Graduate Student Awards

Kyle Adams, a second-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Mathematics and the Laboratory for Systems Medicine, has been named one of six recipients of the 2025 UF Graduate Student Mentoring Award, a prestigious university-wide honor. This award recognizes graduate students who demonstrate exceptional dedication to mentoring others — whether fellow graduate students, undergraduates, or K–12 students and teachers.

Kyle’s nomination was based on his academic excellence, professional experience and impactful mentoring philosophy. His committee is chaired by Professor Helen Moore, an affiliate faculty member in our department, and co-chaired by Professor Bill Hager.

Dario Teran Acaro (supervised by Professor Richard Crew) and Rishabh Sarma (supervised by Professor Frank Garvan) have been awarded the CLAS Dissertation Fellowship, funded by the Kenneth and Janet Keene Endowed Fellowship in the Mathematical Sciences. Each student received $8,000 to support their dissertation research during the Summer 2025 term.

Graduate student Wanchen Zhao (advisor: Professor Peter Bubenik) was recognized for her outstanding presentation at the 2025 Joint Mathematics Meetings (JMM) during the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) Poster Session. Her poster, titled “Wasserstein Stability for Persistence Landscapes,” received the Best Poster Award, reflecting the quality and originality of her research in topological data analysis.

Wanchen also won the 2024-25 Eleanor Ewing Ehrlich Award, presented annually to a graduate student for excellence in research. This award honors the memory of Eleanor Ewing Ehrlich (1918-2011), a gifted mathematician and educator whose remarkable career included helping run the IBM calculating team at Los Alamos, directed by Richard Feynman, where they numerically solved the partial differential equations involved in nuclear fusion.

Later in life, Eleanor remained connected to our department through her son, Professor Paul Ehrlich (1948-2022), a beloved faculty member who served our department for over 30 years and made lasting contributions as a teacher, researcher and as a fantastic editor of our newsletter, Little by Little.

Michelle Baker (advisor: Professor Sara Pollock) is the 2024-25 recipient of the Neil White Excellence in Teaching Award. Named in memory of Professor Neil White, who served the department with distinction for 35 years, this award honors a graduate student who demonstrates exceptional dedication to teaching.

Professor White was known for his fearless advocacy for students, adaptive teaching style and lasting mentorship. Michelle’s commitment to engaging instruction and student support exemplifies the spirit of this award. We congratulate her on this well-deserved recognition.

Aritram Dhar (advisor: Professor Alexander Berkovich) has been awarded the 2024-25 Chat Yin Ho Scholarship, which recognizes outstanding achievement by a graduate student in the Department of Mathematics. This scholarship was established in 2005 by Professor Ho’s family, colleagues and friends in memory of Chat Yin Ho — a gifted teacher, inspiring mentor and central figure in shaping the department’s academic community.

Professor Ho was deeply respected for both his mathematical insight and his joyful spirit, known as much for his work in finite group theory as for his infectious laughter in the halls of Little Hall. We congratulate Aritram on receiving this honor, which reflects the high standards and passion for mathematics that Professor Ho exemplified throughout his career.