Colleagues, students, family, and friends gathered recently at a reception to celebrate with Professor Maria Luz Fernandez, this year’s recipient of the Edward C. Marth Mentorship Award. This award, established by the UConn AAUP to honor Ed Marth, former Executive Director of the UConn AAUP chapter, recognizes a faculty member for outstanding leadership and dedication to excellence in mentoring graduate students. As a professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences, Dr. Fernandez has epitomized all of the qualities celebrated by this award. Not only is she a world-renowned scholar, but she is also a tireless advocate for graduate students and graduate education more generally. She has supervised over 50 graduate students (PhD and MS), regularly publishing with student co-authors, and has played a prominent role in the recruitment and retention of minority graduate students at UConn. Dean Kent Holsinger from The Graduate School presided over the ceremony conferring this award to Dr. Fernandez and led the toast honoring her many contributions.
Faculty Recognition: The Edward C. Marth Mentorship Award
The UConn AAUP established the Edward C. Marth Mentorship Award to recognize the leadership and dedication of Edward Marth, former Executive Director of the UConn AAUP Chapter, and to encourage and reward outstanding mentoring of graduate students by UConn Graduate Faculty members. Recipients will have had direct and significant impact and involvement with graduate students, outstanding commitment and effectiveness as a mentor of graduate students, and have demonstrated unusual effort to provide consistent mentoring of graduate students during the course of their careers at UConn. Recipients of the Edward C. Marth Mentorship Award are UConn Graduate Faculty members who have extraordinary records of excellence and effectiveness in activities such as facilitating smooth transitions for both entering and exiting graduate students; showing sensitivity to students’ academic, personal, and professional goals and needs; being accessible to students; playing an active role in coaching graduate students through the graduate school experience and connecting them to appropriate intellectual and professional networks; and, guiding graduate students toward intellectual and professional independence.
The Dean of The Graduate School distributes a request for nominations early in the fall semester, and the award is typically announced in the final week of the semester.
Past Recipients:
Elizabeth Jockusch (2015-2016), Shareen Hertel (2014-2015), John Mathieu (2013-2014), JC Beall (2012-2013) and Dipak Dey (2011-2012).
