Graduate Student Awards

Awards Given to Graduate Students 

2022 Ph.D. graduate Mario Bianchini won the Ivan Allen Jr. Legacy Award for graduate students. He was recognized at the Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony on April 7.

HSOC's Graduate Committee named Ph.D. candidate Alejandra Ruiz-León this year's winner of the Homer Rice Award. The award recognizes an HSOC graduate student who, through volunteerism, has fostered a sense of community in the School of History and Sociology and broader communities. Named in honor of Dr. Homer Rice, Georgia Tech’s former athletic director, the award offers a modest monetary stipend as well as recognition on the HSOC award wall in the Old CE Building.

Alejandra was nominated by multiple members of the HSOC community, who spoke to the many ways that she has served and impacted HSOC, Ivan Allen College, Georgia Tech, and beyond. You can read about some of Alejandra's work here: HSOC Student Uses Instagram to Combat Covid-19 Misinformation in Peru.

The Graduate Committee also decided to give an honorable mention to Ben Wills for the Homer Rice Award. Wills has thrown himself into life in HSOC and at Georgia Tech like few other first-year students in the program have over the years, and the Graduate Committee is pleased to recognize his great work and valued presence through this honorable mention.

Wills also won a Graduate Research Presentation Award at the IAC Tenth Annual Graduate Research Conference, where more than 15 students presented their research. Each winner will receive $750 towards research funds.

The winners of this year's awards for best GTA are Mike Bivona for best instruction in an in-person class and Addison Malone for best instruction in an online course. Malone also won the Center for Teaching and Learning's Institute-wide award for Online Teaching Assistant of the Year. She was recognized for her efforts in SOC 1101 under the advisement of Amy D'Unger.

Declan Abernethy has been awarded a Herbert H. Haley Fellowship from Georgia Tech, an honor that comes with a one-time payment from the Institute. The Haley Fellowship is a merit award given annually to a small number of continuing, full-time graduate students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

Congratulations to all of our many outstanding award winners!