Amidst the pomp and circumstance of end-of-year commencement activities, a number of faculty, staff and students were honored for their contributions to academic excellence, student education and community involvement. “We are proud to honor just a few of those who help make The University of Texas at Dallas one of the top universities in the country,” said Dr. Inga Musselman, UT Dallas provost, vice president for academic affairs and the Cecil H. Green Distinguished Chair of Academic Leadership. “There is a strong commitment here to academic and community excellence.”2021 Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Undergraduate Research MentoringDr. Danieli Rodrigues, Associate ProfessorDepartment of BioengineeringErik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science2021 Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Graduate Research MentoringDr. Mihaela Stefan, Professor and Eugene McDermott ProfessorDepartment of Chemistry and BiochemistrySchool of Natural Sciences and Mathematics2021 Advisor of the YearSydney TaylorSchool of Arts and Humanities2021 Outstanding Undergraduate Student AwardCarla Ramazan BA’21, political scienceSchool of Economic, Political and Policy SciencesBest Dissertation AwardsKent Lewis Boyer PhD’20School of Arts and HumanitiesSubverting Propriety: The Intimate, Habitable Poetics of Frank O’HaraResearch Mentor: Dr. Charles HatfieldCenk Köknar PhD’20School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging CommunicationNegotiating the Right Way to Play Video GamesResearch Mentors: Dr. Josef Nguyen and Dr. Monica EvansMaria A. Boylan PhD’20School of Behavioral and Brain SciencesCharacterization of BOLD Variability Across the Adult Lifespan: Influence of Dopamine and Structural IntegrityResearch Mentor: Dr. Kristen KennedyWukki Kim PhD’20School of Economic, Political and Policy SciencesFour Essays on Defense and Peace EconomicsResearch Mentor: Dr. Todd SandlerPeiyuan Kang PhD’20Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer SciencePhotoinactivation of Proteins by Molecular HyperthermiaResearch Mentor: Dr. Zhenpeng QinJidong Yang PhD’20School of Natural Sciences and MathematicsSeismic Modeling, Imaging and Inversion in Viscoacoustic MediaResearch Mentor: Dr. Hejun ZhuDavid Daniel Thesis AwardsGaurav Rajavendra Reddy PhD’20Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer ScienceMachine Learning-Based Hotspot Detection: Fallacies, Pitfalls and Marching OrdersResearch Mentor: Dr. Yiorgos MakrisMichael Andrew Luzuriaga PhD’20School of Natural Sciences and MathematicsA New Biomaterial for Vaccination: An Aqueous ZIF-8 Crystal Growth to Preserve Antigens and Enhance the Immune ActivationResearch Mentor: Dr. Jeremiah Gassensmith