The Graduate School Mentoring Awards recognize graduate programs, faculty mentors and doctoral students whose practice exemplifies the Foundational Values for Graduate Student and Faculty Mentoring Relationships and who make exceptional efforts to sustain the rights and fulfill the responsibilities outlined in the MSU Guidelines for Graduate Student Mentoring and Advising.

Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award

Gerhardt, Teena

Professor Teena Gerhardt from the Department of Mathematics exemplifies all of the foundational values of this award, namely a commitment to: respect and care; professionalism, ethics and integrity; and the professional and personal growth and independence of the student. Current and former graduate students described how her excellence in mentoring extends across her teaching, her research renown and her care and compassion. A student commented that Dr. Gerhardt's mentorship "is grounded in genuine care for the holistic wellbeing of students; her concern, advice, and support extend far beyond our mathematical progress." In addition to mentoring her own PhD students, Prof. Gerhardt co-organizes a graduate mentoring program for 29 graduate students across 9 universities that is funded through an NSF Focused Research Grant. She is a mentor for the Math Alliance, a national organization aimed at increasing the number of PhDs in math among traditionally underrepresented groups. She is also co-PI on two federally funded training programs at MSU, an NSF Research Training Grant and a summer Undergraduate Research Experience program. Through these programs she provides opportunities for graduate students to explore being mentors to undergraduates. "Prof. Gerhardt goes out of her way to support her Ph.D. students' overall career goals, growth, aspirations and well-being."

Outstanding Early Career Faculty Mentor Award

shuster, stef

Associate Professor stef shuster in Lyman Briggs College and the Department of Sociology:
While Dr. shuster's primary appointment is in Lyman Briggs, which is an undergraduate residential college, they have worked with graduate students in the Department of Sociology as well as more broadly through their work with the Center for Gender in Global Context (GenCen). Many students, both current and former, from across several different programs supplied testimonials demonstrating how stef exemplifies MSUs Foundational Values for graduate student and faculty mentoring relationships. The statements demonstrated how Dr. shuster helped them obtain jobs, publish their research, make informed career decisions, and led by example on how to be a good mentor. A faculty member that co-chaired a dissertation committee with stef ans saw their mentoring style firsthand stated, "stef listens, reflects, and meets people where they are without judgement and goes above and beyond to promote their ideas and ensure their success".

Outstanding Doctoral Student Mentor Award

Tyburski, Brady

Mr. Brady Tyburski is a PhD student in the Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME). In Fall 2020 Brady founded a weekly seminar called PRIME Time. The goal was to create a space that provided academic mentorship and socio-emotional support for graduate students by graduate students in the PRIME program. Brady’s fellow students provided testimonials on how impactful this seminar has been for them, especially during the pandemic. Since 2021 Mr. Tyburski has been coordinating the Mathematics Learning Research Group (MLRG) seminar that is a biweekly professional development seminar for mathematics education graduate students across various doctoral programs. In addition to organizing seminars from outside experts on topics such as how a journal article review process works, Brady has been instrumental in getting graduate students to present their own research projects while facilitating feedback from the group. He has held leadership roles in the PRIME Graduate Student organization and was elected to serve on the Council of Graduate Students. Several students commented on how Brady is always willing to give of his time to mentor them, especially in ways that help them achieve their own goals.  The student nominators wrote “We truly believe that Brady has helped our mathematics education community connect with one another, learn from each other, and grow together.”