Outstanding Graduate Mentor of the Year Award

The Outstanding Graduate Mentor of the Year recognizes faculty who have a record of excellence in graduate student mentorship. They are effective advisors who facilitate degree completion, model sound scholarship and ethical behavior, provide emotional support, extend constructive criticism, involve students in publishing and other professional activities, and prepare students for their careers after they have completed their degrees. Submissions can only be made by the college deans’ offices, and each college may nominate only one mentor for this recognition.

This award is presented at the Faculty Awards Ceremony each spring.

Nomination Procedures

Past Recipients

Elizabeth Vargis

College of Engineering | Biological Engineering

Elizabeth Vargis is an Associate Professor of Biological Engineering. She studies mechanisms of disease by developing realistic in vitro models of human tissue. During the past 12 years, three PhD students and eight master’s students have graduated from the Vargis Lab. There are currently two PhD students and one master’s student in her research group. Vargis serves as USU’s Goldwater Scholar research mentor and the faculty advisor for WE Engineer (formerly the Society of Women Engineers). She was named Utah State University’s Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year in 2022.