2008 Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Prizes

The Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences awarded the following prizes at Commencement Convocation on May 25.

The Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences awarded the following prizes at Commencement Convocation on May 25.

The Robert E. Apfel Fellowship Award recognizes the Yale graduate student in Mechanical Engineering or Biomedical Engineering who best combines creativity in research with contributions to the greater community in the tradition of Professor Robert Apfel, who was the Robert E. Higgin Professor of Mechanical Engineering and a member of the Yale faculty for over three decades. In 2002, shortly before his untimely death, he received the Yale Graduate Mentor Award. In appreciation for his caring attention, his former graduate students established this fellowship.

Weiwei Deng
Biomedical Engineering
Fundamentals and Applications of Multiplexed Electrosprays

The Henry Prentiss Becton Prize for exceptional achievement in research is awarded to a graduate student within the Council of Engineering.

Kai Loon Chen
Engineering
Aggregation and Deposition of Nanoparticles in Aquatic Environments

The Frances Blanshard Fellowship Fund Prize is awarded annually for the outstanding doctoral dissertations submitted to the History of Art Department.

Claudia Lozoff Brittenham
History of Art
The Caxaztla Painting Tradition:  Art and Identity in Epiclassic Mexico

The Harding Bliss Prize for Excellence in Engineering and Applied Science is awarded annually to the outstanding student who has completed his or her Ph.D. thesis during the current academic year and who has done the most to further the intellectual life of the department.

Alana Leahy-Dios
Engineering
Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of Fickian and Thermal Diffusion Coefficients in Hydrocarbon Mixtures

Huiqiong Wang
Engineering
Structure of the Fe3O4 (100) Surface and Its Interfaces with NiO (100) and CoO (100) Overlayers”

The Sylvia Ardyn Boone Prize is awarded annually in memory of Sylvia Boone, a noted scholar of African art, who was the first tenured African-American woman on the Yale faculty. In her memory, Vera Wells, Yale ’71, has established a prize to honor Sylvia Boone’s life and work.

Theresa Elaine Runstedtler
African-American Studies, History
Journeymen:  Race, Boxing, and the Transnational World of Jack Johnson

The Dirk Brouwer Memorial Prize
The Dirk Brouwer Memorial Prize was established in 1966 by friends of Professor Dirk Brouwer, Chairman of the department of Astronomy and Director of the Yale Observatory from 1941 to 1966. It is awarded to a student in the department for a contribution of unusual merit to any branch of astronomy.

Hugh H. Crowl
Galaxy transformation in the Virgo cluster: gas stripping and stellar population evolution
Astronomy

Ryan S. Quadri
Clustering of massive galaxies in the early Universe
Astronomy

Anthony DiGuida Delta Mu Research Prize
In memory of Anthony DiGuida, a doctoral student from the School of Nursing, a commencement prize is given to a graduating doctoral student in Nursing whose love of clinical scholarship has resulted in a dissertation that advances nursing knowledge through superior clinical scholarship and leadership.  The recipient demonstrates creative conceptualization of a complex clinical problem for study, methodologic and analytic excellence, and superb writing.

Karrie Cummings Hendrickson
Nursing
The Hospital Costs of Caring for Children with Cancer:  A Description of Hospital Resource Utilization

The George Washington Egleston Historical Prize was established in 1901 by gift from George Washington Egleston, Esq., of Eardisley, Herefordshire, England, brother of Thomas Egleston, B.A. 1854, and William C. Egleston, B.A. 1861. It is awarded annually to a research student or students of the University, graduate or undergraduate, who shall, by research, discover new facts of importance for American history, or who shall, by existing data, gather information or reach conclusions which from a historical, literary, and critical point of view are likely to be useful to anyone interested in the same subject.

Allegra di Bonaventura
History, American Studies
This Little World: Family and Slavery in Old New England, 1678-1764

Estwing Hammer Prize is awarded by the Estwing Manufacturing company to an outstanding geology graduate student or students.

William Landuyt
Geology and Geophysics

Brett Tipple
Geology and Geophysics

Miguel Ferreyros Memorial Award for Academic Excellence in an International Relations Joint Degree Program is awarded to the joint degree student in International Relations with the highest academic achievement.

Michael McLaughlin
International Relations

The Harry Burr Ferris Prize was established by gift from Harry Burr Ferris (B.A., 1887, M.D. 1890), who was the E. K. Hunt Professor of Anatomy in the Department of Anatomy, the predecessor to the current Department of Cell Biology.  The Prize is awarded to a Cell Biology student for a doctoral dissertation demonstrating exceptional research and scholarship.

Mitchell Kundell
Cell Biology
Molecular Mechanism Regulating the Synthesis of Beta-Catenin in Neuronal Growth Cones

Heather McCrea
Cell Biology
Understanding Lowe Syndrome at the Cellular and Molecular Level

The Theron Rockwell Field Prize was established in 1957 by Emilia R. Field in memory of her husband, Theron Rockwell Field, Ph.B. 1889. It is awarded for poetic, literary, or religious works by any students enrolled in the University for a degree.

Claudia Lozoff Brittenham
The Cacaxtla Painting Tradition: Art and Identity in Epiclassic Mexico
History of Art

Jeffrey M. Leichman
Acting Up: Staging the Modern Subject in Eighteenth-Century France
French

Brent Nongbri
Paul without Religion: The Creation of a Category and the Search for an Apostle Beyond the New Perspective
Religious Studies

The William Ebenezer Ford Prize was established in 1963 by gift from Mary (Mrs. William E.) Ford in memory of her husband, Professor William E. Ford, Ph.B. 1899, Ph.D. 1903. It is awarded to students who have distinguished themselves in study or research in mineralogy.

Madalyn Blondes
Geology and Geophysics

Tatiana Lioubetskaia
Geology and Geophysics
New Models of Crustal Fluid Flow Incorporating Magmatism and Porosity Evolution During Orogenesis

The Hans Gatzke Prize is awarded upon the recommendation of the History Department for the outstanding dissertation or dissertations in a ?eld of European history.

Lindsay O’Neill
History
“Speaking Letters:” Epistolary Networks, Communication, and Community in the Wider British World, 1660-1760

Matthew Wranovix
History
Parish Priests and Their Books: Reading, Writing, and Keeping Accounts in the Late Medieval Diocese of Eichstätt

The James B. Grossman Dissertation Prize was established in 2002 in memory of James B. Grossman, who was a graduate student in Psychology at the time of his death. The prize is awarded at the discretion of the Psychology Department to the author of an outstanding doctoral dissertation in Psychology, with preference for an author and dissertation embodying some of the characteristics of James Grossman’s scholarship such as creativity, use or incorporation of other disciplines, and clinical work with children.

Deena Weisberg
Psychology
The Creation and Comprehension of Fictional Worlds

Edward Lemay
Psychology
You Think You Reap What You Sow: The Functional Projection of Communal Responsiveness

The William J. Horwitz Prize for continuous excellence and distinction in a chosen discipline in the field of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Yale University.  This year the recipients are

David Klotz
Near Eastern Languages and civilizations
Kneph: The Religion of Roman Thebes

Elizabeth Payne
Near Eastern Languages and civilizations
The Craftsmen of the Neo-Babylonian Period: A Study of the Textile and Metal Workers of the Eanna Temple

Alexander Treiger
Near Eastern Languages and civilizations
The Science of Divine Disclosure: Gazali’s Higher Theology and its Philosophical Underpinnings

The Award for Academic Excellence in International Relations is given to the M.A. student in International Relations with the highest academic achievement.

Alexis Arieff
Robert Berschinski

The Mary Ellen Jones (PhD 1951, Biochemistry) Prize is awarded to recognize the most distinguished dissertation in Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry submitted during the academic year.  Dr. Jones’s was a leading scientist and a pioneer in the advancement of women in academia.

Adrian Olivares
Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry
Defining the Kinetic Mechanisms of Processive Myosins V and VI Regulated Motility

Mary Stahley
Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry
X-ray crystallographic studies of group I intron structure and metal-dependent catalysis

Elias Loomis Prize awarded for excellence in studies of physics of the earth, usually manifested in outstanding effort on thesis research.  Elias Loomis was a professor of natural philosophy and astronomy in Yale College

Robert Allen
Geology and Geophysics
Warming maximum in the tropical upper troposphere deduced from thermal winds

The John Spangler Nicholas (Ph.D. 1921) Prize Fund was established in 1972 by bequest of Helen Brown (Mrs. John Spangler) Nicholas in memory of her husband. The Prize is awarded annually to outstanding doctoral candidates in experimental zoology.

Sang-tae Kim
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
The Role of Allopolyploid Speciation in the Diversification of Persicaria (Polygonaceae)

Brian Moore
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Inferring Differential Rates of Diversification from Phylogenies

Matthew Nicotra
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Positional Cloning of a Cnidarian Allorecognition Locus

Jeffrey Caplan
Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
Chloroplastic Protein NRIP1 is Required for N Immune Receptor Recognition of Tobacco Mosaic Virus

Rui Chen
Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
Molecular Mechanisms Linking Inflammation, Cancer, and Chemoresistance

Andrew Mara
Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
Differential Delta Signaling During Zebrafish Somitogenesis and Midline Development

Jennifer Perry
Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
Taste Coding in Drosophila

Jessica Tanis
Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
Analysis of Mechanisms that Regulate Neurotransmitter Release from a Pair of Motor Neurons in Caenorhabditis elegans

Alexander Urban
Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
Analysis of Abberant and Normal Copy-Number Variation of Human Chromosome 22

The Philip M. Orville Prize was established in 1981 in memory of Philip M. Orville. The prize is awarded to graduate students in geology in recognition of outstanding research and scholarship in the earth sciences.

Daniel Peppe
Geology and Geophysics
A high resolution geochronologic study of the early Paleocene floral record in the northern Great Plains

Melissa Spannuth
Geology and Geophysics
A Light Scattering Study of Frost Heave

The Marguerite A. Peyre Prize was established in 1964 in memory of Marguerite A. Peyre. The prize is awarded at the discretion of the Chairman of the French Department to a graduate student in that department.

Jeffrey Leichman
French
Acting Up: Staging the Modern Subject in Eighteenth-Century France

The John Addison Porter Prize, named in honor of Professor John Addison Porter, B.A. 1842, is awarded for a work of scholarship in any ?eld where it is possible, through original effort, to gather and relate facts or principles, or both, and to present the results in such a literary form as to make the project of general human interest.

Elizabeth Nathan Saunders
Political Science
Wars of Choice: Leadership, Threat Perception, and Military Interventions

Siddhartha Das
Chemistry
Molecular Recognition in Regio- and Stereoselective Oxygenation of Saturated C-H bonds with a Dimanganese Catalyst

The Leonard J. Savage Writing Prize, named for Department of Statistics Emeritus Professor Leonard J. (Jimmie) Savage, is awarded annually to a student who has submitted the best written work.

Cong Huang
Statistics
L1 Penalization for Flexible Function Libraries

The George Gaylord Simpson Prize was established in 1984 in honor of Professor Simpson and is awarded to graduate students and recent Ph.D. recipients for an exceptional paper concerning evolution and the fossil record.

Jakob Vinther
Geology and Geophysics
Machaeridians are Palaeozoic armoured annelids

The George Trimis Prize
The George Trimis Fund was established in May 2003 in memory of George Trimis, a doctoral student in Economics who succumbed to cancer. Given in recognition of the extraordinary example that Trimis set for the Department, the prize is awarded to an Economics Ph.D. recipient who demonstrates exceptional and distinguished achievement in the doctoral dissertation.

Brendan Beare
Economics
Contributions to the Theory of Weak Dependence

Colin Stewart
Economics
Coordination in Dynamic Environments

The Richard Wolfgang Prize was established in 1971 in memory of Richard Leopold Wolfgang, M.A. Hon 1962, and member of the faculty from 1956 to 1971. It is awarded each year for the best doctoral theses by graduating chemistry students.

Siddartha Das
Chemistry
Molecular Recognition in Regio-and Stereoselective Oxygenation of Saturated C-H bonds with a Dimanganese Catalyst

James Schleicher
Chemistry
Terahertz Emission Spectroscopy of gallium arsenide and thin magnetic films

The Arthur and Mary Wright Prize is awarded upon the recommendation of the History Department for the outstanding dissertation or dissertations in the field of history outside the United States or Europe.

Alison Bruey
History
Organizing Community: Defying Dictatorship in Working-Class Santiago de Chile, 1973-1983

Raphael Folsom
History
“This Weeping Land:” The Making, Destruction, and Rebirth of the Yaqui Mission Towns

Graduating Winners of Prize Teaching Fellowships

Jessica Borelli, Psychology
John Thomas Giblin, Physics
Dorota Heneghan, Spanish & Portuguese
Laure Marcellesi, French
Adam Marshak, History
Seth Monahan, Music
Todd Olszewski, History of Science and Medicine
Manish Patnaik, Mathematics
Ayesha Ramachandran, Renaissance Studies, English Language and Literature
Brian Reilly, French
Sara Stefani, Slavic Languages and Literatures

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