Top Graduate Scholars Honored at Annual Awards Ceremony

Stony Brook University's annual Graduate Awards Ceremony recognizes the research, teaching, mentorship and service from the graduate education community. On May 19, honorees and guests gathered in the Stony Brook Union Ballroom to celebrate the exceptional accomplishments of graduate students, faculty and program leaders across a wide range of disciplines.

"This week brings with it numerous opportunities to celebrate both our undergraduate and graduate students, but while there will be events with more pomp and circumstance, this award ceremony stands out as a symbol of Stony Brook's history and values," said Celia Marshik, dean of The Graduate School.

"When Stony Brook was founded, it was deliberately identified by New York State as a graduate research campus. Decades later, we continue to be a uniquely graduate-focused institution with more doctoral students per faculty member than most of our peers."

Provost Carl Lejuez likened the responsibilities of The Graduate School to parenting in an academic environment.

"What does being a good parent entail?" Lejuez asked attendees. "It's having expectations, it's being firm where you're supposed to, but it's also being supportive and creating a safe environment where someone can thrive and figure out who they are and what's important to them. Our Graduate School does these things better than anywhere I have ever seen, and that comes directly from its leadership."

Lejuez shared his own experience in graduate school, a new experience for his family.

"My mom didn't understand it at first, but I remember one day a few years in she said to me, 'If I could have done this again, I think I would have wanted to be a researcher,'" he said. "I'm so proud to have the people who run our Graduate School, the mentors within our departments, the department chairs, the staff within our departments and the more senior graduate students. We have an amazing dean, and that culture is conveyed, built upon and improved at every level, and that's what makes it special."

Honorees were then called up and featured individually, with faculty members highlighting their work and experiences.

Alumni Association Doctoral Summer Fellowship awardee Valentina Pucci, Hispanic Languages and Literature, was introduced by Professor Daniela Flesler. Pucci's dissertation project explores oblique authorship among LGBTQ writers in the late 20th century in Latin America, in the context of the repression unleashed by the military regimes that dominated the region in the 1970s.

"Valentina is a dedicated scholar whose work at the intersections of queer theory, Latin American studies and affect theory is poised to make a lasting contribution to these fields," said Flesler. "In today's social and political climate, this research is crucial because it allows us to understand how resistance to censorship and authoritarianism took shape and was shared across geopolitical boundaries. This work is as urgent as it is innovative. Valentina is a brilliant scholar who is teaching us how to sense the oblique strands of liberation."

Megan Wyatt, Ecology and Evolution, one of six recipients of this year's President's Award for Excellence in Teaching, was introduced by Assistant Professor Tara Smiley, who described Wyatt as "an exceptional educator and mentor."

"Megan has been a TA and instructor of record and has also served as a formal mentor for seven undergraduates, and an informal mentor for countless more undergraduate and graduate students over the years," said Smiley. "She's a naturally gifted teacher, and she further enhances her impact in the classroom through dedicated preparation, engaging course design, approachable and compassionate instruction, and deep knowledge of the subject matter."

Smiley spoke of how impactful and highly regarded Wyatt is in the department.

"It was really easy to get letters of support for Megan," she said. "Many students attributed their success directly to Megan and her enthusiasm, clarity of instruction, and deep commitment to student learning. She has also conducted highly rigorous research on the eco-evolutionary history of small mammals in relation to landscape and climate change over deep time. She has been a joy to work with in all of these roles."

Wyatt will begin a faculty position at the University of North Georgia this fall.

Honorees Meroona Gopang, Sai Aishwarya Abasolo, Spencer Cattalani, Varun Kankanallu and Cuilee Sha also participated in the Distinguished Doctoral Colloquium earlier in the week, where they presented concise, engaging overviews of their dissertation research.

"I love the doctoral hooding because it's such an incredible moment where the journey comes to an end, but I love this day because we hear about these incredible faculty, staff and students from the people who work with them every day," said Marshik in her closing. "It's great to hear it directly from the people who have mentored them, admired them and played a role in helping them to get here today."

For more information, visit the Graduate School website.

- Robert Emproto

2026 Graduate Awards Recipients

Alumni Association's Dean's Choice Award for Leadership
Kassel Franco Garibay, Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies

Alumni Association Doctoral Summer Fellowship
Valentina Pucci, Hispanic Languages and Literature

Dean's Award for Excellence in Graduate Mentoring by a Faculty Member
Lisa Diedrich, Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies

Dean's Award for Excellence in Service by a Graduate Program Director
Arianna Maffei, Neurobiology and Behavior/Neuroscience

Dean's Award for Excellence in Service by a Graduate Program Coordinator
Tara Powers, Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Science (IDPAS)

Dorothy G. Pieper Award
Becca Osborn, Art

Dorothy G. Pieper Award (Honorable Mention)
Danielle Henneborn, Studio Art

Faculty-Staff Dissertation Fellowship
Yulong Hui, Art History and Criticism
Samuel Lavin, Ecology and Evolution

Joyce Turner Dissertation Fellowship
Emillion Adekoya, Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies

Mildred and Herbert Weisinger Dissertation Fellowship
Rupert Ikeh, Ecology and Evolution

President's Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student
Megan Wyatt, Ecology and Evolution
Daphne Hudson, Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Science (IDPAS)
Maria Elizabeth Garza, Linguistics
Darya Likhacheva, Psychology
Sondra Charbadze, Philosophy
Hayden Cuttone, Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies

President's Award to Distinguished Doctoral Students
Sai Aishwarya Abasolo, Biomedical Engineering
Varun Kankanallu, Chemical and Molecular Engineering
Spencer Cattalani, Mathematics
Cuilee Sha, Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology
Meroona Gopang, Public Health

Stony Brook Foundation Board of Trustees Dissertation Completion Endowed Fellowship
Alex Chege, Ecology and Evolution
Han Li, Linguistics
Samuel Espíndola Hernández, Hispanic Languages and Literature
Hao Lin, Sociology
AJ Castle, Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies