The Graduate Division Dean’s Office celebrated National Mentoring Month on Thursday, January 30 by honoring recipients of the 2025 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars with a ceremony and reception in Genentech Hall at Mission Bay.
My favorite definition of 'mentor' is: a mentor empowers a person to see a possible future and believe that it can be obtained.
Nicquet Blake, PhD
Dean of the Graduate Division
The entire Graduate Division "dean team" was on hand to host: Nicquet Blake, PhD, dean of the Graduate Division and vice provost of Student Academic Affairs; Associate Dean Jennifer Nazareno, PhD; D'Anne Duncan, PhD, assistant dean for learner success; and Chequeta Allen, EdD, assistant dean for postdoctoral scholars. The deans handed out certificates to six awardees and six honorable mention recipients, and nominators offered brief, heartfelt intros and appreciations for awardees. A reception for the crowd of about 55 followed in the atrium, with light bites from La Mediterranee.
Launched in 2019 in partnership with grad students and postdocs, the Dean’s Awards recognize graduate students and postdocs who consistently serve as excellent mentors for their colleagues at UCSF, and who have formally or informally taken on some of the responsibilities typically held by traditional mentors, supervisors, and sponsors during their training. This year’s honorees were selected from close to 60 nominations reviewed by a panel comprising faculty, staff, postdocs, and grad students. For the six main awardees, the distinction also includes a $600 cash award.
Awardees:
Graduate Students
Berty DC Arreguin, Sociology PhD program
Jessica M. Herrera, Bioengineering PhD program
Jennifer Langen, Neuroscience PhD program
Postdocs
Sabrina Islam, PhD, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education; Department of Medicine
Bogdan Popescu, MD, PhD, Department of Medicine
Wendy Xin, PhD, Department of Neurology
Honorable Mentions:
Graduate Students
Kate McCluskey, Neuroscience PhD program
Andrew Pan, Biomedical Sciences PhD program
Deepa Rajan, Tetrad PhD program
Postdocs
Juan Carlos (J.C.) Gonzalez, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Mark Hawes, PhD, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education
Amanda McQuade, PhD, Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases
Learn more about this year’s honorees on the Graduate Division website.
Nominations for the 2026 Dean’s Mentoring Awards will be accepted in fall 2025.