​Texas A&M Graduate and Professional School Announces 2025 Distinguished Dissertation Award Recipients​

By Kahkasha Wahab

The Texas A&M University Graduate and Professional School is proud to announce the recipients of the 2025 Distinguished Dissertation Awards. These awards honor doctoral students and recent graduates whose dissertations represent exceptional scholarship and make significant contributions to their respective fields.​

Awards are presented in four categories: Biological and Life Sciences; Humanities and Fine Arts; Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Engineering; and Social Sciences. Each award includes a commemorative plaque and a $1,000 prize. Eligible candidates are those who earned their doctoral degrees between Summer 2024 and Spring 2025.​

The 2025 awards are sponsored by the Carol J. Cantrell Endowment, the George W. Kunze Endowment, and the Mobil Aggies Graduate Endowment.​
 

Biological and Life Sciences

Dr. Jenna Hulke, earned her Ph.D. in Biology in August 2024 under the mentorship of Dr. Charles Criscione. Her dissertation, “The Evolutionary Interplay Between Parasite Mating Systems and Their Complex Life Cycles,” provides the first empirical test of a longstanding hypothesis in parasitology. Dr. Hulke developed two novel methods to assess inbreeding depression, enhancing our understanding of how inbreeding influences the maintenance of complex life cycles in parasites.​

Humanities and Fine Arts

Dr. Sara Chung completed her Ph.D. in English in August 2024 under the guidance of Dr. Mary Ann O’Farrell. Her dissertation, “Encountering Gothic Humanism in Victorian Novels,” critically reexamines canonical Victorian literature to reveal how these texts reflect a partial and Eurocentric conception of humanity. Dr. Chung introduces the concept of Gothic humanism as a framework to disrupt and reimagine traditional notions of what it means to be human.​
 

Social Sciences

Binbin Lin, is a Ph.D. candidate in Geography, expected to graduate in May 2025 under the mentorship of Dr. Lei Zou. Her dissertation, “Social Sensing for Public Health: A BESH Framework to Understand and Mitigate Inequalities,” proposes an innovative interdisciplinary framework—Behavior-Environment-Society-Health (BESH)—for investigating health disparities through social sensing and data science approaches. Her research offers policy-relevant insights for optimizing healthcare resource distribution and designing targeted interventions.​
 

Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Engineering

Dr. Deep Shah earned his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering in August 2024 under the mentorship of Dr. Hulin Gao. His dissertation, “Leveraging Satellite Remote Sensing for Understanding Global Reservoir-Based Droughts,” addresses the critical need for accessible global water reservoir datasets. Dr. Shah’s work focuses on generating open-access datasets and advancing the understanding of water shortages in reservoirs worldwide, highlighting how climate variability and human activities contribute to reservoir storage droughts.​
 

National Distinguished Dissertation Nominees

Texas A&M University will submit selected dissertations for consideration in the 2025 Council of Graduate Schools (CGS)/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award national competition. Each year, CGS recognizes outstanding scholarly work in two designated categories. For the 2025 award cycle, the eligible fields are Biological and Life Sciences and Humanities and Fine Arts. The Graduate and Professional School at Texas A&M is proud to submit the dissertations of Dr. Jenna Hulke and Dr. Sara Chung to represent the university in the 2025 CGS/ProQuest national competition. 

Dr. Fuhui Tong, Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate and Professional School, commended this year's awardees:​
“Congratulations to this year's Distinguished Dissertation Award recipients. Their exceptional research exemplifies the innovative and impactful scholarship that defines Texas A&M's graduate community. We are proud of their contributions and confident that they will continue to advance knowledge and serve society in meaningful ways.”