Strong mentoring support is a key factor in graduate student success both during and after graduate study. Training the next generation of researchers is a vital part of the academic mission of the University of Vermont. Fundamental to such success are the faculty members who serve as mentors to our Ph.D. students. Students who enjoy effective mentoring tend to be more productive as well as more involved in their programs. Faculty mentors offer intellectual and personal leadership to support, encourage, and promote students’ academic, professional, and professional development. Effective mentoring provides a foundation for a student’s career long after the degree has been granted.
Each academic year, the Graduate College and the Provost will recognize colleagues who exemplify the considerable efforts and accomplishments of members of the graduate faculty who serve as effective mentors of Ph.D. students. These awards are integral to the Graduate College’s continuing efforts to cultivate a culture of excellence in mentoring. With these awards, the Graduate College and the Provost seek to reinforce and highlight practices that enhance the overall quality of graduate education.
There are two awards each year. Each award carries a cash prize of $2,000 and the winners will be honored publicly.
The AY 2025-2026 award recipients are:
Professor Matthew Liptak
Professor Matthew Liptak, Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
Dr. Liptak is recognized for outstanding Ph.D. mentoring in chemistry, providing high‑touch, comprehensive training in laboratory and computational methods, scientific writing and presentation, outreach, and professional development, while fostering an inclusive, motivating, and rigorous environment that supports early transition to independent research and strong postdoctoral career outcomes across academia and industry. In support of this nomination, the materials document sustained mentorship and trainee co‑authorship across the group’s publications since 2013, as well as service as Graduate Program Director (2017–21). A highly funded bioinorganic chemist, Dr. Liptak has already mentored 9 Ph.D. students to degree completion and excellent postdoctoral career outcomes across academia and industry. Dr. Liptak provides his Ph.D. students with high-touch, comprehensive training in methods, writing and presentation skills, exposure to scientific outreach, as well as time management and work-life balance. The selection committee specially commanded Dr. Liptak for effectively supporting students to transition early from mentored to independent research within an environment characterized as inclusive, motivating, and rigorous. Virtually all of Dr. Liptak’s group’s publications since 2013 have Ph.D. students as co-authors. Dr. Liptak further supports his mentees’ professional and career development through conferences, networks, and Individual Development Plans focused on postdoctoral goals; indeed, he had introduced IDPs program-wide before they became UVM standard. He emphasizes thriving in a team setting and supports former students well into their postdoctoral careers.
Professor Matthew Price
Professor Matthew Price, George W. Albee Green & Gold Professor of Psychological Science, Department of Psychological Science, College of Arts and Sciences
Dr. Price is recognized for exemplary doctoral mentoring in clinical psychology; through sustained, high‑standard and student‑centered mentorship, his trainees achieve exceptional scholarly productivity and pursue diverse post‑Ph.D. trajectories across academia, clinical practice, and industry. In support of this nomination, the materials document sustained mentorship since 2013, a research program supported by $9.1M in PI/co‑PI funding that has supported 27 GRAs, and leadership as Director of the Clinical Psychology Training Program (since 2022), and Dr. Price provides rigorous core training to clinical psychology Ph.D. students through one-on-one mentoring, early immersion in scholarship, and explicit skill-building in research design, analysis, and responsible conduct of research. His students develop technical and methodological competence, grant writing, and strong communication skills, reflected in very high rates of student-led publications and conference presentations. Dr. Price’s approach is characterized as holistic and high-touch—combining rigorous academic standards with genuine personal investment. He supports timely degree completion by setting clear expectations, monitoring milestones, and providing candid, constructive feedback. Nomination materials describe an inclusive, respectful lab culture with open communication and sincere attention to student well-being, including proactive support during major life stressors. Dr. Price advances students’ professional and career development by connecting them to opportunities and professional networks. He respects students’ individual professional goals and effectively supports career trajectories across academia, clinical practice, and industry. As Director of Clinical Training, he extends these mentoring practices program-wide through curricular improvements and expanded clinical placements and funding. Mentees continue to seek Dr. Price’s guidance and collaboration beyond graduation.
Eligibility/Criteria
Candidates for the awards:
- actively guide students’ research and training
- ensure that their students master the content and skills of their field(s) of study, including the ability to teach and to communicate with professional and non-professional audiences
- work positively in an inclusive and respectful environment for all
- promote their students’ successful and timely completion of degree programs, including by providing clear guidance on expectations and the prevailing norms and criteria used to define quality performance, monitoring progress, and offering honest, constructive feedback on conducting scholarly activities of the highest rigor
- provide guidance for adhering to high ethical standards for conducting scholarly activities
- respect students’ aspirations and goals and help them accomplish them
- create a supportive environment for research by fostering mutual respect and integrity, maintaining open lines of communication, and demonstrating sincere interest in their students’ well-being
- advance students’ professional development, including by assisting with developing professional goals, connecting them with opportunities and resources, integrating them into the broader culture of the discipline, actively involving student in writing grants and publications, and helping them develop their professional networks within and beyond academia
- assist students in career preparation and help them secure post-doctoral employment, whether in academia, government, industry, non-profit, or other career paths
- collaborate with other faculty in team-mentoring approaches
- encourage the effective use of time and help students integrate their academic and professional activities with their broader commitments and plans
Nomination Process
Chairs of Departments with Ph.D. programs, directors of such programs, members of the Graduate Faculty, and groups of two or more current Ph.D. students may nominate eligible member of the Graduate Faculty. Nominations must include:
- A letter of nomination that addresses the particular ways the nominee has exhibited outstanding mentorship (3 page maximum). Effective nominations will show familiarity with the nominee’s mentoring achievements, including mentoring of students who may not be their advisees and contributions to mentoring initiatives at UVM or via academic or professional organizations. The letter should identify specific examples of unique contributions and accomplishments, innovative methods, and/or exceptionally valuable types of mentorship provided by the nominee and demonstrate the outcomes that resulted from such mentorship.
2. Three letters of support (1 page per letter) that provide specific examples of the nominee’s mentoring innovations, accomplishments, and impact. At least one letter must be authored by a former Ph.D. student who successfully completed their degree. (Each letter from former students can only be authored and signed by one former student). Effective letters will come from students directly mentored by the nominee who can describe how their mentor’s support contributed to their achievements in graduate school and beyond. For nominees not nominated by either their Chair of Department or the Ph.D. program director, one support letter must be from their Chair of Department or the Ph.D. program director. The remaining letter(s) can come from either further graduate students (current and/or former), faculty, and/or staff members.
**The letter (of nomination or support) written by the Chair or Ph.D. program director should explain any relevant discipline-specific factors or benchmarking that would help the selection committee better understand the mentoring philosophy of the nominee and the success of the nominee’s mentoring; this might include expected doctoral advising load in the department, typical and high-impact post-doctoral outcomes in the discipline, and the significance of particular awards or grants.
The Office of the Dean of the Graduate College will invite nominees to submit:
- Nominee’s statement: philosophy and practices in the inclusive mentoring of diverse graduate students (2 pages maximum).
- Nominee’s CV (10 pages maximum), to include a list of current and former Ph.D. students whose research the nominee has directed or with whom they worked closely (to include student name; faculty mentor’s role, e.g., dissertation advisor, dissertation committee member, mentor through a professional organization; current status of student and, if graduated, student’s current or recent position; achievements that indicate student success (e.g., publications, fellowships, awards, etc.), especially if the mentor played a role in that success (e.g., by nominating the student for an award).
Nomination material should be submitted with the "Provost’s Award for Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring Nomination” as the file name no later than 11:59 PM on February 1st (if this date falls on a weekend, the due date is the following Monday).
Award Committee
Nominations will be evaluated by a committee chaired by the Vice Provost for Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and Dean of the Graduate College and composed of faculty members of the Graduate Executive Committee, Associate Deans, and Graduate Program Directors.
Award Review Committee 2024-2025
Review Committee Chair: Holger Hoock, Professor, Vice Provost for Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and Dean, Graduate College
Review Committee Members:
- Jon Erickson, Professor and Associate Dean, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources; Gund Institute for Environment Fellow
- Nancy Gell, Associate Professor, Department of Rehabilitation and Movement Science, College of Nursing and Health Sciences; Graduate Executive Committee member
- Shana Haines, Professor and Program Coordinator for PhD in Social, Emotional and Behavioral Health and Inclusive Education (SHIE), Department of Education, College of Education and Social Services
- Jeffrey Marshall, Professor and Associate Dean, College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences; Graduate Executive Committee member
- Giuseppe Petrucci, Professor and Ph.D. Program Director, Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
- Matthew Wargo, Professor & Director of Cellular Molecular and Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, Larner College of Medicine; Graduate Executive Committee member
Selection Timeline
- December 1, annually: Call for nominations opens.
- February 1, annually: Nominations due. *(if February 1st falls on a weekend, the due date is the following Monday)
- February 1 - March 30: Nomination reviewed by Awards Committee.
- April 1 - Awards Committee submits list of finalists to the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, Dr. Jane Okech at Jokech@uvm.edu. Copy submissions to Faith Schumacher at Faith.Schumacher@uvm.edu .
- May 1 - The Provost announces award recipient.
For more information contact Holger Hoock at Holger.Hoock@uvm.edu