The Graduate School is pleased to present six UW–Madison professors with the Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring. This new award recognizes faculty who demonstrate exceptional commitment to supporting the growth, success, and well-being of UW–Madison graduate students. It highlights faculty whose engagement goes beyond standard advising expectations and reflects exemplary, evidence-based mentoring practices.
The 2026 Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring awardees are:
- Laura Albert, Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Kathy Cramer, Political Science
- Erika Marín-Spiotta, Geography
- Jenny Saffran, Psychology
- Dan Vimont, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
- Xueli Wang, Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis
Read more about each awardee below.
Laura Albert
Industrial and Systems Engineering
Professor Laura Albert’s excellence in graduate student mentoring extends from individual advising and mentorship up to influencing graduate student mentoring in the broader academic community. She has built systems that support quality mentoring, such as the Graduate On-Line Assessment & Achievement Learning System (GOAALS) in the College of Engineering that ensures graduate students receive timely, constructive feedback from their advisors. Further, she has integrated mentoring into the curriculum in the College of Engineering through two seminar courses that support first- and third-year PhD students to navigate graduate school and build communities of peer mentors.
Albert created a lab compact that conveys structure and expectations to her mentees while also individualizing support for each student. She provides precise and constructive feedback to students and progressively updates her advice as a mentor as students grow their research skills. At the same time, Albert prioritizes the whole student, recognizing both the personal well-being and professional needs of mentees and creating an inclusive environment for student success.
As a sought-after speaker on graduate student professional development, Albert also frequently shares her mentoring best practices with peers, and lends her mentorship and perspective to graduate students at other institutions when she visits for research seminars.
“She is an exceptional mentor of graduate students whose commitment to mentoring, leadership in graduate student mentoring, innovative course development, and institutional support has profoundly impacted graduate students within her research group, the ISYE department, the College of Engineering, and the broader academic community.” –Shiyu Zhou, Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor and David H. Gustafson Chair, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
“Her mentorship has been thoughtful, intentional, and deeply impactful, not only during my doctoral training but also well beyond my final defense. Professor Albert’s guidance fundamentally shaped my development as a researcher, educator, and early-career faculty member.” –Carmen Haseltine, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Morgan State University
Kathy Cramer
Political Science
Kathy Cramer’s mentees describe her enthusiastic support for them, no matter the path they plan to take after graduate school. Cramer, the Virginia Sapiro Professor of Political Science and Natalie C. Holton Chair of Letters & Science, is generous with her time and attention to her mentees. Students consistently leave meetings with her feeling understood, motivated, and supported. She brings an intentional approach to mentorship, holding regular check-ins with students about how she can better support them and grow her own mentoring practices, thus modeling the humility and growth that are vital to effective mentoring.
Students in Cramer’s research group highlight the combination of support and autonomy that she provides to them, helping to develop their confidence as scholars and provide space for them to clarify their own research questions and goals. Her mentees fondly recall monthly dinner nights that she hosts for them to discuss successes and struggles in a supportive environment of peers. As one of her students noted, “I know this community of scholars that Kathy has cultivated will be there to cheer each other on for our entire careers, and Kathy models this commitment through her example.”
Her recent PhD graduates have continued into a wide range of successful careers from tenure-track positions at Research 1 universities and liberal arts colleges to leadership roles in civic engagement and data analytics careers in the private sector.
“Professor Cramer exemplifies sustained excellence in graduate mentoring through an approach that is deeply student-centered, intentionally structured, and profoundly human. Her mentorship shapes not only students’ scholarly trajectories, but also their confidence, sense of belonging, and commitment to mentoring others in the future.” –Nadav Shelef, Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science
“As a scholar who has dedicated her professional life to listening to and understanding the American public, it should come as no surprise that Kathy brings the same attentiveness and care to her graduate students.” –Clint Rooker, PhD candidate, Political Science
Erika Marín-Spiotta
Geography
Professor Erika Marín-Spiotta’s impact as a mentor has reached beyond the students she advises and mentors, profoundly strengthening the culture of mentoring at UW–Madison.
Marín-Spiotta is a recognized leader both on campus and in the geosciences for her work on mentorship and advancing equity in science, technology, engineering, and math. She has been invited to many institutions, federal agencies, national labs, and professional associations to present about mentorship, inclusive and equitable environments, and related topics. As co-director of the Wisconsin Sloan Center for Systemic Change, Marín-Spiotta has brought new faculty research mentor training to UW–Madison. She has organized professional development workshops for graduate students and early-career researchers that became a part of the regular education programming for the American Geophysical Union, a society with more than 60,000 members.
As the faculty director of the College of Letters & Science Graduate Research Scholars community, Marín-Spiotta cultivates relationships across campus to better advocate for and support graduate students.
Her students note a consistent focus on their development and well-being through a thoughtful and reflective mentorship practice. She is known for helping students broaden their scholarly networks and creating a lab culture grounded in inclusion and mutual respect. Her students say she is exceptionally kind, inclusive, and intentional across all aspects of her relationships with them, and that they are better scientists and more grounded individuals thanks to her mentorship.
“Simultaneously tending to what a student wants and what they actually need can often be a delicate balance to strike, but what makes Dr. Marín-Spiotta successful in this endeavor is the relationships she has cultivated with her mentees.” –Aireale J. Rodgers, Assistant Professor of Higher Education
“Professor Marín-Spiotta demonstrates excellence in graduate student mentoring through intentional practice, sustained investment in mentee development, inclusive and responsive advising, and long-term impact. My experience reflects a consistent pattern of mentoring that extends beyond degree completion and has shaped my ability to succeed across academic, governmental, and applied research settings.” –Emily J. Díaz Vallejo, PhD advisee of Dr. Marín-Spiotta
Jenny Saffran
Psychology
Jenny Saffran, Letters & Science Mary Herman Rubinstein Professor and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Psychology, puts her students first when giving credit and promoting accomplishments, constantly on the lookout for opportunities to get support and recognition for her mentees.
Saffran’s approach to mentorship and training in the Infant Learning Lab at the Waisman Center treats her students as junior collaborators. Her PhD advisees take note of the privilege they feel in collaborating with Saffran on her grant projects while also learning the skills they need to support independent research and compete for grant funding. Saffran guides her students in building their own research questions and scaffolding their development as independent scholars who are well-equipped to pursue that research.
Her students say her mentorship is inclusive, intentional, and caring, inspiring them to incorporate her practices into their own mentorship. They note her skill in cultivating a research environment where they feel safe to ask questions and take risks in their research.
Her doctoral students have been extraordinarily successful in publishing papers in top journals and in securing federal funding, such as F31 awards from the National Institutes of Health and Graduate Research Fellowships from the National Science Foundation. Most of her advisees have secured tenure-track careers in academia, with several students working in industry and government careers.
“Jenny builds effective mentoring relationships and a healthy, inclusive lab ecosystem that enables all students to receive the support that they need for optimal development. Importantly, it is not only individual graduate students who benefit from Jenny’s mentorship. Our department, our university, and our field are also beneficiaries of her graduate mentoring, as she is helping to build capacity and instill values that will continue to bear fruit in a wide range of ways, far into the future.” –Martha W. Alibali, Susan Goldwin-Meadow Professor of Psychology and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor
“I have papers and/or active projects with at least half a dozen former lab mates, and every conference is a family reunion that has grown too large for a reasonably sized table. We’re fortunate to have this network, and it comes because Jenny is acutely aware of how to build a team that is supportive and positive and how to model that attitude.” –Christine Potter, Assistant Professor, University of Texas at El Paso
Dan Vimont
Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
Professor Dan Vimont’s graduate student mentees describe his responsive, caring, and honest approach to mentorship, regardless of whether he serves as their faculty advisor. He uses his expert knowledge to help guide students through a process of creating their own research pathway and taking ownership of their work.
As chair of the strategic planning committee for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Vimont helped establish thoughtful recommendations for improving student climate in the department, including actionable items around graduate student mentoring. He has served as the first chair to the department’s PhD Advancement Process committee, which improves the onboarding and mentoring experience for graduate students before they form their PhD committee or complete their master’s thesis.
Vimont’s students have gone on to faculty positions at top institutions, key roles in federal and state agencies, and the private sector. Mentees describe Vimont’s approach as welcoming, patient, and exceptional in balancing empathy with perspective — traits that help mentees stay motivated, prioritize their wellbeing, and develop autonomy as researchers and scholars. His colleagues note his commitment to being an inclusive and welcoming leader and see him as a resource for advice when they encounter difficult mentoring situations.
Vimont embraces the complexity in mentoring as an exciting pursuit, in which he focuses on building a resilient mentor-mentee relationship, adapting his mentoring approach to the evolving needs throughout a graduate student’s career, and building a mutually beneficial relationship through which he and the student both learn from one another.
“Over his 20+ years at UW–Madison, Vimont has established himself not only as a preeminent scholar in climate variability research but also as a mentor who is deeply intentional, mentee focused, and inclusive.” –Ankur Desai, Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor and Department Chair, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
“What distinguished my working with Dan was what I would describe as ‘structured freedom.’ Dan placed a strong emphasis on developing me not simply as a student completing a thesis, but as an independent researcher learning how to think rigorously and creatively about climate science. He encouraged me to explore climate modeling through multiple lenses while never losing sight of why we study climate change and who is ultimately affected by it.” –Jack Zweifel, master’s advisee
Xueli Wang
Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis
Xueli Wang, the Barbara and Glenn Thompson Endowed Professor in Educational Leadership, brings exceptional depth, intentionality, and compassion to her graduate student mentoring.
Wang combines mentee-centered support with rigorous research training, involving her advisees in all stages of the research process and providing detailed, actionable feedback at each stage to develop their skills and identities as independent scholars. She has created her “Team Super Genius” Graduate Researcher Mentoring Guidelines to establish shared expectations over communication, collaboration, feedback, and ongoing mentoring conversations. She deliberately tailors each mentoring relationship to the individual, considering every aspect of their humanity. Furthermore, she makes clear to mentees that she is always reflecting and growing her own mentorship practices.
Her students describe being treated as true collaborators in her circle, saying her mentorship has provided them with “confidence, professional identity, and readiness to contribute meaningfully to the field.” Her advisees have gone on to tenure-track faculty positions across the world and to hold leadership positions in education and policy institutions. Her former advisees continue to collaborate as co-investigators/co-authors and maintain professional ties into the new stage of their careers.
Wang views mentorship as an intellectual endeavor as much as it is a form of service and support, thus transforming mentorship into an expression of the Wisconsin Idea.
“Across more than 15 years at UW–Madison, Professor Wang has cultivated a mentoring practice that is at once rigorous and humane, structured and adaptive, and profoundly focused on the development, well-being, and success of every graduate student she works with.” – Anjalé Welton, Rupple-Bascom Professor of Education and Department Chair, Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis
“I took my first course with Dr. Wang in 2016, and even after ten years, I still remember what she said on the first day: she had very high expectations for us, matched by her unwavering support throughout the course and beyond. Importantly, this philosophy is not limited to her approach to one class; Dr. Wang has extended and deepened it through graduate mentoring, pairing high expectations with sustained, individualized support that advances students’ scholarly development and well-being.” – Xiwei Zhu, Assistant Professor, Department of Administration, Rehabilitation, and Postsecondary Education, College of Education, San Diego State University