Twelve College Advisors Recognized with Annual Award

For the third consecutive year, 12 advisors at the College have been recognized by the Advising Programs Office for their outstanding guidance and mentorship in their work with undergraduates.

The award, called the Star Family Prizes for Excellence in Advising, was established by alumnus James A. Star ’83 and recognizes three individuals from four different categories of advising—freshman, sophomore, concentration, and faculty. This year, 156 advisors were nominated for an award.

“A prize like this sends a powerful, important symbolic message to the community about the importance of advising, of the role of advising in an undergraduate campus in promoting the welfare and well-being of our students,” said Director of Advising Programs Glenn R. Magid.

According to Magid, the Advising Programs Office sent emails to undergraduates in early February inviting them to nominate their advisors, and award winners were notified in late March. Selection of winners was based on the thoughtfulness of the written nomination and the evidence of impact the advisor had on the student.

Many of the prize-winners, who range from faculty members to House tutors, expressed gratitude that their advisees felt impacted by their work.

“I was completely surprised and really humbled,” said Mackenzie J. Lowry ’11, a proctor for the freshman entryway Wigglesworth E who won a freshman advising award. “I certainly admire past winners so it was really amazing to think that I also got this award.”

One of these past winners was Waqas Jawaid, a freshman proctor who worked with Lowry when she was a Peer Advising Fellow.

“It’s sort of like completing the advising circle,” Lowry said. “I’m completely elated to be considered in the same league as him.”

Asad Asad, a Mather House tutor and third-year graduate student who won a sophomore advising award, said that although it is his first year as an advisor at the College, he loves his advising work.

“I couldn’t be where I am now without the mentorship and advice from people who are senior to me,” Asad said.  “Nobody got to where they are now without help.”

According to Magid, freshmen submitted the majority of nominations this year. One of these first-year students was Amy Zhan ’17, who nominated freshman advising award winner Lynn Fitzgerald. Zhan said she and Fitzgerald worked together in the fall going through the course catalogue and determining what courses Zhan should take.

“She spends a lot of time helping us out,” Zhan said of Fitzgerald. “She always asks to grab lunch with us, so she keeps up to date about how our lives are going.”

Award recipients will be formally recognized in a by-invitation event in the Student Organization Center at Hilles on May 5.

Freshman advising award winners are proctor Brandon Edwards, academic advisor Lynn Fitzgerald, and proctor Mackenzie J. Lowry ’11. Sophomore advising award winners are Mather tutor Asad Asad, Leverett tutor Elena Lisitskaya, and Adams House pre-med advisor Jay Miller ’09.

Concentration advising award winners are Applied Mathematics Assistant Director for Undergraduate Studies Margo Levine, Earth and Planetary Sciences Academic Program Manager Chenoweth Moffat, and Co-Director of Undergraduate Studies in Chemistry Gregg Tucci.

Faculty advising award winners are English professor Jorie Graham, Women and Gender Studies Director of Undergraduate Studies Caroline Light, and Linguistics Director of Undergraduate Studies Maria Polinsky.

—Staff writer Meg P. Bernhard can be reached at meg.bernhard@thecrimson.com. Follow her on twitter @Meg_Bernhard.