Donor Spotlight: The Armstrongs

Kathy and Gary Armstrong have gifted a $50,000 donation to the biological sciences graduate program through the generous endowment of the Armstrong–Bromel Inspirational Graduate Student Teaching and Mentoring Award.

The award is very personal to the Armstrongs as it was inspired by a teaching assistant named Mary Bromel who taught Kathy as a biology student here in the 60s. The endowed award is testimony to Mary Bromel’s impact on Kathy’s professional and intellectual development and honors the teaching and mentoring work of our graduate students in biological sciences today.

Nominations for the $2,000 cash award are solicited from undergraduate students, faculty and staff in biological sciences and are then selected by a departmental committee. The 2022 recipient of the Armstrong–Bromel Inspirational Graduate Student Teaching and Mentoring Award was Christina DeGregory from Dr. Joy Alcedo’s lab.

This year’s recipient is Maggie Sneideman from Dr. Vicky Meller’s lab. Undergraduate students, faculty and staff will be able to submit their nominations for the 2024 award in the spring.