Graduate student in art and art history - intermedia, winner of Best Presentation in the Fine & Performing Arts Division at the 2007 James F. Jakobsen Graduate Conference.  more...

Graduate Scholars win Hancher-Finkbine Awards

Three UI graduate students were recognized at the 89th anniversary Finkbine Dinner, one of the university's most prestigious award ceremonies.

Graduate student Sarah Celeste Vigmostad received the Hancher/Finkbine Graduate/Professional Student Medallion, the highest honor awarded to students for outstanding leadership, learning, and loyalty.

Graduate students Darren Samuel Hoffmann, Florin Ilie Oprescu, and Treniece La'Shay Terry were among six students to receive the Distinguished Student Leader Certificate. This award recognizes students who have exhibited meritorious qualities in leadership, learning and loyalty.

Sarah Celeste Vigmostad
Vigmostad is currently in the final stage of completing her doctorate in biomedical engineering. Vigmostad has made substantial research contributions through publication and presentations that have been recognized by both national and University of Iowa awards. In 2005 she received the United States National Congress on Computational Mechanics Student Fellowship. As president of the Graduate Student Senate, the primary governing body for graduate students, Vigmostad led efforts to significantly increase student participation. Under her leadership, the Graduate Student Senate has taken on a more substantial role in service projects and public engagement. Vigmostad was also instrumental in the establishment of the Dean's Graduate Student Advisory Council in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Darren Samuel Hoffmann
Hoffman is a graduate student in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology (A&CB). Among the awards he has received for his research include the Merck New Investigator Award from the American Heart Association, the New Investigator Award for U.S. Fellows and the Cardiovascular Section Research Recognition Award from the American Physiological Society. He is a regular presenter at national research conferences with 17 peer reviewed abstracts and research publications. Recognized as an excellent teacher with three Superior Achievement in Student Teaching awards from A&CB department, as well as the UI Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, Hoffman has completed the Certificate of College Teaching. He also received the M. J. C. Hendrix Graduate Leadership Awards in 2005. He is also a member of Graduate Student Senate and a student representative to the Graduate Council.

Florin Ilie Oprescu
Oprescu is enrolled in a dual degree program, working on a Ph.D. in community and behavioral health in the College of Public Health and an MBA in the Tippie College of Business. As a teaching assistant in Community and Behavioral Health, he taught a course required of all MPH students. He is also a research assistant for the Iowa Center for Evaluation Research. At the Tippie College of Business, he has been a member of the MBA innovation challenge team that has been ranked among the top 15 most innovative MBA teams in the world. Currently president of the College of Public Health student organization, Oprescu is also a member of the Tippie Leadership Association. In 2005 he founded the Center for Health Policy and Public Health at Babes-Bolyai University Cluj in Romania, dedicated to public health issues.

Treniece La'Shay Terry
Terry is a graduate student in chemical and biochemical engineering who has received fellowship awards from the Alliance for Graduate Education and Professoriate (AGEP) Program and the GEM consortium. Her graduate research has resulted in 10 publications/conference proceedings with additional publications and presentations anticipated during the coming year. Terry is vice president of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemist and Chemical Engineers and program director for the Black Graduates and Professional Student Association (BGAPS). In addition to promoting minority student activities in the UI and across the country, Terry is also an active participant and member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the Epsilon Gamma Iota National Social and Service Organization for Engineers.

More information about the 2006 Hancher-Finkbine Awards