Virtual Perpetual Plaque: Outstanding Culminating Activities Award

In 1988, the Office of Graduate Studies initiated the Outstanding Thesis Award to give special recognition to the graduate student who had authored the most significant piece of research as the culminating activity under the 699T format.

In 1991, the Outstanding Project Award was instituted to recognize the most creative scholarship conducted by a master’s candidate enrolled in 699P as the culminating activity.

In 2023, the Graduate Studies expanded the Outstanding Thesis and Project Awards to include the Outstanding Professional Paper and Outstanding Creative Works, which are part of the Outstanding Culminating Activities Award.  

The awardees are recognized on the master’s commencement program, and are listed on the perpetual plaques displayed in the Graduate School and virtually on this site. Also included on the perpetual plaques are the names of the chairs of the graduate advisory committee who guided the outstanding culminating activity to completion.

Congratulations to the following students who are the recipients of the Outstanding Culminating Activities Award:

2023 Recipients

• Outstanding Project
  Christina Backlund, MA Interdisciplinary Studies: Immersive Interactive Technologies
  Interactive Immersive Technologies at the Valene L. Smith Museum of Anthropology
  Committee: Clarke Steinback, PhD, Chair, and Georgia Fox, PhD 
  
  
• Outstanding Thesis
  Holly Swan, MS Interdisciplinary Studies
  Beaver Translocation for Ecosystem Health And Restoration: Uncovering Barriers to Policy Change In California
  Committee: Kristen Kaczynski, PhD Chair, and Jesse Engebretson, PhD
  
  
• Outstanding Thesis
  Eric Jopson, MA History
  “The Best-Kept Secret”: The Genesis Group’s Origins and Influence on The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, 1971-2018.
  Committee: Robert Tinkler, PhD Chair, Sarah Pike PhD, and Jeff Livingston, PhD
  
  
• Outstanding Professional Paper
  Jaclyn Noble, MA Public Administration
  Addressing Homelessness: A Needs Assessment of Resources for the Unsheltered Population in Butte County
  Committee: Jennifer Wilking, PhD, Chair & Teodora DeLorenzo, JD
  
  
• Honorable MentionProfessional Paper
  Bruce Avila, MS Nutrition
  Alcoholics Anonymous and Nutrition: An Exploration of Alcoholics in Recovery and How Food Alters Choices
  Committee: Keiko Goto, PhD, Chair & Ben Seipel, PhD

2022 Recipients

• Outstanding Thesis
  Samuel L. Winter, MS Psychology
  The Impact of Clinician-Perpetrated Sexual and Gender Minority Microaggressions Upon Client Perceptions in Psychotherapy
  Committee: Mathew Withers, PhD, Chair, Marie Lippmann, PhD and David Hibbard, PhD
  
  
• Outstanding Project
  He-Lo Ramirez, MS Interdisciplinary Studies: Wildland Management
  Improving Northwestern Maidu Education in Northern California: A Need for and Creation of Place-Based Culturally Relevant Curricula
  Committee: Sara Trechter, PhD, Chair and Rachel McBride-Praetorius, M.A.

2021 Recipients

• Outstanding Thesis 
  Juan Vega, MA History
  Proselytizing Modernity: Reexamining the Summer Institute of Linguistics’ Tenure in Mexico, 1934-1979
  Committee: Stephen E. Lewis, PhD Chair, Jeffery C. Livingston, PhD, Hannah Burdette, PhD
  
  
• Outstanding Project
  Alondra Adame, MA English
  The Audacity to Live
  Committee: Robert Davidson, PhD, Chair Jeanne E. Clark, PhD Aydé Enríquez-Loya, PhD

2020 Recipients

• Outstanding Thesis (MA Art):
  Tirumular "Drew" Chandrasekaran Narayanan
  White Saracens, Black Muslims, and Brown Hafsids: Imaginations of the ‘Saracen Prince’ in Les Grandes Chroniques De France (Royal Ms 16 G Vi)
  Committee: Asa Mittman, PhD, Chair, Matthew Looper, PhD
  
  
• Outstanding Project
  Emily Huso, MA English
  Invasion of the Bees and Other Stories
  Committee: Robert Davidson, PhD, Chair, Jeanne E. Clark, PhD

2019 Recipients

• Outstanding Thesis
  Jeanette Adame, MA History
  Citing Divine And Human Laws: Women Of African Descent And The New Orleans Cabildo, 1769-1800
  Committee: Robert Tinkler, PhD, Chair, Allison Madar, PhD, Michael Magliari, PhD
  
  
• Outstanding Thesis
  Dylan K. Stompe, MS Biology
  Habitat-Specific Diet Analysis Of Sacramento Pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus Grandis) And Striped Bass (Morone Saxatilis) In The Sacramento River
  Committee: Amanda Banet, PhD, Chair, Colleen Hatfield, PhD, Edward Roualdes, PhD, Jason Roberts, BS

2018 Recipient

• Outstanding Thesis
  Rodney Thompson, MA History
  The Khawārij And Religious Identity Formation In Early Islam
  Committee: Najm al-Din Yousefi, PhD, Chair Jason Nice, PhD Kate McCarthy, PhD

2017 Recipient

• Outstanding Thesis
  Derek Boyd, MA Anthropology
  Putting Fracture Reduction On Repeat: An Analysis Of The Long-Term Health Consequences Of Differential Treatment In Industrial-Era London
  Committee: Colleen Milligan, PhD, Chair, Antoinette Martinez, PhD 

2016 Recipient

• Outstanding Thesis
  Lowell Thomas, MA Anthropology
  The Historical Context for Indigenous Culture Change in Dixie Valley, Northeast California: A Prelude to Collaborative Archaeology
  Committee: Antoinette Martinez, PhD, Chair, Frank Bayham, PhD