W.M. Keck Mentorship Awards 2020

Mentoring Undergraduate Students: 

Colin Terry, Associate Dean of Students

Colin helps students see the reality they are faced with and push them to overcome, and he is heavily involved in student empowerment. Colin has a positive and encouraging attitude that supports students’ successes. Students have expressed deep appreciation for Colin’s empathy, support, accommodation and professionalism. His genuine, deeply-held empathy for students and their struggles is above and beyond what can be expected.  He is an active and effective member of the Suicide Prevention Task Force at Mines. Colin is a truly caring, selfless colleague, and amazing asset to students and the campus community, and he embodies what it means to be a compassionate professional.

Mentoring Graduate Students: 

Cecilia Diniz Behn and Karin Leiderman Gregg
Associate Professors in Applied Mathematics & Statistics

Cecilia and Karin have made a notable impact on the lives of graduate and undergraduate students at Mines both through the creation of the Mathematical Biology Research Group (MBRG) and their individual work as graduate faculty at Mines. Since its inception, the MBRG has provided a unique interdisciplinary research experience for students at Mines due to the steadfast eforts of Cecilia and Karin. Through their work with MRBG, Cecilia and Karin have created a safe space in which students can learn about new ideas, talk about mathematics research, and hone their professional communication skills. They both spend an extensive amount of time coaching their students in professional skills. Cecilia and Karin frequently encourage students to apply for travel awards for conferences, they send students to national and internationals conferences, and encourage their students to organize mini-symposia at these major conferences. Cecilia and Karin are making a major impact on the lives of graduate and undergraduate students at Mines in their unwavering commitment to mentoring students.

Mentoring Faculty and Staff: 

Kim Williams, Professor in Chemistry

Kim Williams’ extraordinary efforts initiated the formal mentoring process for faculty and staff that is currently implemented on campus, and she continues to willingly and selflessly provide her time to make other succeed at Mines. She sees the potential in others, and is willing to go an extra mile with her mentees to make them successful.  The leadership role that Kim played in Faculty Senate Subcommittee on Faculty Mentorship and Transparency in Promotion and Tenure Processes as well as the Academic Affairs Committee provided her a comprehensive perspective of mentorship at Mines. Moreover, she contributed to re-writing the Faculty Handbook and Procedures Manual sections on promotion and tenure, and chaired the committee that addressed formal student grievances. Due to these experiences and her foresight for the needs of the changing faculty demographics at Mines, her efforts have far reaching impacts not limited to faculty and staff, but also the the graduate students.