Kobayashi Award

One of the most important components to success in graduate school (and many other aspects of life) is to have a source of reliable, friendly and constructive advice.  The graduate experience in chemistry is very much an apprenticeship and requires a mentor who is patient, generous with time and highly knowledgeable. We all remember the fine example of these qualities set by our former group member Dr. Tetsuya Kobayashi and it is in this context that I have established an annual award, “The Kobayashi Award” to the student judged the best mentor by their peers.

The winners have been chosen by their peers using the following criteria: (1) the mentor is friendly and approachable, (2) the mentor is always willing to find time to offer advice, guidance, suggestions, (3) the mentor is helpful in offering constructive criticism, (4) the mentor serves as a reliable source of technical information, (5) the mentor provides a good sounding board for ideas and, (6) the mentor sets an example worth emulating.