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
Soren Sandeno earned the Ph.D. in December 2025 working with Professor Brandi Cossairt on "Interfacial Chemistry of Metal Pnictide Magic-Sized Clusters: Connecting Structure and Function through Ligand Coordination.” His graduate work consisted of synthesizing and functionalizing organometallic macromolecules of binary semiconductors to study their structure and optical properties. Soren's thesis contributed new fundamental knowledge regarding the structural preferences of these materials as well as design rules for accessing their narrow, bright emission.
Gary and Sue Christian Prize for Best Dissertation in Analytical Chemistry
Lauren Brown earned the Ph.D. in December 2025 for her work with Professor Ashleigh Theberge on "Engineering Fluidic Tools for Translational Science: Developing In Vitro Tissues and Remote Sampling Platforms.” Lauren now works at Seabright, where she is advancing and commercializing some of the at-home sampling research she completed in her Ph.D. studies. Outside of work, Lauren enjoys reading (fantasy and memoirs at the moment), hiking, and working on her half-completed crochet projects.
Larry R. Dalton Dissertation for Best Thesis in Materials Chemistry
P. Brian Sun earned the Ph.D. in March 2026 for his work with Assistant Professor Matthew R. Golder on “Expanding Polymer Design Tools: Molecular Fluxionality and Topological Crosslinks for Novel Polymer Networks.” His graduate work focused on using molecular fluxionality and topological crosslinks to make novel thermosetting materials. He is now a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University focusing on polymer modified MOFs with Associate Professor Jarad Mason's group.
Hyp J. Dauben Prize for Best Dissertation in Organic Chemistry
Morgan Skala earned the Ph.D. in June 2026 for her work with Assistant Professor Matthew R. Golder on “Ball Mill Grinding Mechanochemistry for Sustainable Chemical Transformations of Post-Consumer Polymer Waste.” Morgan received a B.S. in chemistry from Florida State University and worked at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory before graduate school, which inspired her to research sustainable polymer chemistry for her Ph.D. She will conduct postdoctoral research with Professor Christopher Cooper at Washington University in St. Louis, where she will focus on developing polymer materials for applications in coatings, robotics and environmental sustainability. Outside of lab, she enjoys making great coffee, going to see live music, and playing pickleball (poorly).
Congratulations, Soren, Lauren, Brian, and Morgan!