Events and Celebrations

This award salutes student leaders engaged in Office of Inclusive Excellence programs and who have made significant contributions guiding a student organization in Duffield Engineering to achieve its organizational goals and support its members’ needs.

The award honors student leaders that work collaboratively, acknowledge the contributions of members, and encourage others to excel as leaders within their roles all while striving to improve the organization.

Undergraduate Service

This award is given to an undergraduate student who has made outstanding and sustained contributions in outreach, service, or volunteer efforts within and beyond the university. In doing so, they applied their skills, knowledge, and experience as engineers to positively impact the lives of others.

Robert Mozia Graduate Distinguished Service

Awarded in memory of Robert Mozia, a Ph.D. student in Biomedical Engineering, who was extremely committed to inspiring the next generation of engineers, dedicated a significant amount of energy to engaging in outreach activities, and who took pride in helping to develop a close-knit community at Cornell.

This award is given to a graduate student who has made outstanding and sustained contributions in outreach, service, or volunteer efforts within and beyond the university. In doing so, they applied their skills, knowledge, and experience as engineers to positively impact the lives of others.

This award recognizes outstanding undergraduate researchers who demonstrate exceptional dedication to rigorous, high-quality scholarship while actively fostering a more inclusive and accessible research community.

Recipients of this award exemplify a passion for inquiry, approaching challenges with persistence and purpose, and producing work that reflects the highest standards of undergraduate research. Beyond their individual achievements, recipients go above and beyond to lift others up through mentorship, encouragement, and advocacy, ensuring that more students can experience the rewards of research and feel a true sense of belonging within the research community.

This award is given in honor of Professor Ephrahim Garcia, who passed away in 2014 at an early age. Ephrahim was a mentor and advisor to a great many students who often lined the hallway to meet with him for career advice, for navigating Cornell or to discuss individual and group projects. Prof. Garcia joined the Cornell Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering faculty in 2003 following stints as a professor at Vanderbilt University and as a Program Manager at DARPA. He was an extremely creative and bold thinker whose research and teaching touched topics as diverse as energy, aerodynamics, smart materials, autonomous robots as well as many other topics.

This award recognizes a graduate student who has exhibited exceptional mentorship of undergraduates and/or new graduate students in their research assistantships, fosters greater inclusion through mentoring, and demonstrated collaboration with others in research across the college.

Undergraduate Inclusive Peer Educator of the Year

This award is given to members of our educator community who serve as Teaching Assistants (TAs), Academic Excellence Workshop (AEW) facilitators, and Tutors who demonstrate exceptional dedication to inclusivity, long-term learning, and academic excellence in their teaching and learning practices.

Recipients of this award exemplify inclusive and effective teaching practices that emphasize a culture of belonging and collaboration, contributing to a more equitable and enriching educational experience for all.

Graduate Inclusive Peer Educator of the Year

This award is given to members of our educator community who serve as Teaching Assistants (TAs), TA consultants, and graduate outreach specialists, who demonstrate exceptional dedication to inclusivity, long-term learning, academic and research excellence, through leadership in their teaching and learning practices.

Recipients of this award exemplify inclusive and effective teaching practices that emphasize a culture of belonging and collaboration, and demonstrate leadership that inspires and empowers others — contributing to a more equitable and enriching educational experience for all.

This award recognizes a student who has made a significant contribution to the Office of Inclusive Excellence, Cornell Duffield Engineering, and/or the lives of others. The student made significant efforts to advance Cornell Duffield Engineering’s core value of Community by promoting an inclusive environment in bold and innovative ways.

We foster and sustain a diverse, engaged, and caring environment where all members feel like they belong, are heard, and can flourish. We communicate across differences with respect, and we embrace personal and professional growth and development

Outstanding Peer Mentee

This award is presented to a Cornell EMPower peer mentee who has made outstanding efforts to go beyond merely regularly participating. This recipient demonstrated a commitment to self-development and the mentoring process.

The award recipient is a mentee who through their Cornell EMPower experience is poised to become a peer mentor.