Graduate Awards Details
The Stony Brook University Graduate Awards is hosted annually to celebrate the accomplishments of graduate students, faculty and staff. Nominations must be submitted via InfoReady.
Graduate Awards Reference Table
- GRADUATE STUDENT AWARDS
AWARD TITLE Alumni Association Doctoral Summer Fellowship
DESCRIPTION AND CRITERIA The Alumni Association Doctoral Summer Fellowship will be awarded to a promising doctoral student conducting original research in academic disciplines within the humanities and social sciences. The award is intended to support the student in the final stages of their research and dissertation by enabling them to continue their work over the summer, when other funding for doctoral candidates is especially scarce. The fellowship will provide essential resources to a doctoral student who demonstrates need and whose work risks being delayed without funding.
Eligible doctoral students must:
- Be enrolled as a full-time doctoral student in an affiliated department, who has been granted advancement to candidacy for the PhD degree by the Dean of the Graduate School, upon recommendation of the Graduate Program Director (GPD).
- Be studying an academic discipline in the humanities or social sciences.
- Must demonstrate promise in research related to areas of inquiry in the humanities or social sciences, or have a track record of such research.
- Must demonstrate high academic achievement and progress towards the degree as defined by the outlined application process.
- Preference given to students who are undergraduate or graduate conferred alumni of Stony Brook University as defined by Stony Brook policy.
Each graduate program in the humanities and social sciences may nominate one (1) candidate who has advanced to candidacy. Each nomination must be endorsed by the student's Graduate Program Director (GPD).
Financial Need Based Award
Recipient will be awarded: $5,000
AWARD TITLE Alumni Association's Dean's Choice Award for Leadership
DESCRIPTION AND CRITERIA The award was established in 2011 with the support of the Stony Brook Alumni Association. Its purpose is to strengthen the connection between the University and its graduates. It recognizes a graduate student with strong leadership skills in engaging their peers.
The awards committee will consider the following when reviewing nominations:
- Students' leadership abilities displayed in building networking opportunities among their own department or across departments.
- Students' service to the general graduate student community.
Departments and Programs with graduate students may nominate one (1) candidate. Each nomination must be endorsed by the student's Graduate Program Director (GPD).
Recipient will be awarded: $1,000
AWARD TITLE Dorothy G. Pieper Award
DESCRIPTION AND CRITERIA The Dorothy G. Pieper Award is presented to a student in the Master of Fine Arts program for an outstanding work of visual art.
AWARD TITLE Faculty-Staff Dissertation Fellowship
DESCRIPTION AND CRITERIA This award, initiated in 2006, is made possible through the generosity of Stony Brook faculty and staff who have contributed to campaigns to support graduate fellowships. The award is intended to assist a graduate student who has advanced to candidacy and whose research project requires fieldwork, archival work, or other research efforts requiring the student to be away from campus for an extended period.Departments and programs with graduate students at the dissertation stage may nominate one (1) candidate. The nomination must be endorsed by the student's Graduate Program Director (GPD).
Recipient will be awarded: 10,000
AWARD TITLE John Dunn Excellence Award in Life Sciences
DESCRIPTION AND CRITERIA Established by colleagues and friends of John Dunn, Senior Scientist in Brookhaven National Laboratory’s (BNL) Department of Biology from 1972 – 2012, this award honors Dr. Dunn’s scientific accomplishments, mentorship and productive collaborations between BNL and Stony Brook University by promoting excellence among Stony Brook graduate students engaged in life science research at BNL.
No student shall receive the award more than once. Relevant departments and programs may submit nominations. To be eligible, students must have completed at least one year of their doctoral research at BNL.
Recipient will be awarded: $1,000
AWARD TITLE John Marburger III Fellowship for Science, Engineering and Mathematics
DESCRIPTION AND CRITERIA An endowment made in the memory of Dr. John H. Marburger, III, former president of Stony Brook University, director of Brookhaven National Laboratory, science advisor to President George W. Bush, and Vice President for Research at Stony Brook, provides funding support for women undertaking advanced graduate study in the physical sciences, engineering, or mathematics.
Each graduate program in the physical sciences, engineering, or mathematics may nominate one (1) candidate who has advanced to candidacy. Each nomination must be endorsed by the student's Graduate Program Director (GPD).
Recipient will be awarded: $5,000
AWARD TITLE Joyce Turner Dissertation Fellowship
DESCRIPTION AND CRITERIA The Joyce Turner Dissertation Fellowship honors the life and work of Joyce Moore Turner- an educator, leader in public health, author, scholar of African American history, and advocate for equality and social justice. The award recognizes graduate students in the humanities or social sciences who have advanced to candidacy but who need financial assistance to complete their research investigating issues of race, class, gender, sexuality or ethnicity.
Departments and programs with graduate students at the dissertation stage may nominate one (1) candidate. Nominations must be endorsed by the student's Graduate Program Director (GPD).
Financial Need Based Award
Recipient will be awarded: $10,000
AWARD TITLE Madeline Fusco Fellowship
DESCRIPTION AND CRITERIA The Madeline Fusco Fellowship is made possible through an endowment established by Dr. Madeline Fusco, a former faculty member in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics. The fellowship is intended to assist women or minority graduate students who have advanced to candidacy but who need financial assistance to complete their dissertations.
Departments and programs with graduate students at the dissertation stage may nominate one (1) candidate. Each nomination must be endorsed by the student's Graduate Program Director (GPD).Financial Need Based Award
Recipient will be awarded: $10,000
AWARD TITLE Mildred and Herbert Weisinger Dissertation Fellowship
DESCRIPTION AND CRITERIA The Mildred and Herbert Weisinger Dissertation Fellowship will be awarded to a graduate student who has advanced to candidacy and is working on a dissertation that bears high scholarly promise but that might be delayed without financial assistance. Departments and programs with graduate students at the dissertation stage may each nominate one (1) candidate. Each nomination must be endorsed by the student's Graduate Program Director (GPD).
Financial Need Based Award
Recipient will be awarded: $10,000
AWARD TITLE President's Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student
DESCRIPTION AND CRITERIA The President's Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student will be awarded to outstanding graduate student teachers. Six awards will be presented at a ceremony held in May, during commencement week, for recipients and their families. Awardees will be expected to participate in an orientation session or colloquium for new Teaching Assistants prior to the start of the following Fall semester. Each department or program with TAs or GAs involved in teaching may nominate two (2) candidates. Nominations must be endorsed by the student's Graduate Program Director (GPD).The award is open to all full-time graduate student TAs or GAs (masters and doctoral) required to teach. They must have completed at least one academic year of teaching. (Present semester can be included).
Recipient will be awarded: $1,000
AWARD TITLE President's Award to Distinguished Doctoral Students
DESCRIPTION AND CRITERIA Five awards will be granted to outstanding graduates in May, during commencement week, at an annual awards ceremony and reception for recipients and their families. Recipients are expected to participate in a Graduate School colloquium scheduled prior to the reception.
Students who have completed all degree requirements or anticipate the completion of all degree requirements, including the successful defense of their dissertation, in time to attend the May doctoral hooding ceremony are eligible.
Nominations must be endorsed by the student's Graduate Program Director (GPD).
The awards committee will consider the following when reviewing nominations; all three are not required:
1. The outstanding merit of the candidate's dissertation and its research base.
2. The candidate's exceptional contributions in ability or service to the university, which must be of such a nature as to warrant special citation.
3. How, in completing doctoral study, the candidate overcame a personal or social handicap of an unusual nature, warranting special recognition. For example, this could include a difficult family situation or financial hardship, a learning disability, or similar adversity that the student overcame.*Candidates nominated for the President's Award to Distinguished Doctoral Students may also be considered for the SUNY Chancellor Distinguished PhD Graduate Dissertation Award and the CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award. Selected candidates will be contacted separately if additional materials are needed.
Recipient will be awarded: $1,000
AWARD TITLE Stony Brook Foundation Board of Trustees Dissertation Completion Endowed Fellowship
DESCRIPTION AND CRITERIA The Stony Brook Foundation Board of Trustees Dissertation Completion Fellowship will be awarded to one or more graduate students who have advanced to candidacy and are working on a dissertation that bears high scholarly promise but that might be delayed without financial assistance.
Five awards will be offered.
Each graduate program may nominate one (1) candidate who has advanced to candidacy. Each nomination must be endorsed by the student's Graduate Program Director (GPD).
Financial Need Based Award
Recipient will be awarded: $10,000
- FACULTY/STAFF AWARDS
AWARD TITLE Dean's Award for Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Education
DESCRIPTION AND CRITERIA The Dean's Award for Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Education recognizes measurable outcomes and innovation in graduate education, from admissions through degree completion, by a graduate program. Applications may relate to any facet of the graduate education process, including outreach, recruitment through selection and admission, retention, and degree attainment, including the following:
- Increasing the diversity of applicants to the graduate program.
- Using technology to communicate with and attract prospective applicants in new and effective ways.
- Increasing the number of international students enrolled in the graduate program.
- Demonstrating success in enhancing the quality of the entering class.
- Improving retention of students in the graduate program.
- Programmatic efforts to improve degree completion.
Recipient will be awarded: $500
AWARD TITLE Dean's Award for Excellence in Graduate Mentoring by a Faculty Member
DESCRIPTION AND CRITERIA The Excellence in Mentoring Award recognizes faculty members for the outstanding support of a graduate student, or graduate students, from course completion through research and placement. Criteria that may be considered in selecting a nominee include: provision of sound advice with respect to course of study, encouraging the best performance from students, generosity of time or other measures of effort at mentoring, assisting an unlikely or superficially unpromising student through to successful completion and placement, advice and other assistance regarding quality and quantity of student papers or other forms of publication and performance, extraordinary efforts or success with placement. These criteria are not meant to be exhaustive, but instead to suggest activities that might be considered in a nominating letter. The nominee must have been a faculty member for at least three years at the time of the nomination.
Recipient will be awarded: $500
AWARD TITLE Dean's Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching by a Faculty Member
DESCRIPTION AND CRITERIA The Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award recognizes faculty members for excellence and creativity in the classroom teaching of graduate students. Innovation in graduate curriculum development and implementation also will be considered. The nominee must have been a faculty member for at least three years at the time of the nomination.
Recipient will be awarded: $500
AWARD TITLE Dean's Award for Excellence in Service by a Graduate Program Director
DESCRIPTION AND CRITERIA The Dean's Award for Excellence in Service recognizes outstanding service to graduate education at Stony Brook by a graduate program director (GPD). Criteria for selection may include provision of timely and excellent advice to graduate students about academic, registration, support and placement issues and/or generosity of time in working with graduate students. These criteria are not meant to be exhaustive, but instead to suggest activities that might be considered in a nominating letter. The nominee must have been a GPD for at least two years at the time of the nomination.
Recipient will be awarded: $500
AWARD TITLE Dean's Award for Excellence in Service by a Graduate Program Coordinator
DESCRIPTION AND CRITERIA The Dean's Award for Excellence in Service recognizes outstanding service to graduate education at Stony Brook by a graduate program coordinator (GPC). Criteria for selection may include provision of timely and excellent advice to graduate students about academic, registration, support and placement issues, or generosity of time in working with graduate students. These criteria are not meant to be exhaustive, but instead to suggest activities that might be considered in a nominating letter. The nominee must have been a GPC for at least two years at the time of the nomination.
Recipient will be awarded: $500