Seventeen Receive Awards Recognizing Inclusive Excellence

May 19, 2025

By Katya Hrichak

The Graduate School Office of Inclusion and Student Engagement presented the 2025 Distinguished Awards at the Graduate Diversity and Inclusion Awards and Recognition Celebration on May 14 in G10 Biotech.

This annual event recognizes the excellence represented within the graduate community and celebrates students and organizations for the significant impacts they have made to advance access, engagement, and belonging through their service and leadership.

“This annual celebration is a wonderful reminder of the work being done to make Cornell as warm and welcoming a place as possible for all members of our community,” said Sara Xayarath Hernández, associate dean for inclusion and student and faculty engagement. “We are so proud to celebrate these individuals and groups.”

Faculty and staff were also recognized with awards for their unwavering commitment to mentoring graduate students and supporting their sense of belonging, overall well-being, and achievement.

2025 Award Winners:

• Exemplary Leadership and Service Award for Early Career Graduate Students: Mohammed A. AlRizqi, mechanical engineering doctoral student; Ria J. Gualano, communication doctoral candidate; Helen Stec, neurobiology and behavior doctoral candidate; and Anton Moore, public policy doctoral student
• Exemplary Leadership and Service Award for Advanced Career Graduate Students: Aleesha Mariya George, chemistry and chemical biology doctoral candidate; gundeep singh, biophysics doctoral candidate; and Leslie K. Trigoura, chemistry and chemical biology doctoral candidate
• Community Access and Outreach Award for Impact on Communities Within Cornell: Student Chapter of the National Association for Black Veterinarians, Jewish Graduate Student Association, and Student Neurodiversity Alliance at Cornell and Black Graduate and Professional Student Association neurodiversity collaboration
• Community Access and Outreach Award for Impact on Communities Beyond Cornell: Graduate Student School Outreach Program (GRASSHOPR)
• Casey Moore Impact Award: Victor Cuicahua, associate director for Student Empowerment, Undocumented and DACA Support; and Kim Scholl, writing and academic support specialist, Cornell Public Health Program
• Faculty Champion Award for Early Career Faculty: Carolina Muñoz-Saez, assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences, and Hale Ann Tufan, associate professor in the School of Integrative Plant Science
• Faculty Champion Award for Advanced Career Faculty: Jason Mezey, associate professor of biological statistics and computational biology, and Samantha Sheppard, associate professor of performing and media arts

“As a new member of the Graduate and Professional Student Diversity Council, this acknowledgement is particularly significant,” said Louie Gold, a doctoral student in ecology and evolutionary biology and member of the Jewish Graduate Student Association (JGSA), which received a Community Access and Outreach Award for Impact on Communities Within Cornell.

“At JGSA, we aim to cultivate environments where we can celebrate these diverse identities while encouraging connections across different communities,” he said. “We look forward to continuing our collaboration with others to foster a campus where everyone feels recognized, supported, and valued.”

Leslie Trigoura, a doctoral candidate in chemistry and chemical biology, describes receiving the Exemplary Leadership and Service Award for Advanced Career Graduate Students as “a full circle moment.”

“When I started my graduate studies, I struggled a lot with feelings of isolation. It was after my second year that I became proactive in finding community and opportunities to get involved. In doing so, I came across the Graduate School Office of Inclusion and Student Engagement and Graduate and Professional Student Diversity Council organizations, which have been an amazing support during my time at Cornell,” she said.

By participating in events, taking advantage of professional development resources, meeting other students, and finding inspiration in leadership, Trigoura found a supportive community. Since then, she has been working to pay it forward by helping create a similar experience for other Cornell graduate students.

“I hope this award inspires others to lift up one another and find opportunities to give back in the ways you have received, because we can only make large strides if we do so together,” she said.

Students in attendance were also recognized for achievement in the areas of academics, funding, community service, and milestones and completion. Graduate School Dean’s Scholars, members of the Bouchet Graduate Honor Society, and NextGen Professors Program were also acknowledged.