Graduate Contacts are integral to the success of our graduate students and provide invaluable service to the university and its community of students, faculty, and staff. The award recognizes staff members whose service has exceeded expectations in enhancing graduate students' experiences and has positively impacted their graduate program or department's operations.

This year's pool of 16 nominees was extremely competitive, with strong recommendations from all over campus. The nomination letters from faculty, staff, and students were sincere and moving, often speaking of the nominees' strong commitment to their departments and their impact on students' success.

Kim Leigh's nomination materials included a letter cosigned by the leaders of the three programs she supports. "It is clear that Kim has made a lasting and significant contribution to students and other departments across campus as well as the departments and programs she supports: Entomology; Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior; and the Online Master of Science Teaching Biology," said Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, Dean of the Graduate College.