Each June our department holds an award ceremony to celebrate our students accomplishments and send off our graduating young physicists and astronomers.
Here is Prof. Anson D'Aloisio's keynote address from the 2018 celebration:
Graduate Student Awards
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Outstanding Ph.D Graduate (Robert Poe Memorial Scholarship)
Professor Poe came from Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and joined the faculty at UCR in 1964. He was one of the founding members of the Physics Department and initiated the research program in Relativistic Heavy Ion Physics. He was a true public servant who devoted much time to activities outside research and teaching. He had a passion for energy conservation. During the energy crisis of the 1970's he helped the City of Riverside and even countries such as Taiwan plan for the future. He was also involved in the construction of the first synchrotron and the setting up of an Atomic Physics research group at National Taiwan University. It was on a trip to Taiwan that he sadly passed away due to a heart attack. National Taiwan University honored him with a building, The Robert T. Poe Memorial Lecture Hall. The City of Riverside honored him with the naming of the Robert T. Poe Substation which is in downtown Riverside. His family and friends have endowed the Poe Memorial Award for outstanding Graduate Research.
2023
- Christopher Cain (Prof. Anson D'Aloisio)
2022
- Amanda Pagul (Prof. Bahram Mobasher)
- Sanaz Panahandeh (Prof. Roya Zandi)
2021
- Gabriel Cecchini (Prof. Allen Mills)
- Nima Chartab Soltani (Prof. Bahram Mobasher)
2020
- Trevor Arp (Prof. Nathan Gabor)
- Mark Lohmann (Prof. Jing Shi)
2019
- Siyu Li (Prof. Roya Zandi)
2018
- Mohammed Hamed Aldosary (Prof. Jing Shi)
- Mostafa Khezri (Prof. Sasha Korotkov)
2017
- Irene Shivaei (Prof. Naveen Reddy)
- Chi Tang (Prof. Jing Shi)
2016
- Gonca Erdemci Tandogan (Prof. Roya Zandi)
2015
- Behnam Darvish Sarvestani (Prof. Bahram Mobasher)
- Zilong Jiang (Prof. Jing Shi)
2014
- Chen-Yen Lai (Prof. Shan-Wen Tsai)
- Yong Jin Lee (Prof. Chun Ning "Jeanie" Lau)
Past recipients are:
- Ferdinando Giordano (2013)
- Hang Zhang (2013)
- Jairo Velesco (2012)
- Hsiang-Ku Lin (2011)
- Daniel Masters (2011)
- Ke-Yu Pi (2010)
- Nathaniel Strickley (2010)
- Feng Miao (2009)
- Peter Hunana (2008)
- Guangzhi Liu (2007)
- Steve Foulkes (2006)
- Philip Perea (2005)
- A. Jason McNary (2005)
- Simone Campana (2004)
- Ye Yang (2004)
- Feng Chen (2003)
- Timothy Kelley (2002)
- Michelle Harin-Dirac (2001)
- Siping Roger Qiu (2000)
- Gregory Wood (2000)
- Yu-Chang Chen (1999)
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Outstanding Senior Graduate Student Researcher
2023
- Ming-Feng Ho (Prof. Simeon Bird)
- Xilin Liang (Prof. Kenneth Barish)
2022
- Christopher Cain (Prof. Anson D'Aloisio)
- Wei-Xiang Feng (Prof. Haibo Yu)
2021
- Chia-Feng Chang (Prof. Yanou Cui)
- Yinan Dong (Prof. Roya Zandi)
2020
- Hamed Assai (Prof. Michael Mulligan)
- Sanaz Panahandeh (Prof. Roya Zandi)
2019
- Tara Fetherolf (Prof. Naveen Reddy)
- Mark Lohmann (Prof. Jing Shi)
- Jeremiah van Baren (Prof. Joshua Lui)
2018
- Ali Ahmad Khostovan (Prof. Bahram Mobasher)
- Haoshan Zhu (Prof. Jory Yarmoff)
2017
- Siyu Li (4th year, Prof. Roya Zandi)
2016
- Mostafa Khezri (4th year, Prof. Alexander Korotkov)
2015
- Irene Shivaei (Prof. Naveen Reddy)
- Chi Tang (Prof. Jing Shi)
2014
- Gonca Erdemci Tandogan (Prof. Roya Zandi)
-
Outstanding Junior Graduate Student Researcher
2023
- Archana Aravindan (Prof. Gabriela Canalizo)
2022
- Troy Losey (Prof. Shan-Wen Tsai)
- Alec Peck (Prof. Miguel Arratia)
2021
- Ming-Feng Ho (Prof. Simeon Bird)
- Haoyu Liu (Prof. Jing Shi)
2020
- Christopher Cain (Prof. Anson D'Aloisio)
- Jessica Doppel (Prof. Laura Sales)
2019
- Alexandria Costantino (Prof. Flip Tanedo)
- Chia-Feng Chang (Prof. Yanou Cui)
2018
- Cliff Chen (Prof. Peng Wei)
2017
- Lydia Elias (2nd Year, Prof. Laura Sales)
- Yawen Liu (3rd year, Prof. Jing Shi)
- Amir Mohhamad Aghaei (3rd year, Prof. Kirill Shtengel)
2016
- Weinan Si (2nd year, Prof. Gail Hanson)
- Fatemeh Barati (3rd year, Prof. Nathaniel Gabor)
2015
- Pouria Akbari Mistani (2nd year, Prof. Laura Sales)
- Jin Zhang (Prof. Shan-Wen Tsai)
2014
- Michael Phillips (Prof. Vivek Aji)
- Bowen Yang (Prof. Jing Shi)
- Kira Burt (Prof. Gail Hanson)
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Outstanding 1st Year Graduate Student
Presented for outstanding performance by a first year graduate student
2023
- Yangkang Liu
2022
- Jia-Mou Chen
- Zijue Luo
2021
- Wenjun Chang
- Troy Losey
2020
- Haoyu Liu
- Andrew Weldon
2019
Christopher Cain
Brian Lee
Yongda Zhu2018
- Alexandria Costantino (Prof. Jose Wudka)
2017
- Cliff Chen (Prof. Peng Wei)
2016
- Hamed Assai (Prof. Leonid Pryadko)
2015
- Tao Ren
- Long Wang
- Haoshan Zhu
2014
- Shi Che
- Amin Ghiasi Shirazi
Past recipients are:
- Chi Tang (2013)
- Graham Krahn (2012)
- Zhiyong Wang (2011)
- Mariana Lazarova (2008)
- Kathleen Michelle McCreary (2007)
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Award for Exceptional Skills in Designing and Building Physics Apparati (Albert Staats)
Awarded to the graduate student(s) who best utilizes the prototype building facility to conduct his/her research.
Albert Staats was the first head of the prototype building facility in the Physics Department. To show his passion for research and teaching, he and his family have endowed the Albert Staats Prize. This is awarded to the graduate student who has best utilized the prototype building facilities to conduct his/her research.
2023
- Sean Preins (Prof. Miguel Arratia)
2022
- Ananya Paul (Prof. Kenneth Barish)
2021
- Shirash Regmi (Prof. Igor Barsukov)
2020
- Yuanqian Liu (Prof. Harry Tom)
2019
- John Daniel (Prof. Boerge Hemmerling)
2018
- Harris Goldman (Prof. Harry Tom)
- David Kapukchyan (Prof. Kenneth Barish)
2017
- Jeremiah van Baren (Prof. Joshua Lui)
2016
- Trevor Arp (Prof. Nathaniel Gabor)
2015
- Patrick Odenthal (Prof. Roland Kawakami)
Past recipients are:
- Alina Escalera (2013)
- Alex Arjad (2012)
- Chia-Cheng Change (2009)
- Ke-Yu Pi (2008)
- Lauren Boyd (2002)
- Elizabeth Giesking (1998)
-
Outstanding Teaching Assistant
2023
- Archana Aravindan
- En-De Chu
- Brian Francisco
- Justin Barber
- Yinan Dong
- Adam Green
- Jia-Mou Chen
- Henoc Ejigu
2022
- Alexandria Costantino
- Robert Dawson
- Adam Green
- Shirash Regmi
- Christopher Snapp-Kolas
2021
- Arezoo Etesmirad
- Garett Lopez
- Ian McConachie
- Johnathan Turner
- Matthew Wilson
2020
- Elizabeth Finney
- Mehmet Kilinc
- Bryan Scott
- Jeremiah vanBaren
- Welei Zeng
2019
Thomas Bohn
Chia-Feng Chang
Alexandria Costantino
Brian Francisco
Stephen Hannon2018
Gerardo Alvarez
Timothy Gburek
Ali Ahmad Khostovan
Siyu Li
Kevin Osorno
Jon Spalding2017
Thomas Bohn
Mark Lohmann
Mohammadreza Zakeri Niassar
Nathaniel Gillgren
Kevin Myhro
Jedediah Kistner-Morris
Jacky Wan2016
Tara Fetherolf
Michael Phillips
Christopher Salvo
Adrian Nosek
Tao Ren
Robert Schafer2015
Fatemeh Barati
Corey Kownacki
Sarah Smolenski
Amin Ghiasi Shirazi
Remington Sexton
Brent Yates
Christina King2014
Sean Fraser
Sean Nelson
Gerald Rude
Kyle Irwin
Blake Pollard
Yi Wu2013
Andrew DeGroot
Ryan Folz
Mostafa Kherzi
Oleg Popov
Oleg Martynov2012
David Black
Gonca Erdemci Tandogan
Hooshang Nayyeri
Cheng Pan
Yeming Zhu2011
Laura Green
John Muse
Graham Krahn
Lingchao Zhu
Chen-Yen Lau2010
Michael Beaumier
BehnamDarvish Sarvestani
David Drummond
Reuben Gann
Daniel Wegman2009
Gian Guzman-Verri
Ziaoziao He
Corinna Jobe
Michael Maroun2008
Harold Nguyen
Mariana Lazarova2007
Charity Jean Heman
Monica Philana Lopez
Mayra Tovar2006
Hulya Atmacan
Christopher Prokop
Bradley Hughes2005
Victoria Winters
Koji Yokoyama
Jeannie Anderson2004
Ken James
Kelly Corriea2003
Gilberto Rodriguez
Chia-Hei Yang2002
Torafumi Miyagi
Philip Perea2001
Johnny Metelsky
Gilberto Rodriguez2000
Raymond Gelhaus
1999
Rostislav Rokitski
1998
James Cheney
Ben Harris1997
Andrew Jason McNary
1996
Wendy Char
Shih-Hui Chang
Daniel MacDonald1995
Jason Yang
Grant McAuley1994
Warren Eldredge
Mou Roy
Chuck Strickland1993
Kris German
Chris Lietzke1992
Michael Towne
1991
Carl Yao
1990
William Strossman
Barbara Rimando-Reyes1989
Varujan Cakaroglu
Jeffrey Hammond1988
Michael Schulkins
Martin Johnston1987
Howard Lukefahr
1986
Jorge Talamantes
1985
Harold Cooper
1984
Mohammad Aryafar
1983
Stefan Schmitz
1982
Yiming Liu
Roy Mann
Lisa Gula1981
Jeffrey Ransdell
Baldev Patyal1980
Konrad Stein
Chris Hodges1979
Garry Noe
Dennis Gilliam1978
Donald Lee
1977
Richard Gaupsas
1976
Morris Toporek
Dana R. Beavis1975
Stephen W. Jensen
Richard C. Ward1974
John C. Hayward
Gerald P. Kiernan1973
Tae-Moon Kwon
David F. Register -
Prior Awards
Past graduate student prizes were awarded by discipline.
Ben Shen Memorial Scholarship
Presented for outstanding research by a graduate student in the field of High Energy and Heavy Ion Physics.
Past recipients are:
- Anahita Alavi (2013)
- Jun Xu (2013)
- Yongjin Lee (2013)
- Nathaniel Strickley (2012)
- Adrian Swartz (2011)
- Astrid Morreale (2008)
Condensed Matter Graduate Scholarship
Presented for outstanding research by a graduate student in the field of Condensed Matter.
Past recipients are:
- Sean Fraser (2013)
- Mostafa Khezri (2013)
- Atchara Punya (2009)
- Zhiyong Wang (2009)
- Jonathan Wyrick (2009
- Gian Guzman-Verri (2008)
- Guangzhi Liu (2007)
Undergraduate Student Awards
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Outstanding 1st Year
Outstanding First Year Undergraduate Student
2023
- Abbey Moreno
- Jiaan Zhang
2022
- Shaina Levin
- Samir Kulkarni
2021
- Peter Carney
- Aiden Wilkin
2020
- Bruce Bagby
- Justin Burzachiello
- Shruti Palur Mallampalli
2019
- Sanya Dhami
- Darren Yohonn
2018
- Minh Cong Chau
- Hanlin Ruan
2017
- Calvin Glisson
- Syris Norelli
2016
- Andrew Holman
- Thomas Waddleton
2015
- Kevin Bleich
- Louis Penafiel
2014
- Gerardo Alvarez
- Joshua Salazar
2013
- Connor Richards
-
Outstanding 2nd Year
Outstanding Second Year Undergraduate Student
2023
- Samir Kulkarni
- Shane Levin
- Mathew Lugatiman
2022
- Peter Carney
- Joshua Roth
- Allison Tossounian
- Aiden Wilkin
2021
- Justin Burzachiello
- Shruti Palur Mallampalli
- Ema Vo
2020
- Tristan Carlo Rojo
- Sanya Dhami
- Megan Samn
2019
- Riley Gleason
- Toni Montalvo
2018
- Calvin Glissoin
- Abby Leung
2017
- Andrew Holman
- Thomas Waddleton
2016
- William Hicks
- Greyson Voigt
2015
- Michael Malone
- Joshua Salazar
2014
- Ziqi Pi
- Connor Richards
2013
- Alexander Speirs
-
Outstanding 3rd Year
Outstanding Third Year Undergraduate Student
2021
- Mark Nguyen
- Tristan Rojo
- Tyler Rosauer
2020
- Riley Gleason
- Daniel Morales
- Kishan Patel
2019
- Nicholas Darden
- Abby Leung
2018
- Uroosa Irfan
- Thomas Waddleton
2017
- Renata Koontz
- Louis Penafiel
2016
- Michael Malone
- Joshua Salazar
2015
- Nathan Bright
- Connor Richards
2014
- Lucas Flores
- Josiah Keagy
2013
- Parth Patel
- David Tran
-
Outstanding Senior Undergraduate
Outstanding Senior Undergraduate Student
2023
- Justin Burzachiello
- Alexander Clark
- JiaJun Huang
2022
- Kristine Caspe
- Mark Nguyen
- Tyler Rosauer
2021
- Joshua Bocanegra
- Rey Lambert
- Toni Montalvo
2020
- Abby Leung
- Erik Hagan
- Tyler Smith
2019
- Sergio Garcia
- Uroosa Irfan Mevawala
- Renata Koontz
- Breanna Lucero
- David Nelson
- Thomas Waddleton
2018
- William Hicks
- Louis Penafiel
- Michael Randall
2017
- Adam Green
- Joshua Salazar
2016
- Timothy Espiritu
- Connor Richards
2015
- Lucas Flores
- Ethan Roeder
2014
- Parth Patel
2013
- Kevin Aylor
The donor names for the awards may change every year depending on the amount of funds available.
Robert Poe Memorial Scholarship Fund
The Poe Memorial Scholarship award goes to the outstanding Ph.D graduate each year.
Professor Poe came from Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and joined the faculty at UCR in 1964. He was one of the founding members of the Physics Department and initiated the research program in Relativistic Heavy Ion Physics. He was a true public servant who devoted much time to activities outside research and teaching. He had a passion for energy conservation. During the energy crisis of the 1970's he helped the City of Riverside and even countries such as Taiwan plan for the future. He was also involved in the construction of the first synchrotron and the setting up of an Atomic Physics research group at National Taiwan University. It was on a trip to Taiwan that he sadly passed away due to a heart attack. National Taiwan University honored him with a building, The Robert T. Poe Memorial Lecture Hall. The City of Riverside honored him with the naming of the Robert T. Poe Substation which is in downtown Riverside. His family and friends have endowed the Poe Memorial Award for outstanding Graduate Research.
Albert Staats Award Fund
Awarded to the graduate student(s) who best utilizes the prototype building facility to conduct his/her research.
Albert Staats was the first head of the prototype building facility in the Physics Department. To show his passion for research and teaching, he and his family have endowed the Albert Staats Prize. This is awarded to the graduate student who has best utilized the prototype building facilities to conduct his/her research.
Anne Kernan Fund
Anne Kernan graduated from University College, Dublin, Ireland with a Ph.D. in Physics in 1957. She joined the faculty of the Physics Department at UCR in 1967 and was a founding member of the Experimental High Energy Physics Research group. She rose to leadership positions in the American Physical Society serving as a Divisional Councelor for the Division of Particles and Fields, and on campus she served as Chair of the Department and later as vice Chancellor of Research. After a very successful career, including the discoveries of the W and Z bosons at CERN in 1983 and the discovery of the top quark at Fermilab in 1995, she retired from active research in 1995.
Ben Shen Memorial Award Fund
Distinguished Professor of Physics, Benjamin C. Shen graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a Ph.D. in Physics in 1965. He joined UCR in 1969 and devoted 38 years of service at the University of California, Riverside. He was instrumental in the founding of the Experimental High Energy Physics group at UCR and to the building of the UCR Department of Physics (now Physics and Astronomy).
Michael Devirian Scholarship Fund
Michael Devirian was a member of the UCR class of 1966 when he graduated with a B.S. in Physics. After graduation, he joined NASA/JPL in Pasadena and worked on the testing of the software used to process the data from the Surveyor spacecraft, which was the first to land on the Moon. From there, he went on to other jobs in the operations of planetry spacecraft, including serving as Director of Flight Operations for the Voyager project, which flew by Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1981. After nine years in Washington, D.C. as detailee to NASA Headquarters, he returned to JPL, where he worked on the Wide Field/Planetry Camera II project for the Hubble Space Telescope. Michael received the NASA Medal for Exceptional Service for his work on Voyager and the Hubble Telsecope in 1994. He became manager of the Space Science and Microgravity Flight Experiments in 1996, then manager of the Origins and Fundamentals Program in 2000, and is currently manager of the Navigator Program, which includes more than 10 space missions focused on the search for Earthlike planets and extrasterrestrial life. Michael Devirian has operated at the highest levels of NASA, even though he never received a Ph.D.
Robert Wild Award
The award is given to one or more undergraduate or graduate students whose area of focus is physics and/or math. For undergraduate student prospects, preference is to be given to a student who is participating in NCAA athletics with a grade point minimum of 3.0. Equal consideration is given to women and men. Selection is by a committee named by the Physics Department
The late Dr. Robert I. Wild was the first Physicist to join the UCR faculty and was responsible for establishing the Physics laboratories on campus. During his academic career at UCR, he served three terms as Chair of the Department of Physics, was named Fulbright Lecturer during the 1981-82 academic year, and National Science Foundation Fellow. In 1973, he received UCR's Distinguished Teaching Award. In June 1992, with gifts of the income from their Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust, Dr. Wild and his wife, Elleta, created the Robert Wild Family Endowed Scholarship. The funds support undergraduate or graduate students in the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences whose studies focus on math and/or the physical sciences.
Brown Williams Endowed Undergraduate Student Award
Brown Williams was a skilled physicist who described himself as "a technical guy." He engaged his talents in three successful careers, starting with 23 years as a leading research scientist at RCA Labs managing the Electro-Optics Laboratory in Princeton, New Jersey. When GE bought the company, Brown left to co-found Princeton Video Image, Inc., (PVI), patenting the computer system that digitally inserts virtual billboards and ads into sporting events and other live broadcasts. The most familiar application is the first down line seen in NFL games. The major work of his last years was developing and promoting solar power applications, including overseeing the building of American factories in China and consulting to various start-ups and to the Department of Energy.
R. Stephen White Award
R. Stephen White joined the UCR physics faculty in 1967 and initiated the new astrophysics program. He was the founding Associate Director of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP), serving in this position for 25 years, until 1992. His research had significant impacts in multiple areas, including nuclear physics, space physics, plasma physics and high-energy astrophysics. At UCR, he was a strong, tireless and well respected academic leader and educator, serving as the physics chairperson from 1970 to 1973.
