We enthusiastically invite graduate students to nominate a member of the Princeton University faculty for the Graduate Mentoring Award. The McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning and the Graduate School sponsor this annual award to honor faculty members who are exemplary in supporting the development of their graduate students as teachers, scholars, and professionals.

One faculty member in each academic division (humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering) will be selected to receive this honor, with recipients officially recognized at the Graduate School’s Hooding Ceremony.

A nomination, approximately 500 words in length, should include: 

• A description of the nature of your contact with the faculty member: that is, as a student, as an advisee, or as a teaching or research assistant; and
• Description and examples of how the faculty member is an exceptional mentor and how the faculty member has furthered your teaching, scholarly, or professional goals.

The strongest case for nominees is made through submissions from a number of graduate students representing a range of graduate student/mentor relationships and containing specific examples of instances in which the faculty member demonstrated exemplary mentorship.

The Graduate Mentoring Award Committee, composed of faculty, graduate students, and staff from the McGraw Center and the Graduate School, will select the winners.

The 2024 Graduate Mentoring Award submission period is closed. The next nomination submission period opens in the spring 2025. Thank you.

Previous recipients of the Graduate Mentoring Award may be nominated again if five years have passed since they were last recognized.  Please consult the list of recipients below before nominating faculty candidates.

2023: Elizabeth Davis, Anthropology; Luc Deike, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the High Meadows Environmental Institute; Kinohi Nishikawa, English and African American studies; and Lindy McBride, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Neuroscience.

2022: Mark Brynildsen, Chemical and Biological Engineering; Anna Arabindan-Kesson, Art and Archaeology and African American Studies; Curtis Callan, Physics; and Natasha Wheatley, History.

2021: Meredith Martin, English, Margot Canaday, History, Casey Lew-Williams, Psychology, Howard Stone, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

2020: Yuxin Chen, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ileana Cristea, Molecular Biology, Brandon Stewart, Sociology, Judith Weisenfeld, Religion

2019: Emily Carter, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Erika Milam, History/History of Science; Jonathan Pillow, Psychology and Neuroscience; Anna Shields, East Asian Studies

2018: Bridget Alsdorf, Art and Archaeology; Hendrik Hartog, History; Yael Niv, Psychology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute; Stanislas Shvartsman, Chemical and Biological Engineering

2017: Christopher Achen, Politics; Elizabeth Levy Paluck, Psychology and Public Affairs; Sankaran Sundaresan, Chemical and Biological Engineering; Muhammad Qasim Zaman, Near Eastern Studies and Religion

2016: Harriet Flower, Classics; Lawrence Rosen, Anthropology; Kenneth Norman, Psychology; and Michael Celia, Civil and Environmental Engineering

2015: Janet Currie, Economics; Michael Mueller, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Imani Perry, African American Studies; and Daniel Sigman, Geosciences

2014: Robert Cava, Chemistry; Sara McLanahan, The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs; Jacqueline Stone and Stephen F. Teiser, Religion’ and Sigurd Wagner, Engineering

2013: Alison Gammie, Molecular Biology; Michael McAlpine, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering; Gideon Rosen, Philosophy; and Viviana Zelizer, Sociology

2012: João Biehl, Anthropology; Caryl Emerson, Slavic Languages and Literatures; Stacey A. Sinclair, Psychology; and Ramon van Handel, Operations Research and Financial Engineering

2011: Michael Jennings, German; Michael Gordin, History; J. Nicole Shelton, Psychology; and Jennifer Rexford, Computer Science

2010: Sara Kay, French and Italian; Igor Klebanov, Physics; Stephen Kotkin, History; and Margaret Martonosi, Electrical Engineering

2009: Susan Fiske, Psychology. Claire Gmachl, Electrical Engineering’ Susan Naquin, History and East Asian Studies; and Jeffrey Stout, Religion

2008: Robert Calderbank, Applied and Computational Math; Richard Okada, East Asian Studies; Richard Register, Chemical Engineering; and Mark Watson, Economics

2007: Michael Cook, Near Eastern Studies; Paul DiMaggio, Sociology, Daniel Osherson, Psychology; and Christodoulos Floudas, Chemical Engineering

2006: Charles Beitz, Politics, Stefan Bernhard, Chemistry, William Gleason, English, and Paul Prucnal, Electrical Engineering

2005: Sanjeev Arora, Computer Science; Edward Eigen, Architecture; Noreen Goldman, The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs; and John Krommes, Astrophysical Sciences

2004: Philip Johnson-Laird, Psychology; Niraj K. Jha, Electrical Engineering; Robert Tignor, History; and Timothy P. Watson, English

2003: John Cooper, Philosophy; Luigi Martinelli, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Thomas Silhavy, Molecular Biology; and Robert Wuthnow, Sociology

2002: Sara Curran, Sociology; Barbara Hahn, Germanic Languages and Literatures; Mansour Shayegan, Electrical Engineering; and Elias Stein, Mathematics