The Department of Chemistry is pleased to announce the following prizes for outstanding work by graduate students. These awards, announced each spring, recognize doctoral research and carry a $1,000 prize. These awards were established in Academic Year 2021-22 and are funded by endowments made possible through the philanthropic support of faculty, friends, and alumni.
George H. Cady Prize for Best Dissertation in Inorganic Chemistry
Ashlyn Kamin earned their Ph.D. in June 2025 working with Assistant Professor Dianne Xiao on “Cycloparaphenylenes and Related Contorted Aromatics as Building Blocks for Multifunctional Nanomaterials.” Her graduate work focused on the late-stage derivatization of contorted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as cycloparaphenylenes (“carbon nanohoops”) for use as building blocks in the development of new multifunctional materials.
Gary and Sue Christian Prize for Best Dissertation in Analytical Chemistry
Wan-chen Tu joined the group of Professor Ashleigh Theberge as a master's student in 2020 then transitioned into the Ph.D. program in 2022. She focused on developing a lollipop-inspired sampling device, called CandyCollect, that enables the capture of salivary pathogens. She also worked on designing open-microfluidic devices for droplet generation from human sperm samples and for plasma separation. Her current research focuses on developing homeProtein, a method to stabilize proteins in whole blood from an at-home blood collection device. She will defend her dissertation, “Open-channel capillary trees with integrated paper pads and at-home salivary pathogens sampling device,” in summer 2025. Wan-chen grew up in Taiwan. In her free time, Wan-chen enjoys baking, cooking, and spending time outdoors.
Larry R. Dalton Prize for Best Dissertation in Materials Chemistry
Hao Nguyen will earn the Ph.D. in June 2025 for his work with Professor Brandi Cossairt on “Designing Huge Colloidal Quantum Dots for Scalable & Deterministic Placement of Single-Photon Emitters.” Originally from Vietnam, he moved to Puyallup, Washington, and began his academic journey at Pierce College before transferring to Texas A&M University to complete his B.S. in chemistry. He joined the UW in 2020, where his research focused on the synthesis and integration of colloidal quantum dots for light-emitting applications in photonic and quantum technologies. After graduation, he will be a process engineer at Lam Research.
Hyp J. Dauben Prize for Best Dissertation in Organic Chemistry
Cem Millik earned the Ph.D. in 2024 for his work with Professor Alshakim Nelson on “Polyether- and serum albumin-based hydrogels and bioplastics for bio-interfacing applications leveraging additive manufacturing.” He earned a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Washington in 2018. Cem’s research interests center on interfaces between life sciences and synthetic materials, with a focus on synthesis and characterization of soft materials for therapeutic delivery and 3D printing.
B. Seymour Rabinovitch Prize for Best Dissertation in Physical Chemistry
Garrett Santis will earn the Ph.D. In June 2025 for his work with Affiliate Professor Sotiris Xantheas on “Probing Hydrogen Bonds in Aqueous and Biological Systems: Solvation Structure, Dynamics and Spectroscopy.” Outside of the lab, Garrett enjoys running, reading, and cooking.
Congratulations, Ashlyn, Wan-chen, Hao, Cem, and Garrett!