KU announces 2024 Undergraduate Research Mentor Awards

LAWRENCE — The Center for Undergraduate Research has announced the winners of two annual awards recognizing undergraduate research mentors who make a difference in the lives of their students at the University of Kansas.

Cindy Berrie, professor in chemistry, and Laura Kirk, associate teaching professor in theatre and film, are the recipients of the 2024 K. Barbara Schowen Undergraduate Research Mentor Award. This faculty award is named after the professor emeritus of chemistry whose efforts to promote undergraduate research at KU led to the development of the Undergraduate Research Symposium. Both Berrie and Kirk will receive $1,000.

Cindy Berrie

Berrie has mentored over 30 undergraduate researchers in her lab and through such programs as the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates since arriving at KU. In her nomination packet, Berrie is recognized by students and colleagues as having a selfless mentorship approach and infectious scientific curiosity that has shaped the educational and career paths of countless undergraduate students. This has led to students winning highly competitive awards such as the Barry M. Goldwater, Astronaut and Marshall scholarships as well as continuing their education beyond KU at top graduate and professional programs across the world.

Laura Kirk

Kirk mentors 3-6 students each semester on time-intensive capstone projects and performances. In her nomination packet, students and colleagues acknowledged Kirk’s deep commitment to the Department of Theatre & Dance and its students. She is known to be incredibly accommodating and compassionate and does everything she can to help others without compromising her personal, professional or academic integrity. She demonstrates everything a professor should embody: a passion for her job, an individualized approach for each student, unwavering commitment to diversity and support for every voice.

Syed Muhammad Omar

Syed Muhammad Omar, a graduate student and researcher in the Cultural Psychology Research Group within the Department of Psychology, is the 2024 recipient of the Undergraduate Research Mentor Award. This award was started in 2014 at the request of undergraduate students who wanted to recognize the important role that graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and academic staff play in mentoring undergraduate researchers at KU. Omar’s nomination packet highlighted his extreme reception of new ideas, meticulous training and ability to allow undergraduate students to have independence while conducting research. Additionally, he was recognized for ensuring his mentees have full understanding of a project, establishing clear expectations and holding student researchers to high standards.

“We received outstanding nominations for the research mentor awards this year. Comprehensively, the nominees and winners demonstrate the impressive research and creative work that is carried out at KU each semester,” Erin Wolfram, associate director of the Center for Undergraduate Research and the Office of Fellowships. “The value these opportunities and mentors bring to undergraduate students is immense, and I look forward to seeing how the mentors and students continue to grow through their ongoing engagement with the Center for Undergraduate Research.”    

Both mentor awards are coordinated through KU’s Center for Undergraduate Research.  Mentors were nominated through a three-part process: students, faculty or staff submitted recommendations for a mentor to be considered for the award; nominees completed an official nomination form highlighting their mentorship experience; and current and former students and colleagues submitted supportive letters of recommendation.

Additional 2024 mentor award nominees:

• Michael Hageman, professor of pharmaceutical chemistry
• Timothy Jackson, professor of chemistry
• Bunu Lama, graduate student and researcher in molecular, cellular & developmental biology
• Kristi Neufeld, Frank B. Tyler Professor of Cancer Research
• Robin Orozco, assistant professor of molecular biosciences
• Shahnaz Parsaeian, assistant professor of economics
• Gregory Rudnick, professor of physics & astronomy.