University of South Florida

Graduate School Awards Inaugural Outstanding Graduate Faculty Mentor Awards

The Graduate School is pleased to present the winner and honorable mention recipients of the of the Outstanding Graduate Faculty awards. The Outstanding Graduate Faculty Mentor Award recognizes graduate faculty members who demonstrate the highest level of quality in the mentoring of graduate students, particularly in the areas of teaching, research and advising. These qualities include: selflessness in the commitment of time, special efforts to assist the protégé with professional development, and maintaining long term collegial relationships beyond graduation. Faculty were nominated by their department and evaluated by a faculty panel. The awards were presented at the Graduate Schools 30th Anniversary Celebration event on March 4, 2011.


Outstanding Graduate Faculty Mentor Award
Dr. Vicky Phares, Professor
Department of Psychology, College of Arts & Sciences




In Dr. Phares’ own words: I love my students. I really, really love my students. I was asked recently by a colleague at another university how many students I had, and I replied “54.” Confused, my colleague said, “No, I mean how many students are you responsible for?” And again I replied “54.” It became clear that she was asking about how many students I had in my research group (that would be 7), but it also became clear in our conversation that I feel responsible for, and try to provide some level of mentoring to, all of the graduate students in our program.



Award Honorable Mention
Dr. Tapas Das, Professor
Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering, College of Engineering




Award Honorable Mention
Dr. Victor Fung, Professor
School of Music, College of The Arts