Whether it’s $18,000 or $500, getting a spontaneous sum of money can be exciting, and for some graduate and doctoral students, that’s just what happened. Each year, the University’s graduate school awards thousands of dollars to outstanding students in a variety of disciplines.
Takiya Ahmed, a fifth-year doctoral student who will be graduating in June, won the 2007-08 University of Oregon Doctoral Research Fellowship, which includes an $18,000 stipend and a three-term tuition waiver. The prestigious award will support Ahmed as she completes her research and dissertation in organometallic chemistry.
Organometallic chemistry, the study of chemical compounds containing bonds between carbon and metal, is Ahmed’s research emphasis within the University’s chemistry department. Specifically, Ahmed’s focus is on developing a “green” method of manufacturing acrylate polymers. Also known as acrylics, acrylate polymers refer to the plastic found in items such as Plexiglas, paint and contact lenses.
“The overall goal is to develop better technology for certain industrial manual processes,” Ahmed said, summing up her research.
Creating the actual products requires up to 10 steps, some of which result in excess waste.
“My chemistry involves cleaning up some of those integral steps along the way,” Ahmed said. “It’s much cleaner for the environment and more cost-effective for the industry.”
Ahmed is proud to have won the award. As the director of graduate student affairs, Kassy Fisher is also proud of her.
“She seems to be a pretty amazing person all around,” Fisher said.
Ahmed applied for the Doctoral Research Fellowship in February, submitting a research proposal and perspective, recommendations, and her resumé.
Fisher said the graduate council subcommittee, comprised of three faculty members, chose Ahmed because of her well-explained proposal and the University’s interest in sustainability.
“She did an excellent job of writing a description of her work that someone without expertise could understand,” Fisher said.
Each year, the University offers a number of other fellowships, including the Betty Foster McCue Scholarship, which awards $5,000 to doctoral students whose dissertations focus on human development and performance; the Dan Kimble First Year Teaching Award for graduate teaching fellows; and the Southeast Asian Studies Award, which encourages graduate research about Southeast Asia.
The Dan Kimble First Year Teaching Award, jointly sponsored by the Graduate School and the Teaching Effective Program, most recently awarded $500 to Gerald Gonzales and Aaron Montgomery.
After seven lucrative yet unfulfilling years in “corporate America,” Gonzales is currently a doctoral student in counseling psychology. Last year, inspired by his adviser and previous teaching assistant experience, Gonzales taught his first two courses.
Gonzales, who said he is “finally having the courage to pursue what (he wants)”, eventually sees himself teaching at the university level.
Montgomery, a second-year mathematics doctoral student, also wants to be a college professor after he graduates in 2013. He was initially inspired by his professors at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho, where he earned his undergraduate degree.
“The job of my math professors looked so much fun, I decided that’s what I wanted to do,” Montgomery said.
After teaching algebra for a year, Montgomery submitted a video tape of his classroom work, evaluations and his personal teaching statement for review.
He was “honored, grateful and excited” to win the award, which has only strengthened his passion for teaching.
“This is the honest to God’s truth,” Montgomery said. “Even when I’m just having the most horrible, awful week and everything is going terribly, I always really, really enjoy teaching. I feel like I can connect with students and get things done.”
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Students pursue their dreams through graduate fellowships
Daily Emerald
October 16, 2007
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