Here are the past winners of the Winifred and Louis Lancaster Dissertation Awards, starting from the award's inaugural year in 1986.
About the Award
This annual award recognizes two individuals who have completed dissertations deemed by the Awards Committee as with significant impact on the field in terms of methodological and substantive contributions. Two awards are given annually to doctoral degree recipients or candidates from two broad academic areas. The four fields of competition alternate each year, as specified by the National Council of Graduate Schools. For more information about nomination details and the awards cycle, click here.
2023-2017 Awardees
Biological and Life Science |
Humanities and Fine Arts |
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Thomas S. Lankiewicz |
Sergey Salushchev |
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Ecology, Evolution, & Marine Biology |
History |
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Biochemical Characterization of Neocallimastigomycetes for the Development of Lignocellulose Conversion Technologies using Synthetic Biology |
Reluctant Abolitionists: Slavery, Dependency, and Abolition in the Caucasus (1801-1914) |
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Advisors: Dr. Michelle A. O’Malley and Dr. Holly Moeller |
Advisor: Dr. Adrienne Edgar |
Social Sciences |
Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering |
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Emily Williams |
Mark Turiansky |
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Geography |
Physics |
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Interrogating the science of climate accountability: Allocating responsibility for climate impacts within a frame of climate justice |
Quantum Defects from First Principles |
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Advisor: Dr. David Lopez-Carr |
Advisor: Dr. Chris Van de Walle |
Biological and Life Science |
Humanities and Fine Arts |
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Georgia Titcomb |
John Thibdeau |
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Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology |
Religious Studies |
| The role of watering holes as hotspots of disease transmission in changing climates | Sufism in Moroccan Public Life: Teaching Ethics and Performing Piety |
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Advisor: Dr. Hillary Young |
Advisor: Dr. Juan Campo |
Social Sciences |
Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering |
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Annie Hikido |
Junkai Jiang |
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Sociology |
Electrical and Computer Engineering |
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The Black Township Hospitality Market: Intimacies, Authenticities and Postcolonial Imaginaries in South Africa |
CMOS-Compatible Doped-Multilayer-Graphene for Next generation Interconnects, Passives and Monolithic-3D Integrated Circuits |
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Advisor: Dr. France Winddance Twine |
Advisor: Dr. Kaustav Banerjee |
Humanities and Fine Arts |
Biological and Life Science |
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Hannah M.L. Goodwin |
Nicole Yishi Leung |
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Film and Media Studies |
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology |
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Archives of Light Cinematic and Cosmological Time |
Functions of Opsinis in Drosophila Taste |
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Advisor: Dr. Charles Wolfe |
Advisor: Dr. Dennis Clegg |
Social Sciences |
Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering |
Dajung “DJ” Woo |
Jiahao Kang |
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Communication |
Electrical and Computer Engineering |
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Collaboration Life Cycle: Communicating Knowledge and Expertise for Gerring In, Getting On, and Getting Out |
Two-Dimensional Electronic Materials and Devices: Opportunities and Challenges |
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Advisor: Dr. Karen Myers |
Advisor: Dr. Kaustav Banerjee |
Biological and Life Science |
Humanities and Fine Arts |
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Kevin Johnson |
Lynnette Arnold |
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Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology |
Linguistics |
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Investigating the molecular response of the marine calcifying pteropod, Limacina helicina, to ocean acidification and ocean warming |
Communicative Care across Borders: |
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Advisor: Dr. Gretchen Hofmann |
Advisor: Dr. Mary Bucholtz |
2016-2007 Awardees
Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering |
Social Sciences |
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Deblina Sarkar |
Summer Gray |
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Electrical and Computer Engineering |
Sociology |
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2D Steep Transistor Technology: Overcoming Fundamental Barriers in Low-Power Electronics and Ultra-Sensitive Biosensors |
If these walls could talk: A Global Ethnography of Sea Change |
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Advisor: Dr. Kaustav Banerjee |
Advisor: Dr. Kum-Kum Bhavnani |
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National Honorable Mention, CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award |
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Humanities and Fine Arts |
Biological and Life Science |
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Kenneth Hough |
Patrick Keeley |
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History |
Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology |
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Rising Sun Over America: Imagining a Japanese Conquest of the United States, 1900-1945 |
Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Retinal Circuitry Development |
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Advisor: Dr. Paul Spickard |
Advisor: Dr. Benjamin Reese |
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Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering |
Social Sciences |
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Ahmed Almheiri |
Carly Thomsen |
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Physics |
Feminist Studies |
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The Black Hole Firewall |
Unbecoming: Visibility Politics and Queer Rurality |
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Advisor: Dr. Joseph Polchinski |
Advisor: Dr. Leila Rupp |
Humanities and Fine Arts |
Biological and Life Science |
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Matthew Recla |
Misty Riddle |
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Religious Studies |
Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology |
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Imitatio Christi?: Reading Christian Martyrdom as Self-Formation |
In vivo forced reprogramming and remodeling of differentiated somatic cells and organs by brief expression of a single transcription factor. |
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Advisor: Dr. Christine Thomas |
Advisor: Dr. Joel Rothman |
Social Sciences |
Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering |
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Jody Jahn |
Sudipto Das |
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Communication |
Computer Science |
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Scalable and Elastic Transactional Data Stores for Cloud Computing Platforms |
The Communicative Construction of Safety in Wildland Firefighting |
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Advisor: Dr. Linda Putnam, Karen Myers |
Advisor: Dr. Amr El Abbadi |
Biological and Life Science |
Humanities and Fine Arts |
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Alison Pischedda |
Elizabeth Shermer |
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Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology |
History |
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Sexual Selection and Sexual Conflict in a Drosophila melanogaster Model System |
Creating the Sunbelt: The Political and Economic Transformation of Phoenix, Arizona |
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Advisor: Dr. William Rice |
Advisor: Dr. Nelson Lichtenstein |
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National Honorable Mention/Immediate Runner Up, CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award |
Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering |
Social Sciences |
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Jeffrey Case |
Joseph Conti |
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Mathematics |
Sociology |
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Conformally Warped Manifolds and Quasi-Einstein Metrics |
Power through Process: The Dispute Settlement Process of the World Trade Organization, 1995-2005 |
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Advisor: Dr. Xianzhe Dai |
Advisor: Dr. Richard Appelbaum, John Sutton |
Humanities and Fine Arts |
Biological and Life Science |
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April Haynes |
Stephanie Aoki |
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History |
Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology |
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Riotous Flesh: Gender, Physiology, and the Solitary Vice, 1830-1860 |
Contact-Dependent Growth Inhibition in Escherichia |
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Advisor: Dr. Patricia Cohen |
Advisor: Dr. David Low |
Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering |
Social Sciences |
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Munkyo Seo |
Timothy Mechlinski |
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Electrical and Computer Engineering |
Sociology |
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Signal Processing/Hardware Co-Design for High Speed A/D Conversion and Millimeterwave Sensor Nets |
Negotiation and Supplication: The Social, Cultural, and Political Interactions of West African Mobility Control |
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Advisor: Dr. Mark Rodwell |
Advisor: Dr. Kum-Kum Bhavnani, John Foran |
Biological and Life Science |
Humanities and Fine Arts |
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No selection |
Carmen Jany |
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Linguistics |
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Chimariko in Areal and Typological Perspective |
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Advisor: Dr. Marianne Mithun |
2006-1997 Awardees
Social Sciences |
Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering |
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Joshua James New |
Tomás A. Palacios Gutiérrez |
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Psychology |
Electrical and Computer Engineering |
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Category-Specificity in Spatial and Temporal Attention |
Optimization of the High Frequency Performance of Nitride-Based Transistors |
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Advisor: Dr. Leda Cosmides |
Advisor: Dr. Umesh Mishra |
Biological and Life Science |
Humanities and Fine Arts |
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Aaron Hernday |
Thomas Sizgorich |
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Biochemistry and Molecular Biology |
History |
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The Mechanisms by which DNA Adenine Methylase, PapI and CpxAR Regulate the Pap Epigenetic Switch in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli |
Martyrs, Monks and Mujahidin |
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Advisor: Dr. David Low |
Advisor: Dr. Harold Drake |
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National Winner, CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award |
Social Sciences |
Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering |
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Debra Lieberman |
Ilan Ben-Yaacov |
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Psychology |
Electrical and Computer Engineering |
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Mapping the Cognitive Architecture of Systems for Kin Detection and Inbreeding Avoidance: The Westermarck Hypothesis and the Development of Sexual Aversions Between Siblings |
AlGaN/GaN Current Aperture Vertical Electron Transistors |
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Advisor: Dr. Leda Cosmides |
Advisor: Dr. Umesh Mishra |
Biological and Life Science |
Humanities and Fine Arts |
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Elizabeth Borer |
Sarah Case |
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Ecology, Evolution, & Marine Biology |
History |
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How Do Resource Specialists Co-exist? Evidence from a Biological Control Community |
Renegotiating Race and Respectability in the Classroom: Women, Education, and the New South |
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Advisor: Dr. William Murdoch, Allan Stewart-Oaten |
Advisor: Dr. Jane De Hart, Carl Harris |
Social Sciences |
Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering |
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Christiana Stoddard |
James Bryant Thompson |
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Economics |
Physics |
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Three Essays on Teachers, Markets, and Educational Policies |
New Tools for Studying Biomaterials |
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Advisor: Dr. Jon Stonstelie |
Advisor: Dr. Paul Hansma |
Humanities and Fine Arts |
Biological and Life Science |
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Beverly Schwartzberg |
Robin Snyder |
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History |
Physics |
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Grass Widows, Barbarians, and Bigamists: Marital Fluidity in Late Nineteenth-Century America |
Effects of Spatial Correlations and Fluctuations on Population Dynamics |
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Advisor: Dr. Patricia Cohen |
Advisor: Dr. Roger Nisbet |
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National Winner, CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award |
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Social Sciences |
Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering |
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Brian John Duncan |
Priya Narasimhan |
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Economics |
Electrical and Computer Engineering |
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Financing Charitable Organizations and Non-Profit Firms |
Transparent Fault Tolerance for CORBA |
Humanities and Fine Arts |
Biological and Life Science |
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Hubert Dubrulle |
Douglas Heithoff |
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History |
Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology |
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'A War of Wonders': The Battle in Britain over Americanization and the American Civil War |
Host-Specific Induction of Bacterial Virulence Genes |
Social Sciences |
Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering |
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Arturo Gonzalez |
Michael Mantle Lipp |
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Economics |
Chemical Engineering |
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Immigrant Enclaves, Language Skills, and the Effect of Age at Arrival on Education |
A Microscopy Study of Model Lung Surfactant Monolayers |
Biological and Life Science |
Humanities and Fine Arts |
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Jennifer Elaine Caselle |
Fernando Augusto Rocchi |
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Biology |
History |
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Recruitment and Early Post-settlement Processes in Coral Reef Fishes |
Building a Nation, Building a Market: Industrial Growth and the Domestic Economy in Turn-of-the-century Argentina |
1996-1986 Awardees
Humanities and Fine Arts |
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Elizabeth De Palma Digeser |
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History |
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Lactantius, Constantine and the Roman Res Publica |
Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering |
| Miroslav Krstic |
| Electrical and Computer Engineering |
| Adaptive Nonlinear Control |
Social Sciences |
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Peggy La Cerra |
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Psychology |
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Evolved Mate Preferences in Women: Psychological Adaptations for Assessing a Man's Willingness to Invest in Offspring |
Biological and Life Science |
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Cheryl Jean Briggs |
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Biology |
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The Effect of Multiple Parasitoid Species on the Gall-Forming Midge, Rhopalomyia californica |
Humanities and Fine Arts |
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Jeno Michael Burger |
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History |
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Intimacy and Lordshop: The Creation of a Bureaucracy in the Diocese of Lincoln, ca. 1186-1299 |
Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering |
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Scott Allen Smith |
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Chemistry |
Social Sciences |
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Marilyn Regina Whalen |
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Sociology |
Biological and Life Science |
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Daniel C. Reed |
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Biological Sciences |
Humanities and Fine Arts |
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Robyn Margaret Bell |
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English |
Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering |
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Nicholas Joseph Kirchner |
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Chemistry |
Social Sciences |
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J. Timothy O'Meara |
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Anthropology |