The University of New Mexico
Office of Graduate Studies

MSC 03 2180
Humanities, 107
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001

Phone: (505) 277-2711
 Fax: (505) 277-7405

Awards

Graduate students and faculty are encouraged to participate in university, regional and national competitions which recognize outstanding accomplishments.

Each year, the University of New Mexico awards the Tom L. Popejoy Dissertation Prize to recognize the highest level of academic excellence among our doctoral students.

The Tom L. Popejoy Dissertation Prize was established as a permanent memorial to the late Tom L. Popejoy, President of the University of New Mexico from 1948 to 1968. The award recognizes and encourages the highest level of academic excellence.

Competition for the prize is structured on a three-year rotation, so that in one year, the departments of Art and Art History (including MFA) and Humanities are asked to submit their best dissertations; in the next, Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, Engineering and Mathematics & Statistics; and last, Social Sciences and Education (including EdD).

Nomination Procedures

The departments eligible for submitting nominations for Spring 2013 are in the third category: Anthropology, Communications, Economics, Latin American Studies, Linguistics, Political Science, Sociology, Counseling, Educational Leadership, Educational Linguistics, Educational Psychology, Educational Thought and Sociocultural Studies, Family Studies, Health, Physical Education and Recreation, Multicultural Teacher and Childhood Education, Organizational Learning and Instructional Technologies and Special Education

Each of these departments or programs may nominate one dissertation from a student that graduated any time between the Spring 2009 semester through the end of the Fall 2011 semester. A jury of two tenured faculty members and the Dean of Graduate Studies will select the award-winning dissertation. The original dissertation readers’ reports will be made available to the jury, whose deliberations will be confidential. If no dissertation is found worthy of the prize in a given year, no award will be made and the rotation will continue the following year.

Nominating Units must submit the following information by the published deadline:

  • Nomination form.
  • A written overview of the dissertation and why it was chosen as the departmental nomination.
  • A copy of the dissertation; and
  • when possible, include the nominee’s current position and what publications/grants arose from the dissertation.

*Note:For dissertations written in a language other than English, the nominating unit must provide either:

  • An English translation of the complete dissertation or
  • an English translation of the complete introduction and conclusion, accompanied by a detailed summary of the dissertation and, when possible, one or more published articles written in English based upon the dissertation research.

Stipend

A $1000 stipend will be awarded at Spring commencement each year. The recipient should be present at Spring commencement to accept the award.

Nomination Deadline: February 1, 2013
For additional information contact Margaret Gonzales at margo@unm.edu

Thesis Awards

Dissertation Awards

Thesis/Dissertation Awards

For additional information contact Margaret Gonzales: margo@unm.edu

Regional awards are presented annually by the Western Association of Graduate Schools for both outstanding thesis and dissertations. The Council of Graduate Schools also annually award outstanding dissertations.

Many national professional societies grant similar awards within their disciplines, and faculty mentors are encouraged to submit nominations of their advisees to these competitions.