News: 2013, April 8th

2013 Merriwether Fellows, Outstanding Graduate Students announced

Twenty-four Auburn University graduate students have been selected as winners of two of the Graduate School’s annual awards.

Twenty students have been selected as the 2012-13 Outstanding Graduate Student Award honorees, while four doctoral students have been selected for the Merriwether Fellowship.

The Merriwether Fellowship is awarded to doctoral students who show great promise in their academic fields. First awarded in 1971, the fellowship provides a $2,000 stipend and is the result of an anonymous donation in honor of Harry Merriwether, a 1943 Auburn graduate. The Outstanding Graduate Student Awards recognize Auburn’s most distinguished graduate students. Ten students are chosen at the master’s/educational specialist level and 10 more at the doctoral level.

Departments nominate students for the awards, and the winners are then chosen by a committee of graduate faculty.

The students will be recognized with other award winners at the Graduate School’s annual awards ceremony Wednesday, April 24, at 10 a.m. in the Student Center Ballroom.

Award winners and their areas of study are listed below.

Merriwether Fellowships

• Christy Blevins (Psychology)
• Hamed Ghaednia (Mechanical Engineering)
• Graham McGinnis (Kinesiology)
• Hans Saint-Eloi Cadely (Human Development and Family Studies)

Outstanding Doctoral Students

• David Branscomb (Polymer and Fiber Engineering)
• Yating Chai (Materials Engineering)
• Leanne Dillard (Animal Sciences)
• Ting Li (Entomology and Plant Pathology)
• Xiu-Lei Mo (Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology)
• Mahmoud Moeini Sedeh (Mechanical Engineering)
• Laura Morgan (Human Development and Family Studies)
• Benjamin Newcomer (Pathobiology)
• Hema Ramsurn (Chemical Engineering)
• Kimberly Smith (Curriculum and Teaching)

Outstanding Master’s Students

• Joel Abrahams (Geology and Geography)
• Lauren Behnke (Forestry and Wildlife Sciences)
• Kristin Courtney (Mathematics and Statistics)
• Julie Davis (Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures)
• Zach DeVries (Entomology and Plant Pathology)
• Laura Elmer (English)
• Colin Haser (Chemical Engineering)
• Hyeon Lee (Mechanical Engineering)
• Elaine Norton (Clinical Sciences)
• Allen Sabey (Human Development and Family Studies)

To read more about the Graduate School’s annual awards, visit the Web page.