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Media studies phd receives nyu's outstanding dissertation award.

Harris Kornstein, who completed their PhD in Media, Culture, and Communication in Fall 2021, has received the highly competitive university-wide NYU Award for Outstanding Dissertation on the Topic of Inequality .

Kornstein's dissertation, "Queer Enchantment: Contours, Cruising, Crystal Visions, and Other Queer Tactics for (Not) Being Seen," examines the intersections of queerness and surveillance capitalism, proposing “queer enchantment” as a set of for avoiding, mitigating, and directly challenging observation. Drawing on digital media theory and queer studies, Kornstein documents creative queer/trans cultural practices like drag performance, queer-run transportation networks, and mystical spiritual practices like tarot and astrology that counter both social and digital forms of control. Contrary to traditional discourses of privacy or transparency, queer enchantment techniques operate less by withholding data or opting out, and rather by taking advantage of the paradoxical hyper- and in-visibility that many queer and trans people playfully modulate through affect, play, and allure—ultimately overwhelming both the senses and the sensors.

Harris Kornstein is currently an Assistant Professor of Public & Applied Humanities at the University of Arizona.

Photos from Kornstein's dissertation, on using drag makeup techniques to confound facial recognition algorithms.

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​Canadian NSERC Fellowship

• Vitaly Kuznetsov
• Mitch Bushuk

Department of Defense (DoD) National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship

Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE CSGF)

• Anya Katsevich

Department of Energy (DoE) Office of Science Graduate Fellowship (SCGF)

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

• Rajendra Beekie
• Alex Kaiser
• Ian Tobasco
• Ben Fogelson
• Giulia DeSalvo
• Sylvester Eriksson-Bique
• Steve Heilman
• Aukosh Jagannath

Portuguese FCT Fellowship

• Domingos Lopes

Internal Fellowships

Isaac Barkey and Ernesto Yhap Fellowship

• AY2018-19: Reza Gheissari and Benjamin McKenna
• AY2017-18: Brett Bernstein

Paul Garabedian Fellowship

• AY2018-19: Natalie Frank
• AY2015-16: Giulia DeSalvo

Peter Lax Fellowship

• AY2018-19: Tristan Leger
• AY2017-18: James Patrick Fennell

Charles Newman Fellowship

• AY2018-19: Dmitriy Kunisky and Christopher Thornett
• AY2017-18: Guillaume Paul Dubach and Liying Li

Jeffrey and Denise Rosenbluth Fellowship

• AY2018-19: Alexisz Gaal
• AY2017-18: Montacer Essid
• AY2013-14: Samu Alanko
• AY2012-13: Shunxin Jiang

NYU Dean's Dissertation Fellowship

• AY2018-19: Romeo Alexandar
• AY2017-18: Irena Vankova, Jiajun Tong
• AY2016-17: Flavien Leger, Onu Alper, Jihun Han
• AY2015-16: Travis Askham, Aukosh Jagannath
• AY2014-15: Andres Munoz, Jim Portegies
• AY2013-14: Alon Stern
• AY2012-13: Sean Li, Rebeca Salas-Boni

Courant Institute Awards

For a list of awards and fellowships presented by the Courant Institute and recipients, please see the Courant student and postdoc recognition page on the Courant website.

Dr. Yangjin Park, PhD ’22, Receives NYU Outstanding Dissertation Award

Dr. Yangjin Park, a 2022 graduate of NYU Silver’s PhD Program who is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, has received NYU’s 2023 Outstanding Dissertation Award in the Social Sciences category for “Multiple Risk Patterns and Bullying Perpetration and Victimization among Children.” A Research Assistant at NYU Silver’s Center on Violence and Recovery during his doctoral studies, Dr. Park is committed to reducing violence and trauma among vulnerable populations.

Dr. Park’s award-winning dissertation uses a person-centered approach to examine the complex, underlying risk factors that make some children more susceptible to bullying perpetration and victimization; explores the association between internalizing (e.g., anxiety, depression) and externalizing (e.g., conduct issues, impulsivity) behavior problems and bullying perpetration and victimization across risk groups; and evaluates whether family strength has a buffering effect. The three-paper dissertation is based on a secondary analysis of data on children aged six to ten from the 2019 National Survey of Children’s Health.

While prior research has established that multiple risk factors are associated with bullying perpetration and victimization, it has generally taken a cumulative risk approach, leading to one-size-fits-all interventions. By contrast, Dr. Park explored and disaggregated the underlying risk factors, providing insight into how they are experienced in children’s lives. He also found new evidence of a nuanced relationship between children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors and bullying perpetration and victimization. He further discovered that while family-based interventions are effective for children at low risk of bullying perpetration and victimization and those whose risks are primarily within the family domain, they are less effective for children who are exposed to either individual and environmental risks or multiple risks. “Although many children end up experiencing bullying,” Dr. Park wrote, “the present study offers a clearer picture of the distinctive patterns of risks and the pathways that led children to this outcome, suggesting the need to consider different prevention and intervention efforts across these groups.”

Associate Professor and PhD Program Director Rohini Pahwa welcomed the news of Dr. Park’s prestigious honor. “Jin is a skilled quantitative and qualitative researcher committed to violence prevention among children and families. His rigorous, well-written scholarship on the pressing issue of child bullying has relevance for social workers, clinicians, teachers, and policymakers.”

Dr. Park expressed appreciation to NYU Silver’s PhD Program and his dissertation committee. “I am deeply grateful for the unwavering support, constructive feedback, and warm-hearted mentorship provided by my advisor, Dr. Kathrine Sullivan. My statistical methods mentor, Dr. James Jaccard, provided invaluable guidance and encouragement and I cannot thank him enough. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Dr. Marya Gwadz for her emotional and academic support throughout my doctoral program. I am grateful to Dr. Briana Barocas and my CVR family, for the intellectually challenging environment, support, and love over the past five years. Finally, I feel deeply honored to have been a part of the NYU Silver’s PhD program. I could not have made it through without my cohort mates, Cora, Laura, Lynden, Ning, Pa, and Sejung, and I thank Dr. Pahwa for this incredible opportunity.”

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Award-winning dissertations lead to coveted academic job posts

Each spring, New York University recognizes the best dissertation of the academic year , focusing their search on a handful of categories: Arts & Humanities, Public Health & Allied Health, Science & Technology, and Social Sciences, as well as on the Provost's current priorities and cross-school initiatives (such as aging, inequality, and urban studies).

This year, two 2020 Tandon grads garnered prizes, with Junaid Farooq’s "Cyber-Physical Dynamic Decision Mechanisms for Large Scale Internet of Things Systems & Networks" taking top honors in the Technology and Applied Science subcategory of Science & Technology, and Zhengbo Zou’s "Towards Emotionally Intelligent Buildings: An Integrated Approach to Quantify Human Emotions in Designed Spaces" chosen from among all the Urban entries.

The awards’ committee praised their work’s scholarly rigor, writing quality, and potential for academic and social impact and noted that their accomplishments were all the more noteworthy given the challenges of 2020.

Farooq and Zou were both pleased to receive the news, and they had happy news of their own to report: each had landed a professorship at a highly regarded school and embarked on what will undoubtedly be a long, satisfying career.

We talked to them to find out about their graduate school experience, their research, and their new jobs.

Junaid Farooq

My academic journey began at the National University of Sciences and Technology in my native Islamabad, Pakistan, and after earning my bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering there, I entered the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, where I undertook my master’s studies.

Then I started working as a research assistant at a private research and development organization in Doha focused on emerging mobility and wireless technologies, and I was considering remaining in Qatar to pursue a career in industry. That changed, however, after I spoke to Professor Quanyan Zhu , who heads the Laboratory for Agile and Resilient Complex Systems at NYU Tandon. He is so passionate about his field and he conveys his excitement so well that I immediately knew that I wanted to work with him.

Some of the research I conducted in his lab involved developing decision-making methods in mission-critical Internet of Things (IoT) applications, for example, emergency and first responder systems. In the future, you will see a new generation of 911 systems, where your smoke detector might be able to directly send help to your home, rather than relying on you to wake up and hear the alarm. That’s just one example of what’s possible when machines can communicate amongst each other and request services without human intervention.

This emerging IoT technology’s scope spans healthcare, energy, transportation, and manufacturing. However, the IoT itself is not a standalone system; it’s made up of a variety of different systems and components such as endpoint devices, communication networks, cloud computing systems, and user devices. Furthermore, the footprint of the IoT is massive and the constituent components are often operated and controlled by completely different entities. Therefore, to effectively manage and allow for the autonomous operation of IoT’s components, we must develop policies and decision frameworks  that are implementable on machines at scale.

In my dissertation I took an interdisciplinary approach, drawing on my understanding of the physical layer of communications, networking technologies, control systems, and operations research to unleash the power of the IoT. The dissertation set forth the theoretical foundations of decision and management science in IoT network design and operation. In it, I leveraged tools and theories from a diverse range of systems sciences such as mathematical epidemiology, spatial point processes, stochastic processes, optimal control theory, and optimization to address the challenges and problems at multiple levels across the IoT stack. In a nutshell, I attempted to close the gap between the theory of dynamic mechanism design, and wireless and IoT systems. The class of decision algorithms that I developed will enable the realization of future smart and connected cities with features including resilient communications infrastructure, next generation emergency response, critical infrastructure security, sensing and data markets.

I’m now working as an assistant professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and I owe a lot of my success to Professor Zhu and NYU Tandon.

Zhengbo Zou

I earned my bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in 2014 from Tongji University, in Shanghai, and the following year, I received my master’s degree in Advanced Infrastructure Systems from Carnegie Mellon, where Semiha Ergan used to teach and had left her mark. She studies building informatics, the quantification of human experience in the built environment, and infrastructure information modeling and visualization — all in an attempt to make buildings healthier and more efficient. When I heard she had started her new career at NYU Tandon, I knew that was where I wanted to earn my doctoral degree. I share her goal to improve the built environment; it plays an essential role in our day-to-day lives since people spend more than 85% of their times indoors.

There have been studies at the intersection of neuroscience and architecture that have revealed the impact of architectural design features on human emotional experience. Specifically, well-designed facilities can result in faster recovery in hospitals (up to 30%), better learning in schools (up to 25%), and higher productivity in offices (up to 25%) depending on factors like the amount of natural daylight, windows, and ceiling height. On the other hand, poorly designed buildings can have a negative influence on the residents’ physical and psychological well-being, as seen in Sick Building Syndrome (SBS).

I sought to fill a gap in the field: previous studies of human emotional experience of built environments mostly involve soliciting occupants’ feedback of the designed spaces using post-construction surveys that are qualitative and after-the-fact, which means these results can’t be used to help shape design decisions and may contain biased or incomplete questions.

Drawing on my interdisciplinary background in construction management, sensing, and advanced visualization technologies like virtual reality, I developed a novel alternative method: presenting design alternates as virtual environments and conducting experiments to gauge subjects’ physiological responses while navigating the virtual environments. My dissertation, set out to (1) propose a mechanism to quantify design features’ impact on human emotional experience using an integrated approach that combines biometric sensing and virtual environments; (2) identify a set of biometric sensors and their signal features that are effective in quantifying human emotional experience; and (3) propose an algorithm to accurately classify human emotional experience in design alternates using biometric sensing data.

I am now working as an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia. I miss NYU Tandon, but it’s very exciting to be in Canada with new colleagues.

Associate Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering Quanyan Zhu

“I am unequivocally proud that Junaid has been recognized with the NYU dissertation award, which I believe will be a splendid harbinger of many other awards for him in the future. His work is the best attestation to his tremendous energy, astounding creativity, and relentless dedication.”

Associate Professor of Civil & Urban Engineering and associated faculty member at the Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) Semiha Ergan

“Zhengbo is a stellar researcher and well deserves such a recognition. His technical know-how and determination to do societally important work are all hallmarks of a true change-maker. I am sure we will hear great news about Zhengbo in years to come.”

More to Read

Two NYU Tandon professors are honored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science

NYU Tandon researchers mitigate racial bias in facial recognition technology with demographically diverse synthetic image dataset for AI training

Raising a toast to Joseph Owades, the inventor of light beer

Finding Dissertations

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Introduction

Nyu dissertations.

The Division of Libraries maintains a non-comprehensive collection of doctoral dissertations completed at New York University. Many of the dissertations available in our collection are cataloged in the Library Catalog .  Recent dissertations completed at NYU can be found in the database  Dissertations and Theses Global .   Guidance on the use of both resources is included in this guide.

Non-NYU Institutions' Dissertations

NYU holds very few dissertations completed at other institutions. For those dissertations which are not in our collection this guide also provides guidance on how to acquire or borrow copies.

Information for Dissertation Authors

• Dissertation Authors Research Guide
• NYU Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Doctoral Dissertation Submission Guide
• Steinhardt Doctoral Dissertations Formatting Guidelines
• NYU Wagner Doctoral Dissertation Guidelines
• Information for Silver School of Social Work Ph.D candidates Doctoral dissertation formatting and submission guidelines available in the Ph.D student manual.

Search the NYU Libraries Catalog

Search for books, journals, videos, etc. in our local libraries and special collections.

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GSAS Global Dissertation Fellowships

Nyu shanghai graduate fellowship.

Shanghai Graduate Fellowship remains closed as of April 2023.  Please check this website for any additional updates.

Each semester, 3-4 awards are available for NYU students who have advanced to the dissertation stage to conduct advanced research or writing in residence at NYU Shanghai. Awards are not limited to GSAS students; students from any NYU school or department are welcome to apply. Successful candidates will join an active community of scholars in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, where interdisciplinary study and cross-fertilization is more the rule than the exception, and will be warmly encouraged to participate in weekly faculty seminars. Applications are especially encouraged from students engaged in research projects related to the strengths of the NYU Shanghai faculty, including but not limited to projects primarily focused on China and surrounding regions. Students are encouraged to visit the NYU Shanghai  website  to browse profiles of faculty in their discipline and inquire directly with NYU Shanghai faculty about their interest in being a fellowship mentor.

Each NYU Shanghai Graduate Fellowship award includes a stipend, which will reflect 3.5 months (one semester) of the GSAS minimum monthly stipend for the academic year. In 2020-2021, the minimum monthly stipend is   $3,278, which equates to  $11,473 over one semester. For students still within their MacCracken award term, the waiver of maintenance of matriculation fees, and 100% coverage in the NYU comprehensive health insurance plan for an individual will be covered under the terms of the MacCracken award. For non-MacCracken students as well as students beyond the term of their MacCracken award but still financial aid eligible, a waiver of maintenance of matriculation fees, and 100% coverage in the NYU comprehensive health insurance plan for an individual will also be included in the award. No student is eligible to receive both a Washington Square based fellowship and a Global Dissertation Research and Writing Fellowship in the same year. Work space will be made available on the NYU Shanghai campus.  Download the NYU Shanghai Graduate Fellowship Application

ELIGIBILITY

• If selected, NYU Shanghai Graduate Fellows commit to being in residence at NYU Shanghai for the entirety of their award semester. Short leaves may be permissible for legitimate academic reasons, however, extended time away may result in forfeiture of the fellowship. 
• During the award semester, applicants must be within seven years of their first term of enrollment in the doctoral program or deemed to still be financial aid eligible. Eligibility beyond seven years may be extended on an exception basis, consistent with the Graduate School's normal review of financial aid eligibility. The common reasons for extension are (a) time off for an official leave of absence; (b) up to four semesters of fieldwork, if the field work occurred within the first seven years of enrollment and the student did not receive a GSAS or other institutional stipend for the semester(s); and (c) exceptional academic circumstances that are beyond the student's control (e.g., the academic advisor left; serious illness).
• Applicants must have a minimum grade point average of 3.3 and must have earned 100 percent of credits required for the degree by date of award (courses with I, NR, W, and F grades are not considered successfully completed).
• Fellows should not be projected to defend their dissertation before the conclusion of their award semester.

HOW TO APPLY

Shanghai Graduate Fellowship will remain closed as of November 1st, 2021.

For questions, please contact  [email protected] . Applications will not be reviewed until after the deadline.

NYUAD Dissertation Writing Fellowship in the Humanities and Social Sciences

Program overview.

The Dissertation Writing Fellowship is offered to enable graduate students to share in the energetic, multi-faceted research environment within the Humanities and Social Sciences Divisions at NYUAD.

The Dissertation Writing Fellowship will be conducted in residence at NYUAD and is open to NYU PhD scholars working in all areas of the Humanities and Social Sciences, with successful applicants taking advantage of working for the year with a NYUAD faculty member in their field.

NYUAD invites applications for this Fellowship from NYU PhD students whose dissertations will be advanced works in progress during the Fellowship year. Preference will be given to applicants whose research topic can benefit from NYUAD expertise in related fields while contributing to NYUAD's fast-developing research environment. Fellows are expected to enrich the NYUAD intellectual community by sharing their work with faculty and students and participating in scholarly networks within the university.

Application Open: January, 2024

Application deadline: march 1, 2024. students should submit their application materials to  [email protected] . , download the nyu abu dhabi dissertation writing fellowship application, award terms & benefits.

*Up to three Fellowships will be available in 2024-2025.*

• The Dissertation Writing Fellowship runs for the 12-month 2024-2025 academic year. During this period, scholars are offered work space in the appropriate academic Division, full use of NYUAD's library facilities, in-kind graduate housing at NYUAD's campus on Saadiyat Island, a fellowship stipend of $30,000, waiver of maintenance of matriculation fees, international health insurance, and support for economy travel to and from Abu Dhabi for the program.
• Dissertation Writing Fellowship recipients are responsible for conforming to tax requirements of their home countries.
• Receiving the Dissertation Writing Fellowship is contingent on successfully passing the UAE security clearance process and obtaining a UAE visa.
• Students should submit their application materials to [email protected]. All application materials must be received by March 1, 2024.

Contact Info

Emily hollenbach.

Katherine Fisher's "(Machine) Learning to Be" Receives Solomon Award

Thursday, Apr 18, 2024

Visiting Assistant Arts Professor Katherine Fisher's collaborative theater project "(Machine) Learning to Be: Performance Development Residency & Presentation" recently received the Solomon Award through Brown Univeristy. Fisher serves as the Associate Director and Choreographer of this project. The Solomon Award is geared to support excellence in scholarly work by providing funding for selected faculty research projects deemed to be of exceptional merit.

"(Machine) Learning to Be" is a participatory, devised, hybrid multimedia performance that interweaves AI systems with theatrical conventions, choreographed movement, and experimental exploration of machine learning. Rooted in visions of decolonial AI, the performance aims to challenge existing structures of control and envision more equitable futures alongside AI technology. Part of the Data Fluencies Theatre Project, this interdisciplinary initiative involves artists, researchers, and creative technologists from diverse backgrounds, including two Brown faculty members. The project’s hybrid format, combining in-person and online elements, not only expands accessibility but also transforms the internet into a platform for both performance and critical investigation. Alongside a custom-based online venue, the performance features an interactive choreographic interface that aims to engage AI as embodiment technologies and an AI character that aims to convey the multifaceted nature of AI, its dangers and possibilities. Additionally, the project seeks to engage students through data fluencies play workshops, thereby fostering an inclusive environment that encourages critical reflection on the implications of technological advancement. The funding from the Salomon Faculty Research Award will support a residency for (Machine) Learning to Be that will culminate in two campus performances and one data fluencies play workshop.

Historic Slate of Honorary Degree Recipients Celebrates Exemplary Leaders Changing the World for Good

Illustrious Legal Scholar Martha Minow, This Year’s Speaker, Joins Ouided Bouchamaoui, Leader in the Nobel Peace Prize-Winning Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, and Nobel-Winning Scientist Katalin Karikó, Whose Research Enabled COVID-19 Vaccines, at NYU’s Commencement Ceremony—the First to Feature an All-Woman Slate of Honorary Degree Recipients

“Wicked” Star Brittney Johnson to Perform

Richard Ming-Hsing Tsai , chairman of Fubon Financial Holding Company and Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank, and Daniel Doctoroff , former NYC deputy mayor and founder of Target ALS, a non-profit dedicated to accelerating research into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, to receive Presidential Medals; Anthony W. Marx , president of the New York Public Library, to receive the Rudin Award; William R. Berkley , executive chairman, W. R. Berkley Corporation and chair emeritus and executive vice chair of the NYU Board of Trustees, to receive the Gallatin Medal; Tony-Award winner Susan Hilferty and actress Brittney Johnson , who starred in “ Wicked” on Broadway, to receive University Medals

NYU President Linda G. Mills and Board of Trustees Chair Evan R. Chesler today announced the names of the honorees of New York University’s 191st All-University Commencement Exercises, which will be held on Wednesday, May 15, 2024 at Yankee Stadium.

NYU President Mills said, “This year’s honorees and award winners have excelled individually in their chosen fields as scholars and scientists, business leaders and philanthropists, bridge builders and changemakers; collectively they have forged a legacy of distinction that will continue to inspire generations to come. New York University is proud to acknowledge this outstanding group and their accomplishments, as we are proud to gather to honor and commemorate the Class of 2024.”

This year’s commencement speaker will be Martha Minow —300 th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University and former dean of Harvard Law School; a celebrated legal scholar and a leading voice on a range of issues, from justice and equality to conflict and extremism; author of many books and law teacher and mentor of generations of lawyers and leaders for 43 years; co-chair of the access to justice project of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and key facilitator of Imagine Coexistence, a U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees program that promoted peace and development in societies ravaged by war and conflict—who will receive a Doctor of Laws degree honoris causa .

This year’s other recipients of honorary doctorates are:

• Ouided Bouchamaoui —an international business woman and advocate for women’s empowerment; a conflict resolution expert; a professor of practice of diplomacy and conflict resolution at NYU Abu Dhabi; and a central figure in the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, which was awarded the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize for its role in creating pluralistic democracy in Tunisia—will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters degree honoris causa .
• Katalin Karikó —co-winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her contributions to the development of the mRNA technology used in the BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to prevent COVID-19 infection; professor at the University of Szeged (Hungary) and adjunct professor of neurosurgery at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania; and the recipient of many prestigious awards, including the Japan Prize, the Horwitz Prize, the Ross Prize in Molecular Medicine, the Princess Asturias Award, the Pearl Meister Greengard Prize, the Breakthrough Prize, and the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award—will receive a Doctor of Science degree honoris causa .

NYU Presidential Medals will be presented to two honorees.  Richard Ming-Hsing Tsai  (Stern ’81)—the chairman of Fubon Financial Holding Co., Ltd. and Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank Co., Ltd., a renowned business leader, devoted philanthropist, and member of NYU’s President’s Global Council and the NYU Stern Executive Board—will receive the medal for his globe-spanning accomplishments in business and for his ongoing support of NYU’s mission to help students achieve their educational dreams and excel as a global institute of higher learning.  Daniel Doctoroff —former NYC Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding; founder of Target ALS, which has pioneered a new collaborative approach to research on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; former CEO of Sidewalks Labs; and former CEO and president of Bloomberg LP—will receive the medal for the indelible mark his ideas left on New York City; for his quiet role in helping NYU conceptualize its unrivaled global network; and for demonstrating how technology, ingenuity, and civic leadership can transform a metropolis.

Actress Brittney Johnson, a Tisch School of the Arts alumna who made history as the first Black woman to play the role of Glinda in "Wicked" on Broadway. Photo credit: Emilio Madrid.

The Lewis Rudin Award for Exemplary Service to New York City will be presented to  Anthony W. Marx , the president of the New York Public Library, the nation’s largest and most utilized library system. He has strengthened the NYPL’s commitment to underserved New Yorkers by creating literacy and after-school programs for children, increasing free English language classes and citizenship support programs for immigrants, bridging the digital divide among disparate economic groups, and expanding access to e-books and computer classes to further literacy.

The Albert Gallatin Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Society will be presented to  William R. Berkley  (Stern ’66), executive chairman, W.R. Berkley Corporation, and chair  emeritus  and executive vice chair of the NYU Board of Trustees. He founded the W.R. Berkley Corporation, a Fortune 500 property-casualty insurance holding company, in 1967, and has served as vice chair of both the Georgetown University and the University of Connecticut boards. Berkley has also served as chair of the Achievement First charter school board. Most recently, he was a recipient of the 2024 Horatio Alger Award and NYU’s Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service. As a member of the Stern School of Business Executive Board (former chairman), the NYU President’s Global Council, and the NYU Langone Health Board, an NYU Trustee since 1995, and Board Chair from 2015 to 2023, Berkley has devoted himself to NYU and has been a primary force in its unprecedented trajectory.

Susan Hilferty —arts professor and former chair for 25 years of the Department of Design for Stage & Film at NYU Tisch School of the Arts—will introduce a special performance at this year’s ceremony from the hit show  Wicked . A renowned designer for more than 400 productions worldwide, Hilferty created enchanting costumes for  Wicked  that earned the Tony Award for Best Costume Design in 2004. Her other Broadway credits include  Spring Awakening ,  Parade ,  Funny Girl , and  Into the Woods , to name just a few. Hilferty has also designed at the Metropolitan Opera, including  Rigoletto ,  La Traviata , and the upcoming  Aida,  and over 40 productions with South African playwright Athol Fugard. Hilferty will receive the University Medal for her monumental contributions to NYU and for advancing the University’s legacy in the arts.

The  Wicked  performance at Commencement will pay tribute to the friendship and resilience of the Class of 2024 and will recognize the NYU community’s enduring mark on the show—a global phenomenon that is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary. The performance will feature  Brittney Johnson  (TSOA ’12), an accomplished actress and singer who made history as the first Black woman to play the role of Glinda in  Wicked  on Broadway. Johnson, who is an ambassador for the (RED) organization and a voiceover and commercial artist, has also starred in  Les Misérables ,  Motown The Musical ,  Beautiful: The Carole King Musical ,  Sunset Boulevard , and  Kristin Chenoweth: For the Girls . In 2023, she was the face of Prudential and  Playbill ’s “Stages on Broadway” nationwide contest. Johnson will receive the University Medal for her outstanding contributions as an alumna of NYU.

The Presidential Medal, the Gallatin Medal, and the Rudin Award are presented at pre-Commencement events.

In honor of NYU’s Class of 2024 graduates, the Empire State building will be lit in NYU violet on the evening of Thursday, May 16, 2024. For more information, please visit the  NYU Commencement site .

Founded in 1831, NYU is one of the world’s foremost research universities (with more than $1 billion per year in research expenditures, it is ranked seventh among private research universities) and is a member of the selective Association of American Universities. NYU has degree-granting university campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai and has 13 other global academic sites, including London, Paris, Florence, Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires, and Accra, and US sites in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, CA, and Tulsa, OK. Through its numerous schools and colleges, NYU is a leader in conducting research and providing education in the arts and sciences, law, medicine, business, dentistry, engineering, education, nursing, the cinematic and performing arts, music and studio arts, public service, social work, public health, and professional studies, among other areas.

Press Contact

April 19, 2024

NYU Journalism major David Cheung was a winner in this year’s Multimedia Enterprise competition of the Hearst Awards.

Cheung’s 7-minute piece, a video deep dive into  New York City’s Chinese Opera Scene , finished in 13th Place. It was Cheung’s second win of the 2023-24 season. He was also a finalist in the category for Multimedia Narrative Storytelling.

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Experience Stern | News & Events

Nyu stern’s 2024 entrepreneurs challenge finals and awards ceremony.

Date : Friday, April 26, 2024 Location : NYU Stern, by invitation only

On Friday, April 26, the final teams in the Entrepreneurs Challenge, hosted by NYU Stern's Berkley Center for Entrepreneurship , will pitch off to see which ventures win the grand prizes. Students, alumni and faculty members from schools and divisions across NYU’s campuses entered to compete for combined startup funding and pro-bono services valued at more than $225,000. Over the past eight months, these teams have engaged in intensive boot camps and hands-on workshops, completed dozens of hours of one-on-one coaching, and undergone two rounds of judging – all in the hopes of transforming their ideas into reality.

For more information, please visit the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurship website .

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April 19, 2024 | Danielle Faipler

InCHIP Dissertation Assistantship Award Supports Anthropology Student’s Research on Migrant Rights

"Despite the need for human rights protections, U.S.-influenced migration policies in Central America limit travel through legal ports of entry and push migrants to increasingly dangerous transit routes."

A migrant rests in a Migrant Reception Station in the Darien Province, Panama contributed photo

In 2023, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol reported 2.5 million migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border, marking a five-fold increase since 2017. Notably, for the first time, half of these migrants, including many families, came from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti, Cuba, and regions outside of the Americas.

“This diverse population of nationalities and profiles of female and children migrants presents novel linguistic, cultural, and health service needs en route to the border. Despite this population’s needs for protections and access to health services, migration policies in Central America, influenced by the United States, limit travel through legal ports of entry and push migrants to increasingly dangerous transit routes,” says Madeline Baird, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Anthropology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Baird is working with her advisor, César Abadía-Barrero , an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute , on her dissertation, which uses ethnographic methods to explore how U.S.-influenced immigration policies impact migrants’ path and health outcomes.

Baird hopes the project will inform national, regional, and local migration and health policy to promote human rights and public health for people headed to the U.S. southern border.

“Maddy is one of our outstanding graduate students and her work is a model of how anthropology can address real-world, pressing issues,” says Christian A. Tryon , professor and Anthropology Department Head.

According to Abadía-Barrero, the study would be among the first to show how U.S. migration policies shape migrant trajectories, humanitarian responses, and associated health outcomes.

To support Baird’s research, UConn’s Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy ( InCHIP ) has awarded Baird its Dissertation Assistantship Award .

“InCHIP is delighted to support Madeline’s vital dissertation research through its Dissertation Assistantship Award. Madeline’s project is innovative and timely and has the potential to make a significant public health impact for migrants traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border,” says InCHIP Director Tricia Leahey.

“The Dissertation Assistantship will provide essential resources to enable me to concentrate the upcoming academic year on completing analysis and writing of the results of my research in Mexico and Panama. Thank you to InCHIP for this support to advance my research on human rights protections and health equity for migrants in transit to the U.S. southern border,” says Baird.

Launched during the 2023 academic year, the Assistantship Award aims to fill a gap at UConn by providing financial support to behavioral and social sciences graduate students as they complete dissertations relating to human health. Recipients can choose to use the award part-time over two semesters or full-time across one semester.

In addition to this financial support, awardees can tap into InCHIP’s network of principal investigators who are leaders in the fields of public health and applied social and behavioral health research.

Previous Assistantship Award recipients include Jude Ssenyonjo, a Ph.D. candidate in health promotion sciences in the College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources, and Maritza Vasquez Reyes, a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Social Work.

In 2023, Baird was awarded InCHIP’s 2023 Jeffrey D. Fisher Health Behavior Change Research Fellowship . The fellowship awards funding to one outstanding UConn graduate student working on their dissertation in health behavior.

More information about Baird’s research is available here .

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PhD student Caro Cruys has received the Hyde Dissertation Research Award from the Center for Research on Gender and Women . This competitive award supports social science dissertation research on gender and women’s studies-related work. As Caro explains, “My dissertation research aims to explore transgender and gender expansive former foster youths’ experiences of and perspectives on resilience, resistance, and gender identity development.” They intend to use the award to compensate interviewees and community participants, and pay for transcription at a company owned by a woman of color.

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Graduate and Professional School Launches Spring Awards Ceremony

The Texas A&M University Graduate and Professional School held its inaugural spring awards ceremony on April 16 at Rudder Theatre. The program included presentations of Distinguished Dissertation Awards, Montgomery Awards, Outstanding Mentoring Awards and GRAD Aggies Certificates. The ceremony was followed by a reception in Rudder Exhibit Hall.

“Graduate and professional students and faculty teach and mentor our more than 60,000 undergraduates, conduct ground-breaking research, and lead campus initiatives and organizations,” said Dr. Fuhui Tong, interim associate provost and dean of the Graduate and Professional School. “They enrich our campus community and our growing Aggie Network and make the world better. Presenting our awards at a single event broadens our recognition and celebration of exceptional and well-deserving awardees,” Tong said.

The Montgomery Awards are sponsored by the Jeff ’41 and Leonora Montgomery Family Endowment. Distinguished Dissertation Awards are sponsored by the George W. Kunze Endowment, the Carol J. Cantrell Endowment, and the Mobil Aggies Graduate Endowment.

Distinguished Dissertation Awards

Distinguished Dissertation Awards honor current or recent former students whose dissertations make a significant, impactful contribution to their field of study. Awards are given in four categories.

Biological and Life Sciences

• Hannah Justen, ecology and evolutionary biology
• Faculty advisor: Dr. Kira Delmore

Social Sciences

• Marianne Rice, educational psychology
• Faculty advisor: Dr. Florina Erbeli

Mathematics

• Jacob Rogers, mechanical engineering
• Faculty advisors: Dr. Thomas Lacy and Dr. Justin Wilkerson

Humanities and Fine Arts

• Hyunjoo Yu, English
• Faculty advisor: Dr. Ira Dworkin

Montgomery Awards

Montgomery Awards are presented to graduate students who, through leadership in recognized graduate student groups or service organizations, make major contributions toward creating academic and professional opportunities and enhancing quality of life for their fellow graduate and professional students, while also excelling as scholars. Each awardee receives a commemorative plaque and $1,000.

• Sambandh Dhal, computer engineering
• Leah Kocian, biological and agricultural engineering

Outstanding Mentoring Awards

Outstanding mentoring awards honor individuals who have shared their knowledge, skills or experiences with graduate and professional students at Texas A&M, assisting in their development and activating their success at our university and beyond. Awards are presented in two categories: faculty and graduate student.

Outstanding Graduate and Professional Student Mentoring for Faculty

• Dr. Sarbajit Banerjee, chemistry and materials science and engineering
• Dr. David E. Claridge, mechanical engineering
• Dr. Sarah Hamer, epidemiology

Outstanding Graduate and Professional Student Mentors

• Heather Baldi, agronomy
• Saifur Rahman, biomedical engineering
• Maiya Turner, multicultural education

GRAD Aggies Certificates

Graduate Resources and Development for Aggies (GRAD Aggies) provides professional development opportunities that help students find success in graduate or professional program, on the job market, and in their professional career. Certificates demonstrate to potential employers that students are prepared for the professional world.

For full bios of the award winners and a full list of GRAD Aggies Certificate earners, visit the Grad School website .

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