Lois Bigger Gehring Graduate Student Scholarship
The Lois Bigger Gehring Graduate Student Scholarship is made to the most meritorious second year Biochemistry and Molecular Biology graduate students based on academic and research achievements. The prize is named in honor of Lois Bigger Gehring, an extremely talented biochemist and graduate of the University of Iowa.
Clarence P. Berg Award
Former students of Professor Berg created this award in his honor. This is a monetary award to be given every other year to a graduate student in Biochemistry who displays qualities of scholarship, integrity, cooperativeness, consideration and a willingness to help others. The recipient of the award will be selected by the faculty of the Department of Biochemistry at the end of May in even years.
Subramanian Thesis Award
This is a $500 award given annually to a doctoral graduate student for outstanding thesis work. Consideration will be given to distribute the award among distinct areas of Biochemistry. The student will be chosen by faculty vote. In the event of a tie, the two “co-recipients” will each be given $400. There is a maximum of two “co-recipients.”
Marion Dave Francis Student Innovator Award
Established to honor Dr. Marion Dave Francis, this $500 cash award recognizes a PhD student whose research has demonstrated their singular personal initiative, creativity, and resulting discontinuous discovery, as exemplified by Dr. Francis.
Lois Bigger Gehring Graduate Student Scholarship
The Lois Bigger Gehring Graduate Student Scholarship is made to the most meritorious second year Biochemistry and Molecular Biology graduate students based on academic and research achievements. The prize is named in honor of Lois Bigger Gehring, an extremely talented biochemist and graduate of the University of Iowa. Ms. Gehring is a native of Mt. Vernon, Iowa. She attended Cornell College and majored in biology and chemistry. She earned an M.S. in bacteriology from the University of Iowa in 1949 and a PhD in biochemistry from Cambridge University in 1952. Her scientific achievements include a Fulbright Scholarship a Public Health Service Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, a Carlisle Fellowship, and an Ernst Post-Doctoral Fellowship.
| Year | Awardee Name | Mentor |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Sarah Jordan Tyler Woodward | Washington Washington |
| 2023 | Lucy Langmack Andrew Kalenkiewicz | Abel Elcock |
| 2022 | Logan Dawson Emily Lavering Nicholas Wells | DeMali Weeks DeMali |
| 2021 | Nicholas Hammons Rebecca Splitt Grace Ciampa | Fuentes DeMali Song |
Clarence P. Berg Award
Former students of Professor Berg created this award in his honor. This is a $200 cash award to be given every other year to a graduate student in Biochemistry who displays qualities of scholarship, integrity, cooperativeness, consideration and a willingness to help others. The recipient of the award will be selected by the faculty of the Department of Biochemistry at the end of May in even years. The selection will come from graduate students who have completed their PhD work during the appropriate two-year interval. The faculty agrees that the primary emphasis shall properly be on scholarship, but that there will be a strong secondary emphasis on personal qualifications and career potential.
Clarence P. Berg, an internationally known amino acid biochemist who was a member of the department for 36 years (1932-1968). Dr. Berg is well known as the author of the 1980 book, “The University of Iowa and Biochemistry from their Beginnings.”
2010-present Recipients
| Year | Awardee Name | Mentor |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Zachary Wehrspan | Elcock |
| 2020 | William Hacker | Elcock |
| 2018 | Jennifer Bays | DeMali |
| 2016 | Lacy Barton | Geyer |
| 2014 | John Pryor | Washington |
| 2012 | Xiao Peng | DeMali |
| 2010 | Susan O'Donnell | Shea |
1990-2008 Recipients
| Year | Awardee Name | Mentor |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Zeynep Akyol Ataman | Shea |
| 2006 | Rhonda Newman | Shea |
| 2004 | Wendy Van Scyoc | Shea |
| 2002 | Jon Rubach | Plapp |
| 2000 | Cheryl Bailey | Weeks |
| 1998 | Kristen Scott | Geyer |
| 1996 | Liskin Swint Kruse | Robertson |
| 1994 | Daniel Kephart | Price |
| 1992 | John Dagle | Walder |
| 1990 | William Shalongo | Stellwagen |
1970-1989 Recipients
| Year | Awardee Name | Mentor |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | David Lowery | Van Ness |
| 1986 | David T. Dudley | Spector |
| 1984 | Tristam Parslow | Granner |
| 1982 | Robert J. Gould | Spector |
| 1980 | Gary L. Firestone | Heath |
| 1978 | Ross C. Hardison | Chalkley |
| 1976 | Richard McGee | Spector |
| 1974 | Rodney L. Balhorn | Granner |
| 1972 | David B. Henson | Swenson |
| 1970 | Grace M. Lehrer | Barker |
Subramanian Thesis Award
This is a $500 award that will be given annually to a doctoral graduate student for outstanding thesis work. Consideration will be given to distribute the award among distinct areas of Biochemistry (e.g. nucleic acids and molecular genetics, proteins and structural biology, metabolism and regulation, disease and parasites, plant molecular biology, etc.). The student will be chosen by faculty vote. In the event of a tie, the two “co-recipients” will each be given $400. There is a maximum of two “co-recipients.”
Dr. Alap Subramanian obtained his PhD from the Department of Biochemistry in 1964 working under the late Professor George Kalnitsky. He parlayed this experience with training from Irving Klotz at Northwestern and both Bernard Davis and Herman Kalckar at Harvard Medical School, into a highly successful career at the Max-Planck-Institute.
2020-present Recipients
| Year | Awardee Name | Mentor |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Zachary Wehrspan | Elcock |
| 2022 | Chris Ball | Price |
| 2021 | William Hacker | Elcock |
| 2020 | Hannah Campbell | DeMali |
2010-2019 Recipients
| Year | Awardee Name | Mentor |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Tyler Weaver Kyle Powers | Musselman Washington |
| 2018 | Jennifer Bays | DeMali |
| 2017 | Elizabeth Boehm | Washington |
| 2015 | Lacy Barton | Geyer |
| 2014 | Karina Kruth | Rubenstein |
| 2013 | John Pryor | Washington |
| 2012 | Larry Gray | Khademi |
| 2011 | Xiao Peng | DeMali |
| 2010 | Bret Freudenthal | Washington |
2000-2009 Recipients
| Year | Awardee Name | Mentor |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Stanley Sedore | Price |
| 2008 | Eric Brown | Ramaswamy |
| 2007 | Bryan Allen | Weeks |
| 2006 | Daniel Ferraro | Ramaswamy |
| 2006 | Rhonda Newman | Shea |
| 2005 | Greta Schrift Loring | Murphy |
| 2004 | Tingting Yao | Cohen |
| 2002 | Jon Rubach | Plapp |
| 2001 | Olav Jaren | Shea |
| 2000 | Cammon Arrington | Robertson |
1995-1999 Recipients
| Year | Awardee Name | Mentor |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Junmin Peng | Price |
| 1998 | Kristen Scott | Geyer |
| 1997 | Deborah Thurmond | Goodridge |
| 1997 | Greg DeKoster | Roberston |
| 1996 | Leigh Ann Henricksen | Wold |
| 1995 | David Mitchell | Deschenes |
Marion Dave Francis Student Innovator Award
Established to honor Dr. Marion Dave Francis, this $500 cash award recognizes a PhD student whose research has demonstrated their singular personal initiative, creativity, and resulting discontinuous discovery, as exemplified by Dr. Francis. The recipient of the award will be selected annually by the leadership team of the Department of Biochemistry. The selection will come from Faculty nominations of graduate students who have completed their PhD work by the nomination deadline. Non-awarded nominations will remain active for three years past graduation date.
| Year | Awardee Name | Mentor |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Chris Ball | Price |
| 2021 | Ryan Mahling | Shea |
| 2020 | Tingting Duan | Geyer |
| 2019 | Michael Hayes (Cell and Molecular Biology PhD) | Weeks |
| 2018 | Samuel Trammell (Genetics PhD) | Brenner |
| 2017 | Elizabeth Boehm | Washington |