Following are 10 Mason graduate students who have recently won awards that will enable them to expand on their educational experience or enhance their studies.
Kimberly Avila, a doctoral student in special education in the College of Education and Human Development, received the peer-nominated Mason Award from the Virginia chapter of the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired. The award is presented to a professional who has been innovative in the field of education, rehabilitation or human services; and whose achievements have benefited Virginia citizens who are visually impaired. Avila was also elected by her peers to represent them at the National Leadership Consortium in Sensory Disabilities at the Office of Special Education Programs in Washington, D.C.
Courtney Gavitt, who is working on an MS in Biodefense in the Department of Public and International Affairs, won a Nonproliferation Graduate Fellowship, administered by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She begins her fellowship term at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) this month. Gavitt expects to complete her program by December 2013.
Steven Harris-Scott, a PhD in History student, won a Gilder Lehrman Fellowship to study at the John D. Rockefeller Library in Colonial Williamsburg. His research topic is “A Slow and Messy Transition: From Indentured Servitude to African Slavery in Bermuda and Virginia’s Northern Neck, 1610-1710.”
Barre Hussen, an MA in Conflict Analysis and Resolution student, won a DACOR Bacon House Graduate Fellowship, which provides a $10,000 grant for graduate study.
PhD in Information Technology students Bill Shelton and Nan Li won the best student paper award and the best presentation award at the Testing: Academic and Industrial Conference Practice and Research Techniques (TAIC PART 2012) in Montreal for their paper co-written with computer science professors Paul Ammann and Jeff Offutt. The paper is titled “Adding Criteria-Based Tests to Test Driven Development.” Shelton gave the presentation, and both awards came with a cash prize. Li plans to present her dissertation proposal this month and complete her degree by next summer. Shelton, who works full-time as a software engineer, plans to complete his degree within six years.
Doctoral student Nicole Woodard was selected as the 2012-13 Graduate Fellow in Education by the Educational and Charitable Foundation of LKO. Woodard is pursuing a PhD in the Counseling and Development Program of the College of Education and Human Development. Her research interests revolve around trust in the counseling relationship as it relates to African Americans. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Woodard received a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Irvine, and two master’s degrees from Columbia University in New York.
Three graduate students won Cosmos Scholars Awards from the Cosmos Club Foundation to help them complete their research.
- Samantha N. DeTillio, an MA in the History of Decorative Arts student, is working on “Discovering Charles J. Connick: Commission Contracts, Business Correspondence and Stained Glass Windows of Boston and New York.”
- Michael Hallworth, a PhD in Environmental Science and Policy student, had the added distinction of winning the Max and Vera Britton Environmental Science Award. His research is on “Quantifying Migratory Connectivity for a Neotropical Migratory Bird Using Direct and Indirect Techniques.”
- Laura O’Hara, a PhD in History student, is working on “’If the City Burns Tonight, I’m Holding You Responsible’: Black Power, White Conservatives and the Alexandria Civil Disturbances, May 29-June 9, 1970.”