Fellowship Recipients

Congratulations to the 2025-26 Graduate School Fellowship Award Recipients! We are so proud of you, your academic accomplishments, as well as your dedication and commitment in attaining your advanced degree. We also want to say thank you to the generous donors who have the vision and foresight to give selflessly of their time and treasure to help our graduate students be successful. Your gifts also help support research that cannot be found anywhere else in the region and bring internationally recognized faculty to instruct our students on cutting edge issues. We couldn’t do this without you. Thank You!

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2025-2026 UNC Charlotte Graduate School Fellowship Recipients

Thomas L. Reynolds Graduate Student Research Award

Abitha Sridhar, Master of Business Administration (MBA)
Sheena Jennings, Ph.D. Special Education
Yetimoni Kpeebi, Ph.D. Geography
Ravi Thapaliya, Ph.D. Geography

Joanna R. Baker Memorial Graduate Fellowship

Mam Salan Njien, M.S. Data Science & Business Analytics
Pranay Yatelli, M.S. Computer Science
Jennifer Beightley, Ph.D. Public Policy
Yeoul Jo, Ph.D. Special Education

Dr. Craig R. Brown Graduate Fellowship

Cheyenne Leger, Master of Social Work (MSW)
Rachel Dodge, Ph.D. Public Health Sciences

Wayland H. Cato Jr. First-Year Doctoral Fellowship

Newma Chowdhury, Ph.D. Public Policy
Wyatt Dunlap, Ph.D. Public Policy
Fatima Ghaleb, Ph.D. Infrastructure and Environmental Systems
Naiya Jackson, Ph.D. Public Policy

Herschel and Cornelia Everett Foundation First-Year Doctoral Graduate Fellowship

Phil Thomas, Ph.D. Chemistry and Nanoscale Science
Chelsea Bongiovanni, Ph.D. Health Psychology

Herschel and Cornelia Everett Foundation Masters Graduate Fellowship

Paris Hackett, Master of Architecture (M.Arch.)

Faye Jacques Memorial Graduate Fellowship

Amy Edward, M.S. Electrical Engineering

John Paul Lucas Jr. Scholarship for Educational Leadership

Tara Hancock, M.ED. Curriculum & Instruction, Cert Instructional Coaching
Cat Leonard, M.A. English

Dr. William F. Kennedy Graduate Fellowship

Tessa Beaver, Ph.D. Biology
Maria Palacio-Mejia, Ph.D. Epidemiology

Joan F. Lorden Graduate Opportunity Scholarship

Hannah Faye, Ph.D. Biology
Ravi Thapaliya, Ph.D. Geography

Claudia Reynolds Graduate Fellowship

Jenna Kirsch, M.A. Counseling
Chidimma Okoli, Ph.D. Epidemiology
Marianne Hamilton, Master of Social Work (MSW)