Outstanding Graduate Assistant Awards
Approximately 4,000 UMD graduate students also serve as teaching, research, or administrative assistants. The Graduate School recognizes the outstanding contributions that these GAs provide to students, faculty, departments, administrative units, and the University as a whole. The Graduate School awards approximately 80 Outstanding Graduate Assistant Awards annually, which represents roughly the top 2% of campus GA's in a given year. The AY 25-26 Outstanding Graduate Assistant Award winners will receive a credit for mandatory fees in the Spring 2026 Semester. The nomination and selection process for the AY 25-26 OGA awards occurs during Winter 2026.
Eligibility: Graduate Assistants must be holding at least a half-time graduate assistantship (TA, RA, or AA) for Fall 2025 and Spring 2026. Students must be nominated by their advisor or supervisor.
Nomination Process: Nominators (departments, advisors, or supervisors) are asked to complete the nomination cover sheet and submit the nomination to their college/school. Some colleges/schools may have specific nomination requirements. Please inquire with your department's coordinator to learn more about your college/school's nomination process.
Selection Process: College/Schools select the AY 25-26 Outstanding Graduate Assistants. The deadline has been extended to Monday, February 9, 2026.
Award Recipients
College of Arts and Humanities
Danielle Bing, History
Aidyn Cooper, Philosophy
Felicity Dogbatse, Communication
Filippo Grassi, Art History
Tatenda Mashanda, Communication
Doni Rotunno, Theatre Design
Julia Sodre, Art History
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Bibek Bhattachan, Veterinary Medicine
Parama Bhattacharjee, Animal Sciences
Anmol Kajla, Plant Science
Jason Manzon, Environmental Science and Technology
Colleen O'Donnell, Environmental Science and Technology
School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation
Natalia Chakma, Urban and Regional Planning and Design
College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Erika Feeney, Criminology and Criminal Justice
Fernanda Breckenfeld Ferrarini, Anthropology
Hyunjeong Kwak, Sociology
Daniel Tuke, Government and Politics
Zizhong Xiao, Psychology
Zhihao Wang, Geographical Sciences
College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences
Aisha Abdulkarimu, Biological Sciences
Vera Andersson, Mathematical Statistics
Amanda Brocki, Chemistry
Joseph Carolan, Computer Science
Helen Craig, Entomology
Pierce Darragh, Computer Science
Sumedha Desikamani, Geology
Eadom Dessalene, Computer Science
Guanchao Ding, Biological Sciences
Hiba El Oirghi, Computer Science
Nathaniel Fried, Chemical Physics
Laila Howar, Atmospheric and Oceanic Science
Da Yeon Ki, Computer Science
Sonal Kumar, Computer Science
Meenakshi Krishnan, Applied Mathematics & Statistics, and Scientific Computation
Yonghan Lee, Computer Science
Theresa Menna, Biological Sciences
Kinjal Mondal, Biophysics
Angela Saenz, Entomology
Renata Valieva, Mathematics
College of Education
Marley Forbes, Human Development
Manuel Teran Hernandez, Counseling Psychology
Monica Obiri-Yeboah, Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership
A. James Clark School of Engineering
Diako Abbasi, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Allison Boboltz, Bioengineering
Alex Hall, Materials Science and Engineering
Sahan Liyanaarachchi, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Amirreza Mohammadi, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Joseph O'Leary, Reliability Engineering
Supratik Sarkar, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Linda Tian, Mechanical Engineering
Chidiebere Udenze, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Nan Zhang, Chemical Engineering
Yufeng Zheng, Fire Protection Engineering
College of Information Studies
Lovely-Frances Domingo, Information Studies
Shom Tiwari, Library and Information Science (Online)
Philip Merrill College of Journalism
Yara Mabrouk, Journalism Studies
School of Public Health
Claire Barlow, Environmental Health Sciences
Lauren Nowosatka, Kinesiology
Olivia Prince, Epidemiology
School of Public Policy
Breana Stevens, Public Policy
Robert H. Smith School of Business
Yunfei Wang, Business and Management
Jiannan Xu, Business and Management
College of Arts and Humanities
Christina Bishop, History
Jin Choi, Communication
Ashley Cope, Art History and Archaeology
Karina de Sande, Spanish and Portuguese
Anh Duong, American Studies
Dominique Garcia, History
Umisha Kc, Communications
JooHee Kim, Art History and Archaeology
Varvara Tokareva, Art
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Darshika Amarakoon, Nutrition and Food Science
Stephanie Cavanaugh, Plant Science
Bhavit Chhabra, Plant Science
Cassandra Gabalis, Environmental Science and Technology
Pratibha Poudel, Animal and Avian Sciences
Qingyue Zeng, Nutrition and Food Science
School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation
Abigail Chi, Architecture
College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Codey Carr, Criminology and Criminal Justice
Harriet Goers, Government and Politics
Shuyu Jin, Geographical Sciences
Woohyeon Kim, Government and Politics
Dalton Lackey, Sociology
Sarah Silberman, Criminology and Criminal Justice
Alexis Stefanic, Hearing and Speech Sciences
Nikita Viswasam, Sociology
Emma Weikert, Anthropology
College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences
Amandeep Chanda, Statistics
Mengting Chao, Applied Mathematics & Statistics, and Scientific Computation Program
Ethan Dudley, Applied Mathematics & Statistics, and Scientific Computation
Kathleen Evans, Entomology
Reint Fischer, Atmospheric and Oceanic Science
Katharina Gallmeier, Atmospheric and Oceanic Science
Sahana Kumar, Biological Sciences
Nathan McLane, Chemical Physics
Karla Nunez, Geology
Spandan Pathak, Biophysics
Anna Phan, Biological Sciences
Vasanth Pidaparthy, Mathematics
Arjun Savel, Astronomy
Zezheng Song, Applied Mathematics & Statistics, and Scientific Computation
Max Springer, Applied Mathematics & Statistics, and Scientific Computation
Luis Suarez, Mathematics
Asan Turdiev, Biological Sciences
College of Education
Muwon Kwon, Quantitative Methodology: Measurement and Statistics
Astrid Sierra Mejia, Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership
Daija Waugh, Special Education
A. James Clark School of Engineering
Khashayar Aghilinasrollahabadi, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Sachindra Dissanayake, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Grant Duemmel, Aerospace Engineering
Kaveh Faraji Najarkolaie, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Nahin Ferdousi-Rokib, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Raashiq Ishraaq, Mechanical Engineering
Chuanyu Lian, Materials Science and Engineering
Haotong Liang, Materials Science and Engineering
Mingju Liu, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Sahithi Maddipatla, Mechanical Engineering
Sydney Overton, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Suraj Raval, Mechanical Engineering
Thomas Roche, Mechanical Engineering
Ian Smith, Bioengineering
Yuanyuan Zhou, Mechanical Engineering
College of Information Studies
Shreya Deep, Human-Computer Interaction
Ming Rui Lee, Information Studies
Philip Merrill College of Journalism
Gea Ujčić, Journalism Studies
School of Public Health
Chia-Shuan Chang, Behavioral and Community Health
Nealofar Madani, Behavioral and Community Health
Katharine Roberts, Health Services Research
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Yanli Chen, Veterinary Medicine
Si Fan, Nutrition and Food Science
Joseph Ryan Lagner, Plant Science and Landscape Architecture
Grace Markley, Animal Sciences
School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation
Bi’Anncha Andrews, Urban and Regional Planning and Design
Jesse Michael Bardsley, Community Planning
College of Arts and Humanities
Theavy Marie Din, Modern French Studies
Annemarie Mott Ewing, English Language and Literature
Alisa Denise Hardy, Communications
Christian Douglas Henrriquez, Theatre and Performance Studies
Daniela Paz Hernandez, Spanish and Portuguese
Megu Itoh, Communications
Molly Elizabeth Leach, Musicology and Music Theory
Kristen Li Puma, American Studies
Diana Cristina Proenza, English Language and Literature
College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Allison Bredder, Geographical Sciences
Emiliano A Campos, Anthropology
Jade Dunstan, Psychology
Tristan Matthew Hightower, Government and Politics
Michael Jacob Lebron, Criminology and Criminal Justice
Sara Ellen King, Economics
Silvana Maria Montanola, Anthropology
Sean Richard Maulhardt, Psychology
Leonid Shumilo, Geographical Sciences
College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences
Christian Akakpo, Chemistry
Bang An, Computer Science
Akashnathan Aranganathan, Biophysics
James Alexander Bader, Geology
Yang Bai, Computer Science
Stephanie Yuan Chia, Biological Sciences
Foivos Chnaras, Mathematics
Nolan J Coble, Computer Science
Gillian Star Felton, Atmospheric and Oceanic Science
Anna Clare Fitzmaurice, Physics
Armin Gerami, Computer Science
Sreyan Ghosh, Computer Science
Sharath Girish, Computer Science
Osma Josefina Gomez, Chemistry
Kevin Alexander Hackbarth, Biological Sciences
Emily Kaiyin Jiang, Physics
Priyatham Kattakinda, Computer Science
NaKyung Lee, Computer Science
Geng Liu, Computer Science
Jeffrey Martin Loube, Biological Sciences
Alan Fei Luo, Computer Science
Gautam Nambiar, Physics
Daniel Lee Nichols, Computer Science
Aashli Pathni, Biological Sciences
Garrett Drake Peters, Mathematics
Mohammed Rahman, Statistics
Nitya Raju, Computer Science
Smrithan Ravichandran, Chemical Physics
Katie Kolb Reding, Entomology
Martin Alexander Ritter, Physics
Suho Shin, Computer Science
Nicholas Robert Simms, Chemistry
Siddharth Singh, Computer Science
Bryan Gregory Wentz, Biochemistry
Laura Yu Zheng, Computer Science
College of Education
Youngjin Han, Quantitative Methodology
Ashley Ogwo, Higher Education
Rolonda Latreecee Payne, Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership
A. James Clark School of Engineering
Ayooluwa Adeolu Ajiboye, Electrical Engineering
Subhankar Banerjee, Electrical Engineering
Sangeeth Balakrishnan, Mechanical Engineering
Lavan Teja Burra, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Yekanth Ram Chalumuri, Mechanical Engineering
Shih-Huai Cheng, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Purbesh Mitra, Electrical Engineering
Michael Timor Nassief Morcos, Aerospace Engineering
Yiren Qin, Mechanical Engineering
Ann Therese Dela Cruz Ramirez, Bioengineering
Animesh Kumar Shastry, Aerospace Engineering
Sashank Kaushik Sridhar, Mechanical Engineering
Joohyung Song, Electrical Engineering
Callie Margaret Weber, Bioengineering
Yi Zhang, Civil and Environmental Engineering
College of Information Studies
Elissa Carpio, Human-Computer Interaction
Vivian Samuels, Human-Computer Interaction
Robert H. Smith School of Business
Mingwei Sun, Business and Management
Shotaro Yamaguchi, Business and Management
School of Public Health
Maria Clara Canellas Da Silva, Kinesiology
Coda Nicole Gerber, Family Science
Margaret Ann Smith, Behavioral and Community Health
Note: This page lists award recipients from 2023–2026. For information on recipients from earlier years, please contact Program Director Robyn Kotzker (rkotzker@umd.edu / 5-0281).