Annual Awards honor excellence in research, scholarship, creativity, and student support
by Research and Graduate Studies
April 21st 2025
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Diane Moug (left), winner of the MCECS Researcher of the Year Award, doing research in the field - Photo by Natasha Kautsky
Today, Portland State University announced its 2025 Research Excellence Awards, honoring outstanding achievements in research, mentoring, and research administration. These annual awards recognize faculty for exceptional scholarship, creativity, and dedication to student success, and highlight the vital contributions of one research administrator to advancing research at PSU. Two new awards added this year celebrate research with a public impact.
Seven of the 16 research awards are university-wide; individual colleges and schools award the remaining nine. This year’s awardees will be celebrated at a special reception on Friday, May 9 .
The university research award winners are:
- Presidential Career Research Award: Raúl Bayoán Cal, MCECS
- Graduate Mentoring Excellence Award: Thomas Schumacher, MCECS
- Undergraduate Mentoring Excellence Award: Andrew Rice, CLAS
- Early Career Research Award: Antonia Alvarez, SSW
- Research Administrator of the Year: Michelle Gano, RGS
- Faculty Award for Public Impact Research: Elliott Gall, MCECS
- Public Impact Partner Award: Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT)
The college/school “Researcher of the Year” award winners are:
- College of Liberals Arts & Sciences: Ashley Streig
- College of the Arts Researcher: Courtney Hermann
- College of Education: Shaheen Munir-McHill
- CUPA: Sahan Dissanayake
- MCECS: Diane Moug
- School of Business: June Ryu
- School of Social Work: Lakindra Mitchell Dove
- University Honors College: Pelin Basci
- School of Public Health: Paula Carder
These awards honor PSU faculty and staff who demonstrate exceptional dedication to their work—advancing their fields and inspiring future generations. Nominated by colleagues and selected by a panel of peers, recipients are recognized for the impact and quality of their scholarly or creative contributions, as well as their strong commitment to fostering a culture of student success and research excellence.