Auburn College of Education students honored at Graduate Awards Ceremony

Nine Auburn College of Education students were among those recently recognized at the annual Graduate Awards Ceremony. Each year, the Auburn University Graduate School recognizes academic excellence with a variety of awards to students.

School of Kinesiology doctoral student Alex Berry was one of four students to receive the Harry Merriweather Fellowship for this year. He is conducting research on mitochondrial function in red blood cells in the Muscle Physiology Lab under the mentorship of L. Bruce Gladden, professor and director of the lab.

Another Kinesiology doctoral student, Nicholas Bordonie, was recognized for his People’s Choice Award in the 2025 Three Minute Thesis Competition. His presentation was entitled “The effect of heat acclimation on the ability to tolerate a cold environment.”

Studying Adult Education, Brent Teague received a Master’s Thesis Award in the category of Social Sciences, Business and Education. His thesis is entitled “Assessing the Transfer of Learning: A Qualitative Case Study on the Acceptance of Knowledge from a Military Faculty Development Center” and his advisor is Associate Professor Leslie Cordie.

Kinesiology doctoral student Mason McIntosh received a Distinguished Dissertation Award in the category of Biological and Life Sciences. His dissertation is entitled “The synergistic effects of dietary nitrate supplementation and 12 weeks of resistance exercise on skeletal muscle and vascular function in middle-aged and older adults” and he is advised by Humana Foundation-Germany-Sherman-Endowed Professor Michael Roberts.

Jianwei Dong, an Educational Psychology doctoral student, also received a Distinguished Dissertation Award. Her dissertation, entitled “Empowering College Students to Resist Digital Distractions: A Mixed-Methodological Study of a Training Program and Its Evaluation” was awarded in the Humanities and Fine Arts Category. Her thesis advisor is Professor Chih-hsuan Wang.

Studying Exercise Science, Nawara Mansour Alsalmie was named an Outstanding Master’s Student. The College of Education had two recipients of the Outstanding Doctoral Student Award: Bahman Adlou, studying Kinesiology, and Elizabeth Harkey, studying Secondary Mathematics Education.

Counseling Psychology student Shilpa Maddikunta received the Outstanding Service to Auburn Research Award.