Atmospheric Sciences Grad Student Awarded Prestigious NASA Fellowship

Yesterday, I indicated that student success was a major contributor to the enrollment increase that we have been observing in recent years.   In support of my statement comes the announcement that one of our Atmospheric Sciences doctoral students has been named the recipient of a nationally competitive fellowship.

Yingxi Shi, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, has been selected for the prestigious NASA Earth System Science Fellowship (NESSF).  The purpose of the NESSF program is to ensure continued training of a highly qualified workforce in disciplines needed to achieve NASA’s scientific goals, including studies of the earth from space. Yingxi’s work is directed toward understanding uncertainties in satellite aerosol products as a means of increasing our knowledge of the role of aerosols in climate forcing. She will also be developing better aerosol data sets for data assimilation in weather and climate models. Yingxi’s graduate advisor is Dr. Jianglong Zhang. The NESSF fellowship award is for $30,000 per year for up to 3 years.  Congratulations to Yingxi and many thanks to Dr. Zhang for providing excellent guidance to his student.   Great students have great mentors.

Learn more about how The Graduate School is providing opportunities for future leaders.

Introducing our newest staff member

The Graduate School is pleased to welcome Laura Look to our staff.  Laura joins our office as Project Management Specialist.  In this newly created position, she will serve to help us coordinate implementation of new initiatives as well as track ongoing projects.  Laura holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from UND and has previously worked in the College of Nursing as a Graduate Nursing Student Specialist.   Her knowledge of information systems will help us as we expand our electronic capabilities to provide more services to students, faculty and staff.

Commencement Message from Dean Benoit

Success by Many Measures … You Decide

On a day that The Graduate School awards the University of North Dakota’s highest degrees to a most deserving group of students, we have much to be proud of. It is important that we celebrate their accomplishment of becoming a relatively small group of individuals to earn an advanced degree.

Frequently, we lose sight of the significance of advanced degrees and focus only on statistical measures — those commonly found in the tables produced by government agencies and research groups. Yes, it is important to point out what the statistical data shows. Simply stated, people with advanced degrees possess characteristics that facilitate career advancement and work in jobs or professions that result in higher compensation.

As Dean of The Graduate School, I often look to other characteristics of our students and graduates, which, in my estimation, are better measures of a graduate’s success. Many of these are not statistically based, but nonetheless important. The receipt of an advanced degree, master’s or doctoral, brings with it a responsibility for leadership. Advanced degree holders are lifelong learners who are more likely to be engaged in community service, matters of social justice, and key agents of change in society.

Today, The Graduate School awarded 131 degrees to students in fields ranging from anatomy to visual arts. Each of these graduate degree recipients have already made significant contributions that somehow advanced their respective field of study.

For these contributions, I congratulate our newest graduate school alumni. I am confident that you are fully equipped to succeed in your respective fields. I am optimistic that you will use what you learned in graduate school to make a difference in our world.

Good luck in all that you do, and best wishes for a happy, productive career, and a meaningful contribution to life.