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Distinguished Teaching Awards
David Domke
Erika Goldstein
James Green
John Peterson
Priti Ramamurthy
Barry Witham
Carol Zander

Excellence in Teaching Awards
Chia-Hui Huang
Steve Wolfman

Distinguished Staff Awards
Brian Davis & James Boeckstiegel
Gary Ausman
Felicia Hecker
Sandra Kroupa
Keith Ward

Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award
Thomas Daniel

S. Sterling Munro Public Service Teaching Award
Sergio Palleroni

Outstanding Public Service Award
Anita Ramasastry

Brotman Diversity Award
Business Educational Opportunity Program
Student Outreach Ambassador Program

Brotman Award for Instructional Excellence
Dance Program
Research Apprenticeship Program

Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award
Geoff & Judy Vernon

Alumna Summa Laude Dignatus
Donald Baker

UW Recognition Award
ARCS Foundation, Seattle Chapter

President's Medalist
Roy Chan

Thomas Daniel, Zoology

Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award

The Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award recognizes faculty members who have made outstanding contributions to the education and guidance of graduate students.

As mentors go, Tom Daniel might argue that he doesn’t do much. Never mind that he was named the UW’s distinguished graduate mentor for 2002.

“Your students inevitably come up with things you wish you had come up with. I’d like to say you guide their research. The reality is they guide you,” said Daniel, the Joan and Richard Komen professor of zoology.

“It’s easy to become a great graduate mentor if you have great and gifted graduate students,” he said.

It also helps to have enough discretionary money to support the work of graduate students in areas that might lie outside the scope of a traditional grant. That includes money that he donated from the stipend he received as a 1996 recipient of a fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, as well as funds from the Komen professorship.

Daniel sees himself as, essentially, a partner to the six graduate students and four undergraduates working in his laboratory.

“The research machine at this University is a complete and utter partnership with graduate students. We couldn’t do what we do without that brain power,” he said.

Perhaps Daniel came by his appreciation for grad students because of his own experiences as a student, first at the University of Wisconsin, where he received a bachelor’s degree in 1976 and a master’s in 1978, and then at Duke University, where he received his doctorate in 1982. At those schools, he encountered faculty who encouraged him, offered guidance and critiqued his work and his methods, “pretty much letting me be a scientist.”

“I wasn’t told to have widget X or gene B ready by date C. They let me do what I wanted to do. I didn’t have to be part of their machine.”

Jordanna Henry, a zoology doctoral candidate, ended up working alone for four months when her adviser left the University. She says the department gave its support and Daniel stepped in and offered her a home in his lab.

“Tom has been very open to my ideas for research. He has never been concerned with whether or not I would contribute to the lab’s designated research area. His main concern is that I am working on a project that suits my interests but is sufficiently in his area of expertise that he can advise me,” Henry said.

“Tom is not only a mentor to graduate students but he has taken an active role in supporting undergraduate research,” she said. “He encourages undergraduates to take on projects in our lab that are relevant to their interests and help them acquire the skills they want.”

Graduate school can have a lot of ups and downs, said Gregor Schuurman, but Daniel makes every effort to help smooth the way.

“When I have those moments when I wonder what I’m doing here in graduate school, Tom comes to mind,” Schuurman said. “People here say he just loves this department, and I suspect that much of what he does for us goes unnoticed or not sufficiently appreciated. Nevertheless, his example inspires me and reminds me that truly wonderful people can and do make a tremendous difference.”

But to Daniel, it’s always been the students who made the difference, and he feels they’ve made his life better.

“My first reaction was, ‘This is cheating. All I do is have a good time.’ It didn’t seem fair — it’s not like I have this Yoda-like wisdom. I just have fun with my students.”

– Vince Stricherz
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