The Graduate School recently announced and recognized its 2025 Graduate Student Award winners and Trustee Fellowship recipients, as well as the graduates from the school’s scholarly initiatives.
The school held its annual Recognition of Excellence Ceremony on April 25 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.
This year, The Graduate School received a record number of nominees, and the school awarded eight Trustee Fellowships in addition to its seven Graduate Student Award winners.
Visual arts and design MFA student Nina Rastgar won this year’s Dean’s Award for Master’s Achievement. Rastgar’s creative work has encompassed a wide range of media, including metalsmithing, jewelry-making, sculpture and performance art. They have established an impressive record of achievement and have already earned an international reputation.
“In our interconnected world, each visual language arises from personal narratives, molded by introspection, self-discovery, and our understanding of ourselves within our surroundings and through the perspectives of others,” Rastgar says. “I've been expressing my lived experiences ever since I realized that materials could serve as a mode of expression transcending species.”
Rastgar has been an active member in local, national and international art communities during their time at USC. Since 2023 alone, Rastgar’s works have been featured in 17 exhibitions, including their performance video Where is Home!, which was won first prize among 700 applicants for the University of Montana’s Online MFA exhibition.
They have also demonstrated excellence while teaching a variety of courses, participating extensively in professional development trainings through the Center for Teaching Excellence and leading numerous public workshops for galleries and other cultural institutions.
Brooke Bullard, a biomedical sciences doctoral candidate, won this year’s Dean’s Award for Doctoral Achievement. She is, in the words of her mentor, “an outstanding representative of the university.”
Bullard has impressive achievements in research, teaching and service. Her research has made significant contributions to understanding the impact of dietary interventions on intestinal inflammation and has resulted in numerous publications and external recognitions. In the past year alone she has published six peer-reviewed manuscripts (two as first-author), presented at 16 conferences and been awarded a prestigious NIH F31 predoctoral fellowship.
A dedicated teacher and mentor who is highly regarded by her students and faculty mentors, Bullard has taught a range of courses in multiple departments. In the past year, she also was invited to deliver teaching demonstrations at three other universities.
Bullard is a proven leader who has been serving the university community through five different service roles and committees, including the Alumni Association Board and Wellness Promotion Committee. She also serves as a Graduate Fellowship Peer Mentor for the National Fellowships and Scholar Programs office and is a reviewer for the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
2025 graduate student award and Trustee Fellowship winners
Dean’s Award for Doctoral Achievement — Brooke Bullard, biomedical sciences
Dean’s Award for Master’s Achievement — Nina Rastgar, visual arts and design
Outstanding Community Engagement — Maya Renaud, psychology
Outstanding Dissertation (biological and life sciences) — Vi Nguyen, biomedical sciences
Outstanding Dissertation (humanities and fine arts) — Olivia Colomaio, piano pedagogy
Outstanding Graduate Teaching (instructor of record) — Ghazal Shams, hospitality management
Outstanding Graduate Teaching (graduate teaching assistant) — Miranda Foster, psychology
Outstanding Research — Rachel Hantman, psychology
Elinor G. Keels Fellowship — Sarah Beth Tucker, clinical pharmacy and outcomes sciences
Dera D. Parkinson Fellowship — Berthe Abi Zeid, health promotion, education and behavior
Rhude M. Patterson Fellowship — Abigail De Arellano, psychology; Alayna Borowy, psychology; Shea Ferguson, educational psychology; Amanda Stafford McRell, social work
George M. Reeves Fellowship — Yingcong Zhang, electrical engineering
C.C. Royal Fellowship — Salomé-Joëlle Gass, health services policy and management