2026 MGI Awards Ceremony honors outstanding students

By Debbie Walton | May 5, 2026 |

Each spring, MSU’s Department of Microbiology, Genetics, & Immunology recognizes outstanding undergraduate and graduate students at a departmental awards ceremony. This year’s ceremony honored 39 students and took place on April 21, 2026 at the Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building. Faculty, students, staff, donors, and families gathered to celebrate academic excellence, research achievements, and professional development across the department.

A collage of various images of students with awards certificates standing with their PIs. — MGI students were recognized for excellence in academics and research at our annual awards ceremony on April 21, 2026.

"We are so grateful for our generous donors, whose support makes this event possible, and who are the very reason we have it,” said Victor DiRita, Rudolph Hugh Professor and MGI department chair. “The awards event honors the achievements of our current trainees and also honors the enduring legacy of those who have invested in our department.”

MGI currently administers more than 20 endowed awards supporting undergraduate and graduate students. Each award reflects the intentions of its donor and recognizes different forms of excellence, including research achievement and academic performance.

Graduate award recipients are nominated by department faculty and selected through a competitive review process that includes evaluation of nomination letters and student curricula vitae. Undergraduate award recipients are chosen through an application process that includes academic records, essays describing their experiences in the department, and letters of recommendation from faculty mentors.

To see photos from the ceremony, visit: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCSyaR

For more information about the specific awards, please visit the MGI website.

Here is the full list of this year’s recipients:

Graduate Awards

Berttina B. Wentworth Fellowship Award
Kendall Mara; Kyleen Hall
Hsiung–Kimball Award
Jessica Lysne
Marvis A. Richardson Endowed Fellowship
Abigail Bennett; Emma Bush
Ralph Evans Award
Isaac Gifford
C.A. & Sasikala Reddy Graduate Award
Bryce Waller
Rudolph Hugh Fellowship Award
Adam Kibiloski; Bassel Abdalla
Thomas S. Whittam Award
Danielle Gregory
Ronald M. & Sharon Rogowski Award
Imani Pascoe; Jessica Hodgkins

Graduate & Undergraduate Awards

Russell & Dorothy Duvall Award
Julia Kelliher; Sarah Gonzalez Henao; Ashlynn Linet; Helenna Gallardo Lustosa
Philipp & Vera Gerhardt Award
Maria Guzman; Ryan Corfixsen
Frank Peabody Research Award
Heather Murdoch; Dylan Madsen; Matthew Gagea
Eleanor L. Gilmore Excellence Award
Emily Perez; Han Wen; Jessica Bailey; Mio Hogan; Sarah VanDiepenbos;
Ian MacQueen; Lana Wheatley

Undergraduate Awards