’s work has already been cited more than 1,100 times—a highly impressive achievement for a student who has not yet completed her Ph.D. Some of Sam’s papers were among the first to show that reduced responsiveness to social acceptance feedback moderates the effects of interpersonal stress on depressive symptoms and that the association between low reward responsiveness and depression may be stronger in the social rather than the monetary reward domain. This work addresses a real gap in the understanding of reward learning and approach motivation. Sam’s dissertation research was supported by a prestigious National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Mental Health. Alongside her many research accolades, Sam has played a key role in teaching and mentoring in her lab.
Excellence in Leadership Award
The Excellence in Leadership Award recognizes a graduate student who made a major impact on their community through service, inspiring others to do the same. The student receives a $500 prize and an engraved plaque.
Juliann Burkett
Juliann is a doctoral student in the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics. Juliann’s dissertation examines via a mouse model how targeting prostaglandin E2 receptors affects beta cell survival and function in Type 1 diabetes. She expects to defend her dissertation next fall. Her research on Type 1 diabetes and her desire to give back to the community will make a difference in the lives of people with Type 1 diabetes, at Vanderbilt and beyond. Juliann led a campaign to contact lawmakers to encourage them to support funding for Type 1 diabetes research, which was successful in that the special appropriations bill for Type 1 diabetes research recently passed. She and one of her professors are also in the process of submitting a provisional patent application on her thesis work. In addition to these accomplishments, Juliann’s work as a leader and a mentor is highlighted by the work she has done on campus and in the community as a mentor for first-year graduate rotation students and as an advocate on the Breakthrough T1D Young Adults Advocacy Council, just to name a few examples.
Excellence in Innovation Award
This award is co-sponsored by the Wond’ry and the Graduate School and was presented by David Owens, Evans Family Executive Director of the Wond’ry. The award acknowledges one outstanding doctoral candidate’s excellence across scholarship, creativity and translation of their research into applied impact. The recipient is honored with an engraved plaque and $500.
Justin Jones
Justin is a doctoral student in the Department of History. His cutting-edge research focuses on piracy, slavery and the Black Atlantic and promises to be field defining when complete. His work with the Slave Societies Digital Archive using AI to decode handwritten documents from the 18th century will help historians and scholars translate more easily, and just as important, more quickly. Where scholars often spend months and years in the work of decoding handwriting, this assistive AI technology will help them apply all that time to other parts of their scholarship. Over spring break, Justin participated in a digital preservation project for the SSDA in Mompox, Colombia, where he was a part of the team doing exploratory fieldwork, gaining access to the local ecclesiastical and notarial records that will further enhance his doctoral work. In addition to these accomplishments, Justin has already had the chance to present his research at several professional conferences. Justin consistently demonstrates his success through his diligence, experience, work ethic and interpersonal skills.
Distinguished Partner Award
The Graduate School collaborates with many campus partners and honors one office with a Distinguished Partner Award. The award recognizes a remarkable team whose dedication, support and collaboration have significantly advanced the strategic vision and goals of the Graduate School.
International Student and Scholar Services
This award recognizes the unwavering commitment of ISSS to supporting our international graduate students. International students make up a significant portion of our Graduate School community—24 percent of our doctoral students—and ISSS has been an exceptional partner in ensuring they feel welcomed, supported and empowered to succeed. ISSS has been instrumental in creating opportunities for engagement, partnering with the Graduate School on initiatives such as career panels during our Career Colloquium, where a skilled moderator from ISSS ensures international students receive valuable guidance on professional pathways. They also collaborate with the Graduate School to host interdisciplinary research talks on globally significant topics, fostering dialogue and connection across disciplines during International Education Week. Their commitment extends beyond professional development to fostering a strong sense of community. ISSS does not just support international students—they advocate for them. The willingness of the members of the ISSS team to listen, advise and take action underscores their role as a trusted ally in ensuring a supportive environment for all.
